Inside the Asylum

This is certainly a surprise. Sarah Palin has announced that she's resigning as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. I've no idea what it means.

Turkish television will soon have a new game show, Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor (Penitents Compete).

Atheist contestants will ponder whether to believe or not to believe when they pit their godless convictions against the possibilities of a new relationship with the almighty... Four spiritual guides from the different religions will seek to convert at least one of the 10 atheists in each program to their faith. Those persuaded will be rewarded with a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of their newly chosen creed - Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for Christians and Jews, and Tibet for Buddhists. The program makers say they want to promote religious belief while educating Turkey's overwhelmingly Muslim population about other faiths.

Well, I've been to Jerusalem, have no particular interest in Mecca, and I'm kind of curious to see Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet). I guess it's Buddhism for me!

Converts will be monitored to ensure their religious transformation is genuine and not simply a ruse to gain a free foreign trip. "They can't see this trip as a getaway, but as a religious experience," Mr Ozdemir said.

Damn. Still, I reckon I could fake it. Ommm, sound of one hand clapping, Ommmm.

Isn't it great that we've got clever people in office now, not like those stoooopid Republicans. At last we have people who know how to engage with the world without being patronizing or condescending. There's been too much American arrogance in recent years. What a relief that's all behind us. Oh wait ...

BARACK OBAMA has accused Vladimir Putin of "living in the past" and indulging in Cold War thinking on the eve of his first trip to Russia since taking office. The US President described the Russian Prime Minister as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new".

Putin's likely response? A raised middle finger, perhaps?

You can say one thing for Obama. He sure is persistent. I've tried Serbia and Lebanon, and dammit, Biden survived ... where next? Iraq after the US pullout. Brilliant!

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit to Iraq, U.S. sources said to the media.