One of the more annoying moments during the first U.S. presidential debate was when the subject of Russia and its recent skirmish with Georgia came up. Both McCain and Obama, without qualification, upbraided big bad Russia as the aggressor, saying NATO and the United States had to be ready to get tough. They allowed no […]

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In 1994, while living in Japan, I spent a few days in Hiroshima with old friend and then budding Tex-Mex troubadour Mike Takasaki. (My favourite Takasaki aphorism: “In the desert of grudges I am a camel.”) As required by any visit to the city we lingered around the Peace Park and its many memorials for […]

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It has finally happened, although I am tardy noting it here. The Turkish military has launched its incursion into northern Iraq, in an attempt to root out the mountain safe havens of the PKK.
The Turkish army has yet to stage a full-scale ground invasion to supplement the air strikes, and for good reason. It’s winter […]

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Yesterday, George Bush completed his doughy pretzel of logic: as recently as early fall it was “we’re winning in Iraq”; then, in the wake of compelling election results & the findings of his own Iraq commission he admits it’s time to listen & be open to alternative ideas; now, while confessing he’s ultimately responsible for […]

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