Gimme Some Truth
Flying Rodent cuts through the crap of the US election with a blunt buzz-saw and broken bottle, and slashes through the myths:
"One minute it's a shoe-in for silver-tongued bullshitter Barack Obama, and the next thing you know the McCain campaign has dug up some fruity wingnut Supernanny with a talent for sucking off hordes of resentful cretins and suddenly it's GAME ON, baby!"
Truthdig - Reports - Why We Were Falsely Arrested
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, talking about her arrest and the conventions: "Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions, and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul, the press is free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC, but not to report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at those who have come to petition their government, to protest.
It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge turnout, with local families, students, veterans and people from around the country gathered to oppose the war. The protesters greatly outnumbered the Republican delegates."
Sarah Palin and the War on the Media | The New York Observer
McCain attacking the media for attacking Palin. Can anything be done in this world with using war metaphors
Georgia and the Balance of Power - The New York Review of Books
George Friedman argues that the conflict in Georgia has been brewing for months, while Russian action can be traced back to 1992. Motivated by what it saw as the encirclement of Russia with the declared independence of Kosovo and the eastern creep of Nato Russia seized the opportunity to display a show of strength when they knew that any response for the US and the EU would be just empty words.
"The Russians knew that the United States would denounce their attack. This actually plays into Russian hands. The more vocal senior US leaders are, the greater the contrast with their inaction, and the Russians wanted to drive home the idea that American guarantees are empty talk. The Russians also know something else that is of vital importance. For the United States, the Middle East is far more important than the Caucasus, and Iran is particularly important." This is Russia returning to great power status.
Slate Magazine - Stress and Class
It's easy to imagine that "It is now the rich who are the most stressed out" is what readers of the New York Times op-ed page want to hear. But that doesn't make it true.
EurActiv.com - Interview: Europe and US ‘misguided’ on Russia | EU - European Information on Enlargement & Neighbours
'While Georgia and Russia are the first to blame for the conflict', sez Thomas Gomart of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) 'the United States and Europe must also bear some responsibility'.
"Here we are touching the limits of NATO's expansion strategy and notably the 'do it strategy' promoted by numerous American and European experts, according to whom NATO could be enlarged without Russia reacting," Gomart says. He also singles out a "general attitude" in the US believing "that one can modify or transform whole regions" by supporting local leaders.
"I believe that here we probably have a significant amount of ideological responsibility from the United States." In terms of energy supplies and pipeline routes - one of the driving factors of the war according to some analysts - Gomart says the Kremlin's message is clear: "Nothing will be done in the Caucasus without us".
Meet the Parents at the GOP Convention?
It's the most highly publicised unplanned pregnancy in US history (source?), she's the most inexperienced Veep candidate ever offered to the US public in a US election, and he's just a frightened teenager, who as result of getting hot heavy for the time it takes to make a cup of tea now has to whoop it up with his future mother-in-law while a nation looks on and smacks its hand on its forehead in disbelief.
China Left Review
China Left Review is a bilingual web-journal brought to you by the China Study Group. Our purpose is to stimulate discussion and collaboration between left-leaning scholars and activists in Chinese and English-speaking worlds. We seek to do this by compiling, translating, and commenting on a variety of works related to controversial and pressing social issues.
The Nordic health system vrs the Anglo-Saxon model
In this Irish Times article, Dr Gerry Burke and Mr. Pierce Grace argue using international studies that for-profit hospitals squander public money and provide less effective health care.
"The Nordic social model is successful because, rather than squandering their money, citizens invest collectively and prudently in their own welfare. If Ireland is to aspire to the same living standards that Scandinavian citizens enjoy, we must be prepared to pay more tax. No two ways about it."
Obama is Still An Unknown Quantity
Obama is an unknown quantity to swing voters, according to academic pollster Dr. Barry Kay. While he says that this is a ‘democrats year’ there is still no clear distance between Obama and McCain. If Obama is to create that distance and lead in the polls, he will have to sell himself more to those who aren’t traditionally Democrats or Republicans and who are probably feeling the economic pinch the hardest.
