News out of the Gaza strip remains grim. International aid groups are ratcheting up their criticism of Israel, claiming that Palestinian civilians are being completely neglected and that aid workers are being hurt and killed. The United Nations has suspended activities in Gaza and launched an official investigation into the Israel military after a UN driver was killed while in a UN-marked aid truck; the Red Cross has released a harsh statement condemning Israel for what it calls failures of international humanitarian law. While criticism mounts, the current US administration continues to back Israel somewhat unconditionally, ugh. It is tough to take a stand on this issue at the office, but it is likely that no one will bring it up.
Economic news at home is similarly grim. Major retailers, including discount stores like Wal-Mart, reported declining sales figures for December and warned that the next few months will be even worse. Additionally, the final employment report for 2008 has been released and it shows that the US lost a total of 2.6 million jobs in 2008, which is apparently the most in a single year since WWII ended in 1945. Job loss accelerated as the year went on meaning that it is likely to continue well into 2009 and also that various stimulus schemes used by the Bush administration didn’t really work. The Obama economic team is overhauling his proposed stimulus package after the initial plan met with some criticism from congressional leaders. How to talk about this at the office? There isn’t much to say besides that it sucks and hopefully no one is getting laid off.
The Florida Gators beat Oklahoma 24-14 to win the BCS national championship. I guess that means the Gators are the best team in college football? I dunno, that whole thing is so fucked up. Here is hoping that President-elect Obama will fix it. There is probably a pretty killer party in Gainesville right now, so if you can make it head on over.
Palm, a company that was once the king of handhelds but has lagged seriously since the creation of smartphones, has rocketed back into relevance with the introduction of the Palm Pre at this year’s CES. While iphone killers seem to pop up (and fail) with increasing regularity, this one looks great. Gadget writers I respect are lining up to sing its praises. The phone features multitouch, is on a 3G network, runs on a linux platform and integratse mobile facebook and gmail apps into the software of the phone itself. For example, if a friend calls their facebook photo pops up. Unfortunately, it is currently exclusive to Sprint… grrrrr…
President-elect Obama said yesterday that overhauling Medicare and Social Security will be a key part of his administration’s plans to reduce the Federal deficit. This makes sense on paper, since those are two of the governments biggest programs and both quite odl and inefficient, but it also seems a tailor-made way to grind Obama’s agenda to a halt. My guess is that this announcement (besides being good policy) is part of his continued efforts to get Republican buy-in for his stimulus package *titter.*
It is looking increasingly likely that Roland Burris, Senate appointee of crooked Governor Rod Blagojevich, is going to be seated as a Senator. Man THAT is weird.
Israel came under rocket fire (3 rockets, but work with me) from Lebanon this morning. This could mean that Israel’s “war” in Gaza is opening into a two-front action. Since Israel invaded Gaza they have had their eye on Lebanon expecting just such a move from Hezbollah, but no one has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. Anyone keeping score at home will remember that Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006 and it didn’t go very well. Those looking for more insight into the conflict (and if there is one thing I love, it is more insight) should read this Op-Ed from a professor of Arab studies at Columbia. It is absurdly one-sided and his conclusion paragraph is complete crap but when almost all of what you see on TV being is very pro-Israel, it is worth reading contrary opinions. There is also a better Op-Ed on this topic from former President Jimmy Carter, who knows a thing or two about the Israel-Palestine peace process.
I am really beginning to believe that these Somali pirates are some kind of secret UN plot to make me feel better. I get all depressed because of the economy or the fact that maybe people think I hate Israel (I don’t) and then a news stories pops up about the pirates and I feel better. I mean, I know they are just poor people driven to desperate straights by their failing government, blah blah blah. But come on — PIRATES!!! There is a new US task force being assembled to try to protect merchant shipping in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and you can bet your ass that Uncle Sam is leading the way this time. I know I read somewhere that China was in charge of some UN anti-pirate navel force, but apparently not anymore? Either way, PIRATES!!!
And we are back! Let me tell you, ANYONE can do year-end wrap up in the year they actually occurred, but only this blog can bring you on a nostalgic tour of 2008 with the distance and perspective that comes from the first week of 2009. So this week, now that the trees and “menorahs” have been taken down and the New Years hangover is over (replaced with a regular Monday hangover) we will be looking at some of the highs and lows of last year. But first! The news.
If you have really checked out over vacation and are only just coming back to the world, you may have missed that news that Israel has invaded the Gaza strip. Responding to the endless, if sporadic, rocket attacks coming from within Gaza, the Israeli army retaliated through massive air strikes and now with a ground offensive that has cut the strip in half. Fighting has left over 500 Palestinians dead (100 civilians) and a rapidly developing humanitarian crisis is putting millions in danger of starvation. Many experts are saying that Israel chose now to strike because they knew the Bush administration would support them pretty much no matter what they did. That has proven to be the case as the US has blocked moves in the UN to condemn Israel. This will be a major challenge for President-elect Obama when he takes office.
Your favorite, formerly bearded, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce. Apparently, he is the subject of an ongoing investigation into political donations made to him by a company with massive business interests in front of the state. This might not be the last we hear of him; President-elect Obama has signaled that he is interested in reviving the special envoys to deal with global crisis areas. I am not sure but I don’t think that requires legislative approval.
Because Republicans can’t stand building roads or feeding the hungry, President-elect Obama’s massive stimulus bill *titter* will contain almost $300 billion in tax cuts designed to attract Republican support for the parts that will actually help. Cha-CHING.
Al Franken is going to be the likely winner of the Minnesota senate seat by a margin of about 200 votes. That is awesome in so many ways.
Tentative peace agreements are breaking out all over. Israel and Syria announced that they were engaged in negotiations for a comprehensive peace treaty while the Lebanese Government and Hezbollah have reached an agreement that brings Hezbollah back into the government and gives them a significant role. Israel is hoping to drive a wedge between Syria and Iran, and Syria is hoping to regain lost territory and begin opening up ties with the United States. The Lebanese agreement leaves the US-backed government in a weak position, but avoids outright civil war that they probably would have lost anyway. Notice anything in common about these two agreements? They both don’t involve this guy. Perhaps that was the cornerstone of administration policy the whole time: if we fuck up enough, countries will realize they need to sort it out without our help.
The House overrode President Bush’s Veto of the farm bill. However, the House will likely have to pass the bill all over again because it was delivered to the President’s desk with a section missing (about 30 pages out of 673). Take your pick as to which is more embarrassing, the House forgetting to deliver all of it, the President signing it without realizing that a section was missing or the fact that the entire $307 billion bill is stuffed with subsidies for farmers at the same time food prices are skyrocketing.
Were you getting screwed enough by airline travel? Me neither. Because of the high price of oil, American Airlines is taking a variety of cost-cutting measures including cutting domestic flights, laying off workers and charging for all checked bags. Starting June 15, it will be $15 to check your first bag and $25 for the second. I have no officially decided to spend my vacation eating beans in my apartment.
The Washington Post leads with news about SPIES. “Apparently, a video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactorsimilar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.” Thankfully, we have a Democratic congress now so that video is being shared with lawmakers who can assess the situation – only a year after Israel blew the reactor up. Oversight!
General Patraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, has been nominated to become the next head of US Central Command (or CentCom if you are in a Tom Clancy Novel). If he gets the job, he would oversea all military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia (aka Iraq and Afghanistan) and have a major impact on United States foreign policy for years to come. His plans? Surges for everyone!
We talked a little bit yesterday about the growing world food crisis. Today, the New York Times has a fascinating article about the politics of the upcoming farm bill (I know, I know, bare with me). Apparently, even though the world food situation has radically changed, Congress is getting set to pass the same bill it passes every 5 years. It will include massive subsidies to farmers making record profits, no new regulations at a time of high volatility, and it barely touches on the corn/ethanol problem that is causing the food issues. I particularly liked this story because it contained a quote so gutless it could only have come from a Democratic Senator: “Mr. Harkin [Democratic Chairman of the Agriculture Committee] said there was not much he could do because ‘I don’t have the votes,’ adding, ‘People love free money.’”
Finally, on the election front, both Democratic candidates are busy stumping across Indiana and North Carolina. However, now that the media has come back from the edge of insanity that was Pennsylvania, some are beginning to reflect on where the race is headed. Today’s must-read political piece is an article analyzing if winning a state in the primary means you are more likely to win it in the general. Executive Summary: no. This is important because one of HIllary Clinton’s major arguments for why she is a more viable candidate is that she is winning states like Ohio and Pennsylvania that Democratis will need in the general.
