Afghanistan is a divided country. The south and east are dangerous because Taliban forces are resurgent there; NATO casualties have been significant. The north and west are quieter; peacekeeping prevails. Tensions have grown between front-line alliance states fighting a war and those that are not.

The former group, battling the Taliban in Helmand Province and elsewhere, includes the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. The latter is dominated by Germany, Spain and Italy. The split gives a rough guide to parts of the world that still see military force as inextricable from international security and others that are now functionally pacifist.
...
One German retort I’ve heard is that it’s no good having the United States demand that its allies fight and die in southern Afghanistan when Washington refuses debate over the role of its pampered friend, Pakistan, in the violence.

That’s a fair point. Still, it’s time to bring on the Bundesmacht and past time for continental Europe to overcome its pacifist mirage and accept that these are dangerous times demanding serious defense budgets and sacrifice.

Time for the Bundesmacht - New York Times

We live in a society saturated with sex, but disabled people can often feel they've not been invited to the party. Some feel prostitution might provide the answer. But is visiting a brothel the right thing to do?

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oh for an ideal world

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Is it OK for disabled people to go to brothels?

I am kneeling in the silt at the edge of the Madison River, halfway down the Madison Valley north of Yellowstone Park. The afternoon light is dropping, and the clouds hover just above the asphalt on the highway across the river. Snow is coming down hard, skidding upstream as if it were falling in horizontal threads. I am casting a trout fly no bigger than a snowflake, letting the wind carry it above the fish - rainbows and browns - that are feeding in the shallows in front of me.

lovely

Fishing is never simple - International Herald Tribune

Rockets still pierce the heavens in a halo of smoke during launches, and engineers and military men still crack open bottles of vodka to celebrate a successful launch. What has changed are the passengers. Nowadays Baikonur embraces the world, from wealthy space tourists to the world's first Malaysian cosmonaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who blasted off for the international space station on Oct. 10.

Russia's Space City Frozen in Time

Just 10 years ago, the proposed merger of SABMiller and Molson Coors into MillerCoors would have worried craft brewers. Back then, "American beer" was thought of as a cheap product with very little beer flavor.

Today the United States has by far the most exciting beer culture in the world, and America's 1,500 craft brewers are undaunted by the prospect of a juggernaut that would have more than 30 percent of the domestic market. The age of American industrial brewing is over.
...
Now Americans are moving away from spongy industrial bread, watery coffee, plasticized "cheese" and other wonders of modern food science. The top maker of white supermarket bread went bankrupt a few years ago.

just as France turns more American
let's celebrate something French
quality of life

Don't fear Big Beer - International Herald Tribune

Kara Walker, the celebrated African American conceptual artist, addresses issues related to race and racism in the ugliest of terms. In a world where the presence of a hangman's noose swaying from the limb of a Louisiana tree can incite violence, lopsided prosecutorial zeal and tear-choked demands for justice, Walker creates images so disturbing that they can shock a viewer dumb.

Symbols of Hatred in the Shadows - washingtonpost.com

Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.
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After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

...
"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."

JK respect is due

J.K. Rowling outs Hogwarts character - Yahoo! News

i woke up suddenly, quite early for me, from a dream

there was a riddle, it was all — Left or Right?

But the underlying riddle was:–

What is the ultimate goal of any quest or adventure?

the answer in the dream was HOME and therefore right

it may seem a little trite but I still like it as apart from anything else it reminds me of The Odyssey - Ithaca - or win the girl, the gold, slay Grendel et al and go home — maybe the quest is for a better home like pioneers - in Lord of the Rings Frodo leaves as the hero but it is really Sam who left as a comic fool who changes, returns home a hero, and finds home

Widely regarded as one of the wittiest men in Britain, Alan Coren, who has died aged 69, was one of BBC Radio 4's best-loved voices, while his journalism won him a legion of fans.

he will be sadly missed
i know he name won't mean a thing to Americans but i'm a Radio 4 listener and his passing should be marked

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Obituary: Alan Coren

As recently as Aug. 7, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan declared the Taliban a "defeated" and "spent" terrorist force, and vowed publicly, together with President George W. Bush, to finish off the militia. But barely seven weeks later, Karzai has publicly pleaded with the reclusive Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and a notoriously murderous warlord leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, to meet with him for peace talks.

Don't cave in to the Taliban - International Herald Tribune