They have elections in Yemen? They do. Sort of. Which is to say, they have elections that are, well, only sort of democratic. Both a president and 301 members of the Assembly of Representatives are elected, the former for a seven-year term, the latter for six-year terms, but there is essentially one dominant party, the General People's Congress, which has both the presidency … [Read more...] about Yemenis at the polls

The New York Sun reports that "tens of thousands of Israel supporters", for the second day in a row, "gathered across the street from United Nations headquarters to protest President Ahmadinejad of Iran and to call for the unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped on July 12." (Some of) the speakers (the Sun sums up) were, Tzipi Livni (Israel's foreign minister), … [Read more...] about Ignoring The Inconvenient

Turkey is one of the countries that are trying desperately to join the EU. Of course, if Turkey does not want to be left behind (economically), it has to become a member of the European Union. [...] Best selling Turkish novelist Elif Shafak was accused of breaking article 301 of Turkey's penal code: which envisages up to three years in jail for "denigrating Turkish national … [Read more...] about Turkey Gradually Moving Towards Freedom Of Speech

So asks The Reaction's newest co-blogger, Heraclitus (a political science teacher at a top liberal arts college in the Midwest who introduces himself here). Chavez's address proves that "international politics [has]become a theater of the absurd, in which every squalid and/or crackpot dictator strives with all his might to outdo the others in the game of farcical braggadocio," … [Read more...] about Was Chavez right?

So, as I'm sure many of you know, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the U.N. yesterday. (And, no, I'm not pulling a Ratzinger-Benedict. You know, making a point with a quotation, then hiding behind the quotation. That sort of thing. Let me be clear: I don't think Bush is the devil.) The fact that Chavez received some applause in response to the devil remark says … [Read more...] about Bush is the devil

The world championships cycling (on the road) are taking place in Germany this year. Yesterday were the time trials for women and for young men (U-23). FYI: an American, funny enough, Armstrong won the time trial for women yesterday. Today, the men had a somewhat surprising winner in Swiss Fabian Cancellara. There was nobody able to even come close: the number 2, American … [Read more...] about World Championship Cycling: Time Trial

The Dutch "onderzoeksraad", literally translated as "investigation council", has investigated a fire now known as the "Schipholfire": in a jailhouse (for very short stays only - people who will be put out of the country; for instance / mostly illegals who are waiting to be, umh, returned to their own country) at Schiphol, a fire killed 11 people and wounded 15 others. The … [Read more...] about Two Dutch Ministers Resign

Do you need any more proof than this that (1) immigration reform has become a train-wreck issue for the GOP and (2) Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been the perhaps the weakest Senate Majority Leader in decades?Senate Republicans formally put aside a broad immigration overhaul sought by President Bush on Wednesday and decided instead to press ahead with narrower bills to … [Read more...] about GOP Downsizes Immigration Reform To 700 Mile Fence

Joe posted a recent Gallup poll showing a significant tightening of the Congressional vote (from heavily pro-Dem to even among likely voters) and a sizable jump in President Bush's job approval numbers after the 9/11 anniversary. But in a poll conducted after the Gallup poll, Bush's numbers appear to have dropped again to a point virtually unchanged from a month ago. … [Read more...] about Not so fast, GOP

Usually the "October surprise" is something that a party challenging the party in power fears...an unspoken event, action or development that just coincidentally happens close to the election, in time to influence the vote in favor of the party in power. It's usually something feared but seldom telegraphed in advance. This time, if NewsMax's report is correct, it's being … [Read more...] about NewsMax: Karl Rove Openly Promising “October Surprise”

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:Bush Accuses Saddam of Poisoning America's Spinach Calls Vegetables the New Front in War on Terror In a nationally televised address last night, President George W. Bush accused former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein of poisoning America's spinach supply and called vegetables the new front in the war on terror. While … [Read more...] about This Just In!

From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe: … [Read more...] about Beware Election Day

Good news from South Africa: now you can get into a car accident while listening to the Bible on your cell phone: South African Christians seeking a quick spiritual boost will be able to download the entire bible on to their mobile telephones phones from Wednesday as part of a drive to modernize the scriptures.Just think: the next time you're buying groceries at a store you can … [Read more...] about The Bible Now Available On Cell Phones

That's not my spin. That's what the Georgia Republican said, bragging that he "voted for torture." I shudder to think what constituency he thought he was appealing to. … [Read more...] about Lynn Westmoreland: Pro-Torture

Sudan's President blames the Jews for focusing attention on Darfur. Damn straight! … [Read more...] about I Claim Full Responsibilty

Torture is an awful thing. The first thought is to reject it as a heinous crime against the human person that degrades both the victim and perpetrator. Yet, imagine you are returning from an evening out. As you near your home, you hear screams and see bloodied people stumbling about. With rising panic, you see gunmen running away. Terrified, you race to your house. It is in … [Read more...] about Torture and terrorism

Speaking of Bush's address to the U.N. yesterday, it was a bit rich of the president to cite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was it not? (The text is here.) This is a man who enables torture, after all. The Nation's David Corn examines the hypocrisy here. … [Read more...] about How rich, such hypocrisy

President Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly yesterday. And it was -- drum roll, please -- the same old same old same old. As Steve Benen put it, "[f]or 20 minutes, the president said exactly what he was expected to say". You know, 9/11, campaign of murder, extremist ideology, great ideological struggle, nuclear weapons, terror as a weapon. And that's just one paragraph. … [Read more...] about Bush at the U.N.: Platitudes at the podium

Chris Bowers of MyDD looks at some poll numbers and concludes this: "There is no way we can win this election unless we turn out Democrats at high levels." This is "obvious," of course, but the key point is that polls of likely voters show a much closer race than polls of registered voters: "If we hold a nine-point edge among registered voters, than we should also hold a … [Read more...] about Turnout, turnout, turnout

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the oil companies have quite some difficulty exploiting natural gas resources in Alaska, despite the deal Governor Frank Murkowski struck with BP, Exxon Mobil, and ConocoPhillips last year. Continue reading … [Read more...] about Alaskan Natural Gas