News – Gas Prices and Hot Air on the Rise (1/2)

US

Bush is not pleased that OPEC has decided to cut output. Last night I listened to a replay of Scott McClellan parroting the same response to several different questions, that the dialogue with ‘our friends’ at OPEC and other non-OPEC nations will be ongoing and the administration will continue to make its views know. Such as blaming the whole thing on Democrats not signing off on the energy bill that’s been languishing without being passed. But Bush is looking at short term fixes(As was asked about five times during that C-Spann spot, responded to with parroting). We’ll see if anything comes of this looking. Kerry was quick to leap upon this next weakness.

Senate Majority leader Bill Frist is being accused of using the Senate floor as a convention hall. What with his constant defense of the White House as of late. What I find more amusing are these comments he made: “I am troubled that someone would sell a book, trading on their service as a government insider with access to our nation’s most valuable intelligence, in order to profit from the suffering that this nation endured on September 11, 2001”. Meanwhile Frist is cashing in on his own book, “When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism from the Senate’s Only Doctor”. IN response, his reviews on Amazon got crunched.

Does the silence of Secretary of State Colin Powell and CIA Director George Tenet speak volumes on the matter of Richard Clarke?

Martha Stewart wants a new trial.

How e-voting threatens democracy. You can’t trust the current line of e-voting machines. A sad, but true certainty. Unless we can get reliable, secure, tracable results from these things, they are of no use to us.

Bush’s latest abuse of power fails to rouse the press.

Why the added evidence in regard to Clinton’s Sudan bombing only weakens its case

Iraq

A high profile Trade Fair in Iraq was postponed due to security concerns. Most obviously, the gristly bit with what we now know were American contractors(With uneasy echoes of Somalia). Nevertheless, we’re staying the course, it seems.

Protests in Southern Iraq have resulted in at least one death as protestors and Iraqi police clash in Brasa. One hundred people are said to be demanding to be paid their salaries.

The papers comment on the closing of an Iraqi newspaper.

Israel/Palestine

The IDF battled Palestinian gunmen, some said to be from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who were holed up in a populated mental hospital in Bethlehem. After ah hour of gunplay, the Palestinians surrendered.

Israel’s government has written to the BBC, charging that Orla Guerin, their Middle East correspondent, is anti-Semitic and has “total identification with the goals and methods of the Palestinian terror groups”. You can read and consider. Personally, Israel’s cries of anti-Semitism have become cries of wolf to me. Some are likely valid, but its hard to pick those out from the unfounded ones.

Iran

Iran’s ambassador dismisses criticism from the EU on the country’s intent to start up a Uranium conversion plant. “It’s a totally separate issue from our commitment to the suspension of uranium enrichment,” ambassador Pirooz Hosseini told Reuters in a telephone interview. I’ve looked into Conversion and it looks like it can be legit or not, as the end product can end up useful for energy or weapons depending.

Korea

North Korea is seen as stalling until after the November presidential election in the US. A potentially smart move, though if Bush stays in office, that sort of stuff won’t make him any more conciliatory. Not that there was much of that feel before.

Pakistan

Pakistani forces capture a militant with explosives. Questions linger over who his target was. Some suggest it was the PM.

Taiwan

China is not pleased with the US for selling an early warning radar to Taiwan. The radar is described to “identify and detect ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and air-breathing target threats”.

Spain

Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet(that’s a mouthful of a name), a Tunisian is seen as the leader of the Madrid bombing. It is said he had the specific intent for violence in Spain since mid 2003.