No true democracy with US Electoral College system

The Straits Times, Published on Nov 06, 2012
No true democracy with US Electoral College system
TODAY'S presidential election in the United States raises the question of whether the country is really a democracy with the Electoral College system.
Does every vote count?

[YouTube]: Workers' Party Expels Yaw Shin Leong

[source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHal1akRbqo]

Pariahs and prophets

Pariahs and prophets
Republican Ron Paul has emerged as a teller of important truths - and US needs a fearless crank to do so
04:46 AM Jan 03, 2012
by Ross Douthat
In 1984, after serving three terms in the House of Representatives, Ron Paul (picture) was defeated by Phil Gramm in the Texas Republican Senate primary. Paul left Congress, and a few years later he left the Republican Party entirely to run for President on the Libertarian line. In the 1988 election, after a campaign that Texas Monthly compared to something "out of Robert Altman's movie Nashville", he took home just 0.47 per cent of the popular vote.

ST: North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies: State TV

The Straits Times; Published on Dec 19, 2011
North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies: State TV
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died aged 69 of a heart attack, state media announced on Monday, plunging the impoverished but nuclear-armed nation into uncertainty amid a second dynastic succession.

China needs more than a 5-year charm offensive

China needs more than a 5-year charm offensive
It's now seeking to build 'soft power', but there are limits to its likely success
04:45 AM Nov 11, 2011
by David Pilling
In the past 30 years, China has created an economic machine that has lifted more people out of poverty in a short space of time than any nation in history. It has built world-class factories, vast modern cities and a continental highway system. Now it wants to build something less tangible: Soft power.

PM Lee expects more robust debates in the next Parliament

PM Lee expects more robust debates in the next Parliament
by Saifulbahri Ismail; 04:46 AM Sep 11, 2011
SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (picture) said he expects to see more robust debates in the next Parliament, which will convene on Oct 10.

Why democracy prevails

Condoleezza Rice alludes that 9/11 was due to 50 year old US foreign policy mistake.
Due to the USA "[seeking] stability at the expense of democracy in supporting authoritarian regimes"
"If people have no way to hold their governments accountable through peaceful change, they will do so violently. "