THE WORLD FROM BERLIN 'Absurdistan along the Horn of Africa' Just a few weeks before the EU anti-pirate mission is set to deploy, German officials are still unsure how much military force they are allowed to use against Somali raiders. Politicans are frustrated by the indecision and, on Thursday, German commentators joined the fray. more... This is the beginning of the internationalism I expect to be a core part of Obama's foreign policy. ...

tags: spiegel online, absurdistan, german officials, horn of africa, world sea, internationalism, obama, indecision, military force, commentators, spiegel, raiders, foreign policy, pirate, berlin

The Hindu : Front Page News : Thursday, November 20, 2008: "Indira Gandhi prize for ElBaradeiNEW DELHI: Nobel laureate and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei has been chosen to receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2008. An international jury, chaired ..."

tags: indira gandhi, mohamed elbaradei, atomic energy agency, nobel laureate, international atomic energy agency, international atomic energy, international jury, front page news, disarmament, hindu, peace

The Fremont Bridge, gateway to the Center of the Universe, could be your future art studio. Some lucky Seattle-area creative type is going to get a workshop in one of the bridge towers, in which to create a diverse, in-depth exploration of what it means to be the city’s busiest bridge 'n' stuff. All that and a $20,000 grant from SDOT. Apply by Jan. 5. Or don’t--we don’t need the competition! ...

tags: ancient pyramids, intrepid explorers, national geographic channel, fremont bridge, nwww, natgeotv, future art, creative type, center of the universe, depth exploration, ocean depths, art studio, seattle area, space travel, outer space, nseven, national geographic, discovery

Found in our Theo Chocolates promotional newsletter this morning: "Sales of existing houses dropped more in Washington than anywhere else in the nation last quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to a new report. King County's median sale price also dropped roughly 10 percent from a year earlier." Who was saying that Seattle wasn't immune to, but typically lagged the national trends? With the drop, 57 percent of the state's first-time buyers have enough ...

tags: theo chocolates, first time buyers, median sale price, median home price, national trends, last quarter, number 1, seattle