General

Terror attacks: Snapshot of the wreckage from a series of bomb blasts targeting London buses and underground stations yesterday that killed 50 (and counting) and injured over 700 innocent people….An obscure group purportedly affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility. The emotions of Londoners are in a complete flux today as they try to reconcile the… Read more.

Yesterday, Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the US District Court in Washington DC sentenced New York Times reporter Judith Miller to jail for refusing to obey a court order to reveal her confidential source who illegally leaked the name of a covert CIA operative. When Miller and co-defendant TIME Magazine reporter Mathew Cooper were tied… Read more.

This morning, Londoners erupted in jubilation in Trafalgar Square upon hearing the announcement that they had won the bid to host the summer Olympics for an historic third time. Paris was heavily favored but their cause could not have been helped by President Jacque Chirac’s surly, condescending, and unsportsmanlike conduct on the eve of the… Read more.

For weeks before the music started playing on Saturday, Sir Bob Geldof and Live 8 organizers were beset by in-fighting, accusations of racism and the carping of do-nothing doubters. Yet, they must have been heartened by the billions who reportedly tuned-in to hear their message – delivered with musical rhythms – of debt relief and… Read more.

Traditionally, the last Monday in June is when the US Supreme Court meets for the final day of its current term. And, because the Court usually issues a flood of decisions on this day, it is invariably fraught with suspense and high drama. Nevertheless, pending decisions in a few controversial cases and, more importantly, the… Read more.

Venus Williams displaying a rare combination of beauty and strength during her Wimbledon Championship match… On Saturday, with undiminished skill, indefatigable strength and unbridled joy, Venus Williams rose like a phoenix to reign atop the world of women’s professional tennis. In the longest match in Wimbledon history, Williams outlasted a formidable Lindsay Davenport to reclaim… Read more.

Leg Deine Karten Auf Den Tisch! Germany is an economic basket case primarily because Germans are tethered to welfare programs the country can no longer afford. Therefore, to address this national crisis, Chancellor Gerhardt Schröder called for early elections on Friday – claiming that “without a new mandate my political program [of austere remedial reforms]… Read more.

When the US Supreme Court ruled last week that “eminent domain” grants local governments the power to seize private homes in the interest of economic development, the ruling prompted bipartisan condemnation in Washington and around the country. But now, some private citizens have decided that instead of just getting mad they’re going to get even:… Read more.

Impanel professional juries It’s high time the American criminal justice system started impaneling professional juries.  Often, lay jurors get reams of evidence and over one hundred pages of jury instructions, akin to a foreign language. Yet, we expect them to process all that and then render verdicts that could strip defendants of their liberty or even their lives.… Read more.

American media has a habit of crediting white people for social and cultural trends that had long become commonplace in the black community. For example, when Bo Derek donned her cornrows for the movie “10”, one might have thought that was the first time any woman had worn her hair in that style; when, in… Read more.