Some snippets I found, Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism.
Look at the 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World, I thought the one in Buenos Aires worth a visit.
An informative piece on Russia and Syria:
“Russian support for the Syrian regime – founded when Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez seized power in 1970 – is still shaped in part by Cold War-era considerations. Hafez al-Assad’s Ba’ath Party (like its cousin in Iraq) portrayed itself as a force for socialist-style modernization. More importantly, it was staunchly anti-American and anti-Israeli, and quickly turned to the USSR as its principal source for weapons and military advisors.
Those relations continued even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks arms transfers, estimates the value of Russian arms sales to Syria at $162 million per year in both 2009 and 2010. The total value of Syrian contracts with the Russian defense industry is likely more than $4 billion. Russia also leases a naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus, giving the Russian navy its only direct access to the Mediterranean, and Moscow its only remaining military base outside the former Soviet Union. Moscow fears that Assad’s fall would jeopardize both its lucrative arms contracts and its access to Tartus.”
Excerpts from Nato report on Taliban at BBC News.
Romney supporters raise millions.
A legal backgrounder on Julian Assange’s appeal at the Supreme Court. The Guardian’s coverage.
Is Alabama’s crackdown on immigration coming back to haunt it?
Soupy One 