Monday, March 31, 2008
You Morning News 3.21.08
Posted by Josh
Monday is here, which means there hasn’t been any absurd or salacious news yet this week. So, like your important and interesting vegetables, it is time for more international political news.
The biggest story today is that Shiite cleric and political leader Moktada al-Sadr has released a statement telling his troops to stand down. You may have heard that the fighting we talked about last Thursday had only continued and intensified over the weekend. Sadr’s orders where conditional, he also demanded that the Iraqi Government release all imprisoned Sadrists and grant amnesty to the members of his movement. USA Today is the only paper that separates out the news that deal that was brokered between Sadr and the Iraqi government was shaped and aided by Iranian officials. If you want to sound smart, say that this just shows how much more influence Iran is gaining in the region. If you want to sound really smart, say that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki spent most of his political capital on the Basra campaign and could be forced to step downs soon. No one will know what that mean but they will assume you know a LOT about Iraq. If someone tries to ask you a detailed follow-up question, fake a seizure.
Obama and McCain, Bejing, Al Gore, and Zimbabwe after the jump.
The Washington Post runs with a story of love and betrayal in The Senate. A young and dashing freshman Democrat named Obama and a wise and experienced Republican named McCain see in each other a spark. Together, they can bring about ethics reform. However, like all flames that burned too brightly their love was doomed and soon bitter recriminations replaced the endearments that had marked their correspondence. Seriously, read those letters and tell me I am wrong.
The Boston Globe has an interesting first-person account of the air quality in Bejing. Apparently it makes LA look like an alpine meadow and many athlete’s are afraid that their will either: A. Die or B. Get so sick that they can’t compete anymore and die at a later day.
Former Vice-President Al Gore has launched a $300 million campaign to make global warming a larger issue in the Presidential campaign. We would like to think that this would cool the speculation about Gore as a candidate, but it will just make it worse.
The Zimbabwe opposition party has defeated President Mugabe and his ruling party. This would end almost 30 years of rule by Mugabe and his party. Originally a popular leader, he has somewhat run his country into the ground. As a quick snapshot of that, as of 2008 the inflation rate in Zimbabwe was 150,000%. Don’t worry, this won’t come up at work.
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