Category Archives: Around the world

Patrick crystallizes something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, about the relative level of understanding of the world and how it works among Americans and Europeans. I came of age in the 80s. If you were a college … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From today’sChron: Representatives of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah reportedly asked that female air traffic controllers be barred from their duties during his flights in Texas. A Federal Aviation Administration employee, speaking to The Dallas Morning News on condition of anonymity, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Patrick at Electrolite comes this story of the last survivor of Gallipoli, the terrible 1915 World War I battle fought by Australian and Turkish soldiers in Suvla Bay. Take a listen to the Eric Bogle song that commemorates it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

President Bush has finally found a foreign dignitary who will feel comfortable in hot, dusty, middle-of-nowhere Crawford as he sets to host Saudi prince Abdullah. According to this story in the Chron, which gets a two Claude rating for its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Saudi Aramco is having a job fair here in Houston, for those who might like to travel to Saudi Arabia and “become a part of the Saudi Aramco experience”. The line forms to the left. Continue reading →

From my inbox, an article from 2000 about how slum children in India learned to use computers and surf the Web without any formal instruction. It’s an interesting read and has some implications for how we could be doing a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Craig writes about Israeli doctors giving a life saving bone marrow transplant to a Palestinian boy, asks if we could imagine the reverse, and quotes an on-point passage from The Fellowship of the Rings. Reading the cited story reminded me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jonathan Gewirtz posts a note from a friend of his who has a decidedly pessimistic view of how things have gone so far in Afghanistan. I don’t know if he’s right or wrong – let me rephrase that, I sure … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This morning a coworker told me a story from his visit to one of our Dutch offices last week. The hotel he was at had a little nine-hole par-three golf course on it, with a bar next to it. He … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Austin Bay has an interesting thought in an op-ed piece in today’s Chron. He notes the payouts to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers as well as the counterfeiting equipment that the IDF found, and asks the obvious question: Of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Every time I read a report about the discovery of a planet or planetary system somewhere out there in space, I feel hope for our future. My hope is that one day not only will we know for sure that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Tom Tomorrow comes this story of how U2 lead singer Bono persuaded Republican leaders to give extra aid to poor countries. It’s a fantastic story of pragmatism and speaking the right language. I’d like to discuss a couple of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And to think that the Brits call Dubya a dummy. Here’s the latest wisdom from Prince Philip: LONDON — No one would ever accuse him of political correctness. In his long career as Queen Elizabeth II’s consort, the Duke of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Glenn Kinen points to this excellent article in the NY Times Sunday magazine about NITV and its subversive pro-American broadcasts to Iran. I sure hope they can find a sugar daddy to help them keep up the good work. Continue reading →

Matt Welch has been all over the Free Slobodan Milosevic petition which has been signed by over 1300 people. He suggested that bloggers start Googling these folks to see what else they’ve said and done. Well, David Janes has put … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Stan Goff, as nearly everything written by or about him always says, is a retired US Special Forces Master Sergeant. He’s written a book called Hideous Dream: A Soldier’s Memoir of the U.S. Invasion of Haiti. I’m not qualified to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Damian Penny gives a spanking to The Globe and Mail’s Heather Mallick for getting into a snit over Dubya’s use of the term “Pakis”. I’ve read enough British books to know that “Paki” is frequently used derisively over there, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →