There are things that happen outside of the US!
Dear readers (all 6 of you),
Its primary season and so obviously this blog and every other like it has been absolutely obsessed with the latest news on this rather unprecedented election. Now, I can run over the same old ground that everyone and their mother knows by now, but suffice to say that the only thing that a non-political junkie might care about is that McCain’s adviser won’t run against Obama and that Hillary is chopping off heads/changing her message in the face of so many losses.
Maybe its the Oriental food I had today, maybe its the fact that I’m blogging from the library’s language lab, but I feel a little international flavor is needed. As self-absorbed as we can get - and who can blame us when the only competition for news on the continent is Mexico and Canada - there are things that are going on in the outside world.
1) Pakistan successfully tests nuclear-capable missiles
Oh goody, just what the international community wanted for Chrismahanukwanzakah. Now I suppose they aren’t specifically being tested for use on India, but then again they only have a range of 180 miles so its a pretty short list.
In a related story, certain private companies looking to get a jump on the competition have begun printing updated postcards:
Click here to read more.
2) Hezbollah leader accuses Israel of involvement in Mughniyeh assassination and threatens with “open war”
For those of you coming late to the story, one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists was killed in a car bomb attack in Syria on February 12th. The irony of a well-known terrorist being killed by terrorism aside, the situation has caused no small amount of trouble as Hezbollah leaders accuse Israel of being complicit if not responsible for the attack. Israel has predictably denied any such involvement while quietly applauding the action. Two things:
a) Mughniyeh was a bad guy of the first order and no tears should be shed on his account.
b) Denials aside, of course Israel had a hand in his death. And if they didn’t, they sure as hell wish they had.
At any rate, hundreds of thousands have gathered for his funeral and its not unlikely that Israel will be dealing with some repercussions for weeks to come.
Click here or here to read more.
3) President Vladimir Putin admits that he will all but remain Russia’s leader in final address
While limited by the Russian Constitution from running for president once again, it has long been conjectured that the wildly popular Putin would maintain some position of power within the government. As predicted, the candidate who received his support is almost assured to win in the presidential election and has made it clear that Putin would be his Prime Minister.
The general feeling now is that the presidency will become nothing more than a face while real power shifts to the newly appointed Prime Minister Putin. This has been backed up by rather blatant references he made in his final news conference as Russia’s official leader. In short, he’s becoming a Shadow President:
What scares some groups about Putin’s continued rule is that political dissenters and financial backers alike have recently been showing up dead of natural causes or have been carted off to state run mental hospitals. Isn’t it wonderful to see democracy flourishing in Russia?
P.S. That image is from an actual game called Shadow President. I played it when I was a kid and it was AWESOME! (Download here)
You can have fun balancing the budget!
Taking military action against Saudi Arabia!
Or simply talking to people half-cast in Shadows!
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Rob is a shadow blogger.
Muslims Against Sharia congratulate the organization responsible for elimination of terrorist Imad Mugniyeh on a job well done!
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2008/02/targeted-killing-of-imad-mugniyeh.html