Today, it’s Libya. Now, let’s see. Are we there to unearth Moammar Gadhafi’s Weapons of Mass Destruction? Or is it to bring liberation and democracy to the Libyan population? Oh, no, this time, it’s to keep Gadhafi from “killing his own people.” The missions just keep changing, don’t they?

When you’re in the driver’s seat, it matters not how much the lies pile on top of one another. All that is necessary for such lies to succeed, writes Paul Craig Roberts, “is for the government to have its story ready and to have a compliant media. Once the official story is in place, thought and investigation is precluded.” As is now conventional, the capper at the top of the lies is the one that claims that even the most contemptible actions are performed “for the sake of national security,” that is, in defense of our homeland. Who could have a problem with that?

Paul Gottfried, in describing the ease with which the supposedly leftist Barack Obama incorporated all those conservative patriotic rhetorical themes into his January State of the Union address, shows how the phony “vision” thing is accomplished, whether by Republican “patriots” or by cynical neocons, or by even more cynical liberals.

This is coming from an American, in Haiti that watched the elections happen from inside two different polling stations in two different neighborhoods.

A tiny collective of 115 islands off the east coast of Africa with a total population of less than 85,000 people, the Republic of Seychelles is part of a number of African countries trying to capitalize on recent democratic and market reforms. However, the country’s relatively small and tourism-reliant economy makes it an unlikely candidate for large sums of international capital.

Nonetheless, a high-ranking delegation was in New York City this week to promote Seychelles’ status as a business-friendly haven.

According to Pierre Laporte, the governor of the Seychelles Central Bank, the country is now reaping the benefits of major macroeconomic and structural reforms, including lower tax rates and investor-friendly policies. “Today Seychelles offers not only investment opportunities, but security for investors,” Governor Laporte told an audience of investors and analysts.

Turmoil and Triumph: The George Shultz Years is an informative and an insightful look into The Presidential Administration of Ronald Reagan. This PBS Series particularly examines the years during which George Shultz replaced Alexander Hague as President Reagan’s Secretary of State. Depending upon both still photography, primarily to piece together a biography of George Shultz early life, and also live footage to highlight George Shultz role in creating Reagan’s exemplary foreign policy.

Turmoil and Triumph paints a portrait of George Shultz as an intellectually sound man with a PhD. in Economics from MIT who was also an extremely well-qualified Humanitarian who paved the way not only for the integration of African-Americans in the United States into the business sector, but who also paved the way for an end to Apartheid in South Africa as well as paved the way for an end to the despotic rule of The Marcos in The Philippines. Through life-like reenactments throughout this series, George Shultz role in engineering “Détente” (peaceful coexistence between the U.S.A. and The Soviet Union) is also examined. Comprised of three sixty minute segments, each part in the series of three is as equally compelling as the others.

Faisal Shahzad, the alleged “Times Square bomber,” recently received a preliminary court hearing. It is about time. He has been held in federal custody for two weeks. Shahzad has not been convicted yet and, thanks to our justice system, is therefore innocent until proven guilty. Of course some assert ‘how could he not be guilty, hasn’t he confessed?’ Yes, indeed he has confessed and has waived his right to a speedy trial.

But neither of those facts explain why it took two weeks for Shahzad to have a preliminary court hearing. Attorney General Eric Holder has not stated why it has taken such an extraordinary amount of time. Traditionally, suspects tried in criminal court are arraigned (brought on formal charges) within 48 hours of arrest unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

Neoconservatism has been trashed by folks on the left and the right as of late, and for good reason. Many blame neoconservatives for getting us into Iraq. But Eric Cohen’s essay on Irving Kristol reminds us that neoconservatism had a noble beginning and might have a useful future in the GOP

The South African center-right journalist takes issue with the government using an apartheid-era law to crack down on journalists (who work for the same TV station where Mr. Malala anchors a political program) who interviewed two anonymous criminals who threatened violence and muggings against visitors to the soccer World Cup in June:

Crisis makes strange bed fellows. That’s one way to view President Obama’s request for Presidents Clinton and George W, Bush to lead relief efforts.

The Uganda story is not simply about hateful white people going to Africa to infect the innocent black folk there. Yes, the conservatives who went there to spread their schlock did pour gasoline on a fire, it is important to remember that the fire was already there in the first place.

Tomorrow marks Pioneers Day in Liberia, the January 7, 1822 landing of black American settlers to Liberia – Africa’s first republic – and I’ve written a piece over at theGrio.com about it.

As President Barack Obama has made the ultimate decision to send forth 30,000 additional armed forces to fight the insurgency in Afghanistan (a duplication of the 20,000 plus troops that former President George W. Bush sent to counter the insurgency in Iraq), the United States has signaled to the international community that victory in this region is necessary and imperative.

During the theatre of war, public support can be fatigue and fragile at times. It is important to remind people why Afghanistan is crucial in today’s time. It is the painful reminder of the terroristic attacks against our sovereign nation on September 11, 2001 that engaged us in a conflict against an ideology. An ideology that promotes evil over good and the right to take another’s life if their religious or political identity is different from yours.

Not only is the U.S. security interest at stake, but the whole world should be concerned about Afghanistan. If the Taliban is allowed a permanent safe haven in the Middle East and overthrow the government, it weakens the U.S. foreign policy and makes our nation vulnerable to future attacks.

Despite years of the abuse of its symbolism, The Brandenburg Gate was clearly assembled with Democratic aspirations in mind. The Brandenburg Gate’s entire design is based on the Propylene, a classic Greek structure, which served as a gateway to Athens, the cradle of Democracy and birthplace of western civilization. It was no coincidence, therefore, when Regan gave his speech with The Brandenburg Gate towering over him to commemorate Berlin’s 750th anniversary. The speech and The Brandenburg Gate both demonstrated that the future of Germany lie with Democracy not Socialism.

Kareem Amer was arrested on the 6th of November, 2006, hence the date of this coming rally. He was sentenced to one year in prison for “insulting the president of Egypt” and 3 years for criticizing
Islam, a total of 4 years in prison.

He was only 22 at the time of his arrest.

Like the childhood game of “Telephone”, the question on the American side of the equation comes down to how much that message of stern resolve on the Iranian nuclear issue comes to bear once incorporating the varying opinions and approaches that encompasses our foreign policy over the past several years.

As we have learned from the playground, diplomacy only goes so far sometimes. With the playground bully, the kid continues to take your lunch money until you put up for yourself. It doesn’t matter how many teachers you tell or how many times that kid goes to detention – when the next chance comes up to do the same thing without getting caught, he (or she) is coming back to collect. The same is true with some of the rogue nations that we are dealing with internationally.