The U.S. pays the Taliban to not attack? We should be shocked! Shocked!
The Nation has a great story this week: the U.S., via its subcontractors, pays the Taliban not to attack its trucks carrying military supplies around the country: The bizarre fact is that the practice of buying the Taliban’s protection is not a secret. I asked Col. David Haight, who commands the Third Brigade of the Tenth Mountain Division, about it. After all, part of Highway 1 runs through his area of operations. Wh

Vladimir Putin, hip hop, and the ‘battle for respect’
OK, this is priceless. Vladimir Putin showed up at a “Battle for Respect” event, which appears to be a sort of Russian hip-hop contest, to talk about how hip hop promotes a healthy lifestyle. Watching him sway, barely perceptibly, as the kids around him wave their hands in the air like they just don’t care, is enough to make you feel sorry for the man. Russia Today has the video: Here are his thoughts on hip hop: “These youngsters who work in this art in our country – they bring unique Russian charm. Street rap may be a little bit rough, but it contains social meaning – raising social problems. Graffiti becomes a real elegant art. Break

The search for Genghis Khan’s grave
Forgive me a completely self-promotional post, but one of the the projects that I was working on during my recent trip to China, Mongolia and Russia has been published, on the search for Genghis Khan’s tomb. It’s one of the great remaining archeological mysteries and it looks like it’s about to be solved, though with a whole bunch of cultural, political and geopolitical complications. There are five stories. The first is on the background of the search; the second on the two groups now searchin

The U.S. and the persecution of Azerbaijan’s bloggers
Emin Milli being escorted into court. Two Azerbaijani political activists and bloggers were sentenced today to prison terms of two and two and a half years, respectively, in obviously trumped up charges of assault. The alleged victim of the beating by these dorky bloggers testified in court that he knew the mart

Iranian media: ‘Fort Hood incident signals fall of US empire’
Was the killing of 12 soldiers at Ft. Hood the work of a deranged man, an Islamofascist plot or a one-man jihad? None of the above, according to a top Iranian military official. It is instead internal “corruption” that portends the fall of the American empire. Press TV reports: A top official with Iran’s armed forces says the fall of empires begins with domestic corruption after a US Army psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan killed 12 soldiers in Fort Hood. Deputy Head of Iran’s armed forces headquarters Brigadier-General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri said Saturday that the killing in the US Army base is just a sma