What is the current US administration’s position on Russia?

And what is the Democrats position on Russia?

Suddenly, Putin’s Russia seems to have turned from Bush’s best friend (in the War on Terra and in the oil games) back into its traditional role as the arch-enemy (stifling democracy, fighting for influence with the US in various countries).

Maybe more interestingly, the Democrats and other liberals seem confused: Russia, when it was a Bush ally, could be blamed for its horrible war in Chechnya, for its nasty oil plots together with US oil companies, and for its worsening domestic democracy situation.

Now that it has turned again into a target of the administration, you can read stories about how US oil interests are fighting in Ukraine against Russia or how US and Russian interests are clashing in Venezuela, about Syria, …

So what should we think of what’s going on in Russia and in Ukraine? And what should be be a proper US policy viz. Russia?

Cont. reading: Russia, Ukraine, Oil, US Diplomacy – All in One

On Apple´s iPod shuffle site there is a picture of an iPod accompanied by two chewing gum stripes. The picture byline is:

iPod shuffle: smaller than a pack of gum and much more fun. ⁽²⁾

The footnote says?

Cont. reading: Do Not Eat iPod Shuffle

This has been requested previously, and gained new urgency when I read the following in ths week’s edition of the Onion

Caged Saddam To Be Highlight Of Inaugural Ball (scroll to “News in Brief”)

WASHINGTON, DC—Attendees at the Independence Ball, one of nine officially sanctioned galas celebrating President George W. Bush’s second inauguration Thursday, will be treated to a viewing of a caged Saddam Hussein, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. “What better way to honor the president than with a physical symbol of his many first-term triumphs?” McClellan said as Hussein rattled the bars of a cage already suspended above the ballroom where the event will be held. “And I must compliment the planning committee. Outfitting Gitmo detainees with iron collars and forcing them to serve appetizers was an inspired stroke.” Ball attendees will also be awarded door prizes, including a basket of nuts, 20 yards of cloth, and a barrel of crude oil.

And sorry to squeeze somewhat the Billmon thread, but you are all in top form these days and I am sure you can handle the extra posts!

A new snack

Yesterday, Dr Rice unveiled the new marketing name for the bad guys: they are, ta-dam, the “outposts of tyranny” and they include, alongside old-timers North Korea and Iran, 4 newbies: Cuba, Burma, Belarus and Zimbabwe. Didn’t she forget someone?

Cont. reading: “Outposts of Tyranny”

The banality of death squads then and now – by Billmon.

Is it possible today to ignore her politics, ignore her boss, ignore her role in the last 4 years, and be proud of the fact that she is the first African-American female Secretary of State?

And that she is not criticised for being an African-American woman, but for other (far more serious) reasons?
Or is she just a token nominee meant to make everybody forget the plight of African-Americans in today’s America?

Meanwhile in Europe… Condi is overshadowed by another French plot!

There is a mathematically certain way to win when you play heads or tails (which can be applied to any similar game with results with known probabilities):

– you bet 1 on heads
– if you win, that’s it, you can go back to step one
– if you lose, you double your bet: you bet 2 on heads
– if you win, you won 1 overall (lost 1, won 2) and that’s it
– if you lose, you double you bet again: you bet 4 on heads
– if you win, you won 1 overall (lost 1, lost 2, won 4) and that’s it
– if you lose, you keep on doubling your bet until you win – and you will have won 1.

Of course, the amount of time to win 1 is unknown. The other problem is that you must win before you run out of money. 1, 2, 4 sound like smallish amounts, but if you get to 32 and lose, you will need 64 to keep on playing, and then 128, etc…). So this is a certain way to win – provided that you have sufficient liquidity available.

You may wonder what the link is with my title. Read on below.

Cont. reading: Bankers are Dangerous People

As pre-reported in Haaretz and elsewhere, "The Coming Wars" by Seymour Hersh is now published in The New Yorker.

Hersh describes how Bush has consolidated the control over the military and intelligence services and bought off Pakistan and how he will use this to initiate air and commando attacks on Iran and for military operations in other countries.

Cont. reading: “The Coming Wars”

News, views, opinions …

Billmon presents the President’s game plan on Social Security and similarities to the game plan of another historic leader.

"They were taking pictures of what they did at work all day," [Guy Womack, Specialist Graner’s civilian lawyer,] said of Specialist Graner and his friends. "The crime is that somebody leaked the photographs. It got out to the public and it embarrassed the United States government. And that’s a shame. I wish it hadn’t happened.

NYT: Jury Takes Five Hours to Reach Verdict in Abu Ghraib Case

Insurgents step up sectarian violence in Iraq (FT – front page)

Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground – War Created Haven, CIA Advisers Report (Washington Post)

Former Secretary of State James Baker (under Bush I) urges phased exit of U.S. troops from Iraq. (ABC News)

US ‘erodes’ global human rights (BBC)

Cont. reading: Iraq Thread

Here are some preliminary results from the census thread below:

– 123 posts

– 117 contributors (assuming that all anonymous entries are different people)

Cont. reading: MoA Census Summary

Billmon has posted again

The Shirer quote was posted not so long ago either here in a thread or in a kindred site and the same thought came to my mind this morning when I read the FT. Soon the MoA collective be channeling Billmon directly!

(Last call for those that did not see it – join the MoA census)

Can we still have an independent media?

Can we still have an independent mass media?

Some facts and thoughts below the fold.

Cont. reading: The price of “free” media

(Don’t forget to participate in the census if you have not yet done so)

Today, a very simple quiz:

A medical condition happens in the population with a frequency of 1 in 5000 people.
There is a test to decide if you have the disease, but it has a 5% error rate
You get tested, and are found positive for the disease.

What is the probability that you actually have the condition?

(Answer in a little while. Propose your bets in the comments, don’t explain – yet – how you got there, but tell us how confident you are in your proposal…)

The proportion of MDs who got it right is pretty low, sadly, and worryingly.

Billmon collected quotes for this piece, May 29, 2003

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.

Dick Cheney, Speech to VFW National Convention, August 26, 2002

Cont. reading: The Tangled Web Continued …

The Financial times has a big article today on European worries about dependence on Russian gas

The French and British governments are particularly worried that Moscow’s rising prominence as an energy supplier, not just to Germany but to Europe, is turning into an economic and political hazard for the entire continent.

Cont. reading: Gas Fears

Please don’t forget to participate to the census below if you haven’t done so yet!

Many sightings of Billmon these days (over at patriotboy – the well known “French” site, over at Brad de Long – the “French communist”, and possibly in the Non-Marx thread (1/11, 12:46)).

Is it time to rejoice his return?