The new Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, is currently on his first official foreign trip since taking over the Presidency of Russia, and he is currently in China. In a joint statement, both Medvedev, and Chinese President Hu Jintao, stated that the missile shield defense program that George Bush wants in Europe jeopardizes to undermine and any trust left between the two countries and Washington.
Washington claims that the shield is imperative to national security but China and Russia are afraid that the system could be used against them (and they are probably right). The Bush Administration continues to use the same excuses that it has used for the past 7 years whenever they are questioned about anything, stating that the system is necessary to protect itself from attacks from countries like Iran. Call me ignorant, but maybe they should look at options on how to convince Iran to not acquire nukes instead of ways to defend against them once they have them. But then again, it would weaken American’s position in the world if we were to actually try to communicate with countries that dislike us and work out our problems verbally.
OK, enough about that, I don’t want to get into a rant over Bush politics, let’s get back to the basics here, and what exactly all the fuss is over. The system that Washington wants to put into place would involve a radar base in the Czech Republic and an interceptor missile site in Poland. China and Russia have both been vocal in the past in their disapproval of this plan, but this marks the first time that the two countries have fused their feelings into one statement. Russian and American ties have already become very strained since Bush took office, and this is pushing the two countries even further apart.
Russia and China have both stated that the American plan to deploy this defense system would undermine any efforts that are currently underway at controlling global arms and weakens trust between the countries and America. Arguably these are the three most powerful countries in the world, so to have them teaming up against America brings back memories of the cold war, and no one wants things to return to those days.
In addition to the statement of the missile shield, the two countries also inked a deal in which Russia will begin to build a new nuclear power plant inside of China.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you think Russia and China are overreacting to Bush’s plans? Or is Bush stepping over the boundaries of trust here?
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While the debate of global warming is still “undecided”, the effects the supposedly liberal imagined global warming are definitely being felt, and now the effects have led to the addition of one more animal to the threatened species list… the polar bear.
As we know, one of the main impacts of global warming can be scientifically shown to be the reduction in polar ice. For now they went a bit short of actually declaring that polar bears were an endangered species, but noted that if the situation continues to accelerate that an endangered listing could be coming in the future. By putting the polar bear on the threatened species list, this marks the first time any animal has recieved protection from global warming.
According to the Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, “this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting. Any real solution requires action by all major economies for it to be effective”. Don’t hold your breath on that happening any time soon. According to some people that are close to the current decision, the decision comes packed with provisions specifically aimed at protecting power plants and other energy-related entities. Should not come as a surprise seeing as how the Bush Administration still refuses to recognize global warming as the biggest problem facing our planet.
Some experts are predicting that at the current rate of ice melt, about two-thirds of all polar bears in America and Canada will vanish by the middle of the century.
So what does this really mean for polar bears now that they are on the threatened list? You would think that the decision would mean that they would be given the protection they needed, but before jumping for joy, head over to jwharrison.com and learn more about the fine print regarding the oil industry.
It has been a long four months since John Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race, and since his departure both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been hoping to win his valuable endorsement, and the winner is… Barack Obama.
While Clinton is refusing to drop out of the Presidential race, it is pretty much a forgone conclusion that Obama is going to be the next Democratic candidate to take over the White House in this year’s elections. One of the repeating themes out of the Clinton camp has been that in a head to head battle with Republican candidate John McCain that Clinton has a much better chance of uniting the Democratic party behind her than does her counterpart Barack Obama. Obama is definitely hoping that the John Edwards’ endorsement will put those worries to rest.
In a speech yesterday Edwards put forth the following words regarding Obama:
“The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I” stating that “There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change… and that man is Barack Obama.”
While the writing definitely appears to be on the wall, Clinton is not through fighting just yet. She is riding high off of a landslide victory in West Virginia this week, but with each day that passes it appears that Obama is going to be the man fighting to retake the White House from the Republican party and the rule of George Bush, who will without a doubt leave the position as one of the most unpopular Presidents to ever have enjoyed the position.
It should be an interesting few months heading into the next election, when the American people have to decide if they want to continue on the same path we have been on for the past 8 years under the Republican leadership, or if they want, as Obama has stated, “A different America”.
For me the answer is a simple one, but then again, I thought the same thing 4 years ago, so who knows what the American people will decide this time around, but for now it looks like Obama is going to be champion for the Democratic party this time around. Whether or not he will be able to lead the Democrats back into the White House remains to be seen.
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The eyes of the world were focussed on San Fransisco’s leg of the Olympic torch relay yesterday to see if we would get more protests like we saw last week in Europe, but the relay turned more into a game of hide and seek than anything else.
I was watching the relay on CNN, and I have to say it was the most bizarre torch relay leg I have ever seen. At first I was glued to my television and expecting to see some action, but shortly after they lit the torch, the Chinese runner disappeared into a security warehouse and basically vanished for the next 40 minutes or so.
As the protestors waited, the minutes just kept ticking, and ticking, and ticking. After a half an hour or so I was about to give up, but finally we see some action, as a row of vans and security leave the warehouse. Finally we see that they have driven the torch a mile or so from the warehouse and are preparing to run an altered course.
What came next was just laughable to me. To see the Olympic Torch being carried while surrounded by a literal swarm of policeman just seemed to completely negate the whole idea of the relay. I tried to count how many policeman I saw circling the torch, but they just kept coming and coming. A great picture of international unity for sure. And once again I had the vision in my head of a world that is about to explode, and America trying to do the policing of tensions. Ironic if you think about it considering the current state of the world.
Then I started to wonder how this would treat China? What are they thinking? But, considering that the Chinese people are not allowed to see the news (other than what the government feeds them) I suppose they are pretty oblivious to the tension around the world over their country.
The only thing I think that could really have an impact on the way China acts is if world leaders boycott the opening ceremonies. A few already have stated that they will, and a couple others (George Bush included) have stated that they are not sure, or will have to check their calendars. Check their calendars? Come on now… you can come up with a better stall tactic than that.
Regardless… the whole event turned out to be rather boring, and unless you were actually there on the ground I doubt you had much excitement from the event. Check out Laughing Squid’s post. He was there and had some really nice ground level coverage.
Will the torch relay continue? We should find out shortly whether or not officials decide to stop the relay this year or not. Would be ironic… the torch relay started in 1936 by Nazi Germany, and now is in jeopardy of ending by Communist China. We will find out later this week.
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In San Fransisco this morning, this year’s Olympic torch entered America amid tight security. After seeing some pretty heavy protests in Paris yesterday (where protesters were able to douse the Olympic flame several times), Olympic officials are starting to wonder if the “round-the-world” torch relay would be able to be completed.
Of course, the main reason for the protests is China’s record on human rights, and its treatment of Tibet. On Friday, officials are going to gather to determine whether or not to continue the international relay leading up to this year’s summer Olympics in China. The symbol of international unity has quickly dissolved into a symbol of international protest, and I would not be surprised at all to see the relay stop. After all, it is easier to sweep the problem under the rug than to really address the situation.
Some protesters in San Fransisco made their feelings perfectly well known yesterday when they scaled The Golden Gate Bridge and used it as their own personal billboard on their feelings over Tibet
San Fransisco will be the only American city that gets to voice its feelings during the International flame relay, as it is the only American city that is on the route. Movie star Richard Gere, along with Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will be holding a candlelight vigil.
Authorities are already expressing their concern over tomorrow’s 6 mile journey of the torch along the San Fransisco Bay, stating that the route is not very secure, and offers many places where protesters could get close to the torch. It is definitely shaping up to be an interesting day, and one that could definitely lead to the extinguishing of the Olympic torch once and for all.
Yesterday Democratic Presidential hopeful, and ex-first lady, Hillary Clinton called on President George Bush to boycott this years summer games. According to a release by her campaign :
At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese government
President Bush has stated that he has no intention of boycotting the event, nor the opening ceremonies, as some countries like France have announced that they are considering, and Czech Republic has stated that they are definitely going to boycott the opening ceremony.
What are your thoughts? Should America protest the Olympics? Should the Olympics be viewed as just another sporting event, or a chance to make a broad, international plea for China to change some of its policies?
I ran across an interesting news piece today that laid out some strange, albeit distant, family relationships for some of this year’s Presidential candidates.
First, let’s look at Democratic hopeful Barack Obama. U.S. researchers looked at Obama’s family tree and discovered that Obama is a distant relative of current Republican President George W. Bush. Not only does Obama have President Bush in his family tree, but also another prominent political figure, wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill. Churchill I would claim… Bush, well… we all have some skeletons in our family closet… why should Obama be any different?
What about the other leading Democratic hopeful, Hillary Clinton? The same researchers show that Clinton is distantly related to Madonna, Jack Kerouac, and Angelina Jolie.
On the Republican side, Republican John McCain does not have anyone quite so impressive, but he is a distant relation to current first lady Laura Bush.
Obama had the longest list which include not only the names above, but former presidents Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, and to Civil War General Robert Lee (am I the only one that finds some irony in this?).
Interesting lineup for sure for the first possible black President of the country.
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I ran across an interesting news piece today that laid out some strange, albeit distant, 
