Daila Lama ‘well’, to be released from hospital Monday

The Dalai Lama will leave a Mumbai hospital on Monday after undergoing tests for abdominal discomfort, his spokesman said Sunday.

Spokesman Tenzin Takla declined to comment on the results of the tests.

“He is feeling well. He will be discharged tomorrow,” the spokesman said. AP

Boobies trump policy and inexperience?

At least 38 Million US citizens watched Obama acceptance speech, topping Olympics

Via TPM:

(38 million is the) estimate of how many people watched Obama’s acceptance speech last night, according to Nielsen — and that doesn’t include people who watched on PBS or C-Span.

That’s more Americans than watched the Olympics opening ceremony, the season finale of American Idol, or the Oscars. TPM Election Central

That number also doesn’t include people who watched in on the Web, like I did.

US State Department: Talking about the torture that never happened would damage US-UK relations

The US State Department is saying that talking about torture they insist did not happen could damage international relations. Come again?

The US state department yesterday warned that disclosure of secret information in the case of a British resident said to have been tortured before he was sent to Guantánamo Bay would cause “serious and lasting damage” to security relations between the countries.

Stephen Mathias, a legal adviser to the department, also claimed that the “national security of the UK” would be affected by disclosure of the details of the detention and interrogation of Binyam Mohamed, 30, who is accused of conspiring with al-Qaida. Guardian

Here is an idea: don’t torture people. That way you don’t look bad when it comes out.

Madeleine Albright nails it

Speaking at the DNC former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright:

We have learned that foreign policy is not foreign anymore.

“Up is down” for McCain just as much as it is/was for Bush

I really implore you to watch the two following videos (30 seconds, and 1:44 min to spare?) to understand just how much McCain is like Bush:

The latest McCain ad:

Here is what Obama actually said during the Speech the ad “quotes”:

The one thing I find most troublesome about the Bush administration is that it has proven over and over again that it has no problem whatsoever to twist the facts to further its own agenda. Iraq and its non-existent WMD is the biggest example for this tactic, but there are countless others.

For McCain to run an ad that completely and intentionally distorts such easily veriffiable facts shows he has as little qualms about lying to get what he wants as Bush did.

‘Exhausted’ Dalai Lama cancels international trips

The Dalai Lama has cancelled his upcoming international trips after complaining of exhaustion, sparking concerns for his health.

The 73-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader has been “experiencing some discomfort” in the past few days and decided not to go on scheduled trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic, his office said in a statement today.

China would of course like nothing better than to be able to pick the next Daila Lama, should something happen to the current one.

US troops ‘to quit Iraq by 2011′

This just in and TOTALLY not a timetable, because Bush and McCain both said those are bad:
link

The Muzzled Games

Athletes at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games are not allowed to protest any of the human rights violations China is committing. That’s why this image has quite the metaphorical power:

This member of the U.S. cycling team is wearing a mask because of the high pollution in Beijing (in itself a bona fide human rights problem as especially the poor cannot escape the increasing pollution), but I also hope that the masks are going to become a symbol of the supressed free speech in China.