No Asian culture is more steeped in the rituals and power of magic as Indonesia. In his debut novel, Indonesian-born author Erick Setiawan presents a bewitching but modern fantasy world in which two feuding families live in horribly haunted houses full of spirits and spells. Yet their lives are ruled by universal values — love, desire, loss and pain — firmly rooted in human emotions.
Who Flu Over Cuckoo’s Nest?
Every few decades, a flu pandemic spreads westward from Asia. The last one, in 1968, was relatively mild - and we have yet to see the full damage caused by the swine flu outbreak. But the next pandemic is inevitable - and it’s likely to come from China.
Kashmir Ambush
The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan has long transcended regional boundaries. But since 9/11, and especially since the 2008 Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the Kashmiri ‘Paradise on Earth’ has become much less geopolitically important than the West’s war against Islamic extremism. To win that battle, Pakistan must not no longer be allowed to use Kashmir as a weapon of regional terrorism.
India Shining?
What does Louisiana’s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, have in common with the Democratic U.S. Surgeon General-designate Sanjay Gupta? They’re both Americans of Indian descent.
Tibetan Blunder
Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have taken to the streets in record numbers lately to protest human rights abuses in China and the 58-year-old Chinese occupation of Tibet. Over the years, a lot of things have stood between Beijing’s dictatorial rule and Tibet’s freedom — but you’d never guess the most formidable barrier: The Dalai Lama himself.
China Syndrome
Tibet has been a thorn in China’s side ever since Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army invaded the Roof of the World in 1950. The recent unrest in Lhasa resulted in a Chinese crackdown that has effectively transformed the Beijing Olympics into what some are calling the “Human Rights Games.”
Muslim true/false
As blogger Scott Adams aptly put it, ask a devout Christian who he’d rather live next to–a bearded Muslim possibly plotting an attack or an atheist possibly skilled at setting up wireless networks–and the answer would be clear: The Christian will pick the atheist over the Muslim.
