Independent Talk

You see, it's like this... First you give them money, then you take it back plus a little more!Every country that is actively capitalistic is going to have debt problems sooner or later. And right now we seem to be entering the time when nations around the world are hitting the fan when it comes to debt. The U.S. is in not so pretty shape, we all know that. Take a country like Iceland and you can see what happens when a banking system tries to do too much too fast. But is the entire EU having problems? Are the issues that started in places like Iceland and Greece spreading? Read more

The next week will see the beginning of a troop surge to take Marjah in AfghanistanThe U.S. Marines are planning a major operation in the next few days. This is the first push of the 30,000 troops that President Obama sent over to Afghanistan as part of the surge to make a dent in the Taliban resistance. The hope is that this will 1) take out a lot of the Taliban resistance, and 2) get some of the Taliban resistors to come out of the mountains and surrender. Or at least consider Afghan President Karzai’s idea to have a meeting of the elders and figure this whole thing out like, well, the elders would do. Read more

Clean Coal and Ethanol Won't Help.Biofuels and Clean Coal. That is where Obama will be putting his energy as far as clean energy.

Can someone get me a vomit bag?

I’ve been ranting  the last few days- I’m blown away by the direction that Obama is taking on clean energy. Not that clean/ green/ sustainable/ etc. energy was ever a big part of his platform or anything, but come on, Mr. President. The idea of pursuing clean coal is absurd. It’s like saying you’ll drink a glass of water everytime you take a shot at the bar- sure, it helps for the hangover but you’re still drinking just as much. You’re not changing your habit- you’re just adding another one. Read more

Can Obama deliver on the hope and change?Obama is in New Hampshire right now pitching his new take on how we can get people employed and get the economy gong again. We’ll see how that goes. Read more

Karzai calls to begin talks with the Taliban with a meeting of the elders

Afghanistan’s President Karzai is asking for talks with the Taliban before the U.S. begins taking troops out of the country. Um, yes. Good idea.  

While the U.S. troop withdrawal will not begin for another year and a half, it is important that the surge in military activity correspond to a surge in diplomatic activity. Just attacking the Taliban more will drive them further into seclusion and anger. Offering them a diplomatic way out along the way will erode their resolve- or so we hope.

At this point the Taliban is demanding that the U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan first before peace talks begin. Nice try, guys. Read more

Putin

An uncommon protest calling for Vladmir Putin to resign in Russia is getting some attention. Russian opposition movement leader Boris Nemtsov said that the crowd in Kaliningrad was protesting a 25-35% rise in utility bills as well as against unemployment. The opposition movement is called Solidarity- so does this mean a new day in Russian politics?

Doubtful- but a protest is a protest, and the fact that there were thousands screaming for Putin’s head on the media is nothing to laugh at. Nemtsov even said that the Communists were involved in organizing the protest. Read more

Taiwan Treads International Thin Lines In Keeping Up its MilitaryWhen is selling weapons essentially an act of aggression? When it is the U.S. selling them to Taiwan.

Why? Quite simply, China doesn’t want Taiwan to have new weapons. So why are we doing it? Because we signed a treaty to sell weapons to Taiwan.

And because we are a country now built on the scaffolding of a military-industrial complex. Read more

BernankeBernanke is in for a second term. Thoughts?

I think it’s a good thing, and not just in the way that Paul Krugman says. Bernanke may be better than the hassle and uncertainty of nominating and bringing someone else into the process, true, but I think his performance needs to be acknowledged and looked at again in light of Obama’s state of the union perspective. Read more

President ObamaObama’s State of the Union Speech touched on many aspects of international and internal relations. Here are the highlights I heard and my reactions: Read more

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali KhameneiIn a new twist to the Internet infiltration of government relations, Iran’s supreme leader is accusing the U.S. of using the world wide web against Iran.

This one is coming out of nowhere, though it isn’t the first time the Internet has been cast as an antagonist to Iranian status quo. Last year’s contested election saw an information crackdown by the Iranian government, and though most social media services were unavailable for anyone to use, opposition sympathizers used the social media network Twitter to send out information, communicate with the rest of the world, and freely vent both their frustrations and their accusations of wrong-doing against the government. Read more