Archive - Mar 14, 2008 - Article

Weighty Agenda

On March 16, Vice President Cheney departs on a Middle East trip that will take him to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Turkey. Coming less than two months after President Bush's trip to the region, the vice president's itinerary is intriguing. His undisclosed agenda with "key partners," in the words of the White House announcement, is likely to include the peace process, the price of oil, Iraq, and Iran. And among those issues, Iran will likely be the most mentioned, especially given this week's controversial resignation of Adm. William Fallon as the top U.S. commander in the Middle East -- a move attributed in part to differences on Iran between him and the White House>>>

Emissary of Love

There once was one; and then there were none. Under the blue dome of the evening sky, apart from the presence of God, there was absolutely no one…. Nestled between the Caspian Sea and the Alborz Mountains, in the city of wolves, lived a little boy with his grandfather. The little boy loved to hear stories and his grandfather had many to tell, and so they spent most of their days together. Years passed; the boy grew up and left home to live adventures of his own; chasing legends and dreaming of giants. Along his journey, he spent many nights under the blue dome of foreign skies, far from his city and far from anyone to guide him.>>>

The Spider Killings (8)

Sharif always left the Imam Reza shrine with regret. It was the most grandiose homage to God that man had ever built. Sharif was sure of it, although he had scarcely ventured out of his native city except to serve at the front during the war. The enormous domes of the two mosques, one gold and one turquoise, stood proudly over the city, which squirmed beneath their shadows. In between, a gargantuan web of hallways and corridors, fountains and courtyards, not to mention the many buildings housed in the complex, the religious schools, the museum, the library…>>>

Can you say stagflation?

If you keep track of economic news these days, you notice that the word stagflation is frequently uttered by newscasters and economic analysts. This term was coined by economists to describe an unconventional phenomenon that took place in late 1970s: the simultaneous occurrence of high unemployment and high inflation. The combined unemployment rate and inflation rate, properly called the misery index, averaged over 17% from 1974 to 1981. It has been nearly 8% since 1993. >>>