With September 11 just a week aways there’s been much talk around the water cooler on each of our views of that day. Here’s an open thread for you to share your views.
Daily Archives: September 4, 2007
Craig Reconsiders Decision to Resign
WHAT???!!
From Huffington Post:
BOISE, Idaho — Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.
“It’s not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign,” said Sidney Smith, Craig’s spokesman in Idaho’s capital.
“We’re still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we’re able to stay in the fight _ and stay in the Senate.”
“Thanks for the question you little jerk”
Senator John McCain answers a question from a Concord High student who asks whether he’s too old to be president. He also asks whether Senator McCain is worried he might die while in office, or get Alzheimers that might affect his judgement. The student actually points out to McCain that he would be the oldest president…
If You’re Going to be a Hypocrite, it Pays to be a Straight Hypocrite
There’s a totally cool article on The Nation by Timothy Patrick McCarthy entitled “Homos, Hypocrites and Haters.”
Check it out. Discuss.
Are Those War Drums Beating Again?
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Bombing Iran
by Howard A. Rodman
On Huffington Post:
“For me (and for you), beginning a war in Iran — in the midst of the disaster that is Iraq — is the precise incarnation of Santayana’s warning: “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” But for Bush and Cheney, two of the ten or twelve people who actually believe that the Iraq war is going well, this new venture isn’t fanatic at all. It would be, in their eyes– Going from strength to strength.”
Those war drums appear to be beating again, a little louder and a little faster now that Labor Day and August recess is over. You might want to take a minute to read an article by George Packer in The New Yorker Magazine, the a post on TPM Muckraker, and two articles on the Global Research website (article 1 – article 2).
Yes, this is insanity, but these days, what isn’t insane?
Hurricane Felix Comes Ashore
Hurricane Felix has hit near the Honduran-Nicaraguan border — the Mosquito Coast.
Felix’s winds have weakened, last reported at 100 miles per hour, but is still a very dangerous hurricane. The people will next have to deal with the most dangerous part of a hurricane — water, in the form of huge amounts of rain and the storm surge.
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy
Dead Certain?
Bush Ignores Labor Day and American Truckers
Mexican long-haul trucking starts in U.S. next weekWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration can proceed with a plan to open the U.S. border to long haul Mexican trucks as early as next week after an appeals court rejected a bid by labor, consumer and environmental interests to block the initiative.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco late on Friday denied an emergency petition sought by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and consumer group Public Citizen to halt the start of a one-year pilot program that was approved by Congress after years of legal and political wrangling.
The Transportation Department welcomed the decision and said in a statement that allowing more direct shipments from Mexico will benefit U.S. consumers.
Continue reading
Mixed results for the Surge™
From the Washington Post:
Visits to key U.S. bases and neighborhoods in and around Baghdad show that recent improvements are sometimes tenuous, temporary, even illusory.
In many areas, U.S. forces are now working at cross-purposes with Iraq’s elected Shiite-led government by financing onetime Sunni insurgents who say they now want to work with the Americans. The loyalties of the Iraqi military and police — widely said to be infiltrated by Shiite militias — remain in doubt.
Even U.S. soldiers assigned to protect Petraeus’s showcase remain skeptical. “Personally, I think it’s a false representation,” Campbell said, referring to the portrayal of the Dora market as an emblem of the surge’s success. “But what can I say? I’m just doing my job and don’t ask questions.”
The armies of Iraq
Hi, TPZooers. Good morning.
Busy day but I leave you this.
Via Al-Jazeera:
Four years ago the fighting in Iraq was just beginning. The armed group al-Qaeda in Iraq did not even exist and Sunni and Shia groups were working together against the US-led forces.
Three years ago, sectarian divisions escalated into a battle some believe has reached civil war proportions.
Now the fighters have turned against each other.
This year has seen Shia infighting on the streets of Iraqi cities such as Karbala and Sunni armed groups fighting to keep al-Qaeda out of their regions.
In a series of exclusive reports, Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid reports on the new reality of Iraq’s many armies.
Slow Tuesday
This morning in Europe, news is mostly a rehash of yesterday’s events. Here are some of the headlines:
- Sadly, there has been another bombing in Pakistan, where at least 24 people have been killed.
- Hurricane Felix is, of course, still being watched over here and rightly so. It is a really mean storm.
- The Pentagon has been the target of Chinese hackers.
- Germans are busily yawning over the Social Democrats autodestructive infighting, but this is not news really, they are doing it for decades now.
- France is discussing the merger of GdF (Gaz de France) and Suez to form one of the biggest energy providers in Europe, if not worldwide. The merger was dubbed a “shotgun wedding” and the French goverment was heavily involved in the deal.
- The Italian government coalition enjoys some infighting, too. But, again, this is not really news.
- In Greece the landscape that burned only a short while ago is now hit by severe flooding. The arid soil can’t take all the water and the suffering of the Greek population continues. I am afraid global environment change will provide us with many more such headlines in the future.
- Spain is celebrating the arrest of the main ETA bomb architect.
- Austria is doing a poor job in hunting down Nazi criminals. The Simon Wiesenthal Center says there is a lack of political will. I happen to agree.
Elsewhere two allies found another common goal: Continue reading
