As a citizen voting in her first presidential election, I am disappointed with the flavor of the current discourse and the lack of concrete ideas. Politics always has had mudslinging and distracting sound bites, but in this election we are faced with two competing visions for the American government to bring the country out of its economic recession.

Since her release from house arrest and her election to parliament, Suu Kyi is no longer just a symbol of hope but also a political figure. As a political figure, Suu Kyi has to navigate the treacherous waters of Burma's polity, and that means steering away from the tough questions.

Let’s remember, though, what September 18th is the anniversary of. The Mukden Incident was a contrived pretext for expanding Japan’s empire into what had until then been Chinese territory. What we are seeing now are the first rumblings of a rising China looking to throw its newfound wealth and power around.

The event was particularly germane and received special attention in lieu of the contentious reform measures announced by the Congress-led government over the past week, including a decision to raise the limit on foreign investment into Indian retail. The backdrop of faltering economic growth in India and stalled economic reform mandate lent an air of urgency.

On Wednesday, The New School hosted a panel featuring academics well-versed on different facets of Egyptian society. The topic of the discussion was Egypt after the presidential elections.

Ultimately, the panel was paradigm shifting for me. I had bought into the media's rosy picture of democratic reform in Burma. The question I prepared had to do with allowing Western companies in to provide better telecommunications access -- Burma has the second lowest mobile-phone penetration in the world after North Korea. Before letting Western telecom giants cut deals with the Burmese power apparatuses' capitalists, however, the panel made it clear that we should wait for real reform.

The Invisible War depicts for the viewer the rape-culture of the United States armed forces and what some men and women have experienced when trying to deal with this culture in the aftermath of their own attacks.

Of course, the Kurds and the Sunnis feel jointly oppressed by the Shia majority, particularly given the Sunni's several decades on top under Sadaam Hussein. Kurdish and Sunni politicians quickly rallied behind Al-Hashimi. This is disturbing. Political leaders cannot unite by virtue of their faiths, when those very faiths are tearing Iraq apart and killing hundreds.

As another school year begins, the confrontation between neighborhood members and Columbia University over the ongoing Manhattanville expansion continues unabated, seeking to bring in more fresh faces to its respective sides.