Evading Sanctions, Mavericky Michael Steele

Paul Krugman
Bobby Jindal
Joe Conason

"We learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old." - Paul Krugman

"Only Democrats in Washington would propose new taxes on businesses and families in the middle of a recession." - Bobby Jindal

I like Krugman's quote, but not enough to make it a headline like those scurvy dogs at the Huffington Post. We know that another 3 pieced against him will  now be published in the Wall Street Journal this week...

I find it curious that Bobby Jindal is risking another round of public scrutiny and humiliation with his article in the Washington Post. The ideas are not new, I've read them all before,  but it's interesting that a Republican is trying to claim ownership to them. Putting the big toe in the water, checking constantly for gators...

feats don't fail me now...
Remember the Iraqi reporter who spent time in jail for throwing a shoe at George Bush? He's back at home now, having been released after spending 9 months in jail, safe in a Baghdad bed. In a news conference, Mr al Zaidi claimed that his jailers had tortured him: "At the very moment that the Prime Minister Mr al-Maliki was on TV saying he wouldn't rest until he was sure I was sleeping on a comfortable bed, I was being hideously tortured.
"I was being given electric shocks, and being hit with cables and steel rods... I was left handcuffed and immersed in water until dawn in cold weather."

I wonder what country Iraq is basing its justice system on. If it's America, then we should be ashamed for letting private contractors and covert operatives do the training. But if it is incorporating its long, illustrious history of rape, torture, and peculiar laws, then choose any other country in the Middle East as the role model. What do you consider to be worse, throwing a shoe at the President or calling him a liar? Is either action a crime where the person should be hit with steel rods and given electroshock? Maybe my next bumpersticker should read:

Count your blessings, Joe Wilson...

evading sanctions...
There is an interesting article in the New York Times about Iran's past ability to find ways around economic sanctions. One example is: "a Dutch aviation services company and its owner admitted that they had illegally funneled American aircraft and electronics components to Iran from 2005 to 2007. Under the scheme, Iranian customers secretly placed orders with the company, which served as a front, buying the parts and having them shipped to the Netherlands, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. The materials were then quietly repackaged and shipped on to the real buyers in Iran."

A common occurrence, happens all of the time in the world of global trading. Looking at the graphic above, I found it interesting that the US still trades with Iran, even if it's less than $3 billion per year. The threat of further sanctions may actually have helped Iran agree to letting in UN nuclear inspectors. If more sanctions were agreed to by several of its largest trading partners, then the Iranian economy would plummet past rock bottom. Any three of these countries that included either China or Japan would sink it: China, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, Italy, France, Netherlands, Spain, and India.

on the lighter side...
Now that the family's breadwinner is making the big bucks, Todd Palin has quit his job in the Alsakan oil fields. He doesn't have to pose for his fellow Alaskans anymore, let them chew on moose jerky...

House Minority leader John Boehner may not be able to reel in Joe Wilson's trashy behavior, but it seems to have worked on Michael Steele. Last month Michael was called to the carpet and was asked to stop meddling in policy: "The congressional leaders were particularly miffed that Steele had in late August unveiled a seniors’ “health care bill of rights” without consulting with them." Michael responded that when people asked him what the GOP policy was on certain issues, what could he tell them? Which may explain why Bobby Jindal was chosen to have his opinion written for him in the Post, and Michael's mavericky approach was nixoned... err nixed.

Finally, Russia threw out an inept Israeli diplomat for spying; you'd have to be pretty bad and blatant for getting expelled over this. I guess he got a low score for form and lack of content... I wonder why we haven't asked Russia to take some of the prisoners from Guantanamo?