The New Great Game. Blood and Oil in Central Asia - by Lutz C. Kleveman

"Crude oil, once seen as a wealth-creating blessing for mankind, is fast turning into the “devil’s tears”. The struggle to control the world’s remaining energy reserves increasingly culminates in bloody conflicts and the killing of innocent civilians, with the war in Iraq only being the latest example."

Source: The New Great Game. Blood and Oil in Central Asia - by Lutz C. Kleveman

The author's website is here.

Masters of Photography: Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelkaquoted by Czeslaw Milosz, in Exiles

"While writing this essay I had before my eyes Josef Koudelka's photographs. Let my words serve as a tribute to his art of telling stories without words."

Kids with Cameras

The very worthwhile Kids with Cameras project

Visual Art - Illegal Art - Copyright

Visual Art - Illegal Art

Exhibit of art artists have got in heck for creating because the corps didn't like the ad or the copyright violations - check out Barbie and Starbucks, as good examples.

The Unsettled West

Foreign Affairs - The Unsettled West - Joshua Kurlantzick: "Indeed, thanks to Beijing's policies, instead of fighting among themselves, as the Uighurs had done for centuries, after 1949 many began to settle their intra-ethnic differences and build a sense of Uighur solidarity."

Hey, Jack Kerouac - Paper Cuts - Books - New York Times Blog

Hey, Jack Kerouac - Paper Cuts - Books - New York Times Blog: "The review that started everything for Kerouac was Gilbert Millstein’s, published in the daily New York Times on September 5, 1957. Kerouac would have made it without Millstein. But this was the review that kicked the door down."