Cleric To Impeach Ahmadinejad? Al-Qaeda Plans "Leaked" To Scare Europe,

Reza Aslan
Sunny Lee

"The repeated refusal of Iranian offers of dialogue by successive United States administrations suggests that US foreign policy in the Middle East has been driven not by national interest but by the military-industrial complex's need for a constant, external threat to justify its huge share of the treasury." - Ismael Hossein-zadeh

Reza Aslan explains the dubious welcome that awaits Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he returns home from the US. Obama serenades his journey by naming the eight Iranian officials that many of the new sanctions are against, and names the human rights abuses they are responsible for. The timetable for the nuclear power plant to come online has been pushed back several months, thanks to the computer virus written to affect Siemens hardware and proprietary software. Iran may have to try and buy some fuel for the plant, as there has been a lot of other sabotage of the centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment plant... Some of Ahmadinejad's problems are his own fault, the angry, ultra-conservative clerics that he sought to back him up after his election have now turned on him and are out to impeach him. We may see some kind of power showdown between the clerics and the Revolutionary Guard. Unfortunately, the Green Movement's leaders will find themselves caught between the two factions, and they will both try to jail or kill off those pesky unarmed college students... Which makes me wonder who America's ultra-conservative, religious people will turn against once they get elected - will Sarah Palin become a sacrificial lamb?

Intelligence sources have "leaked" to every newspaper in Europe that al-Qaeda in Pakistan has been planning Mumbai-style raids in France, Germany, and Great Britain: "The would-be attackers reportedly planned to operate in small teams of heavily armed gunmen who would capture and execute Western hostages in Europe, similar to the attacks carried out in Mumbai in 2008 where 10 gunmen killed 166 people and injured more than 300 more." Supposedly, this is the reason for the recent drone strikes into Pakistan over the last couple of weeks... I don't know, doesn't it sound like too cozy of an excuse, after the fact? Instead, let's ramp up the paranoia level in Europe to get back at our allies who have been taking their troops out of Afghanistan... Sounds like someone in the CIA has been smoking too much hashish... thankfully, it's a lot harder trying to smuggle a large amount of guns and ammunition from Pakistan to Germany than it is to motor across a small body of water, not to mention getting those rubber boats across the borders... Germany announced this morning that this was old news, they have known al-Qaeda's long term plans for awhile, so what's the big stink all about?

First, science mapped the human genome, now a five year study of all life sustainable plants on earth says that 22% of them are endangered, meaning thatour future isn't in very good shape.: "Scientists from Britain's Botanic Gardens at Kew, London's Natural History Museum and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, found that more than 22 per cent of the world's 380,000 plant species were endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable, the study released on Wednesday said. "The diversity of plants underpins all life on earth, so it is sobering that our own species is threatening the survival of many thousands of plant species," Neil Brummitt, a botanical diversity researcher at the Natural History Museum, said.


Governments will gather next month to set new targets for conservation at a UN summit in Nagoya, Japan. "We cannot sit back and watch plant species disappear - plants are the basis of all life on Earth, providing clean air, water, food and fuel. All animal and bird life depends on them, and so do we," Hopper, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, said." So, kiss global diversity good-bye as you eat your genetically modified breakfast food, shipped to you instead of going to the dying people of Haiti, Russia,  and Pakistan...


The next few weeks is going to be hell watching television because of the new political ads that will be airing. They will be more vicious, trying to find an emotional trigger that will make you distrust a certain candidate. It's already escalating here in Colorado, the tv stations are running them in clumps, usually ending with the meanest ad from Tom Tancredo, who approves this nonsense. I think I will go to the library and stock up on some books and concentrate on improving my mind until after the elections. Most of the new Fall shows suck eggs anyway, the shows that aired over the Summer consistently had better writing and acting...

I'd love to see Obama replace Larry Summers with Paul Krugman, but I doubt he would be bold enough to do that. I would also like to see him hire Arnold Schwartzenegger as his his new Chief of Staff, and hire General Stanley McChrystal as a military advisor. OK, what the hell, let's have Lady Gaga as a special envoy to end don't Ask Don't Tell...