Who would dare challenge Google, the superman of the Internet age?

India, that's who.

Fresh off the high of its recent lunar achievements, India is taking on the powerful Internet search company on a playing field a little closer to home: Google Earth. 

The Indian Based Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch its Web-based mapping system, Bhuvan (Sanskrit for Earth), by spring. The data comes from India's network of 50 satellites.

So, why does India think its program can compete? For starters, Bhuvan users will be able to zoom in on areas as small as 10 meters wide (Google's zoom limit is 200 meters). ISRO will replenish its high-resolution images each year, unlike Google, and its additional GPS component could lead to partnerships on navigation devices for cars.

While initially the program only covers India, if successful, Bhuvan will extend across the globe. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair also hopes that the online software will lead to improvement India's notoriously bad offline hardware -- potholed road, clogged cities, and degraded environment. "This will not be a mere browser," he says. "but the mechanism for providing satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning."

If you thought the rigors of applying for a job with the future Obama administration were outrageous, you haven't signed up to be a Canadian Mountie lately.

In the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's 47-page questionnaire, which seems designed to get applicants arrested or shame even the most virtuous of boy scouts, queries range from standard to peculiar to seriously unexpected. Among the 160 questions one will find:

How many days have you been absent from work without just cause (e.g. non-legitimate illness, etc)?

Have you ever paid or asked anyone to set a fire for you?

Have you ever illegally shot or killed an animal for another hunter?

Has anyone ever seriously told you that you drink too much?

Have you ever hacked or attempted to hack into any Canadian or foreign government computer systems?

Have you ever had sex with someone against their will or without their consent (includes persons unable to give permission due to a medical condition, mental health issue, alcohol or drug, or other reason)?

Have you ever engaged in bestiality?"

Did I mention interviewees answer these questions during a polygraph?

Apparently, this commitment to thoroughness by the RCMP came after 9/11 out of concern that "terrorists and other serious criminals are trying to infiltrate the police force." The Canadian press recently uncovered the questionaire through Canada's Access to Information Act.

I'm going to guess that after this hits the streets, Mountie recruiting parties are going to be short a few guests.

(Hat tip: Fark)

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

In an unexpected and inspired move yesterday, Baghdad's mayor, Sabir al-Issawi, announced that he would be bringing a metro system to his city.

Plans for the train line, which were first drafted under Saddam Hussein in the '70s but shelved in the early '80s because of the conflict with Iran, will need to be remapped and modernized. Atta Nabil Hussain Auni Atta, an engineer with the transport ministry, said they are planning to start work as "early as next year."

The metro will cover 24 miles, have 20 stations, and will consist of two lines. The first is said to begin in Shiite Sadr City and run up north to the mostly Sunni section of Adhamiyah. The second line is set to begin in the south, run through the commercial area Karrada, cross the Tigris River and end in Sunni West Baghdad .

The government is ponying up some big change for the project, apparently having already set aside three billion dollars. Global companies have been invited to bid on the project.

Since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 transportation (and traffic) in Baghdad has bee a nightmare. In addition to the swath of road known as "bomb alley" there are now securtiy walls, check points, and road and bridge closings.

Many are skeptical about this new proposal. Baghdad's new commuter train, which kicked off this past October and is the first of its kind in the city, is said to be "struggling" and "ridership has been spotty."

But even in a city still recovering and rebuilding basic infrastructure -- electricity, sewer systems, postal service -- such grand plans have many waxing hopeful about Baghdad's future.

(Hat tip: The Daily Beast)

Preeti Aroon

The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide. How would you feel if the men who killed your family moved back to your town? Jean Hatzfeld interviews Rwanda's genocide survivors and killers released from prison in the early 2000s in an exploration of the difficulty of reconciliation. (Note: The book will be out in March 2009; I'm reading a review copy.)

Jerome Chen

"The New York Times' Lonely War." In Vanity Fair's December issue, Seth Mnookin looks at one of the few U.S. media outlets to maintain a presence in Iraq -- the Times' Baghdad bureau. Remarking that "135 journalists have been killed there since 2003," the Iraq War, he says, "has been, by any measure, one of the most dangerous conflicts to cover in the history of modern journalism."

Elizabeth Dickinson

Closing Guantánamo is on the short list of top priorities for the incoming Obama administration. In Harper's "Justice after Bush: Prosecuting an Outlaw Administration," lawyer Scott Horton imagines Bush officials standing trial and suggests a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would trade confessions for amnesty.

Rebecca Frankel

"All Options Are on the Table." Der Spiegel talks to Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan about his country's biggest military challenges and what Israel would be willing to do should Iran manage to develop nuclear weapons. "The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force," Nehushtan says. "We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."

Blake Hounshell

Four active-duty officers -- Lt. Col. Robert A. Downey, Lt. Col Lee K. Grubbs, Cdr. Brian J. Malloy, and Lt. Col. Craig R. Wonson -- explain how a surge in Afghanistan might work for the Small Wars Journal (pdf). The bad news? It's going to require eight brigades, or up to 40,000 additional troops.

David Kenner

"Disney Set to Entertain Middle East." The Financial Times reports that Walt Disney is making its first film marketed towards the Middle East. Because of the large number of young people in the region, and the limited number of films made targeting an Arab audience, Disney is hoping to produce a family movie that "will play to families from North Africa to the Gulf states."

Photo: JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty Images

The world isn't lacking in politicians caught in love scandals, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has embroiled himself in a drama so juicy it feels scripted for daytime soaps.

His ex-wife, Marisabel Rodriguez -- a blond haired, blue-eyed former television anchor (now married to her tennis coach) -- has been mirthlessly needling her ex-husband while she herself campaigns to become mayor of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on an opposition ticket.

The couple divorced in 2004 after seven years of marriage and made headlines last year when Chávez rather publically sued over custody issues pertaining to their daughter, Rosines. Though the president withdrew the suit, Rodriguez claimed it was a ploy to sabotage her newly announced political pursuits -- a ruling against her, under Venezuelan law, could have legally kept her from running for public office.

Chávez has good reason not to want his ex to run. Aside from any personal embarrassment the Venezuelan leader might endure over Rodriguez's outspoken campaigning style and her public criticisms of his presidency, he could suffer politically. His high approval ratings are said to be slipping, and the opposition stands to gain significant ground -- as many as one third of the country's governorships -- in regional elections Sunday.

Venezuelans are keen to hear the former Mrs. Chávez's insights on her ex-husband's intentions for his country:

[T]he Chávez of today ... doesn't have much in common with [the Chávez] of 1997,” she said. "If he is not a dictator, at least he seems it."

What's more, Ms. Rodriguez is proving hugely popular among women voters. In general, these women are turned off by the president's "testosterone-pumped politics" and can relate to the former first lady's emotional suffering.

Photo: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Does anyone really wonder why sperm donors might prefer anonymity? It's not like donating an old car -- the desire for privacy is quite understandable. So, it's not surprising that Britain, which abandoned sperm-donor confidentiality laws in 2005, is now facing a sperm-donor deficit. 

The numbers don't lie. Immediately after anonymity disappeared, the number of women who received donor sperm went from 2,727 in 2005 to 2,107 in 2006. It's estimated that 500 donors are needed to match the 4,000 women who undergo donor insemination in Britain each year. Reports show only 307 donors registered in 2006, not nearly enough.

Some fertility experts, like doctors Mark Hamilton and Allan Pacey, from the British Fertility Society are looking to work around the shortage.

They've suggested raising the limit on the number of families who can use the same sperm donor -- currently only 10 babies are allowed to result from each donor, a measure they feel lacks real scientific backing. They've also suggested a sperm-sharing program (an arrangement where men whose partners need in vitro fertilization become donors), but rejected a proposal to allow older donors to donate because of health concerns, like gene mutation.

Dr. Pacey says the countries with enough sperm to go around, especially the United States and Spain, are those "that pay donors or allow anonymity." While he also said that Britain is importing sperm from Scandinavia, he suspects that with such long waiting lines for sperm donors, Brits will simply have to shop elsewhere.

Photo: iStockphoto.com

You gotta love it when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin goes uncensored while on official business, as he did during talks with Nicholas Sarkozy when the French president was at the Kremlin trying to forge a cease-fire after Russia invaded Georgia. In an attempt to illustrate just how hard he planned to lay the smack down on Georgia, Putin told Sarkozy, "I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Wait, it gets better:

Mr Sarkozy responded: "Hang him?"

"Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein," said Mr Putin.

Mr Sarkozy replied, using the familiar "tu": "Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?" Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then replied: "Ah, you have scored a point there."

The inside info on the Godfather-esque sitdown is via Sarkozy's chief foreign policy advisor, Jean-David Levitte, who disclosed the details of the French president's August meeting with Putin to Le Nouvel Observateur today. According to Levitte, Sarkozy was aware of Putin's plan to oust Saakashvili and warned against it.

Sarkozy reassured Saakashvili in Paris today that he'd be looking out for Georgia during tomorrow's meeting with EU leaders and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Nice.

On French radio, also today, the Georgian president reacted to Putin's threat by laughing nervously, responding that he'd heard something of the comments but not in such detail. "It's funny, all the same," he told the interviewer.

Photo: FILE; HRVOJE POLAN/AFP/Getty Images

Over the past week, Israel has hosted many services, speeches and events in honor of former Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin. The national hero and Nobel Peace Prize recipient was assassinated 13 years ago by Yigal Amir, a Jewish extremist who opposed Rabin's peacemaking work.

Israel's top politicians used the occasion to highlight messages of peace. One Israeli soldier, however, appeared to be less than riveted while attending a memorial ceremony earlier this week, showing his lack of interest with what his Air Force base commander deemed a "disrespectful act": a yawn. Apparently, he didn't even cover his mouth. 

The faux pas came during the commander's own remarks. So loud and disruptive was this yawn that the commander paused for a "few minutes." This display of disinterest earned the soldier 21 days in jail.

But does the punishment fit the yawn? 

The soldier's mother doesn't think so. The woman recounted the episode to Israel Radio, saying that she'd raised her son on Rabin's legacy and that he wasn't being disrespectful, he was merely tired.  

But, if Rabin's memory impresses any lessons on those in the company of our boorish yawner, especially now as elections approach and peace negotiations hang in the balance, perhaps it's that peace requires superhuman energy and staying power.

Rest up, Israel. There's much work ahead.

All may not be lost for McCain-supporting Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman. It seems President-elect Obama won't be kicking him to the party curb after all. Apparently, supporting the opposition -- campaigning with Republican candidate John McCain, speaking at the Republican National Convention, and criticizing Obama's foreign policy cred -- wasn't enough of an offense against Obama to get Lieberman banished from the party altogether.

Not all Democrats are in a forigiving mood, though. Many, like Majority Leader Harry Reid, are still gunning to strip Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Senate Democrats are set to vote next week on whether or not Lieberman will keep his chairmanship. If Lieberman has spent any time kissing the reigning party's behind since the election in an attempt to keep his spot, he's not exactly apologizing for his recent behavior. Lieberman says he'll walk if he loses his gavel.

I have to get behind Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd's advice that Obama stay out of this one and avoid a political mess. Why would the president-elect waste such precious time and energy haggling over a Senate seat? And even more to the point, over Lieberman? Let's not gloss over Lieberman's voting recording. While he's fond of saying it's 90 percent in line with Democrats, it tends to go against the next administration's plans when it comes to matters of foreign policy -- Iraq and Iran to name two biggies.

The Connecticut senator has shown himself to be a hardy politician, one who's stayed afloat by swinging between parties. This time Lieberman played his hand, hoping to get another shot at the VP seat, and he bet poorly -- on McCain. If there's a pity party in his honor, I won't be going.

Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon

"Carte Blanche" by Vijay Simha in Tehelka. China has received a lot of criticism for its economic investments in Sudan, but guess which country could be geting involved next? India. A Sudanese delegation recently visited New Delhi and invited Indian investors to come on over to make some money.

Jerome Chen

"Deprogramming Jihadists." In this week's New York Times Magazine, Katherine Zoepf writes about Saudi Arabia's efforts to rehabilitate prisoners who did time for extremist activities. The program's success lies in its approach -- addressing psychological symptoms rather than treating the young men as enemies of the state.

Elizabeth Dickinson

In The Fate of Young Democracies, authors Ethan Kapstein and Nathan Converse try to determine why the world's newest democracies succeed or fail. Though anything from inflation to initial wealth can impact these fragile new states, there's good news: Democracies born today are far less likely to fail than at any time in the last five years. 

Rebecca Frankel

DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images

"Five Days at the End of the World." In City Journal, Andrew Klavan, putting his "money" behind his criticism of Hollywood for its allegedly bogus depictions of the war on terror, visits Afghanistan. After two days on a U.S. Army base, Klavan decides the protagonist of his would-be film wouldn't "have to get shot at to be a hero. Dude'll get a medal just for showing up."

Blake Hounshell

"Holding Pattern." John Barry of Newsweek explains why everyone should just hold their horses -- President-elect Barack Obama can't do much on foreign policy until a number of things fall into place.

Joshua Keating

In his Rolling Stone piece, "The War Next Door," (excerpts only) Guy Lawson reports from Sinaloa, Mexico, providing an invaluable introduction to the emerging narco state that Enrique Krauze recently discussed with FP. He also explores how the drug trade has influenced Mexican popular culture.

Kate Palmer

"What the Recession Means for Foreign Policy." In the Wall Street Journal, Richard Haass offers a smart run-down of the ways in which the global financial crisis will shape President-elect Obama's relations with the world.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Miss Vietnam 2008, 18-year-old Trãn Thi Thuý Dung, was stripped of her crown after officials discovered she hadn't completed high school. The scandal puts Vietnam in a tough spot, as it might not have a viable contestant to send to the Miss World competition on Nov. 15th.

Vietnam -- a country that's taking the bad news very seriously -- has an interesting history when it comes to beauty competitions. After the country's first national pageant in 1988, the grand prize, a bike, was stolen from the winner. Last July, Vietnam played host to the Miss Universe contest, with Jerry Springer and Scary Spice hosting the awards ceremony.

And yet, there is no formal requirement that contestants must complete a certain level of education before entering, a fact that Vietnam's contest organizers concede. The reaction over Thuý Dung's lost title has thus been mixed and the public has rallied to her defense.

Although other national pageants don't have such stringent rules (the United States gives its contestant winners a six-month window to complete high school), Le Ngoc Cuong, a spokesman for the contest, views a high-school diploma as vital. Otherwise, "lots of girls would drop out of school to focus on beauty pageants," he said.

As for Thuý Dung, crown or not, she's behaving like a true queen, sending a healthy message to young ladies of the world: She's going back to school, and says, "I wish Vietnam can still find the right candidate to send to Miss World, even if it isn't me."

Today, former Clinton advisor and Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel accepted Barack Obama's offer to be chief of staff for the incoming president.

The pick of Emanuel is our first glimpse into the future Obama White House, and it has already thrown apprehensive Democrats and jaded Republicans alike into a tizzy.

Perhaps for good reason. With the nickname "Rahmbo" and a disposition likened to that of a mobster, Emanuel, though widely respected for his moxy and get-it-done record, isn't exactly Mr. Nice Guy. A dynamic mix of talent and brawn -- he was offered a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet company and volunteered for the Israeli Army during the Gulf War -- Emanuel's the real-deal pitbull Democrat (lipstick not included).

What follows is a list of the five most infamous Rahmbo tales. It's the stuff legends are made of:

1. Mailing a Dead Fish

Emanuel is known for his panache for treating donors right. He sends them cheesecakes from Eli's, the famous Chicago bakery. But the one pollster who notoriously ticked off Rahmbo received a 2 1/2 foot decomposing fish in the mail -- ripe, stinky, and to the point.

2. Fundraising the Bugsy Siegel Way

His foray into fundraising started in Chicago while campaigning for Mayor Richard Daley's reelection, when Emanuel raised a record number of donations. His sales pitch was simple enough: He'd tell contributors he found their offers so low it was embarrassing and then hang up on them. Mortified, the donors were shamed into calling back and giving more.

3. Nearly Losing His Finger

When he was a senior in high school, he sliced his finger while working at Arby's. But instead of seeking medical attention, he decided to celebrate prom night by swimming in Lake Michigan. The bone and blood infection that resulted was so severe it practically killed him. Scrappy and determined, even at death's door with a fever of 106 degrees, he pulled through, only losing part of his finger.

4. Threatening Tony Blair

Never a mincer of words, Emanuel didn't couch his meaning when he offered Tony Blair counsel just before the then British prime minister appeared with President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal: "This is important. Don't ---- it up."

5. Knifing the Dinner Table

The most infamous Rahmbo story of them all is the one that begins with the dinner the night after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992. Among those present at the dinner table was ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, who watched while an overwrought and clearly exhausted Emanuel began ranting at a long list of Clinton "enemies." As he shouted each name, he stabbed the table with his steak knife: "Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead!" Apparently, others joined in.

The bottom line: If Emanuel's appointment is a signal of anything, it is that the genteel, arugula-eating president-elect is coming to play hardball.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

It appears President-elect Barack Obama's inspirational powers have even reached Cuba's reclusive former leader, Fidel Castro. Although he hasn't made a public appearance in the two years since passing power to his brother, the 82-year-old issued a public statement just before U.S. election polls closed on Tuesday. Predicting the win would go to Obama, Castro gave the Illinois senator a preemptive stamp of approval:

[Obama] was able to study at a higher education center where he graduated with outstanding results. He is surely more clever, better educated and calm than his Republican adversary."

While Castro mostly praises Obama and his "change" factor -- at one point invoking author Toni Morrison's endorsement -- the better part of the lengthy statement is spent lambasting the United States and President George W. Bush. He criticized the "parasitical and plundering empire", the country's history of racism, and deemed the Iraq War one of "conquest imposed by the empire seeking for oil." Castro also repeated his earlier criticisms of John McCain, whom he called "an old, bellicose and uneducated man; he is not very smart and he is in poor health."

Castro is just one of several leftist leaders in Latin America who had warm words for Obama. Among the others is Fidel's protégé, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who sees the president-elect as "a small light on the horizon." Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega clearly favored the Democrat, saying, "If it's Barack Obama -- and a miracle is produced -- or McCain, our position is that we're ready to work in a framework of respect with the United States."

It would certainly be nice for a U.S. president not to be hated in Latin America and these are vibes worth enjoying since, quite rightly, hard work -- of which there will be much in any future dealings -- and honeymoons don't often mesh well together.

(Hat tip: Albert Eisele)

Photo: Jorge Rey/Getty Images

The results of last night's U.S. election swept the world over and over in waves of unbridled enthusiasm. It's as if the next American president doesn't just belong to Americans -- the global community feels that it, too, has a stake in Obama's success. 

But what about the Middle East, where the United States is famously unpopular? So far, No. 44 has been greeted with rhetorical flowers and sweets. Today's messages to the president-elect -- from Israeli leaders, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Iraqi ministers, and even Iranian lawmakers -- were largely congratulatory.

The U.S. election received notably unremarkable attention from the Iranian media, but the buzz on Tehran's streets is positive if not a touch pragmatic and Iran's "intelligentsia" are cautiously optimistic about Bush's successor. As MP Hamid Reza Haji Babai put it today, "Obama has promised change and this is both an opportunity and test for the United States. We are waiting for that change."

Iran, as I mentioned yesterday, is holding its own presidential election next June. With Obama -- an African-American bearing the middle name Hussein who has spoken openly of his intention to negotiate -- in the White House, it will be far more difficult for extremists to demonize the United States, at least at first. This puts incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already losing his grip on the Iranian parliament, at a clear disadvantage and may "breathe life into Iran's opposition reform camp," as former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi hopes.

Iran is just one among many countries where a fresh start for the United States might do some good. As Andrew Sullivan so presciently deemed Obama back in Dec. 2007, he is a man "who is a bridge between" worlds. From today's vantage point, at least, the possibilities seem endless.

Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images

Iran's parliament canned Interior Minister Ali Kordan today. While he initially had the backing of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he never really had a shot at redemption. The vote -- 188 to impeach, 14 against and 45 abstained -- is a result of evidence that surfaced in August revealing he had forged his Oxford law degree.

But still the call to oust Kordan raised quite a stir -- a physical brawl erupted after an aide to Ahmadinejad allegedly attempted to bribe lawmakers into supporting Kordan in the vote.

The aid was later fired, but at first it was unclear how far Ahmadinejad would take his initial refusal to accept the Parliament's impeachment of Kordan, insisting the move against his ally was "illegal." Though Ahmadinejad acquiesced, it seems of all this bruhaha could play a significant role in the coming June election.

For that very reason, Ahmadinejad accused parliament of using Kordan to undermine his already shaky standing -- caused by his failure to deal with the financial crisis and dropping oil prices. Indeed, opponents are jumping at the president's newest weak spot and critics are largely calling Kordan's impeachment a major loss for Ahmadinejad who has already had nine other members of his cabinet removed from office. The Iranian constitution mandates that if half of the cabinet's members change, the entire cabinet must then be submitted to a new vote. With a 21-member parliament, it will take just one more for this to happen.

In any event, with an emboldened parliament here and an increasing opportunity for new voices to grab a foot hold from now until election time, I see more fatigue ahead for Ahmadinejad. Perhaps Iran is ready for change it can believe in, too.

While numbers show that Barack Obama has much of the world rooting for him in tomorrow's election (take a look at FP's interactive map), it seems one young Palestinian campaigning from Gaza on behalf of the Democratic candidate is stirring up a mess of controversy this week.

Twenty-four-year-old Ibrahim Abu Jayab, a media student at Al-Aqsa University, has been calling random U.S. phone numbers via Skype, imploring Americans to vote for Obama. Not an English speaker, he's memorized the heart of the message: "I think the Senator Obama achieve the peace in the world and in my area. For the peace, please elect Senator Obama. Thank you very much."

Although Al Jazeera reported the story back in March, it seems the last days before the election are the prime time for extreme conservatives to finger this as evidence Obama has links to terrorists, Hamas, and haters of Israel. Among them Rush Limbaugh who, after adding to those charges, mocked Jayab on his show last week, said he finds it "interesting" that Jewish voters could support Obama.

Why are people insisting that Obama is bad for Israel? Even a Fox News anchor, Shepard Smith, chastised Joe the Plumber for saying as much. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are in serious jeopardy, but citizens from both sides are tired of stalled negotiations and are ready for peace. Even many Israelis recognize that talking to Hamas will be necessary. To make any progress, though, the next U.S. president will need to convince the Palestinians of the merits of any deal.

Against this backdrop, I just don't get what the critics are saying. How does one inspired Gazan youth -- in a region where support for the United States is hard to come by -- really work against Obama?

Preeti Aroon

"Innocents Abroad" and nine other vignettes about studying abroad in Washington Post Magazine. These short pieces offer a sense of how such an experience can provide American college students with the epiphanies and life lessons -- on identity, race, heritage, and patriotism -- needed to navigate our increasingly interconnected world.

Jerome Chen

"The Edge of an Empire" in the New Statesman. Alice Albinia travels to the western region of Xinjiang, where a progressive Muslim society may not survive growing Chinese influence. Often overlooked, Xinjiang suffers many of the same problems as Tibet: ethnic strife between the locals and the majority Han Chinese and a deep resentment of Beijing rule.

Elizabeth Dickinson

For more than a year now, we've seen both U.S. presidential candidates make their cases on the campaign trail. Seldom do we get to read their words outside a transcript, but the Wall Street Journal offers editorials by both Barack Obama and John McCain today. Read about "Change We Need" vs. "What We're Fighting For" one last time. Then vote!

Rebecca Frankel

"The Test." New Yorker writer Steve Coll argues that "great presidencies can arise only from great causes." The real test causes awaiting tomorrow's champ? Energy economy and healthcare. He adds the shocking detail that more U.S. deaths result each year from lack of health insurance than from murder.

Blake Hounshell

Imperial Hubris, pp. 47-58. Is Michael Scheuer's "list of ignored Afghan checkables" coming back to haunt us? "The reestablishment of an Islamic regime in Kabul is as close to an inevitability as exists," the former CIA analyst wrote in 2004. "One hopes that Karzai and the rest of the Westernized, secular, and followerless Afghan expatriates installed in Kabul are able to get out with their lives."

Joshua Keating

Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship. The author, Harper's editor Ken Silverstein, had a novel idea for how to expose the corruption of Washington lobbying. Posing as a shady energy company representative looking to do business in repressive Turkmenistan, he let elite lobbying companies bid for the right to clean up the country's image. Silverstein's "scam" pays off, but the book feels like an overly padded version of a magazine piece, which is exactly what it is. 

David Kenner

"Two Crucial U.S. Allies Display Divergent Loyalties." In The National, writer Philip Sands profiles two of Iraq's powerful tribal sheikhs -- Sheikh Amash, who fought al Qaeda and Sunni extremists, and Sheikh Malik, who funded the very same insurgents -- examining their very different outlooks, while foreshadowing the fighting that will likely occur as U.S. forces prepare for withdrawal.

Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

It's "gloves and bets are off" time now that the U.S. election is finally in its final leg and both campaigns are bringing out the big guns, the big favors, and the big endorsements. At least that's the game plan.

NPR's Talk of the Nation is featuring a series of "final arguments" where invited guests are given a chance to give a last pitch for their candidate. Thursday's pitchman was Lawrence Eagleburger, a McCain supporter and former secretary of state under George H.W. Bush.

Throughout most of the 17-minute segment, the gruff and sometimes sarcastic Eagleburger played his part well enough -- referring to McCain as an unquestionable "hero," offering an avuncular "good for you" to one pro-McCain caller and dismissing Obama's ideas for Iraq as "absurdities."

So far so good, right? But when NPR interviewer Neal Conan started asking about Sarah Palin, things started to go horribly wrong.

Asked if the vice-presidential nominee is ready to take the presidential reins, Eagleburger said bluntly, "Of course not."

The real issue, Eagleburger said, is "can she learn and will she be tough enough" under such circumstances. But his response to that amended question was no more reassuring: 

Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be she will be -- adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job, but I think she would be enough to get us through a four-year... Well, I hope not, get us through whatever period was necessary and I devoutly hope that it would never be tested."

Ouch. Listening to Eagleburger even for a few minutes, I get the sense that the man isn't the type to suffer fools or, judging from these comments, neither does he suffer foolish VP selections. I guess we won't be seeing him trotted out as a McCain proxy anymore?

Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

It looks like Rwandan school children will soon be trading their copies of Le Petit Prince for Paddington Bear. Rwandan education officials announced this week that French will no longer be the first language of education -- all lessons will be in English by 2011.

It would seem that this latest shedding of French culture by Rwandan officials comes too close on the heels of last summer's controversial accusations to be taken as anything but an insult by France. It was just last August that an independent commission set up by the Rwandan government implicated 33 French military and political leaders in the 1994 genocide and called for them to stand trial. Rwanda's current government, moreover, is led by former rebels who fought and ousted what they saw as French proxies.

Rwandan officials, however, were quick to add that this latest move is not a spiteful jab at France. Vincent Karega, Rwanda's trade and industry minister, said the motive was purely economic: "English has emerged as a backbone for growth and development not only in the region but around the globe." In addition to the English-speaking investors now coming to Rwanda, the country also relies on trade with places where deals are made in English, like East Africa.

Rwanda may be onto something here: The country's state minister for education has already noted that English textbooks are much, much cheaper than the French alternative.

Photo: JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty Images

It's official. Tzipi Livni's promise to gather together a coalition or bust was no bluff: The Kadima party leader, who could not meet her self-imposed Sunday deadline, asked President Shimon Peres to call elections without delay.

Israel will dissolve its current government in the next few weeks and hold general elections -- originally scheduled for 2010 -- in mid February.

Though a new poll on Monday shows Livni with an edge over Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud Party leader, many aren't sure what to make of her early deadline. Was it a play to strength or a show that she just can't cut it as a unifying leader?

I'm sticking to what I said last week -- this was a bold move that illustrates, to her credit, the way Livni will wield authority as prime minister. I think Israelis will ultimately see her as a no-nonsense leader with the backbone to manage opportunists:

In the past few days it has become clear to me that the current system has led future coalition partners to make unreasonable economic and political demands," she said. "If someone is willing to sell out his principles for the job, he is not worthy of it."

Livni's comments are clearly directed at leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, known for cozying up to different parties when it serves their interests. Chief among these ideologically promiscuous political players is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Shas party's religious leader who has tremendous sway in the party and among Israel's ultra-Orthodox community. Deflecting calls that they are responsible for the crumbled coalition, Shas party leaders are shielding themselves with Yosef's Friday decision to not join Livni's coalition.

Shas may not be part of a future governing coalition, but Yosef's role in the negotiations did earn him a spot on FP's latest list: The World's Top Religious Power Brokers. Check it out.

Photo: YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images