When the President of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee warned that recognizing Kosovo’s independence was “absolutely wrong” and a “terrible precedent,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wasn’t having any of it. “History will judge!” he said. Well, only six months later, it might be a bit soon for history – how about current affairs, M. Kouchner? Because Kosovo’s recognition as an independent state by the US, UK, Turkey, Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Australia and Taiwan almost certainly is one of the root causes of the current Georgia-Russia-South Ossetia-Abkhazia conflict. The Guardian’s Ian Bancroft points this out in a very well written commentary, ...
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Well, it’s official – John McCain is leading Barack Obama by five points in a Reuters/Zogby poll. One month ago, Obama was up by seven points. So the questions that Democrats really need to be asking is “what the hell are we doing wrong?’ And then fix it. Anyone who watched John Kerry flounder in 2004, refusing to respond or attack George Bush out of some kind of idealistic “we are all gentlemen here” nonsense should realize that we really need to toughen up. Chivalry is not dead, and it does have its place – at balls, while playing cricket and at the club. ...
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At a town hall meeting in Manchester, NH, John McCain said the US should be suspicious of Iran because “they sure don’t share our Judeo-Christian values.” Well, duh. I know that the Sunni/Shiite thing has been confusing for the Arizona senator, so I’m going to explain – slowly. Saying Judeo-Christian values implies that the values derive from the Jewish and Christian traditions. Islam is not part of Judaism or Christianity. See how that works? McCain told Pastor Rick Warren that “illegal immigrants should be treated in a manner ‘consistent with Judeo-Christian values.’” Which is definitely why the Republicans have the support of the Minute ...
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The Police Service of Northern Ireland reported that Semtex explosives believed to have belonged to the Provisional IRA were used to attack police officers in the border town of Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, reports the Times. Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI Paul Leighton said two officers were somewhat injured after the Semtex rocket failed to explode fully. Leighton believes that this Semtex comes from a shipment to Northern Ireland in the 1980s, courtesy of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. PIRA decommissioning was completed in 2005 under the review of Canadian General John de Chastelein. Several loyalist paramilitaries also declared an end to their violent ...
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It’s a of a double-whammy for the Beijing Olympics Committee today: two new Olympics problems, one of their own making. The Times reports (though it has been on the blogosphere for several days) that all of the 56 children allegedly representing China’s 56 ethnic minority groups were actually all Han Chinese. The Han make up 90% of China’s population of 1.3 billion. Until today, Olympic organizers insisted the children were actually members of the ethnic groups they represented. The programme read, “Fifty-six children from 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster around the Chinese national flag.” Oops. Vice-President of the Beijing Olympic committee Wang Wei complained, ...
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