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The World in Brief

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Laughter was Forgetting? Recently released Soviet era documents, though often considered questionable sources, have revealed that Milan Kundera, celebrated Czech author of such works as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Ignorance–most dealing with themes of displacement, sacrifice, sex and Totalitarianism–may have informed on a spy friend in order to keep his place at the university after being expelled from the Communist Party.

Not All Quiet on the Afghani Front…There really is nothing amicable about “friendly fire”; it’s simply a fatal error. And today marked another nine of them. An American air attack on an Afghan army post resulted in nine deaths and three critical injuries.

Throwing Rice at their Wedding The Bush Administration sent Secretary of State Condoleezza to Puerto Vallarta in order to meet with Mexican counterpart, Patricia Espinosa. Mexico’s drug cartel violence has reached a fever pitch loud enough to make adjacent U.S. feel threatened and of the mind a diplomatic intervention is required.

Rock and Hard Place Sandwiched between Russia to the north and Iran to the south, Azerbaijan has ever been in an uncomfortable geographic and political position. Since the Soviet Union fell, the oil bearing country has been able to keep Russia at bay while courting the interests of NATO and the U.S. Following the former’s war with Georgia, however, striking that balance has proven quite the challenge.

Shiites Restive in Sadr City Despite the relative calm washing over the city since its cease-fire, Shiites within its confines have grown increasingly angry regarding a government they consider “worse than Saddam Hussein['s].” For now, their fury has been kept in check, but how long before their pots boil over?

Daily News Round Up: Extra, Extra! This, This and This…Just In

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Off the Wall…Street Stocks everywhere seem to be suffering Humpty Dumpty’s fate. On Thursday, the Dow Jones plummeted a stunning near 700 points, and Friday brought a sharp descent to both European and Asian markets. Here’s hoping this October 29th doesn’t resemble the one the world saw in ‘29.

The Economist’s Verdict: Too Little Too Late…Yup, an Official Global Recession Though the world’s banks have been stitching in financial sutures, England’s self-described newspaper explains a widespread recession, if not depression, is pretty much unavoidable at this point.

But Back in LA…Bigotry and Malice out to Play Irvine City Council candidate Attorney Todd Gallingher, a Muslim convert, said a caller told him “‘I want to cut off your head just like all the other Muslims deserve,’” after finding out Gallinger was a Council of American-Islamic Relations employee. The city’s police department is investigating the threat.

The Insidious Disease That Turns Post-Prandial Bliss into Misery One percent or more of the country’s population could be suffering from celiac. The auto-immune disease caused by the ingestion of grains such as wheat, barley and oats could lead to more than an upset stomach. This piece explains it can also herald the onset of “anemia, infertility, osteoporosis and cancer.” In this case, it seems the only cure really is prevention in the form of a gluten-free diet.

Russian Cook May be Stirring the Iranian Nuclear Pot Though this doesn’t mean Russia is, as a country, aiding Iran in nuclear arms development, the investigation surrounding a Russian scientist’s possible illustration to Iran regarding the finer points of detonation is worrisome and the first admission from the part of a nuclear agency that the Middle Eastern country could be “receiv[ing] help from a foreign weapons scientist in developing nuclear arms.” Considering the statements Ahmadinejad has made in the last two years pertaining to what he says is a lack of nuclear arms development and Russia’s separation from the issue, this is no small matter.

A little perspective

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

refugees

11.4 million people in the world are refugees with an additional 26 million internally displaced within their own country, according to a new United Nations statistic released today in preparation for June 20, World Refugee Day.

Add those numbers together and that’s more than the entire population of California lacking a home or access to basic necessities.

So it’s not that big of a bummer that the Lakers lost, right?

This is the second year that numbers have risen, with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for half the numbers. 3.1 million were Afghans, while 2.3 million were Iraqis.  A majority of these people have sought refuge in Jordan and Syria.

Pakistan has the most refugees, with Syria, Iran, Germany and Jordan following.

The number of people displaced by conflicts – including those uprooted in their own countries, who are not strictly defined as refugees – rose to 26 million (from 24.4 million).

In April, UNHCR fed 150,000 refugees daily in Damascus, compared with only 33,000 people last September.

Read about one of their stories here. And here. And here. And here.

The weekend roundup: the end is near

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

endisnear

“It’s Barack Obama’s party now.”

So led the AP yesterday.  It’s been a challenge to sort through this mess.  Everyone tip-toeing around the slim prospect of Hillary somehow, someway stealing what Obama wrapped up mathematically at least a month ago.  Even though he has been reluctant to say anything definitive, his actions have spoken louder than his words, with his campaign’s eye focused squarely on John McCain.  He has officially severed all ties with his Trinity UCC church that has plagued him since Super Tuesday.  And he is set to speak at a rally in St. Paul, ostensibly to announce his victory in the primaries…in the same spot where the Republican National Convention will be held in August.  Ballsy!

Recent buzz says that Hillary is coming to terms with the loss after the DNC’s decision to seat the Florida and Michigan delegates at half strength.  That she will abandon any and all last ditch efforts to convince the superdelegates that she has a better shot at beating McCain in November.  It’s expected that the 200 or so uncommitted superdelegates remaining will rally behind Obama once the last two primaries are over on Tuesday.

It’s been tough even now to decipher what is filtering through the press from Hillary and from her delegate guru Harold Ickes.  Reports are that Hillary herself has said the race could be over this week. Ickes has said that she is reserving her right to appeal the Rules Committee decision and take the fight all the way to the convention, but he has also been quoted saying that Obama would make a great president and that whoever the nominee is, the other will rally behind that person unequivocally.

And then this email from Hillary’s campaign comes over:

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The weekend roundup: foot in mouth disease

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

footmouth clintonmccain

Oooh, this week has been a fun one, hasn’t it?

Hillary stuck her foot in her mouth with a comment that seemed to imply she would stay in the race just in case someone offed Obama the same way they did RFK.  Contextually, she spoke about her husband securing the nomination in June, and then mentioned RFK’s assassination in June, presumably as another primary lasting until then.  The Clinton Machine acted quickly to diffuse the immediate uproar over the remark.  Obama accepted her version of the story.

Personally, I smell a bit of courtroom stank.  A lawyer says something out of line to plant a seed in the jury’s mind.  The judge tells them to forget it, but how can they really erase that from all conscious thought.  The Clintons have played the underhanded race card a few times during this campaign, why stop now?  Obama getting sniped by some rifle-toting white extremist isn’t a new idea.  His chief rival alluding to the thought publicly does give it a bit more credence, though.

The real question to Hillary: why say it at all?  G-Dub didn’t wrap up his nomination in 2000 until the summer.  Wrong party but a much less controversial example, mmmm-kay?

*****

Speaking of controversy and off-handed assassination remarks…

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