American Buddhist Net

America talks the talk; Pyongyang walks the walk. At least according to Kim Jong Il's domestic propaganda machine. In countless posters displayed in city centers, North Korean resolve is contrasted with American spinelessness. "If we say we do something, we do it," a towering Korean People's Army soldier shouts in one poster as he slams his clenched fist down on the continental United States. "We don't utter empty words!" Other posters depict North Korean fighter planes and missiles destroying the U.S. Capitol while helpless American soldiers, mere spindly, insectlike creatures, are hoisted effortlessly on bayonets or squashed under missiles.

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Hundreds of Bangladeshi Buddhist student monks staged a peaceful rally outside the UN office in Bangkok, Thailand, on 5 March. The monks, largely members of the Jumma tribe from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh, called for UN help amid a spate of violence against the country’s indigenous people.

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The Soviet Union is gradually being rebuilt as Vladimir Putin eyes a return to the Kremlin. The man who declared the collapse of the Communist state to be the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” appears determined to forge a new empire.

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The House voted down a challenge to President Obama's conduct of the war in Afghanistan Wednesday, rejecting a measure that would have compelled U.S. armed forces to leave the country within 30 days.

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In this edition of CrossTalk host Peter Lavelle asks his guests why discussion of the events of 9/11 continue to attrack so much attention but is all but banned in the media mainstream.

The US shrugged off Israel’s small settlement announcement yesterday, insisting that it would have no impact on peace talks, even as Palestinian officials were condemning it and analysts were wondering why Israel did so as Vice President Joe Biden was arriving in the nation. Today, the other shoe fell.

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HAVANA — Looking in the mirror used to make Yiliam Gonzalez sick to her stomach.

"I would see myself, and my body didn't match who I was," said the 28-year-old wedding pianist, who went by William before receiving a sex change under Cuba's universal health care system.

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GHAZIABAD, Uttar Pradesh - His silk robes, ornate turbans and high-end imported sedans belie his status as "god-man", a Hindu ascetic who guides people in their spiritual quest. In fact, the personalized carriage that chugs around a specially laid railway track in his ashram, as well as his sprawling farms, dairies, factories, bakeries, schools and floating, revolving restaurant, all point to a life of luxury.

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After storming Africa, resource-hungry China Monday made a big opening into the Latin American mineral market by inking a USD 1-billion deal with Canadian copper major Quadra Mining Ltd for a stake in its copper operations in Chile.

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Don't mess with a century-old tradition even if it is sexist, Canadians told the Conservative government this week, forcing Ottawa to scrap plans to make the country's national anthem gender-neutral.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia – Scores of Islamic students staged protests outside Jakarta's parliament and in at least three other major Indonesian cities on Friday against President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to this predominantly Muslim country.

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The United States intends to build an anti-terror training center in the southern Kyrgyz province of Batken. The exact location of the facility, which is projected to cost $5.5 million, has not yet been determined.

The move is likely to be perceived by the Kremlin as further American encroachment into what has traditionally been Moscow’s sphere of influence, analysts say.

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MUMBAI, India: A desire to get married the traditional way attracts young non-resident Indian couples to tie the knot in India, but the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) may not be applicable to them if they are domicile of a foreign country. The Bombay high court has said that the HMA cannot apply to an estranged couple who were domiciled in the US.

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...[T]ragically, today the streets and residential quarters of Mecca have become filled with sewage. This is not only a moral and social catastrophe for the Meccans and for all Muslims who treasure the city, but also stands as a symbol of the corruption the house of Saud has imposed on its subjects.

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Malaysia's largest English-language newspaper has refused to publish a prominent commentator's column on the caning of three Muslim women, weeks after it got into trouble with the government over a similar article by one of its editors.

Social activist Marina Mahathir said The Star spiked her weekly column Wednesday because of concerns that such sensitive articles could jeopardize its printing permit. All publications in Malaysia must renew their printing licenses each year to operate.

..."[T]here is room for courage, to stand up for freedom of speech. If we capitulate every time, then why bother publishing at all?" she wrote.

..."What is the point of censoring the mainstream media when there is the freewheeling Internet? The other point we should make to people like The Star is, what is the point of constantly sucking up to the government when they can still turn around and bite you?" Marina said.

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Former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency Hamid Gol says the United States is seeking to create and train terrorist groups in the region.

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KABUL -- The military helicopters swooped in from behind the three-vehicle convoy as it wound through a remote road in southern Afghanistan, and survivors of last week's deadly attack said they had no idea they were in danger until the lead four-wheel drive vehicle exploded.

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For immediate release (Stockholm/Oslo) China is preparing for the Arctic being navigable during summer months. An ice-free Arctic would provide China shorter shipping routes, possible access to natural resources and the incentive for closer cooperation with Arctic nations, especially the Nordic countries. But it also raises the possibility of new international tensions, according to a new SIPRI study launched in Oslo today.

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Earlier this year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech in which she made it clear that Internet freedom would be a major theme of the US government's attempts to get information to the citizens of repressive governments. Things haven't change much in the interim, with the conviction of Google executives in Italy serving as a reminder that it's not simply repressive regimes that put companies in legal hot water. With those events as a backdrop, the US Senate's Judiciary Committee heard testimony today on Internet freedom that emphasized how challenging it will be to find a way to open up the flow of information in repressive regimes.

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Google’s China Exit Strategy: Watch This Space

Web Firms Under Fire to Protect Human Rights

U.S. unveils cybersecurity safeguard plan

by Edward C. Corrigan / March 1st, 2010

There is a controversy raging in North America over Israeli Apartheid Week (March 1-7 2010).1 A resolution was passed in the Ontario Provincial Parliament which was unanimously supported (only 30 MPPs voted) and declared the comparison of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to apartheid as “odious.” To quote an article in the Toronto Star Canada’s largest circulation paper.

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The leader of a worldwide Muslim movement with thousands of followers in the UK will today issue a fatwa - or Islamic religious ruling - condemning terrorism and warning suicide bombers that they are "destined for hell".

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A Hamas leader killed in his Dubai hotel room was drugged and then suffocated, police said on Sunday, giving further details of the Cold war-style hit allegedly carried out by Mossad agents.

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..."I don't think the Iranians, even if they got the bomb, are going to drop it in the neighborhood," Barak said. "They fully understand what might follow -- they are radical but not total 'meshugah.' They have a quite sophisticated decision-making process and they understand realities."

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The quote just above contradicts the headline. I agree with the quote, not the headline. Threats against Iran seem to me to have much more to do with US control of Central Asia, and keeping Russia and China contained and on their toes. War with Iran, of course, risks war with Russia or China or both, though I doubt either nation would do anything to invite an attack. Constantly threatening Iran also cloaks US military escalations in Afghanistan and Pakistan by keeping the public distracted. Notice also that none of the rhetoric surrounding the "Iranian threat" works very well when argued or discussed in even the most basic ways. It does work very well though when sound bites and scary pictures are beamed across the TV to passive audiences who willingly accept their intellectual defeat with a bowl of popcorn. ABN

They're numerous, outspoken, and range from secular to orthodox to one group calling itself "True Torah Jews Against Zionism."

They believe that "traditional" Jews don't support Zionism, an ideology they call "contrary to Jewish law and beliefs and the teachings of the Holy Torah."

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Bamako — A husband and wife can keep separate homes, but only with the husband's approval. A divorcée can keep her ex-husband's name - if he agrees. A girl should be able to marry at 15. These and a dozen other changes to the family code are being proposed by Mali's top Islamic council, even though they were blocked last August after strong opposition from some Muslim leaders.

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Orozbek’s daughters are making green tea. As my eyes adjust to the darkness inside his family’s yurt, the little girls fuss with plastic cauldrons of water around a small tin stove stuffed with yak dung.

Here on the Alichur Plateau (at approximately 3,900 meters/12,800 feet), we’re closer to a provincial Chinese hub than the Tajik capital in Dushanbe, three days’ drive in the opposite direction. The region is populated sparsely with ethnic Kyrgyz nomads such as Orozbek. Little vegetation grows here. The skittish yak is the only beast suited to the dry, cold and brawny sun.

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The International Monetary Fund wants more power to police the global financial system and a bigger role in emergency financing, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Friday.

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Uh-oh. As a lesson in humility, I want to occasionally try to understand world events from a neocon, or crypto-neocon, point of view, which I shall now do: To wit, Now is a good time to press this IMF policy. When we have greater leverage, if not full control, of the global economy, we will cement our power. The wars are going well--we have mercenaries in Yemen; Saudi Arabia is surrounded as is Iran; we are stronger in Afghanistan and the destabilization of Pakistan is going well. Our enemies (China and Russia) are trapped, surrounded on the north and the south from Europe to the Pacific. China's oil deal with Iran and its energy deals with Central Asia are no stronger than the peace, which Israel helps keep on shaky ground by constantly threatening war with Iran. India has nowhere to go but deeper into our arms. Life is good. If Greece slips on Turkey and breaks the EU, whoopee doo! That puts us back on top again. No one is going to invest in Yuan or Yen. When the war with Iran starts, China and Russia will both be up the creek and they know it. If they fight, we fight back. If they escalate, we can escalate even more. Nuclear war will have the same outcome as economic war--we will be the strongest when the dust clears. How sweet it is to be a philosopher! ABN

A Rastafarian church's 14-year bid for incorporation in Jamaica continues to be a major source of contention among the nation's lawmakers.

The Church of Haile Selassie I, which first submitted its petition for incorporation in October 1996, is yet to receive parliamentary approval despite pleas by the church and its legal representatives.

At issue is the church's use of certain herbs in its religious sacraments, which has been misinterpreted by some persons as promoting the use of ganja during worship.

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