WE'VE
always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation
would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall,
when it came, would be something grand and tragic. What we're
getting instead is less a tragedy than a deadly farce. Instead
of fraying under the strain of imperial overstretch, we're paralysed
by procedure. Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of
Rome, we're re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland.
A brief history lesson: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the
Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle:
any member could nullify legislation by shouting "I do
not allow!"
THISweekend,
the fledgling Tea Party movement has been holding a convention
in Nashville, Tennessee. White, middle-class, contemptuous of
Wall Street, Washington and academia, the Tea Party insurgents
view themselves as the descendants of the militiamen who whipped
the British at Yorktown. Ironically, with the exception of George
Washington, most of the firebrands of the revolution were intellectuals:
Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, John Jay,
John Adams, James Madison, Samuel Adams. Only Paul Revere worked
in retail. The Tea Party insurgents have had a nice run recently,
disrupting public hearings, shouting...
Iran said
on Monday it has formally told
the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) of its plan to produce
higher enriched uranium, sparking
fresh warnings by world powers
of new sanctions against the...
Climate change
has already started affecting
hundreds of bird species, including
several species belonging to the
Middle East, the chief executive
of the world's biggest NGO dedicated
to the conservation of bird species...
A measured
and short-term government stimulus
for the real estate sector could
help stabilise the fluctuating
prices in the realty market, a
senior executive of Salam International
has said...
Drew Brees
and the New Orleans Saints became
Super Bowl champions after rallying
to beat Peyton Manning and the
Indianapolis Colts 31-17 on Sunday
in one of the NFL's most thrilling
title games.
The whoops
and giggles, heard at 5:42 am
recently as Anne Hathaway announced
that The Blind Side was in the
pool of 10 best picture nominees
at the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, were the sound...
Award-winning journalist Evan Osnos from The New Yorker visited Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) on Monday to discuss press freedom and media development in Qatar, the region and China. Osnos, who contributed to a series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, participated in a Q&A session with NU-Q faculty members, students and staff, along with members of the Doha community. A discussion...
The First Doha Food Festival organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) as part of the Doha Arab Capital of Culture announced the names of award winners at the closing ceremony of the festival on Saturday. Mykonos, the Greek- Mediterranean restaurant at the InterContinental Doha, was named ´Doha´s Best Restaurant´. The title was based on the public´s votes by way of coupons sold for their dishes, interaction with the public as well as overall...
From Syria to Qatar, was the title of the Syrian fashion show that wowed those who gathered at the Qatar National Theatre. Brought from Aleppo city, the traditional and modern designs displayed were both inspiring and breathtaking. To the accompaniment of traditional Syrian music models sashayed down the ramp, scorching the runway with designs and colours that exuded creativity and imagination. Organised as part of the Syrian...
Anglo-Swiss mining group Xstrata on Monday reported a 41 percent drop in its annual profit in 2009 and pinned its hopes on a renewed boom in commodities demand in China and other emerging economies. Xstrata chief Mick Davis predicted that commodities markets would shrug off depressed demand and prices triggered by the financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 and return to a situation where demand would...
Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who brokered the investment bank´s controversial sale to Bank of America, is taking over as chairman and CEO of CIT Group as the commercial lender continues to restructure its business following a brief stay in bankruptcy protection last year. CIT Group Inc, one of the nation´s largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, said Thain will take the helm immediately. The 54-year-old replaces acting...
Small businesses are becoming the Achilles heel of the US recovery by limiting growth and job creation. Companies with fewer than 500 employees, such as Phoenix Technologies Ltd and Sonic Corp, helped lead the economy out of the four recessions since 1980. This time, they continue to cut capital spending and dismiss workers, eliminating 3,000 jobs in January, according to Roseland, New Jersey-based...
Steve Stricker held on to win the $6.4-million Northern Trust Open on Sunday, firing a final-round 70 to beat England´s Luke Donald by two strokes. With the win, Stricker will overtake fellow American Phil Mickelson as number two in the world when the new rankings come out this week. Stricker started the final round at historic Riviera Country Club with a six-shot lead, but he found the big cushion anything but comfortable. "You play scared...
Carlo Ancelotti paid tribute to John Terry´s inspirational leadership after the Chelsea captain put aside his off-field problems to help the Blues secure a crucial 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday. Terry gave a commanding performance and set up Didier Drogba´s first half goal just two days after being sensationally stripped of the England captaincy as a result of his alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of international team-mate Wayne Bridge...
Dale Steyn produced a sensational exhibition of seam bowling to rip apart India´s fragile middle order and leave the hosts staring at an embarrassing defeat in the first Test against South Africa on Monday. The 26-year-old Steyn returned with a career-best haul of seven for 51 as the hosts were bundled out for 233 in the first innings and suffered the ignominy of follow-on despite Virender Sehwag´s aggressive 109. Trailing by a mammoth 325 runs...
Hey, kids! Those CSI theme songs sure are catchy, right? The band that wrote them wants you to know there´s a lot more where that came from. In a melding of the quintessential British band and the most American of events, the Who delivered about 12 minutes of glory on February 7 at the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIV on CBS. The band is the latest in a line of mostly boomer-oriented A-list rock stars to play the spectacle, among them...
Striker, as we can well see, was not an easy film to make. It´s not an easy film to see either. The vast near-epic scale scope and expanse of the slum saga stretches into two hours of a non-linear narration where time passages are made without borders. The lack of punctuation marks in the telling of the tale of the coming of age and rage of the protagonist Surya (Siddharth) is a major detriment in identifying the swarm of characters as people...
Helena Bonham Carter fancies a drink. So she orders a double espresso. And a glass of fizzy water. And an apple smoothie. She looks rather worried when I order just a coffee. "Is that all you want?" she asks gently. Multiple drinking, she explains, is the way to a balanced diet. She admits her theory is not based on pure science and says she´s got something to show me, and produces a freaky cardboard cutout of a little woman with a huge...
Sri Lanka arrested former army commander
and losing presidential candidate
General Sarath Fonseka at his
office on Monday night, for what the
army said were military offences.
Fonseka lost by an 18 percent margin
to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a
January 26 election.
To mark the first anniversary of
the launch of Shahry Value Packs on
Monday, Qtel has made local calls free
for all its Shahry Value Packs subscribers.
The unlimited free local call
offer will be available until March 10,
according to a Qtel announcement on
Monday.
Award-winning journalist Evan Osnos from The New Yorker visited Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) on Monday to discuss press freedom and media development in Qatar, the region and China. Osnos, who contributed to a series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, participated in a Q&A session with NU-Q faculty members, students and staff, along with members of the Doha community. A discussion... 
The First Doha Food Festival organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) as part of the Doha Arab Capital of Culture announced the names of award winners at the closing ceremony of the festival on Saturday. Mykonos, the Greek- Mediterranean restaurant at the InterContinental Doha, was named ´Doha´s Best Restaurant´. The title was based on the public´s votes by way of coupons sold for their dishes, interaction with the public as well as overall... 
From Syria to Qatar, was the title of the Syrian fashion show that wowed those who gathered at the Qatar National Theatre. Brought from Aleppo city, the traditional and modern designs displayed were both inspiring and breathtaking. To the accompaniment of traditional Syrian music models sashayed down the ramp, scorching the runway with designs and colours that exuded creativity and imagination. Organised as part of the Syrian...
Anglo-Swiss mining group Xstrata on Monday reported a 41 percent drop in its annual profit in 2009 and pinned its hopes on a renewed boom in commodities demand in China and other emerging economies. Xstrata chief Mick Davis predicted that commodities markets would shrug off depressed demand and prices triggered by the financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 and return to a situation where demand would... 
Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who brokered the investment bank´s controversial sale to Bank of America, is taking over as chairman and CEO of CIT Group as the commercial lender continues to restructure its business following a brief stay in bankruptcy protection last year. CIT Group Inc, one of the nation´s largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, said Thain will take the helm immediately. The 54-year-old replaces acting... 
Small businesses are becoming the Achilles heel of the US recovery by limiting growth and job creation. Companies with fewer than 500 employees, such as Phoenix Technologies Ltd and Sonic Corp, helped lead the economy out of the four recessions since 1980. This time, they continue to cut capital spending and dismiss workers, eliminating 3,000 jobs in January, according to Roseland, New Jersey-based...
Steve Stricker held on to win the $6.4-million Northern Trust Open on Sunday, firing a final-round 70 to beat England´s Luke Donald by two strokes. With the win, Stricker will overtake fellow American Phil Mickelson as number two in the world when the new rankings come out this week. Stricker started the final round at historic Riviera Country Club with a six-shot lead, but he found the big cushion anything but comfortable. "You play scared...
Carlo Ancelotti paid tribute to John Terry´s inspirational leadership after the Chelsea captain put aside his off-field problems to help the Blues secure a crucial 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday. Terry gave a commanding performance and set up Didier Drogba´s first half goal just two days after being sensationally stripped of the England captaincy as a result of his alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of international team-mate Wayne Bridge... 
Dale Steyn produced a sensational exhibition of seam bowling to rip apart India´s fragile middle order and leave the hosts staring at an embarrassing defeat in the first Test against South Africa on Monday. The 26-year-old Steyn returned with a career-best haul of seven for 51 as the hosts were bundled out for 233 in the first innings and suffered the ignominy of follow-on despite Virender Sehwag´s aggressive 109. Trailing by a mammoth 325 runs... 
Hey, kids! Those CSI theme songs sure are catchy, right? The band that wrote them wants you to know there´s a lot more where that came from. In a melding of the quintessential British band and the most American of events, the Who delivered about 12 minutes of glory on February 7 at the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIV on CBS. The band is the latest in a line of mostly boomer-oriented A-list rock stars to play the spectacle, among them... 
Striker, as we can well see, was not an easy film to make. It´s not an easy film to see either. The vast near-epic scale scope and expanse of the slum saga stretches into two hours of a non-linear narration where time passages are made without borders. The lack of punctuation marks in the telling of the tale of the coming of age and rage of the protagonist Surya (Siddharth) is a major detriment in identifying the swarm of characters as people...
Helena Bonham Carter fancies a drink. So she orders a double espresso. And a glass of fizzy water. And an apple smoothie. She looks rather worried when I order just a coffee. "Is that all you want?" she asks gently. Multiple drinking, she explains, is the way to a balanced diet. She admits her theory is not based on pure science and says she´s got something to show me, and produces a freaky cardboard cutout of a little woman with a huge...
