drat fink

change up

"Internally, economics and demographics have conspired to put added pressure on Riyadh in the direction of reform. The Islamic kingdom is facing a barrage of unprecedented problems, as its population has doubled in 20 years to 23 million, even though income from oil has remained flat, with no prospects for sustained growth. In terms of material infrastructure, per capita investment has been halved in the past decade, leading to a bottoming out of basic social services. Unemployment among the young has risen sharply. The royal family may recognize that as these popular frustrations grow, they will need to be channeled through more accommodating political mechanisms."

sand storm

"WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — Saudi Arabia's leaders have made far-reaching decisions to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States, to enact what Saudi officials call the first significant democratic reforms at home, and to rein in the conservative clergy that has shared power in the kingdom."

in EFFect

"John Perry Barlow, the man who popularized the term 'cyberspace', discusses the Total Information Awareness project, online activism, file sharing, and the prospect of a digital counterculture."

there is a supermarket on the sun

"The Powell is sent in order to carry the water."

scandal du jour

the center for public integrity has received a confidential report out of the justice department outlining a proposal for new executive powers that would decrease liberties in the name of anti-terrorism.

bill moyers interviews the head of cpi.

not a factor

had to post a link to this ridiculous exchange between o'reilly and the son of a 9/11 victim who is anti-war. o'reilly is an uber-blowhard and a member of a subspecies distantly related to humanity (more oily than a coelacanth) but he pulls in viewers so occasionally we must acknowledge his existence.

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.