President Hamid Karzai today denounced an air-strike by US-led forces that his office said killed at least 70 civilians. 

Civilian deaths and injuries are an extremely sensitive subject in Afghanistan, where the government has repeatedly pleaded with Western troops to exercise greater care to avoid hurting and killing noncombatants. Karzai broke down in tears during one such appeal. 

A recent study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has zero credibility. It pegged likely taxpayer losses in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts at $25 billion. For those with a sense of history, it is worth remembering that the S&L bailout had a $160 billion price tag.  

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has announced that Joe Biden will be his running mate in November's election. 

Mr Obama's choice, confirmed on his website, comes ahead of next week's Democratic Party convention. 

This current round of NATO expansion is a political reward to governments in Georgia & Ukraine that came to power as a result of US-supported revolutions, the so-called Orange Revolution & Rose Revolution.  

The credit crisis has created the most challenging economic and monetary policy environment in recent memory, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve has admitted.

Ben Bernanke presented a downbeat assessment of the economic effects of the unfolding crisis when he addressed the US central bank's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, yesterday. 

On the steps of the bombed-out Parliament building Thursday, down the street from a neighborhood in ruins, the black-suited maestro prepared to lead a concert he aptly called a requiem, or composition for the dead.

There is nothing in the preamble to the Constitution which defines the purpose of the United States of America as remaking the world in our image, which I view as a fool's errand.  

Within hours of the news breaking of the ambush of French soldiers on Monday, text messages arrived on reporters' mobile phones in Kabul. From Zahibullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, they boasted of the defeat of the "invader forces". Nato spokesmen in the city took much longer to issue a statement.

One problem, they said, was the difficulty in identifying exactly who had attacked the French troops. Most reports, including the statements by Mujahed, described the attackers as Taliban.

As gas climbs to $5 a gallon, the pain is evident everywhere. Buses are packed. GM is closing factories. The airlines are laying off pilots and flight attendants. Independent truckers are going bankrupt. Real wages slide down and inflation shinnies skyward.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the negotiations had been "tough, but friendly", adding that the deal would make both Poland and the US more secure. 

Ms Rice said the signing of the document was an extraordinary occasion, adding that the agreement would help Nato, Poland and the US respond to "the threats of the 21st Century". 

Anyone who still doubts that the evangelical Christian world is going through a political revolution was not watching Pastor Rick Warren's presidential forum this weekend. The era of reducing Christianity to a narrow set of ideological commitments is over. 

from Crikey ….. 

Iguanagate II: the return of Della Bosca 

Alex Mitchell writes: 

Chinese fans are watching the Olympics on TV, puffing on cigarettes in a smoke-filled bar. Suddenly, when the Chinese team scores, they crush out their cigarettes and jump up to cheer. 

'Love China,' says a message on the screen. 'Increase patriotism even more. Love a smoke-free Olympics.'