A close-up view of an elephant and his trunk. From National Geographic.
Barack Obama Makes His Push for Palestine from the Economist [of London]
"America's president, in short, shows every sign of being a true believer in the necessity of solving this conflict, not least in order to redeem the promises he gave the Muslim world in his famous Cairo speech."
This observation is what most foreign policy experts seem to miss about Obama.
From Shock and Awe to a Quiet Exit – US Troops Pull Out of Iraq (Martin Chulov) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Martin Chulov senses the relief among the last US combat troops to leave Iraq, seven and a half years after the invasion."
Reactor Reaction: Five Minutes to Stupid (Christian Caryl) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Is the reactor in Bushehr likely to become the target of an Israeli airstrike? The answer is almost certainly no -- and not just because attacking the reactor after this weekend would release radioactivity into the atmosphere. The reactor has been under construction for almost 30 years."
Obama, We Hardly Know You (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
""There is little evidence," the professor writes, "that the Obama presidency could yet find new vindication, another lease on life. Mr. Obama will mark time, but henceforth he will not define the national agenda. It was a well-argued, quite passionate piece. The problem with it was that it was arrant nonsense."
How Fox Betrayed Patraeus (Frank Rich) from the New York Times
"So virulent is the Islamophobic hysteria of the neocon and Fox News right ... that it has also rendered Gen. David Petraeus’s last-ditch counterinsurgency strategy for fighting the war inoperative. How do you win Muslim hearts and minds in Kandahar when you are calling Muslims every filthy name in the book in New York?"
Crime (Sex) and Punishment (Stoning) (Op-Ed) from the New York Times
"Much of the outrage those cases generated ... seems to stem from the gulf between sexual attitudes in the West and parts of the Islamic world, where some radical movements have turned to draconian punishments, and a vision of restoring a long-lost past, in their search for religious authenticity."
Blame the Pollsters (Michael Kinsley) from the Atlantic
"What if you take the poll seriously and assume that the people questioned took it seriously, what's the explanation? Is it the failure of civic education in our public schools? Is it right-wing nutballs on the radio? I blame pollsters themselves. They have created a world where everything is an opinion, nothing is a fact, everybody is entitled to an opinion, and every opinion is equally valid."
A President in Need of a Political Spark (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"Obama is different. He truly doesn't seem to relish politics, in the raw, mix-it-up sense. Most of all, he isn't needy for public attention in the way our most neurotic and gifted politicians have been -- walking outpatients such as Richard Nixon or Lyndon Johnson or Bill Clinton. He doesn't like red-hot; he likes cool and deliberative. Obama's tidy, button-down style is clear when you look at those who have prospered in his administration and those who haven't."
When is a Muslim Not a Muslim? (Tobin Harshaw) from the New York Times
"How many of the Americans who say they think Barack Obama is a Muslim actually believe that he is one? That’s not as obtuse a query as it might appear, as some of the blogosphere’s better minds have argued in recent days."
Are One-Quarter of Americans Freakin' Morons? (Amy Sullivan) from Time Magazine
"calling Obama a Muslim has become a way for some conservatives to express their distrust of and opposition to him. The idea that "Muslim" is being used as that kind of pejorative shorthand is a disturbing development on its own."
Cut Dr. Laura Slack (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post
"She was guilty at times of not listening and leaping to conclusions before a caller had time to finish. Even so, to my frequent surprise, she got to the nugget and managed to reach exactly the right conclusion. ... At other times, as now, her failure to listen is disastrous."
McCain Pays Heavy Price for Reelection from Politico
"John McCain holds a comfortable lead in the contentious Arizona Republican Senate primary, according to the most recent public polling, making him the strong favorite against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth on Tuesday. But it’s been a costly road to a fifth term for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, and the experience is likely to leave a lasting and unsightly stain on his legacy."
CHINESE ARCHEOLOGY NUGGET!!
5000 Stone Statues Older than Terracotta Warriors Discovered in Hunan from People's Daily Online via Daily News and Analysis [of India in English]
"Archaeologists have discovered a large group of ancient stone statues at the worship site of Guizai Mountain near Hunan province."
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