January 2010

  • Karzai Calls for the Taliban to Begin Peace Talks Before the U.S. and NATO Leave

    By ecoscott on 1/31/10 3:57pm
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    Karzai calls to begin talks with the Taliban with a meeting of the eldersKarzai 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.

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  • Russian Opposition calls for Putin's Head

    By ecoscott on 1/30/10 10:33pm
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    PutinPutin

    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.

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  • Selling Weapons to Taiwan

    By ecoscott on 1/29/10 6:56pm
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    Taiwan Treads International Thin Lines In Keeping Up its MilitaryTaiwan 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.

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  • Bernanke Up Again for Second Term

    By ecoscott on 1/28/10 6:35pm
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    BernankeBernankeBernanke 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.

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  • Beyond Our Borders: Obama's State of the Union

    By ecoscott on 1/27/10 8:45pm
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    President ObamaPresident 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:

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  • Iran Accuses the U.S. of Using the Internet as a Weapon

    By ecoscott on 1/26/10 2:07pm
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    Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali KhameneiIran'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.

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  • Bernanke Approval Not Certain

    By ecoscott on 1/25/10 9:53pm
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    Bernanke- Once Time's Man Of The Year, Now Questionable In His Bid For ReconfirmationBernanke- Once Time's Man Of The Year, Now Questionable In His Bid For ReconfirmationWhat once looked like a sure thing is teetering in its certainty- much like the economic stability Bernake oversaw when he took the job from Greenspan in 2006.

    "Bernanke presided over the biggest Wall Street bailout in history, making trillions of dollars in loans to big banks with no oversight. But after taking extreme measures to save the banks, Bernanke has shown no interest in helping regular folks who can't find jobs, even though ensuring 'full employment' is explicitly part of his mandate,” said MoveOn.org, clearly upset for the middle and lower classes.

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  • U.S. and Russia Closer than Really Close?

    By ecoscott on 1/24/10 1:02pm
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    95% of the way to a handshake95% of the way to a handshakeA few weeks ago I wrote about the nuclear negotiations between Russia and the U.S. This is the kind of negotiation that is figuring out how to officially do something that everyone in both countries and everyone else around the world already knows should and will happen. Russia and the U.S. already have way too many nuclear weapons and nothing to really do with them. At least in the current political climate, nobody is thinking about starting a nuclear war, and certainly not going to threaten anyone with a nuclear attack. Imagine the Cuban Missile Crisis happening or a movie like Dr. Strangelove coming out right now- it seems foreign, like finding an old yearbook in a box in your closet and getting that pinge of shame or surprise or amusement at remembering an old rivalry or the petty notes you would pass in high school.

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  • China vs. U.S. on Censorship

    By ecoscott on 1/23/10 10:03pm
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    ......“The U.S. has criticized China’s policies to administer the Internet and insinuated that China restricts Internet freedom. We urge the United States to respect the facts and cease using so-called Internet freedom to make groundless accusations against China,” said Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese spokesperson.

    Well, you do restrict the Internet, China- the question is not really whether you decide what people can access or not- you do. The question is truly what is the line in the Internet? Is it really the kind of place where anything and everything should go? Should there be some restriction or shouldn’t there be? That is the real question. And as it stands now, the U.S. is in no position to tell China what it can and cannot do in its country. If I were the Chinese government I would be ravenously upset.

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  • Is the World Keeping Its Promises on CO2 Targets?

    By ecoscott on 1/23/10 3:34pm
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    Have we lost Emissions cut momentum?Have we lost Emissions cut momentum?At the end of the not Awesome Copenhagen summit the world’s nations decided that they would set targets by the end of January about cutting CO2 emissions.

    The EU says it will continue to shoot for a 20% cut in its emissions  under 1990 levels by 2020 and will go to 30% if other nations will too. President Obama submitted a letter of intention to cut emissions by 4% by 2020 under 1990 levels. Even that is in jeopardy with the most recent senate race won by a Republican. Norway rang in as the most ambitious, pledging a 30% cut under 1990 levels and with the possibility of going for 40%. China, India, South Africa and Brazil are meeting this weekend to discuss what their approach will be.

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  • Medical Issues Along Gaza/ Israel Border

    By ecoscott on 1/21/10 11:13am
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    1 in 5 Patients Needing Advanced Medical Care in Gaza Can't Get It1 in 5 Patients Needing Advanced Medical Care in Gaza Can't Get ItArguing over borders and border control when people are trying to kill each other is an easy decision- if there is a history of one country terrorizing another country, it seems reasonable to raise defenses or, in the extreme case of the Israel-Gaza border, to actually shut down the border and tightly control the flow of people in and out. But does that mean that people who are dying should be stuck and not able to cross the border for what could amount to life-saving medical care in the much better equipped hospitals and medical facilities of Israel?

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  • Obama Asks For More Money For Education

    By ecoscott on 1/19/10 12:32pm
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    Obama Asks for $1 billion+ more for educationObama Asks for $1 billion+ more for educationOk, so Obama is out asking for money again. I’m beginning to get the feeling that he is going to spend as much money as he can as quickly as he can and then sort of deal with it later- and it feels blasphemous to say, because I voted for and love President Obama. But man, do you have a policy or administrative idea that doesn’t cost over $1 billion? Is that even possible when it really comes down to it? Is that just the deal for a country with over 300 million people? Can we do anything for less than $3 per person?

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  • Massachusetts Race Basically a Tie.

    By ecoscott on 1/18/10 6:54pm
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    Coakley is in danger of losing the 60th vote for health care reform.Coakley is in danger of losing the 60th vote for health care reform.I’ve been writing about the health care reform legislation for months now. I almost don’t know what I’ll do when it either passes or fails- I’ll lose such a consistent piece of subject matter. It’s a hopeful piece of legislation in a time where the rest of the news seems to be about war and financial ruin and the failures of the world’s governments to agree on how to address climate change.

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  • Iran Accuses U.S. and Israel of Killing an Iranian Nuclear Scientist

    By ecoscott on 1/18/10 5:55pm
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    Iran's Government has accused the U.S. and Israel of killing an Iranian Scientist.Iran's Government has accused the U.S. and Israel of killing an Iranian Scientist.Iran has just vowed revenge on the U.S. and Israel for the killing of a scientist.

    That word! My first inkling was to write about how this reinforces the way that Iran looks at the world- that everyone is out to get them and that the way to respond to any slight, be it to their nuclear program or to someone educated from their country, by vowing violence… but then I thought about how many different countries do the same thing. The U.S. does stuff like this all the time and we just call it defending ourselves- doing what we have to do.

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  • Google and China

    By ecoscott on 1/15/10 3:34pm
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    Google is Unhappy with the Way China Regulates Information in its countryGoogle is Unhappy with the Way China Regulates Information in its countryThe U.S. government is going to say something to China about the Google situation. They are going to express concern about the “cyber-attacks” that have brought up the issue of Google leaving China and ending business matters there.

    "We will be issuing a formal demarche to the Chinese government in Beijing on this issue in the coming days, probably early next week. It will express our concern for this incident and request information from China as to an explanation of how it happened and what they plan to do about it," said P.J. Crowley, U.S. State Department spokesman.

    A demarche is a formal, written message directly from a diplomat to a government- so we are saying we are upset for real.

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  • Health Care Bill Moves A Little Closer To Passage

    By ecoscott on 1/14/10 10:42pm
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    House Leader Nancy Pelosi Is Doing What She Can To Get The Votes To Get The Bill PassedHouse Leader Nancy Pelosi Is Doing What She Can To Get The Votes To Get The Bill PassedThe Labor Union has said that they now support a higher tax on high-cost health insurance, one of the many methods that Democrats are trying to institute to pay for the new reformed health care system. It’s a big deal- Labor Union support would count as one of the major hurdles that the bill had to get in order to have any hope for moving forward.

    It is being called the “Cadillac Tax,” and it was a big divider between the Senate and the House versions of this bill. Many are hopeful that this will mean adoption by both houses and sending of the health care bill to the President soon.

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  • Nuclear Talks With Russia "really close"

    By ecoscott on 1/14/10 3:59am
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    U.S. President Barack Obama is negotiating with Russia to reduce numbers of Nuclear WeaponsU.S. President Barack Obama is negotiating with Russia to reduce numbers of Nuclear WeaponsThe U.S. and Russia have been going through some major talks about nuclear issues over the past few months, and several times along the way other issues, like the Copenhagen summit or arguments about missile placements or Afghanistan have gotten in the way or delayed negotiations, but now a senior U.S. arms control official says that the two nations are “really close” to agreement.

    What does “really close” actually mean? Well, that part we can’t be sure of. What we can be sure of is that this is getting a lot of press and is something that both countries want to do, so we can assume that they are certainly making progress and that something will happen in the near future. Good.

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  • Guantanamo Ex-Detainees and Switzerland

    By ecoscott on 1/12/10 12:07pm
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    Guantanamo Bay Needs To Find Places for Our Detainees To Go...Guantanamo Bay Needs To Find Places for Our Detainees To Go...International politics is full of changing allegiances and diplomatic maneuvering- there are long term and short term causes, ad hoc groups that work toward a quick goal, and some long term partnerships that change the face of the Earth, if only for a short time. Then there are relationships that change based on the actual issue that is being dealt with, and every other week you sit down and see that two countries are working together or arguing about some new issue. In this case, those two countries are Switzerland and the United States. Right now, the U.S. wants Switzerland to take more Guantanamo Bay detainees.

    Let’s take a look at the recent events that have brought Switzerland and the U.S. into international togetherness:

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  • The Future of the Taliban

    By ecoscott on 1/11/10 7:58pm
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    What will the future for the Taliban in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan hold?What will the future for the Taliban in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan hold?In the struggle against terrorism, the U.S. literally needs all the allies we can get. Not only do we need western countries to help with the various wars, namely in Afghanistan, through NATO and on their own, we desperately need to win the hearts and minds of the people who live in the countries where terrorism lives and breathes. If not, and we create animosity, we will only be, essentially, creating more terrorists.

    This is one of the dangers faced by putting your military into a country and asking them to take out those who oppose you. On one hand, you are making the area safer and habitable for the people who are against the radical government or terrorist cells. On the other hand, you are basically putting forward an all military front, reinforcing the image of America as bully.

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  • A Wall To Go Up Between Israel and Egypt

    By ecoscott on 1/10/10 6:42pm
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    Israel plans a wall between them and Egypt, similar to this Bethlehem checkpoint wallIsrael plans a wall between them and Egypt, similar to this Bethlehem checkpoint wallThe rumored wall between Israel and Egypt is a rumor no longer- there will be a wall built between the two countries. The goal of the new structure is to keep illegal migrants and militants out of Israel.  

    "I took the decision to close Israel's southern border to infiltrators and terrorists. This is a strategic decision to secure Israel's Jewish and democratic character," said Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu.Egypt was apparently not aware of the plans until the announcement was made known in the general public.

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  • Iceland In Some Serious Financial Trouble

    By ecoscott on 1/9/10 10:28pm
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    Olafur Grimsson, Iceland's President, voted against a new structure for repaying Britain and the Netherlands $5 billionOlafur Grimsson, Iceland's President, voted against a new structure for repaying Britain and the Netherlands $5 billionIceland voters are planning to vote against paying money owed to Britain and the Netherlands, according to a recent poll.

    I love that somehow this is being voted on by the people of Iceland. Can you imagine if Americans were able to vote on paying back loans to other countries or to ourselves or bills or our… credit cards, say? That would be amazing.

    It’s $5 billion. The way the U.S. rolls, that’s not that much money. But after Iceland’s financial crash a few years back, I think $5 billion is about how much they have total. And apparently it’s on loan. So what’s the deal here?

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  • UK Arrest After Airplane Threats

    By ecoscott on 1/9/10 4:51pm
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    Airplanes are becoming the source of even more security scutiny latelyAirplanes are becoming the source of even more security scutiny latelyThe world is bracing after the wave of new airport and airline terrorist threats and scares, prompting authorities to tighten security in countries across the globe. After the Christmas bombing scare over Detroit in the U.S. and the more recent, though seemingly benign security breach at Newark airport, UK officials have arrested two passengers for making verbal threats before boarding a plane bound for United Arab Emirates.

    The plane, bound for Dubai from Heathrow, was halted after authorities said that there were verbal threats made by the two passengers about the flight before it took off. Heathrow remained open as the threat was isolated, and the passengers were removed from the plane.

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  • Clinton Frames Aid As Part of Security

    By ecoscott on 1/6/10 7:43pm
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    Secretary of State ClintonSecretary of State ClintonThe more I hear from and see Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in action, I must admit, the more I admire what she is doing. The most recent headline I read in Reuters was: “Clinton ties U.S. security to better aid delivery.” Now, how obvious and yet innovative is this kind of a statement? Everytime you hear about security it always means suspicion and violence or subduing some kind of violence- but you rarely hear about the U.S. offering or delivering aid as something that is intended to augment our security around the world. Very impressive, Ms. Clinton.

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  • French Variable Carbon Tax for Big Polluters? Oui

    By ecoscott on 1/5/10 11:56am
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    Variable Tax? ouiVariable Tax? ouiAfter much wrangling at the end of the year, French companies will be taking part in a new carbon scheme that will penalize them with a carbon tax. This is big news, as similar measures are being pushed throughout Europe, and Australia found themselves unable to get anything of the sort through- and the U.S., well, let’s just talk about the program and how it is working in France.

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  • U.S. Spies Called Ignorant

    By ecoscott on 1/4/10 10:25pm
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    Not so good.Not so good.Could the news coming out of Afghanistan really get any worse? I mean, they are ranked nearly the lowest in the entire world as far as corruption (179 out of 180- yes, I love that statistic), have pushed their parliamentary elections out as far as is legally possible because the election system there is so corrupt and untrustworthy, and now it seems that the U.S. can’t even get spying- something we are SUPPOSED to be good at by now- right.

    The intelligence chief for the U.S. military in Afghanistan “sharply criticized” spy agency work in Afghanistan, according to Reuters. Ouch! That should be a pretty clear signal to al Qaeda and the Taliban that they have nothing to worry about over there- or maybe it’s just a trap and things are going better than ever… hmmm.

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  • Agreement Between Hamas and Fatah?

    By ecoscott on 1/3/10 1:33pm
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    Gaza Strip - Egypt Border at RafahGaza Strip - Egypt Border at RafahOne of the biggest and most ongoing battles in the Middle East is of course the formation and continuation of Israel. But complicating matters is the internal rift going on within the Palestinian ranks, especially one division that has been simmering since about 2005 when PLO leader Yassir Arafat died. At that point, tensions between Hamas and Fatah parties grew, and grew even more when Hamas won the elections in the Gaza Strip region. Hamas has a historically active terrorist wing of the party, one that has kept a lot of international aid money out of Gaza, unless Hamas chooses to recognize the “3 Demands” from the international community:

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  • The Coming Afghan Election

    By ecoscott on 1/3/10 12:18pm
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    Afghan President Hamid KarzaiAfghan President Hamid KarzaiAfghanistan will vote for new members of their parliament this May. Wow.

    When history looks back at the attempt to bring democracy, peace and stability to Afghanistan, it may be obvious with the 20/20 vision that comes with time that it was doomed from the start. Afterall, current Afghan President Karzai is well known for his corruption, his strongarming to get his way, and for his flexible idea of what good governance is. Afghanistan is ranked 179 out of 180 countries in the world on the corruption scale- meaning there is only one other country viewed as more corrupt than them in the entire world. Is that the kind of environment you want to have going into a parliamentary election? Certainly not.

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  • Mayor Bloomberg said it: Comprehensive Immigration Reform

    By ecoscott on 1/1/10 3:30pm
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    Mayor M. BloombergMayor M. BloombergNew York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is making comprehensive immigration reform part of his platform for this, his third, and final, term.

    "We're committing what I call national suicide. Somehow or other, after 9/11 we went from reaching out and trying to get the best and the brightest to come here, to trying to keep them out. In fact, we do the stupidest thing, we give them educations and then don't give them green cards."

    "With leaders from across the country, we will assemble a bipartisan coalition to support President Obama's call for comprehensive immigration reform that honors our history, upholds our values, and promotes our economy," said Bloomberg as part of his remarks after being sworn in to term number three.

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