Headlines: 8 August 2008

• Former bin Laden driver gets light sentence: After five years at Gitmo and a Supreme Court case, Salim Hamdan will be eligible for release in five months.
• A Glossary of Iraq Euphemisms: George Orwell is rolling over in his grave.
• Musharraf Won't Resign, Allies Say: The Pakistani Parliament is moving to impeach.
• Tibetan exiles in India protest Beijing Olympics naturally.
• Arrests as Burma marks uprising: Twenty years ago today, the Burmese started a six-week uprising against the junta.
• Mbeki set for new Zimbabwe talks: Mugabe and Tsvangirai are approaching a power-sharing deal.
• Detroit mayor charged with two felony assault counts: Michigan AG Mike Cox filed those two charges stemming from an incident involving Kilpatrick and an officer trying to deliver a subpoena on a Kilpatrick ally.
• A Whole New McCain: No more Mr. Nice Guy.
• Large Hadron Collider operations scheduled: Zwoom!

Headlines: 21 July 2008

• Bomb blasts hit Spanish resorts: ETA detonates five bombs in northern Spain. No deaths.
• 2 Die in Blasts on Chinese Buses: As China tightens security before the Olympics, public protests pick up, and China may be using the threat of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) to crack down in the west.
• Zimbabwe Rivals Sign Agreement: Talks between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai begin. Can they reach a power-sharing arrangement?
• Another Species in Danger: The wolverine should be added to the Endangered Species List.

Headlines: 23 June 2008

• Obama Camp Closely Linked with Ethanol: I'm going to have to disagree with Obama on this one. Subsidizing corn-based ethanol does little for the environment/sustainability/energy independence (Ethanol still causes pollution and the fertilizers used to grow corn are largely petroleum-based.) and raises food prices.
• Mugabe Rival Quits Zimbabwe Runoff, Citing Attacks: It's now entirely up to the international community to act.
• Is Israel Preparing to Bomb Iran?: It looks that way, but they shouldn't. Because when you engage in diplomacy instead of militarism, you get results like...
• ...North Korea invites media to nuclear plant blast: The six-party talks have resulted in the dismantling of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
• How George Carlin Changed Comedy: The irreverent stand-up comic is dead at 71.
• Getting to Know Jim Webb: Joe Klein says that veep "speculation is usually a waste of time. It is what political reporters do instead of reporting during the dead weeks after the primaries." What? My last two weeks of work isn't real journalism?
• The Warrior-Poets celebrate their 100th post:

Headlines: 12 June 2008

• No renewal for renewables: Two bills failed to achieve cloture in the Senate on Tuesday, the Consumer First Energy Act and Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act. The former would have taxed oil companies' windfall profits and used the taxes to invest in renewable energy. Oil companies could avoid the tax by investing in the energies themselves. The latter bill would have extended tax breaks for renewable energies and would have funded it by closing loopholes in the tax code. Key quote from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Republicans are determined to lower gas prices the only way we can: increasing supply." What about decreasing demand? Even if you don't believe in global warming, we don't have an infinite supply of oil. Sir, you and your colleagues have the farsightedness of Mr. Magoo.
• Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal in Civilian Courts: "What? Due process? Argh! Justice Kennedy, you have killed us all!" said Justice Antonin Scalia. This would be funny if he didn't actually say that the ruling "will almost certainly cause more Americans to get killed."
• Zimbabwe Detains Opposition Leaders: MDC's secretary general was detained almost immediately after his return from South Africa.

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe

Recounts of last month's parliamentary elections have changed nothing: control of Zimbabwe's Parliament will pass to the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time since the country won independence from Britain in 1980. However, the recounts have been used to stall the presidential elections, allowing incumbent Robert Mugabe to intimidate his people with violence and cruelty:

Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare...."In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe even children are not spared the terror that befalls their parents[," said Chamisa.]

Jendayi Frazer, assistant Secretary of State for Africa, is doing a fantastic job urging other African leaders to condemn Mugabe's actions. But I have heard nothing about other American officials. Secretary Rice, President Bush, and Congress should condemn Mugabe in no uncertain terms and strive to increase international pressure against him.

Headlines: 24 April 2008

• In Surprise, Ford Swings to Profit
  

  Just not in the North American market.
  

• U.S. envoy says Zimbabwe's Mugabe lost
  

  Finally, someone in the U.S. government tells it like is.
  

• Patrick: Democrats will rally behind Obama
  

  Mass. governor downplays Obama's PA loss and repudiates pollsters' conventional wisdom.

Headlines: 23 April 2008

• Moqtada al-Sadr issues 'all-out war' ultimatum

• Sorry this article is a little old. Why are we walling off Sadr City anyways?

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• Petraeus to Be Nominated to Lead Central Command

• Because "staying [the] course is not a bad idea." Funny quote:

• Though the Central Command was created in 1983 to cover the "central" part of the globe between the European and Pacific Commands, according its Web site, its main headquarters is located not in its theater of operations, but rather in Tampa, Fla., at least in part because of the political sensitivity of basing it in the Mideast.

• You think?

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• $100 fill-ups arrive at gas pumps

• This Summer: $4/gallon: Coming to a gas station near you!

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• Sri Lanka suffers bloodiest clashes since 2006

• The minority Tamils want their own state; the majority Sinhalese government vowed to destroy the rebels before elections in May.

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• Violence mars Zimbabwe recount

• Robert Mugabe intimidates his political rivals as a recount determines which party controls Parliament. Zimbabwe, by the way, has the world's highest inflation rate, at an astounding 100,000%. And that's according to officials. The real rate might be higher.