Sep 26 2009
Here’s a nice read from the Christian Science Monitor on The unseen bias in Middle East reporting.
Of course, many of us have been able to see that bias for quite a long time, and not only in reporting about the Middle East. But it’s nice when other people notice it, too.
Sep 26 2009
Following up on this discussion about our prospects in Afghanistan, here is An Interview with an Afghan Tribal Chief. This video and/or text interview is the first in a series on the blog of Steven Pressfield, and I highly recommend it, as well as his books, which have to be one of the most entertaining and engaging ways of learning history I’ve seen.
Sep 26 2009
A secret Iranian nuclear facility has been announced, incredibly, by the UN (incredibly):
In what might be described as a bombshell, the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that Iran had informed the agency earlier this week that it has a covert underground uranium enrichment plant in addition to the one known at Natanz.
The admission to the IAEA in Vienna comes on the heels of reports that the US, Britain and France were about to reveal the plant’s existence at the meeting of the G-20 this week in Pittsburgh.
The revelation will make it harder than ever for Iran to claim its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes. Natanz itself was a secret until rumbled in 2003, and put under inspection by the IAEA. It is hard to imagine why Iran would need to keep yet another enrichment plant, near the holy city of Qom, a secret if it was merely to make yet more fuel for its still-uncompleted nuclear power plants.
More at the link above. In the meantime, Obama continues to talk about nuclear disarmament. Maybe something else is going on behind the scenes.
We can hope.
Sep 26 2009
The Democrats are perfectly well aware that millions of Americans will lose the coverage they have under their proposal, whatever form it finally takes. In fact, that’s their objective: in the long run–President Obama has said it may take 10 to 20 years–they intend to force all of us to lose our private health care and be forced into a socialized medicine system.
At the link, a report on a simple amendment that tested the Democrats’ sincerity on letting people keep the coverage they now have, if they like it. You know how it turned out without looking, of course, but it is interesting.
