The Iraqi parliament failed for a fifth time to pass a law on provincial elections. Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that after months of wrangling in parliament over the enabling legislation for provincial elections, parliament has failed to find a mutually agreed-upon formula. Worse, the parliamentary debates on this issue have deepened the dispute between the […]
The Rain in Spain falls Mainly on McCain
John McCain seems to have gotten confused in an interview about Spanish prime minister Zapatero and someone in Latin America. When pressed he kept talking about Latin America and “this hemisphere.” Did he get mixed up with the Mexican peasant protest movement, the Zapatistas? Did he just assume the question was about one of those […]
Arab Reaction to Ascent of Livni
Reuters on Tzipi Livni’s likely stance on negotiating with the Palestinians. Palestinian reactions to Tzipi Livni becoming head of the Kadima Party, a rightwing party that splintered from the even more rightwing Likud Party over the withdrawal from Gaza. (i.e. a Kadima supporter is a Likudnik who has been mugged by demographic reality); via Aljazeera […]
7 US Soldiers Killed; Al-Maliki Doubts Security Agreement
A helicopter crash in southern Iraq killed 7 US troops on Wednesday. The crash may or may not be the result of hostile action by elements of the Mahdi Army. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki signaled on Wednesday that the security agreement being negotiated by Iraq with the Bush administration is in trouble. Apparently the big […]
Obama smeared by Taheri on Iraq Troop Withdrawals; Journalist Notorious for False Story on Iranian Jews; Odierno Warns Iraq still Unstable
Amir Taheri, the rightwing Iranian ‘journalist’ who is the least accurate reporter to feign practicing journalism since Gutenberg invented movable metal type accused Barack Obama of seeking “a deal to delay US troops’ from Iraq when he was in Baghdad last summer. That makes no sense. The Iraqis have published their negotiating points, and they […]
20% Goal for Alternative Energy to be Set in Europe
The European Union is moving closer to a goal of 20% of European energy coming from renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels by 2020. Unfortunately, they left in biofuels, which in my view are a distraction. The question isn’t whether it is renewable, the question is whether the energy puts more carbon into the […]
We have Met the Environmental Poisons and they are US
They actually put it in baby bottles! Chemical in plastics gives you diabetes, heart attacks. We are now exposed to thousands of chemicals in daily life. My guess is, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The chemical companies will do some more ads. It is sort of like the coal industry trying to […]
Palestinians See no Hope in Kadima Leadership Change
Aljazeera reports on the dim view Palestinians are taking of the contest for leadership of the Kadima Party in Israel.
35 Killed in Bombings, 73 Wounded; Petraeus Leaves Iraq Better than He Found It
In Baladruz, in Diyala Province east of Baghdad, a female suicide bomber attacked a homecoming party for an Iraqi soldier just released from nearly a year of detention in a US prison in Iraq. The bombing killed 22 persons and wounded 33. The returning prisoner, Ahmad Shukri al-Tamimi, appears to have been a Shiite who […]
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