News – Mr. Bush goes to the UN

No happy ending here, I predict.

Iraq

Today is the day that Bush goes to the UN asking for help. A year after saying they were irrelevant and showing this belief in his actions. Personally, I don’t see that his manner has changed, thus I forecast little, if any, help will be given. Kofi has continued to condemn Bush’s preemptive ways, but has suggested it might be a good idea for the UN to revise its rules when it comes to the new hot points of the era. Personally, I think it is a good idea to look into possible changes, as the UN, like all things, must evolve with the times.

The Iraqi governing council is to take action against the Arabic television networks al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya for ‘incitement to violence’. They may expel them from the country for a month after complaints of the tone of their coverage from Iraqi officials.

Is Russia in 1992 an example of why privatization of Iraq is a bad idea? The results of it in Russia weren’t exactly pretty.

Israel/Palestine

Another militant killed by Israeli forces, while trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. Though, through German mediated negotiations, a prisoner swap with Hizbollah is approaching.

The prisoner swap could result in the release of a successor to Arafat, Marwan Barghouti.

Colon Powell doesn’t expect Israel to respond to pressure on settlements until Palestine cracks down on terrorism. Of course, I don’t expect Palestine to crackdown on terror until the reason for that terror(settlements) are dealt with. Quite a little Catch 22, eh? I’ve been reading a book on the Middle East conflict, which includes a general history of events which led up to the Jews considering the area their home and their settling there. I’m up to the 1930s in the timeline and I have to conclude that the Jews, the Arabs and the British are largely responsible for the current mess. The early settlers ignored Arab concerns at first, then ignored them after token attempts at diplomacy and later responded to violence with violence, Arab propagandists exploited that and raised more havoc and the British government pandered shamelessly to Arab demands for their own imperial interests. Thus we now have this situation that is almost impossible to fix without someone losing big time.

Iran

The IAEA is stepping up the inspection deadline for Iran to prove it isn’t making nukes. A result of the IAEA not being pleased could be economic sanctions. As if they worked in Iraq? Hopefully they’ll be smart sanctions, rather than full.

US

Bush’s dubious nominee for the EPA isn’t in yet. There is still significant resistance to his being made official EPA head.

Powell screwed up. He called the US a Judeo-Christian country. He was quick to backpedal to ‘country of many faiths’ but it’s too little too late. Seems the religious air Bush has installed at the White House is starting to effect minds.

The Bush administration will allow religious charities that provide social services to compete for $28 billion in federal grants. Civil liberties advocates are quick to protest this move. The Bush Administration doesn’t think this violates separation of church and state, but civil liberties advocates do and have warned them that continuing could trigger lawsuits.

The Army used JetBlue passenger data to test a prototype data mining system. This was stupid when they could have easily made their own test data without risking becoming a new focus for civil liberties advocates.

The head of the ACLU and others are charging that Ashcroft’s little nation tour with the Patriot Act amounts to deception of the public. Misrepresenting the full authority the Patriot act gives the government in order to quell fears about it. Given the tainting of the act to go after common criminals, I can see the belief that they might as not being unfounded.

More Rumsfeld poetry.

The Flip Flops of Al Sharpton: The repeated flip and flop of Sharpton’s shifting support from democrat to republican. This is, in context, a tactic of his to ‘make Democrats pay attention to the concerns of the left’. It’s a strange tactic, I’m not quite sure I understand it.

Wesley Clark has unveiled his campaign message in South Carolina. Get a look at it and add it to consideration. Personally, I find it interesting. But I remain cautious.

Chatterbox introduces the perplexing situation of conservatives positive on a Hilary Clinton presidency. IN part two the strangeness will be explained.

General

Day to Day: The question is asked, do debates matter? In another audio spot, the future of the UN is considered.

International Papers covers revelations from Khaled Sheikh Muhammad and other tidbits from the Middle East.

Today’s Papers notes Wesley Clark is breaking out strong in the race for the White House and Bush’s approval rating at its lowest, 50%. Ashcroft has made new rules when it comes to peal bargains, but it remains unclear id they will have real effect or are more symbolic. More mixed opinions on Iraq privatization and other news tidbits compiled here.

Amusements

Don’t ask me how, I wasn’t there

Scientific fact