The Onion after five years in the Big Apple.

A natural follow to the NYT story from Saturday, although it's interesting to note the complaining lawmaker is a Republican.

Editor and Publisher also noticed the prominent play given to two climate change stories by the Washington Post and the NYT:

Two Top Papers Ask: Is the Earth Heading for Doom--With an Assist from the White House?

While most Americans remain preoccupied with war, terrorism, high gas prices--or the coming Pitt-Jolie baby--an issue that may dwarf all of those concerns receives major attention on the front page of the Sunday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

One story raises a nightmare global warming scenario for the end of the world, at least as we know it, while the other suggests that the Bush administration doesn't want anyone to know about that.

The kaboom that wiped out some al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan (along with some collateral damage) is about to become more frequent, reports this LA Times story.

NYT: Climate change expert says NASA tried to silence him

Washington Post: Debate on climate change shifts to issue of irreparable damage

This item from The Observer might help explain why the U.S. is having a few problems in rounding up its top suspects in the war on terror:

From the BBC:

Hamas win sets world a conundrum

Hamas win sparks soul-searching

Palestinians to face economic pressure

From the NYT:

How Hamas rose from wild card to power

A little democracy or a genie unbottled

In Hamas's overt hatred, Israelis see hope

From The Observer:

Now the real test for Hamas

From the Washington Post:

Some Palestinians see end of secular dream

U.S. policy seen as big loser in Palestinian vote

From the Los Angeles Times:

Israel assesses a new reality

From Salon:

How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush? (free with a daypass)

In 1956, Hungary tried and failed to overthrow its Soviet occupiers. Now, as they are about to mark the 50th anniversary of the rebellion, some politicians who weren't even born then are trying to lay ...   more »

Yep. Close access to Helsinki (close enough for same-day booze cruises), European Union membership and cheap flights have livened up the Soviet-era backwater.

This Salon piece says the big problem stemming from Iran's nuclear ambitions is the arms race it will trigger in the Mideast. And with the Iraq WMD debacle, no one is going to take the president of the United States' word about a possible threat.

One thing different about the Iraq conflict is that soldiers are now surviving wounds that would have surely killed them in the past. Helping these men and women recover will cost billions over the next 20 years.

I posted below about Ali Fadhil. This Democracy Now! segment talks about his award-winning documentary on the aftermath of the Battle for Fallujah -- and why he gave up being a doctor to become a journalist:

An excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: We only have 30 seconds. But you're a general practitioner. You were a doctor in Iraq. Why did you put that down to pick up a camera?

ALI FADHIL: The main reason is because, while I'm sitting in 2003, I returned back to Iraq. I was in exile in Yemen, practicing also medicine. When I returned back, I found myself just writing death certificates and doing nothing to my patients. So I decided to – I mean, I was in a total despair, so I was ready to do anything. When I was visited by a Guardian reporter, he asked me to work as a translator with him. When I started that, I found that the media is much, much stronger than medicine.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Ali Fadhil, I want to thank you for being with us. Now coming to the United States to go to journalism school at New York University with your family. Welcome to the United States.

ALI FADHIL: Thank you.

This is the first article by Salon writer Andrew Leonard on globalization, his new beat for the online magazine. He examines the pessimistic thoughts of Jeff Faux, author of The Global Class War.

An excerpt:...   more »

Search giant Google has decided it's better to be inside the China tent making money than not playing by the government's censorship rules in the market of 1.3 billion people.

Come tour the structure that seven U.S. bunker-buster bombs and 20 cruise missiles couldn't touch! :)

Dick Marty, the Swiss senator investigating the CIA secret prisons/renditioning case for the Council of Europe, says he can't be certain that the U.S. used secret prisons in Europe to interrogate prison suspects.

However, he's continuing his investigation.