Global Corruption Index

Transparency International publishes its rankings of global corruption.  See where your country ranks here.

Bob Baer on Afghanistan

Check out former CIA officer Bob Baer’s video on Afghanistan here

The Third Intifada

Will Palestinian leaders again turn to violence to shore up domestic support? Read Steven Cook’s analysis here.

Journalists Murdered in Mexico

An alarming number of journalists are being killed in Mexico.  Read about it here.

Tuning Out the Taliban

Pakistani pop musicians are propelling anti-American messages. The lyrics reflect widespread views among their young educated fans who say Pakistan’s problem is the West, not the Taliban.

See the video here

Eating Fish

photo by George Billard

Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans. Read and listen to an interview about this important issue here.

Kristof on Afghanistan

Nicholas D. Kristof

Tonight, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is addressing Network 20/20.  Read his recent column on education instead of arms in Afghanistan here.

Khamenei Cracks The Whip

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition leaders Friday of a “harsh response” if they continued speaking out against the government, a move that analysts said opened the way for their possible arrest.

Read the rest of this NY Times article here.

Read about the steps being taken to discredit the allegations of rape.

Some Call It Enhanced Interrogation

Abtahi before and during his trial

The prosecution and show trials of those against the stolen election continues.  Above is Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the former Vice-President and reformist blogger as he appeared before and during his trial. He is now blogging from prison and writes there was no significant election fraud.  He certainly looks like a man who has been broken. As Grouch Marx once said, “Are you going to believe me or your own lying eyes?”

Bacevich on Afghanistan

Dr. Andrew J. Bacevich

Dr. Andrew Bacevich opines on the war the U.S. cannot win in Afghanistan.  Read it here.