D id you know that the IBM Center for the Business of Government hosts a " Presidential Transition " blog; that the Council on Foreign Relations has its own " Transition Blog: The New Administration "; and that the American

S unday morning, before dawn, I read in the New York Times that "the Pentagon is planning to add more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan" within the next 18 months "raising American force levels to about 58,000" in that country.

A nticipating the ascent of President-elect Barack Obama to the Oval Office, groups of hawks, among them neoconservatives, have begun to offer public advice on just exactly what the new administration should do to deal with Iran. Accusing Iran of

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Aquil Busral, national president of NHRDN and the executive director, human resources, IBM India Private Ltd talks about global metdown and its impact on India.

Kiran Bedi talks to Rajul Hegde about her new TV show, and also tries to find solutions for the terror attack on Mumbai.

Prognostication is by far the riskiest form of punditry. The 10 commentators and leaders on this list learned that the hard way when their confident predictions about politics, war, the economy, and even the end of humanity itself completely missed

A remarkable exchange from Lesley's Stahl's eye-opening 60 Minutes report on Saudi Arabian oil: Here's a transcript: STAHL: So what do you say to people out there, like Al Gore and now Mr. Obama, that say we have to devote

When former Clinton aide Don Baer, former Ford spokesman Ron Nessen, former newsman Marvin Kalb, Brookings Institution author Stephen Hess, and former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan got together December 1 for a seminar about President-Elect Barack Obama's communications operation, they

A newly released report confirms what we already knew: No high-quality study done to date can document that having an abortion causes psychological distress, or a "post-abortion syndrome," and efforts to show it does occur appear to be politically motivated,

A belated congratulations to David "The Undertaker" Gregory, who is now the most boring of all Sunday talk show hosts. I still can't get over the fact that he's just 38 -- I'd always thought he was much older than

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, taylormattd, vcmvo2, YatPundit, watercarrier4diogenes, HansScholl and grog. durrati ruminates on a film that resonates deeply with him in On Loss and Joy After Watching "The Visitor". (Louisiana 1976) CB8421 gives us interesting details on

At The Guardian, Richard Norton-Taylor, Julian Borger and Suzanne Goldenberg write: Convoy attacks trigger race to open new Afghan supply lines Nato countries are scrambling for alternative routes as far afield as Belarus and Ukraine to supply their forces in

Your one stop pundit shop. Ruth Marcus gives a "girly" reason why Caroline Kennedy should take Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. Pretty embarrassing. Eugene Robinson dismisses the idea that the indictment of five former Blackwater security guards is an accountability moment:

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE Since California's Proposition 8 passed... The economy has gotten worse Unemployment has skyrocketed All the leaves fell off my trees George Bush slobbered all over Barbra Streisand Terrorists struck another city It's turned bitterly

The premise behind the old 'war is good for the economy' saying is that government spending can help the economy. That's not entirely true: the Civil War didn't exactly unleash a bull Confederate bond market. But if you're on the

Beirut- Today in Lebanon is the first day of Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice . It is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide in commemoration of the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son

Beirut- Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has agreed with Iranian ambassador Mohammed Reza Shibani to draw up an agreement for bilateral cooperation between Lebanon and Iran ahead of a possible visit by Siniora to Tehran.

Beirut- Former cabinet minister and staunch pro-Syrian ally Wiam Wahhab has threatened Druze leader Walid Jumblatt with retaliation over an overnight shooting incident in the Chouf mountains which he claimed was an assassination attempt on his life.

Muzaffarabad - Pakistani security forces have raided a training camp used by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for last month's attack on Mumbai, and arrested at least 12 of the group's activists, government officials said today.