There have always been tensions between the Flemish (Dutch speaking) and Walloon Belgians, and this article implies that the cultural and linguistic difference may push Belgium to a breakup.
This, and the repeated attempts by the Quebecois to secede, are very good examples of how a multilingual society is a dysfunctional society.
Without the language issue, both nations would be among the most tolerant and unified societies on earth.
The FCC took a vote to order Comcast to stop throttling internet applications.
What is interesting is the pressure that Republicans put on FCC chairman Kevin Martin to vote for Comcast having the right to throttle applications.
Here is a question for you, “Are the Republicans f%$#ing insane?!?!?”
Seriously, I can think of no entity in American life more universally loathed than the cable companies, and the Republicans were going on record supporting these folks?
The Republicans, having a phony issue, the kind that they like best, that they think that they can run with, offshore drilling, have vowed to block everything until they get a vote on the issue.
Well, it looks like the Dems are calling their bluff, and daring them to block a troop funding bill which includes:
Why does the Republican party hate the troops?
I think that it’s fairly clear that the right wing PAN is attempting a back door privatization of Pemex, the state own oil producer, while the PRD sees any change as an theft from the Mexican people, and the PRI falls somewhere in between.
The problem is that Pemex has not been run well, and it is lacking resources as a result, so some sort of reform is necessary.
I still believe that purchasing the necessary expertise, as opposed to “risk sharing partnerships” that are a back door way of privatizing the system, are the way to go.
They are in summer recess now, and because of a Kurdish walkout, they took no action on a $21 billion supplementary budget.
The provincial elections are still unresolved too, though there will be a special session to attempt to resolve this.
Heck of a job, Bushie.
The Constitutional Court voted in favor of a ban, but only 6-5, one vote short of the 7 required, though they did cut the amount of public funding available to the party.
I would guess that this is a political decision, with the court slapping down the Justice and Development Party (AKP) enough to make them notice, but not creating the furore of a ban.
They yanked his invite because he was demanding that the audience show up two hours early and not have access to bathrooms as a result.
Seriously, even George W. Bush isn’t this cowardly about meeting crowds….what is with this guy.
The Department of Homeland Security is declaring a Period of Heightened Alert (POHA) for the election season.
This means that Bush and His Evil Minions™ will take the smallest rumor of a terrorist threat, inflate it beyond all credibility, and then try to scare the general public into voting Republican.
Which is she passed over an experienced counterterrorism prosecutor because his wife was a Democrat.
Seriously, nothing trumps politics for Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.
Representatives of Bush and His Evil Minions™ at the Justice Department routinely broke the law in the hiring of career lawyers.
In particular Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson aggressively selected on the basis of partisan affiliation.
Bush’s butt boy at the DoJ, Michael Mukasey, released a statement that he is, “disturbed” by these developments, but I see no suggestion of actual prosecution.
There can be no greater threat to the nation than when political partisanship is used to corrupt the administration of justice.
It looks like following a Labour drubbing in Glasgow, Gordon Brown’s hometown, we are starting to see labor return to policies that benefit working folk, at least to the degree that they are absolutely forced to do so.
Labor has agreed to lower the age for the full minimum wage to 21. Previously £5.52 had applied to workers over 22, with those from 18-21 getting £4.60, and those from 16-18 getting £3.40.
Additionally, Brown acceded to demands for increased parental leave and to limit private contractors in the NHS.
It appears that in addition to the pasting taken in the Glasgow election, Labor’s campaign donations have shrunk, and so the party is more dependent on affiliation fees.
I sincerely hope that this is a death knell for the “third way” corporate suckups.
I’ve Google Newsed it, and I’m still unsure as to what the straight dope on this is.
Obviously, whether the allegations of an affair are true or false, it’s depressing in either case.
They now say that he will sign the bill.
I guess that he doesn’t want another override this month.
It appears that at one of Bush’s closed fundraisers, someone had a home video camera, and caught him saying that, “Wall Street ‘got drunk’ and now has a hangover.”
I guess you talk about what you know.
Really. Only 37% of Jews have a favorable view of Lieberman, as versus 48% who view him unfavorably.
OK, the 37% are complete tools, but that’s not much more than one out of three.
It’s not surprising that Boeing will stick with the 767 for the rebid of the tanker program. They have only a few months to respond, and going with, for example, a shortened 777 would be a very difficult thing.
The problem is that the A330 is a better plain, and the A330 MRTT, which is the airframe that Airbus is using, is flying now, even while Boeing is struggling to deliver its 767 tanker to Italy, which is not the same airframe as is proposed for the US tanker.
Airbus is clearly the better choice, even the GAO review said that while faulting the selection process, but politics being what it is, I would give Airbus a no better than 50/50 chance of winning this if it ends up a soul source bid.
His lawyers are requesting an injunction for two reasons:
It should be interesting, because Bush and His Evil Minions™ are desperately trying to get these trials scheduled for maximum impact on the November elections.
And the Judge has decided to allow the trial to proceed on schedule.
Bush is threatening a veto, but given the current economic and electoral environment, I doubt that it will actually come to that.
It appears part of the decision regarding the rebid has to do with DefSec Gates’ ongoing war with an insubordinate, and frequently incompetent, US Air Force.
Among other things, USAF has been removed from the bid process.
I don’t think that the decision will change, as Gates is asking for amended bids, not new ones, tough the competitors can submit a completely new bid, and he isexpecting to issue a new request for proposals (RFP) in August, with a final decision in December, and in order for Boeing to have a better aircraft, which it needs to have because its on time and on cost performance has been pathetic, it would need to submit some sort of modified 777.
Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner, who was harassed by a political hack US attorney over a few phone calls and faxes from his office.
Note that they did this after said US attorney sent goons to intimidate them after the hung jury (last link).