Recently in World Category

On June 22, 2008 -- I read an interesting article in The New York Times claiming the sovereign state of Poland was, in fact, the 51st state of the United States. I wonder what sort of tax rate the people of Poland will pay to help us bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Kathakali Chatterjee wrote this article.

I almost forgot how it felt to get completely drenched in a downpour after suffering in a scorching heat for three months. I remembered it yesterday as I got soaked in an early June thunderstorm last night - when you do you know much long waited monsoon has finally arrived.  It feels divine.

I was alarmed to read yesterday that up to 17 United States Navy warships may have been used to detain terror suspects by hiding them from international scrutiny, and the legal system, on "black water" prison ships -- creating, in an alarming way -- terrorist detainment camps in military hulks.  Are the USS Bataan and USS Peleliu the new Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay?

The recent earthquake in Wen Chuan, China gives us a moment to reflect on our mortality in sorrow, express a renewed appreciation for being alive, and an opportunity to learn how we grieve and how we always try to look for stories of hope in the propagation of news from a disaster site.

I call those propagated stories of incredible survival -- "Miracle Myth Memes" -- and they are a fascinating cultural salve against the unthinkable.

I'm sure you've met them before -- the people that do a thousand things yet have no meaning or magnitude attached to the learning in the experience.  They live overwhelmed and without wonder.

Dananjay Anandan wrote this article.

There's a new act in the circus and it's called the Indian Premier League.

Do Americans always look for the worst in the best?  Is the one thing we universally share with each other a national Death Wish?

Today is Earth Day in America!

We experienced a total lunar eclipse last night -- and this morning at 6:50am Eastern -- Janna took this image with her iPhone of a dying moon, still shining in its ghostly, copper, glory, as it falls into the horizon at the Journal Square PATH train station in Jersey City, New Jersey. The moon, if you can't see it, is dipping right below the traffic lights in the lower center of the image.

Total lunar eclipses are special because they provide a range of colors as the moon treads through the sky in the earth's shadow:

As it slips into the darkness, the moon will change colors that can range from a dull gray to a brilliant copper-red with a bright blue rim. While the earth blocks direct rays from the sun, the atmosphere refracts some of the light into the shadow.

The moon is a powerful meme. We know the Wolfman lurks under a full moon -- but is the moon a feminine energy or a masculine one?

Do you think think the moon has the power to pull and influence the water in our bodies? When a full moon blossoms, does erratic human behavior flow? The next total lunar eclipse will take place on December 21, 2010 -- mark it on your calendar right now to give it a copper memeing you will never forget.

Kathakali Chatterjee wrote this article.

The recent race feud between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton basically calling Obama a "boy", and the previous Senator Macaca mess -- all reminded me of the Indian cricketer being accused for racism as he called names while playing a test cricket series in Australia last month.

The Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds "a monkey" in the Sydney test cricket in Australia and was subsequently banned for next three matches. Here is Symonds in play: