January 2005
War Created Haven, CIA Advisers Report
by mikepower
Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director's think tank.
Special reports: Bush under fire over human rights
by mikepower
America's human rights abuses have provided a rallying cry for terrorists and set a bad example to regimes seeking to justify their own poor rights records, a leading independent watchdog said yesterday.
In praise of blasphemy
by mikepower
A multicultural society needs not more taboos but more tolerance for taboo-breaking
Worse Than Fiction: Read it and weep (or laugh)
by mikepower
I've been thinking of writing a political novel. It will be a bad novel because there won't be any nuance: the villains won't just espouse an ideology I disagree with - they'll be hypocrites, cranks and scoundrels.
December 2004
USS Clueless The best of Den Beste
by mikepower
Links to blog entries by Den Beste that he considers are among the best or most important he has written
Canada Goes To Hell
by mikepower
Funny and true, great piece by Mark Morford. Legal pot? Legal gay marriage? Universal health care? What's next, free porn and candy?
Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock
by mikepower
Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
November 2004
Index of political blogs
by mikepower & 1 other
Here is an index to a selection of the most visible politically-oriented blogs.
The 'blog' revolution sweeps across China
by mikepower
Ever since the Communist party took power in 1949, the Chinese media has been tightly controlled by the government. Online publishing is a real threat to that control, and the government is clearly worried. A crackdown in 2003 closed websites and internet
Fear gives politicians a reason to be
by mikepower
We may be living through an incredible era of prosperity and calm in which politics as a force for transforming the world has gone into abeyance - and when a real crisis comes along, politics will return in a new form we cannot possibly imagine
