Zoey, Our new cat

Arab Americans - How Not To Make Friends

you have to make up your mind whether you are Arab or American. You cannot be both when it comes to an existential fight.

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The Benevolence of Bill Gates

An aura of invincible altruism surrounds the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.but their investment policies have come under fire

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Bad Products Made in China - Can the Dragon Drag On?

Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys, which totals close to a million plastic pre-school toys, due to excessive amounts of lead in the paint of these toys. Even though it is still ubiquitous to find Chinese manufactured products, public paranoia is slowly setting in about Chinese goods

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All Charges Dropped Against Dr. Haneef, Indian Doctor in Australia

Dr. Haneef is effectively a free man and the Australian government wiping some muck off their face after dropping all terrorism-related charges against the Indian doctor in a Brisbane magistrates court.And so it goes.

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Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It is the relationship between two of her strongest characters that interests me. Despite his lengthy time off-stage, Snape is a significant character in the series, and his emotions towards the eponymous hero are quite well-known. It is in the Deathly Hallows that the author makes clear what lies at the root of all the resentment and the anger.

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America - Fear is the Key

There's a presidential election looming and 'tis the season for fear mongering. The FBI seeks to replenish the government's stock of fear capital by alerting us against foreign-born spies. Ordinary folks like you and me that roam the corridors of American businesses and institutions.

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Thomas de Zengotita: Maliki Lets Us Glimpse The Truth About Iraq

This war has been a massive exercise in national narcissism from the beginning. How fitting that efforts to bring it an end must feed the same appetite.Truer words were never spoken.

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Indian Doctor Charged Over UK Bomb Plot in Australia

Dr. Mohammed Haneef, the Indian doctor held for questioning in connection with the Glasgow bombing on the 30th of July has been charged with 'providing support to a terrorist organization'. This comes soon after earlier glimmers of hope for the family amidst media reports that the Australian police might not detain him any longer.Don't give SIM cards to your family, folks, even if it means breaking a contract.

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The Colors and Horrors of Passchendaele

The never before seen color photographs of the bloody battle of Passchendaele

The horrors of the Great War were, on a relative scale, immense and shocking. These pictures are stunning and tell much through the visual images.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The movie does justice to the funny yet dark book that is The Order of the Phoenix.

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PS3 Price Drop causes a 2800% increase in sales

After official confirmation of the price drop, sales at Amazon.com for the 60GB PS3 have spiked by 2800% and have overtaken the Wii and Guitar Hero: Rock the 80s as the best selling item in the Video Game category.Microsoft is sure to drop the XBox 360 price too, so I'm all happy now:)

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Keith Olbermann: Bush and Cheney Should Resign - the original article

The J'accuse of the 21st century, a damning indictment or will he be ignored, Cassandra-like

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Star Wars at 30 - the Republic, the Empire and the Rebel Alliance

We've seen the galactic Republic be replaced by an Empire, which is challenged by a rebel alliance that topples the empire, to replace it with a new Republic.Our world too, has gone through tumultuous change, though not quite in the same order.The American Republic faced down the Russian 'Evil Empire',deal with a Rebel Alliance, & become an Empire.I love the Star Wars films, and writing this article brought it all back to me.



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Child Soldiers and India's Insurgency

It is detestable indeed that young children are being exposed to death, destruction and violence at such a young and impressionable age. The social costs are appalling, not to speak of the personal tragedy.



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The Problem With Micropayments - Sorry, Wrong Number

Everyone who imagines a working micropayment system either misunderstands user preferences, or imagines preventing users from expressing those preferences. The working micropayments systems that people hold up as existence proofs — ringtones, iTunes — are businesses that have escaped from market dynamics through a monopoly or cartel



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Fantasy Cricket: The Best of the Rest vs. Australia

Can an entire XI could be picked from the Rest of World that could challenge Australia?



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Fascist America, in 10 easy steps...

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them allClever, but strained logic.



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Should IT Companies Have Tax Holidays?

Indian IT Companies, the ones either remaking the software services world, or taking away jobs, have risen to their size, in part because of a near zero-tax policy. Why should certain big companies, which have gone public, have a brand name, and are making colossal profits, be enjoying a tax holiday?

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UNICEF (India) Chief Accused of Attempted Rape

UNICEF India chief Cecilio Adorna was accused by a 44-year old woman, Archana Pandey, that he sexually harassed and attempted to rape her. These are serious charges and if convicted Adorna can spend couple of years in Indian jail. The police won't file a case and the media won't cover the issue.

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