The US presidential campaign appears to be heating up, McCain who has previously stumbled on the economy and conceded a lead in the polls to Obama over the issue (this might have something to do with the fact that he claimed that the US has a fundamentally strong economy a few days before the collapse) is back in the picture. His recent announcement that he is halting his campaign (including his debate appearance) in order to focus on solving the crisis may have been a master-stroke. As it stands, McCain is not backing down, not attending the debate, and the question on everyone's lips is will Obama be debating with himself in Mississippi?
[update]: There are still questions as to whether John McCain will participate in the first presidential debate, but Barack Obama's top advisers are heading to the event site.
Jeff Zeleney, The Caucus, NYT.Palin, on the other hand, continues to make me laugh. According to
The New York Times' Sarah Wheaton, Palin has actually thrown more fuel on the hysterical fire brewing over her "I can see Russia from my house" remarks. She apparently complained to Katie Couric of CBS that she has been mocked for these comments and has proceeded to clarify them:
"It’s very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state."
I mean... seriously?
Speaking of stupid Republicans, our all time fave went on national TV last night and
decided to blame the financial crisis on foreign investors... I mean... is the American public that stupid? Well ok don't answer that...
And here's
an excellent article from Think Progress' M. Duss, reminding us that the $700b suggested to bailout the US economy is in fact similar to the amount the US has spent in Iraq so far... it also quotes some interesting comments from Bin Laden way back in 2004 about the strategy of "bleeding the USA until bankruptcy". And I quote from Mr. BL
"And even more dangerous and bitter for America is that the Mujahedin recently forced Bush to resort to emergency funds to continue the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq which is evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan with Allah’s permission… And it all shows that the real loser is… you. It’s the American people and their economy."
Labels: politics, US Elections 2008, world happenings
Excellent blog post from
Washington Post's Chris Cillizza on whether Sarah Palin may have the 'teflon'-like quality of past presidents Reagan and Clinton, to whom negative stories rarely stuck.
"We wondered whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin might have the same quality. As most recent polls show, despite a wealth of stories critical of Palin and questioning John McCain's selection of her as a running mate, she remains generally popular across the country. Does this mean Palin has the Teflon quality? And if so, can she maintain it all the way through Election Day?"
I personally don't think you can compare the gun-toting, fish-loving (my dad loves to fish, aint nothin wrong with that) Alaskan Governess to Bill Clinton, she has all the charisma of a Barbie doll, as is underscored by her foreign policy credentials "I can see Russia from my house!"
Speaking of the Governess, apparently the Palins are in New York at the moment, as are the Sarkozys, The
New York Observer's Irina Aleksander wonders whether they would meet... and how that meeting might go down
...
"We’re picturing it like a scene from Wife Swap where the two sets of spouses are seated across from each other, having a civil discussion until someone inevitably loses their temper and storms off. And while Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy might be tall, beautiful, a singer, and, ahem, a former supermodel, Ms. Palin was a runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant, eats moose burgers and, she can shoot guns!
Something tells us the husbands might take the back seat in our fantasy. "
Mr. Obama meanwhile is busy trying to fix this ridiculous bail-out "plan" that the Bush Administration has hastily cobbled together with... oh... $700 billion of taxpayers money. Here's my favourite part:
"It is wholly unreasonable to expect that American taxpayers would or should hand this Administration or any Administration a $700 billion blank check with absolutely no oversight or conditions when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess...The plan must include protections to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to further reward the bad behavior of irresponsible CEOs on Wall Street. There has been talk that some CEOs may refuse to cooperate with this plan if they have to forgo multi-million-dollar salaries. I cannot imagine a position more selfish and greedy at a time of national crisis. And I would like to speak directly to those CEOs right now: Do not make that mistake...This plan cannot be a welfare program for Wall Street executives."While all the talk at the moment is that "the US is more communist than China" after nationalising a bunch of companies and bailing out a bunch of others with the above-mentioned tax plan, I think what's a bigger problem is the Bush Administration is going to throw taxpayer's money at an issue (more tax cuts! more defense spending! more war! less medical! less education!) and not even bother to delve deeper into the lack of regulation and oversight that created this mess in the first place. I think it's ironic that the sub-prime mortgage crisis started with a bunch of unscrupulous financial organisations giving loans to people who were never going to be able to pay them banking the entire time on the fact that the property bubble will never burst... and this is being "solved" by an unscrupulous Governing Administration giving a bunch of shady financial institutions a blank cheque (so that the CEOs can keep their multi-million dollar salaries) assuming that the share market bubble wont burst as long as we throw money at it. Ah do we ever learn from our mistakes?
Labels: finance, politics, US Elections 2008
Some excellent opinion pieces from The Age today:
Irfan Yusuf criticises the current Western attitude towards Islamic terrorism, in response to the recent Marriott Hotel bombing
"Pakistan's Aaj TV news network showed one flustered Pakistani politician facing fierce questioning about how such a heavily secured location in the heart of the capital could have been the subject of attack. "You are journalists. You seem to know it all. Why don't you tell me how we can stop these attacks?" he said. Indeed, it is easy to pretend to know all the answers. In the West, too many self-styled terrorism "experts" want us to forget that this latest attack is yet another reminder that most victims of Islamist terror are themselves ordinary Muslims."
For Melburnians,
Nicholas Low laments the mess that is Swanston St, its importance to our city and his recommendations for what should be done - some of them are pretty cool!
"IT'S TIME for Swanston Street to be properly planned to make it safe for people on bikes, and create more space for people on foot. This fine street is the central axis that in many ways defines Melbourne as a city. It has heritage buildings, it connects St Paul's Cathedral, the Town Hall, the State Library and two universities. It houses two main transport hubs, it is a main retail and entertainment street, it leads to the arts precinct, Federation Square and the river, and it looks on to the Shrine of Remembrance. Yet, at present the street is a disgraceful mess. Last week it also proved to be a danger to life."
And
Bruce Grant asserts Australia's supremacy over the US on matters of global politics and diplomacy. (Thank you Mr. Rudd)
"IT'S a strange feeling, while watching the elections in the United States, to realise that the US is trailing Australia in important respects. America has been for so long the fountain of all that is "new" that to think of it being behind the times, especially as set on this side of the Pacific, requires a wrench of the imagination. But Australia is out of Iraq and has signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, on both of which the US is still undecided. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The next president confronts a lengthy list of things to do to catch up with the contemporary world."
Labels: politics, world happenings
Because Islam has held the monopoly on suicide bombers for far too long...
So recently two bombs were planted in Bombay auditoriums Thane and Vashi. One was diffused by police and the other went off and injured 7 people. Well there may have been universal condemnation in Indian media but it was not all quite for the right reasons.
“
When we heard that Hindus have been making bombs, we were happy. But we felt ashamed when we read that the blast injured were Hindus,” says the editorial for the Bombay paper Saamna, a mouthpiece for the Hindu Nationalist
Shiv Sena party. In fact the piece was titled: titled
"The dud bombs of Hindus! Why embarrass us?". Yes those shoddy bomb-makers put upon all Hindus a grave shame, the shame of not being good enough to even put together a decent bomb, let alone have the guts to go and blow their guts all over the place with it like their Muslim brothers.
That's right folks, Hindus need suicide bombing squads to compete these days!
"
Islamic terrorism is on the rise in India and in order to counter Islamic terrorism, we should match it with Hindu terrorism," the unsigned editorial said in Marathi. "
Just like Islamic extremism, to safeguard the country and Hindus we must create Hindu suicide squads if Hindu society is to be saved."
One has to wonder, this is a Hindu nationalist party... and isn't Hinduism meant to be a peaceful reilgion? I mean there may have been a lot of bloodshed in the past but does this make sense? I mean how far back into samsara do you think one gets thrown? They probably get reincarnated as cockroaches. And what happened to the great Hindu tradition of ahimsa, or peaceful resistance? I think Gandhi has turned in his grave so many times by now that he's burrowed a hole to the centre of the earth.
Let's look at the Goverment's reactions? The Congress Party, aka. staunch defender of secularism says "The Congress strongly condemns the remarks said to have been made by Mr Bal Thackeray with regard to the formation of suicide squads. This is a clear call not only to lawlessness and violence but will be also the death knell for peaceful democracy," its spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in New Delhi. I agree, India is a secular democracy, not a Hindu nation.
And the BJP? Aka. the moderate Hindu nationalist party that used to hold Government in India and is still a major contender? Criticising the comments, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday advised its ally to respect the law. “People should not take law into their hands. It is the duty of the government to counter terror,” BJP Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said. Fairly weak response designed to not lose any Shiv Sena supporters. Nice.
So seeing as the monopoly may be broken are we going to see Mormon terrorism now? Jehova's Witness extremism? Scientological suicide attacks? I'd like to see Tom Cruise blow himself up on Oprah's couch, that'd be something. Or maybe he'd do it Last Samurai style and go nuts with a big sword? OK I know I shouldnt be making light of this but seriously this is ridiculous. Has Inda not seen enough bloodshed during partition? What about Bombay? The riots? When will people learn?
HT Times coverage here and here for the Government reaction. The Age coverage here (yes it made the Aussie papers).
Labels: india, politics, religion, world happenings
Dubai ticking time bomb
Thanks to my man
Tom, formerly of Zemalek-Cairo fame, soon to be of Abu Dhabi fame, for providing these links and prompting this blogpost.
A very interesting viewpoint aka.
leftist/socialist take on the phenomenon that is Dubai.
While the Dubai piece is certainly far from unbiased, and it does lampoon Sheikh Maktoum's gigantic ambitions fairly cleverly, it does also bring up some very interesting points about Dubai's history, srategy, laws and class society.
Historically, the article talks a great deal about Dubai's very humble beginnings, and how, interestingly, it has used many underworld links to ensure the security that it currently enjoys.
Dubai now enjoys high marks from Washington as a partner in the War on Terror and, in particular, as a base for spying on Iran; [26] but it is probable that al-Maktoum, like the other Emirati rulers, still keeps a channel open to radical Islamists. If al-Qaeda so desired, for example, it could presumably turn the Burj Al-Arab and Dubai’s other soaring landmarks into so many towering infernos. Yet so far Dubai is one of the few cities in the region to have entirely avoided car-bombings and attacks on Western tourists: eloquent testament, one might suppose, to the city-state’s continuing role as a money laundry and upscale hideout, like Tangiers in the 1940s or Macao in the 1960s. Dubai’s burgeoning black economy is its insurance policy against the car-bombers and airplane hijackers.
The article also points out how, rather obviously, how much the Gulf economies are reliant on positive fluctuations in the oil price, and how these fluctuations come about:
Every time insurgents blow up a pipeline in the Niger Delta, a martyr drives his truck bomb into a Riyadh housing complex, or Washington and Tel Aviv rattle their sabres at Tehran, the price of oil (and thus Dubai’s ultimate income) increases by some increment of anxiety in the all-important futures market. The Gulf economies, in other words, are now capitalized not just on oil production, but also on the fear of its disruption.
The article also makes a very interesting point of the current guest worker situation, that is of course applicable to all the other Gulf states (though not quite so much as Dubai with its ridiculously tiny single-digit local population).
The unruly voice of labour echoes louder in the deserts of the uae than it might elsewhere. At the end of the day, Dubai is capitalized just as much on cheap labour as it is on expensive oil, and the Maktoums, like their cousins in the other emirates, are exquisitely aware that they reign over a kingdom built on the backs of a South Asian workforce.
The question on everyone's lips of course, is how sustainable this strategy is exactly. Perhaps because the article was published in October of 2006, it fails to mention the impact that the falling value of the US Dollar is currently having on worker morale in the Gulf. If we look simply at the state of the US economy, and the concurrently nosediving interest rates (down 0.75 percentage points last month, and another 0.5 a week later), the picture for the US currency sure looks bleak indeed. Which also means that the outlook for those of us earning Bahraini Dinar, Saudi Rial, Emirati Dirham, or any of the other Gulf currencies pegged to the USD is similarly not good. Particularly for those that are earning these wages in ridiculously tiny amounts, all on the premise of being able to send some home to South/South-East Asia. Now when these currencies begin to depreciate at a great rate to the Indian Rupee and other South/South-East Asian currencies, the trouble begins. Working conditions have not improved, wages have not appreciated in nominal terms and are depreciating now when stacked up in real terms against the wages they are meant to supplicate in the workers' home countries. Combine this with the already simmering discontent of being treated like slaves with no rights to mobilisation, let alone collective bargaining, and you really have a problem. It does indeed seem that, at least in this respect, the Gulf is a ticking time bomb. Food for thought, and we thought sectarian unrest or a strike against Iran were the problems, this seems to be the least of our worries.
..
Labels: bahrain, dubai, politics, world happenings
Kevin07 is a reality - The Australian Federal Election
This was only the second election that I have been eligible to vote in, and sadly the first election I have been overseas during the course of. As there was no ballot box in Bahrain and sending a postal vote appeared to be too complicated, my vote was not cast. However, waking up today and viewing the headlines on
The Age was exhilirating.
"Rudd Romps to Victory: Howard humiliated as Liberals are mauled""Historic win for Labor""Howard likely to lose in Bennelong""A Rumble, then a Ruddslide""Payback time as battlers take their revenge""Team Julia delivers a win for history"Yes indeed, even though voting is not yet complete, it does appear that the Australian Labor Party is going to form government, with a 25 seat majority, with Mr. Kevin Rudd at its helm as Prime Minister.
I have to say bravo to the ALP campaign team for running a very tight and clever campaign, that managed to sidestep all of the Liberals' usual fear-mongering and dirty tricks, and bravo to the voters of Australia for making the right decision. Although I am not proud to say that I live in an electoral area that, due to the economic prosperity of its residents, is remaining a safe Liberal seat, I am still proud to be part of a country where I no longer have to be embarassed of our leader. Now I am just waiting to see what Mr. Rudd is going to do with the confidence I, and many fellow Australians, have in him, let's hope we are not disappointed.
Mr. Rudd campaigned largely on an agenda of reform in key areas of health, education, environment and industrial relations. He intends to rollback the very unpopular Work Choices policies of the previous Government (which contributed to its downfall), push for an immediate ratification of the Kyoto agreement (finally!) and negotiate a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq (finally an end to our part in the occupation). Good signs indeed.
The undoings of Mr. Howard were very clear and simple. The massive majority that was formed in the wake of the 2004 election gave the Government unprecendent power, power that eventually went to its head. The papers called it a "victory of humility over hubris" and I couldn't agree more. One thing that Aussies hate is arrogance and hubris. Work Choices was never popular with the people, no matter how much the Government sold it, and the people were not fooled. Similarly, Howard's close ties to Mr. George W. Bush were not appreciated by the electorate, nor was his ridiculous promise to keep interest rates low, something entirely out of his control. Six interest rate rises later, he can kiss office goodbye.
Not only that, but Mr. Howard is actually going to lose his seat in Bennelong, a seat which he has won in every single election since being elected to it as a Member of Parliament in 1974. He is losing to a political rookie and former news anchor, Maxine McKew. Such is the dissatisfaction around the country with him, his policies and his personality. This only the second time in history that the PM has lost his seat during an election, the last time being in 1929, also over an unpopular right-wing industrial relations agenda.
So now that Mr. Howard has been duly humiliated for having the arrogance to push for such a ridiculous agenda, for having the arrogance not to step down and hand over to Costello when it was clear to everyone, even his own party, that he was getting too old and too arrogant, for having the arrogance to try to hoodwink the Australian people so many times, with his promises on interest rates, with his lies about the Tampa incident, with his lies about WMDs in Iraq and with his generally abrasive, evasive and grating demeanor, he is getting his just desserts. Instead of going out a winner, he is well and truly going out a loser.
And as much as I dislike Costello and believe his economic rationalist policies may even be worse for Australia, I can't help but feel sorry for the man who must have believed at one time that he would easily become Prime Minister. Now Costello has to fight for the leadership of an unpopular party, and battle a worthy opponent in Malcom Turnbull, who was the only Liberal to buck the swinging trend and hold his seat strongly. Good Luck, Pete!
Myself personally, I am just happy that I no longer have to look at Howard on television any more and cringe at how dull, ugly, uninspiring, arrogant and evasive he is. God Bless Australia.
Labels: politics, world happenings
