This is a guest note by Al Jazeera correspondent Clayton Swisher who is currently embedded with US troops fighting in Afghanistan. This essay originally ran on Al Jazeera’s “The Asia Blog.” (The photo below is of 82nd Airborne soldiers in Arghandab; Photo by Tom Nicholson; reprinted with permission.
(Arc-en-Ciel, photo credit: Ben Rosengart; click image to make larger) Long-time TWN reader Ben Rosengart sends in three views from three windows. I’m going to post them one at a time during the day today. This is part one, a rainbow, or l’arc-en-ciel. Two are from Brittany and one from Paris. Beautiful shots. Thanks Ben….
One of the best investigative journalists who has been reporting on America’s wars is Seymour Hersh. Hersh has been consistently ahead of the pack — revealing hard-to-believe atrocities far before the political marketplace was often ready or willing to accept his reporting.
One of the strange realities of modern China is that Mao’s image, which hangs over the main gate into the Forbidden City, is still evident in lots of places. The horrors of the Cultural Revolution are part of Mao’s identity — and yet there is still more reverence of him than I’d expect.
This new “forever plane” — not quite like a forever stamp but still very cool — has been designed by UK defense contractor QinetiQ. This craft flew for 14 days, 21 minutes — smashing all previous endurance for unmanned flights.
Best yuan (about 15 cents) a tourist can spend in Beijing (particularly on a very hot muggy day) is on Bus No.
This is a guest post by Charlie Wagner, a research intern at the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program. When Japan’s asset bubble burst in 1990, Japan’s real estate market – once the world’s most expensive – collapsed.
This piece originally ran in The Diplomat on 22 July, 2010. BEIJING’S FRAGILE SWAGGER Confucius said ‘The superior man is firm in the right way, and not merely firm.
In September 2007, before the release of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, I wrote an article for Salon titled “Why Bush Won’t Bomb Iran.” At the time, the belief that George Bush and Dick Cheney would take military action against Iran was palpable.
(Commemorative Plaque of Dwight Eisenhower opening NBC Studios at 4000 Nebraska Avenue, NW on May 22, 1958; photo credit: Steve Clemons) With the benefit of time, it’s increasingly clear that Dwight Eisenhower was one of America’s greatest Presidents.
