New York Times: Hints of Pluralism in Egyptian Religious Debates

By: Michael Slackman; Full article may be read here

Thought this might be interesting for those who took the political Islam class (this guy is al-Banna's brother!) or who are looking at the role of independent media in fostering debate and democracy (very Search for Common Ground).

NYTimes: Fake Murder Spotlights Police Procedures in Russia

By: Michael Schwirtz; Full Article May Be Read Here

Recalculating Happiness in a Himalayan Kingdom

New York Times. Author: Seth Mydans. See full article here.

Happiness, measured through Mathematics, and applied to all government policies. A place where an absolute Monarch voluntary gives up power against the wishes of his people...

Russians Bet on a Market for Dampening Dissent

A great example of the conflicting tendencies of capitalist ingenuity and authoritarian tendencies... there's Russia for you.

New York Times: 5 Years After It Halted Weapons Programs, Libya Sees the U.S. as Ungrateful

TRIPOLI, Libya — When Libya gave up its nuclear and chemical weapons programs in late 2003, President George W. Bush pointed to the decision as a victory in Washington’s so-called war on terror and as a potential model for pressing Iran and North Korea to give up their weapons programs, too.

A barbershop in Tripoli, Libya, beneath the visage of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. One analyst said, “Dealing with Qaddafi is not easy because he is unpredictable.”

But now Libyan officials say they are dissatisfied with the way the deal worked out, insisting that the United States has done too little to reward Libya’s concessions. Officials here say they believe that Libya’s limited payoff undermines the credibility of the United States as it presses other nations to abandon weapons programs.

New York Times: 2 West Africa Slayings May Signal a New Day

By: Lydia Polgreen; Full Article May Be Read Here

"This mutual loathing had both personal and tribal roots. General Tagme Na Waie was from the Balante tribe, which dominates the army. Mr. Vieira came from the less important Papel tribe. The general claimed that Mr. Vieira’s government had once tortured him by shocking his testicles with an electric device. Mr. Vieira suspected the general of undermining his power and threatening his rule."

New York Times: Nearly a Million Genocide Victims, Covered in a Cloak of Amnesia

By: Sabrina Tavernise; Full Article May Be Read Here

Blogger Comment: If Turkey is moving towards being able to have a national discussion and re-visit the wounds of its past, it is an incredibly hopeful moment for a young democracy.

New York Times: When Everyone’s a Friend, Is Anything Private?

"Facebook has a chief privacy officer, but I doubt that the position will exist 10 years from now. That’s not because Facebook is hell-bent on stripping away privacy protections, but because the popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites has promoted the sharing of all things personal, dissolving the line that separates the private from the public."

Full Article May Be Read Here

New York Times: Phish’s Breakup? That Was Then. But Tough Times Call for a Reunion.

Blogger Comment: I dont know how you all deal with the recession. But I'm reverting back to my hippie ways.

New York Times: In Turkey, Women Playing Soccer Vie for Acceptance

By YIGAL SCHLEIFER; Full Article May Be Read Here

New York Times: Idea of Afghan Women’s Rights Starts Taking Hold

By: Kirk Semple; Full Article May Be Read Here

Since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, a more egalitarian notion of women’s rights has begun to take hold, founded in the country’s new Constitution and promoted by the newly created Ministry of Women's Affairs and a small community of women’s advocates.

New York Times: Obama Offered Deal to Russia in Secret Letter

By: Peter Baker, Full article may be read here

Blogger comment: Pressing of the reset button for U.S.-Russian relations is long overdue. Still Eastern Europeans must be pissed that all of their efforts both domestically and internationally to move the missile defense shield forward might have been in vain.

New York Times: For Some Taxi Drivers, a Different Kind of Traffic

By: Marc Lacey; Full Article May Be Read Here

With public outrage over drug violence tinged by fascination, some taxi drivers are giving “narco-tours” of sites associated with the notorious drug cartels.

New York Times: U.S. Is Arms Bazaar for Mexican Cartels

By: JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.; Full Article May Be Read Here

New York Times: Your morning pizza

By: Mark Bittman; Full Article May Be Read Here

Blogger Comment: Just to liven things up a bit and get away from balance of power and diplomacy, here's a link to Mark Bittman's most recent article on breakfast. Just consider this a helpful article on brainfood to get you going in the morning.

New York Times: Chicago Tea Party (Video)

By: Eric Etheridge, Full Article May Be Read Here

Blogger Comment: Watch this video. You gotta love the enthusiasm. In Boston, we had unfair royal colonial taxes. Now in Chicago, mortgage moral hazards. What, you dont see the equivalence???

The New York Times: Despite Kyrgyz Vote to Close U.S. Base, Gates Explores Options to Keep It Open

By: Thom Shanker and Ellen Barry; Full article may be read HERE

New York Times: 3 Men Acquitted in Murder of Russian Journalist

By Ellen Barry and Michael Schwirtz; Full Article May Be Read Here