The statistics for the education levels of young Palestinians refugees are shameful, and to some extend explain why such youngsters form a fertile recruiting ground for those who would radicalize their world view. This sampling from the Palestinian population resident in Lebanese refugee camps is a stark reminder of how yet another generation of youngsters is being sacrificed to make a political point - 50 percent of 17-year-olds and 40 percent of 16-year-olds receiving no education - nearly ... Read Full Story

Here’s a little story that slipped past the headlines, which you can interpret as either artistic freedom or Hollywood leftist insanity, depending on your bias. Iran is portrayed as the evil empire  and ostracized by many in the West, but apparently some think that is the wrong approach. Sidney Ganis, President of Academy of Motion Pictures recently visited Iran to review the current crop of Iranian films. Interestingly, Ganis, presents this rather unorthodox visit thus, “…the main purpose o... Read Full Story

If I said Emma Sky and you didn’t have the wonders of Google at your fingertips would you know who she is? Ii is a good trivia question for the Thanksgiving period. Certainly she is less well-known is Gen. Ray Odierno, the US Commander in Iraq, but as far as the future strategies of the West there she is arguably more important. Emma Sky is a long time worker in the region. She has worked in NGO’s, diplomatic , charitable and civil groups in the region, She was once a vocal opponent of the wa... Read Full Story

India served a challenge to the US this week.  Indian environment minister, Jairam Ramesh told the US if it wants to get serious about environmental emissions if needs to stop eating so much beef. An American is the biggest beef consumer, eating 25% more than Europeans. However, Ramesh is not so concerned about depletion of forest to create grazing land for cattle, the inefficiency of how cattle consume more food stuffs than they produce, or even the health impacts of the feed additives freq... Read Full Story

If you know Anwar al-Awlaki’s name, it is probably in relation to the recent tragic murders at Fort Hood. The murder of 13 soldiers by Major Nidal Malik Hasan drove another wedge deeper and harder between an already traumatized US population and the religion of Islam. Hasan had exchanged dozens of emails with cleric al-Awlaki, and his radicalized teachings are thought to have further agitated Hasan ; an individual who already seemed to have only a tenuous grasp on the realities of his existen... Read Full Story

In a story that might make you think twice before reaching for your lipstick,  a gang has just been captured in Peru that have confessed to killing people to drain their fat and sell it to cosmetic manufacturers. While only part of the gang has yet been caught, these three members have confessed to five people but are suspected of many more. At least six more members of the gang are still at large. The murderers allege that human fat fetches $60,000 per gallon on the black market and ends up... Read Full Story

Bioengineering has a checkered reputation. Many people object to science manipulating nature for gain, and suspect that such initiatives will come back to haunt us through unexpected mutations and environmental impact. However, in a nice little story Scottish researchers have developed a bacterium that glows green in the presence of explosives. Such a development could prove a boon to nations left with a legacy of unmapped and unexploded ordinance such as Cambodia, Lebanon and many parts of A... Read Full Story

France has the largest Muslim population in Europe. Some 6 million Muslims reside in France, some albeit trying to head to different countries; France has become a sort of Mecca in attracting migrant Muslims. This observant population raises challenges for a mainly secular nation, and France has been firm about limiting the influence of Sharia in the country.  France has recently angered some traditional Muslims  by banning the wearing of veils in schools, aggressively enforcing dress codes ... Read Full Story

In a move that has surprised some, the Iraqi Vice President, Tariq al-Hashemi, has used his veto to kill new election laws putting the planned January elections at risk. The concern is that the new law would limit the opportunity for many Iraqis who fled the country during the troubles to lodge their absentee vote. Of course, the vast majority of these now ex-pats are Sunni who feared reprisal for Shia militia. The Kurds are also up in arms about the new legislation. After originally voting ... Read Full Story

When you write articles that are on occasion critical of Israel, one is rarely excluded from receiving some hate mail. Some of it is fairly innocent, in the shame on you category; others often accuse of being an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew depending on the readers take of one’s religious preference. You do sometimes earn censure from more auspicious places. One of our articles once engendered an attack from an ex-member of the Knesset. It can be a little wearisome, and the odd comment or... Read Full Story