US a failed state? Olmert, Israeli Police, Universal Literacy, Chinese Navy. WHy Poetry Matters, Afghanistan

US Joins Ranks Of Failed States - By Paul Craig RobertsThere is no money to provide the uninsured with health care, but Pentagon officials have told the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the House that every gallon of gasoline delivered to US troops in Afghanistan costs American taxpayers $400

EI video of Olmert protest goes global - The Electronic Intifada's exclusive footage of the multiple disruptions of former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's speech in Chicago last week has now been seen by millions all over the world. EI's exclusive video report of this event, posted on YouTube, had 100,000 views and had been reposted or cited as a source by news organizations all over the world.

NYT Takes on Obama's Volcker Exile - In The Audit - Why won't the Obama administration listen to its most credible economic adviser? That's the question—and it's an essential one— asked by The New York Times this morning on page one. The adviser, of course, is Paul Volcker (I'm guessing you knew the most credible wasn't Larry Summers or Tim Geithner). Volcker is

Israeli Police Don Arab Disguise - By Jonathan Cook Civil rights groups in Israel have expressed outrage at the announcement last week that a special undercover unit of the police has been infiltrating and collecting intelligence on Israels Arab minority by disguising its officers as Arabsctogenarian pre-Greenspan Fed chief credited with...

Nearly universal literacy is a defining characteristic of today’s modern civilization; nearly universal authorship will shape tomorrow's - Denis G. Pelli and Charles Bigelow in Seed:
Nearly everyone reads. Soon, nearly everyone will publish. Before 1455, books were handwritten, and it took a scribe a year to produce a Bible. Today, it takes only a minute to send a tweet or update a blog. Rates of authorship are increasing by historic orders of magnitude. Nearly universal authorship, like universal literacy before it, stands to reshape society by hastening the flow of information and making individuals more influential

China's navy sails past India's dock - Three Chinese naval vessels do not make a fleet, but they do make a statement. By sending them to patrol off the coast of Somalia as part of the multinational force operating there, in effect, China is saying to India, "We're back." - Peter J Brownl.

Why Poetry Matters (Why X Matters)by Jay Parini - If you were to write a book called Why Poetry Matters, you would be wise to concede, as Jay Parini does, that "to most people" it doesn't. "That is, most people don't write it, don't read it, and don't have any idea why anybody would spend valuable time doing such a thing." Especially if, again like Parini, you have also written poetry, fiction, literary criticism, biography, a textbook called An Invitation to Poetry (1987), and a book of essays on poetry and politics called Some Necessary Angels (1997). You might reasonably ask: Has my invitation been accepted? Have readers acknowledged my necessary angels?

Indian subcontinent dominates Man Asian literary prize shortlist - By Alison Flood - Two Indian and one Kashmiri-born novelists compete against Chinese and Filipino authors for $10,000 prize The final for this year's Man Asian literary prize is dominated by writers from the Indian subcontinent. Of the five shortlisted authors, two are Indian and one is Kashmiri-born, with the field completed by one Chinese and one Filipino author contending for the prize, which was conceived "to bring exciting new Asian authors to the attention of the world literary community". It is now into its third year and carries a $10,000 (£6,000) purse.



Politics in Afghanistan: Karzai FoldsAccording to the New York Times and CNN, Senator John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry have prevailed upon Afghan President Hamid Karzai to concede that he did not win 50 percent in the initial presidential vote, which would pave the way for a runoff. (In fact, about a quarter of the votes counted in the initial balloting were fraudulent, and a third of Karzai’s were bogus.)