RSS99c Blogging
Putin’s Restraint
While I agree entirely with the call for Israel to respond with restraint and proportionality to the Hizballah attacks across its northern border, I’m not so sure that President Vladimir Putin has much credibility in making the point. Putin told the G8 summit Israel’s violence was “out of all proportion” to the Hizballah provocation, and [...]
Condi, You’re Killing Me!
Anyone who has any Hamas numbers in their rolodex should call them and tell them to, uh, do the right thing so that we can get President Bush’s vision back on track and stuff…
Thus Condi Rice on the current mayhem in Gaza: “We are also calling on the international community to help Prime Minister — [...]
The Miami ‘Terror’ Bust: Where’s Flava?
First thing I thought when I started reading (and writing about) the “plot” to blow up the Sears tower in Chicago, was: Where’s Flavor Flav with his giant pocket watch?
Rather than trained terrorists for whom stealth and secrecy is the golden rule, these guys seem to have strutted around a poor African-American neighborhood in Miami [...]
Bush to Iraq: Try Socialism!
Now here’s a turnup for the books to confound the Naomi Klein crowd who think Bush invaded Iraq to impose free-market globalization on its economy: As part of his new plan for what some in the media call a “post-Zarqawi Iraq” (ding-dong, the witch is dead…) President Bush has suggested to Iraq’s new prime minister [...]
Suicide as PR
So, it turns out that one of the three detainees who committed suicide at Guantanamo over the weekend was due to be released but had not been told. But if that seems a poignant comment on the whole system of holding prisoners entirely beyond the reach of the law, one can’t help but notice [...]
Roasting Bush, Shaming the Media
Colbert: Dirty work, but somebody has to do it
The media furor over whether Comedy Central’s conservative talking head-impersonator Stephen Colbert’s sharp-elbowed humor roasting President Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner (video link here) was funny or not seems to miss the point. And as my colleague Jim Poniewozik points out, much of it [...]
From Zarqawi’s Cutting Room Floor…
In the director’s cut, Zarqawi looks every inch the rambo figure as he busts loose with a heavy machine gun. The outtakes show he needed some help to fire the thing
Yuck. You don’t really want to use the “cutting room floor” metaphor in reference to a man who became a visceral presence in America’s collective [...]
You, Too, Can Invade Iran
If you see this man, kill him, quickly and quietly…
This from Assault on Iran, one of the latest offerings from Kumawar.com, an online gaming company that offers live-action missions that allow you to solve all of today’s geopolitical problems in a hail of bullets:
“Your mission is to infiltrate the Natanz nuclear facility in [...]
Win-Win Solution on Immigration and Empire
Rather than British ground troops, Britain relied on
an 80-percent Indian force to police Iraq. And when that
couldn’t do the trick, the Royal Air Force pioneered the
art of dropping bombs on population-centers
Far be it from me to tell America how to run its immigration policy or police its empire, it does [...]
Fit to Print? The NY Times on Iraq
Abdul Mahdi good; Jaafari bad, says the paper of record. They should know
Sometimes, it’s hard to read the New York Times on Iraq without laughing out loud on the subway. First, there was Sunday’s editorial, which blithely parroted the Bush administration’s spin on the hapless Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. “The head of the government is [...]
The Latest
A Skeptical Read
All the Hysteria That's Fit to Print?
Benny Morris's manic rant is further evidence that the New York Times op-ed page, like the New York Post's, is willing to believe anything its told about 'Mad Mullahs'Guest Columns
Why John Bolton is Right on Iran
Armageddon Man is unhappy with his President Guest Column: Dr. Gary Sick As usual, John Bolton is absolutely right. His policy prescriptions may be reckless to the point of foolishness ("When in doubt, bomb!"), but his understanding of what is happening in Washington policy (as outlined in hi...Glancing Headers
Waxing Brazilian on Euro 2008
The lesson for South Africa is clear. Our talent pool is so piss-poor that Brazilian coaches won't help -- we need to learn from the Europeans and import Brazilian players!Featured Analysis
U.S. Calls a Straw Poll in Iraq: It May Not Like the Result
By seeking a permanent security deal with Iraq, Bush has forced Iraqi politicians to show their hands. And none wants a long-term U.S. presenceCould Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The Whole World's Africa
Stop South Africa's Pogroms!
Violence against immigrants in South Africa may be a product of poverty, but my friend Ray Hartley argues, the only answer is to make them full and equal citizens99c Blogging
Hamas as 'Willie Horton'
By insisting that he never advocated talking to Hamas, Obama digs himself a hole -- anyone who seeks peace in the Middle East will have to talk to HamasHear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceShameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansCuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...Annals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...New York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
