drat fink

kurdistan aside

i posted this on an eschaton thread

last night on charlie rose, richard holbrooke basically said if youre expecting a democratic iraq after we invade dont hold your breath because iraqs neighbors (most prominently, turkey) dont want it. the message was that if given the freedom to vote, the iraqis might choose to split the country up into its three component ethnic enclaves which as we all know would destabilize the region. apparently, whats good for the former yugoslavian states is problematic here. and not only are the turks fearful of an autonomous kurdish state but the chinese and the russians dont like the precedent it sets for their notorious recalcitrants, tibet and chechnya.

so expect puppet regimes for the foreseeable future as we "educate" iraqis in the ways of "democratic" institutions, or at least until the oil runs out.

also, holbrooke aint no bushie.

treasons in season

"Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have documented many instances in which pundits and politicians have tried to demonize dissent, suggesting that it is unpatriotic and even that it aids the enemy. But none has gone so far as to suggest an actual prosecution for treason simply for voicing one's political views - until now."

"In an editorial yesterday, the editors of the New York Sun, a conservative newspaper founded last year, call on New York City to obstruct a protest against a potential war in Iraq for as long as possible and to monitor the protestors for "an eventual treason prosecution." This breathtaking article is a direct attack on the free speech rights of every American."

prewar games

"BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 6 -- An Iraqi biologist acquiesced to a private interview with U.N. weapons experts..."
"...senior U.N. official involved in the inspections said Blix has been led to believe that President Saddam Hussein's government will soon relent on two other key issues: a guarantee that Iraq will not try to shoot down U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flying over the country at inspectors' behest and a commitment to enact legislation permitting a long-term presence of inspectors."

i the paxman

tony blair grilled about the war on british tv.

the alter of sacrosanct

eric alterman debunks the myth of a liberal bias in the media in his new book. everyones talking about it. you dont want to be left out, do you?

county kohn

"For 15 years -- since 1988, four years after election to the US Senate -- Kerry knew his grandmother was Jewish. Since then, he ''sought to know the true story of his immigrant grandfather, Frederick A. Kerry,'' the Globe reports. As it turns out, Frederick A. Kerry was born Fritz Kohn, in a small town in the Czech Republic that was then was part of the Austrian empire. Kohn changed his name to Kerry around 1902 and emigrated to the United States in 1905. ''In 1921, Frederick Kerry went to the Copley Plaza Hotel, entered a washroom, and shot himself in the head,'' reports the Globe. ''It was front-page news.''"

the borges

"To talk closely to Jorge Luis Borges is to track him through a labyrinth of his pasts experiences and attitudes, and the walls that one encounters in the search might be painted in unexpected ways. These may furnish clues or merely diversions in the pursuit, but to understand Borges at least partially is to realize that these clues and diversions are the Borges. We must not expect to find Borges the same each time. There is not one Borges, but many."

"This is the Jorge Luis Borges whom the Artful Dodge encountered on April 25, 1980."

dean dome

howard dean supporters blog

fag hags

"A once unthinkable change is coming to one of the social hubs of Ireland: The pub is going smoke free."

"Bowing to health concerns, the government said Thursday that it will ban smoking from all workplaces including pubs, where a pint and a cigarette have long gone hand in hand."

l ementary

"The agency is aggressively trying to shake that antique image. By 2005, after some delays, Mr. Reuter said, it expects to have the entire L line refitted so that its new trains can be operated automatically, by radio signals sent by a distant computer, much like the Meteor driverless subway line in Paris. (For the foreseeable future, a train operator will ride aboard the trains in case of problems. The L line will serve as a kind of pilot project for automating other lines, which are much more complicated.)"