What We're Reading Now
Aug 31, 2011

IRAN
Iran says Bushehr nuclear power plant in final testing stages
Xinhua – August 28, 2011
Iran announced Saturday that its first nuclear power plant Bushehr is undergoing the final tests. Deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Ahmadian, said Saturday the pre-launch tests for Bushehr nuclear power plant are in their final stages, the local satellite Press TV reported.

Press TV: Iran sending submarine, warship to Gulf of Aden, Red Sea
The Washington Post – August 30, 2011
An official Iranian news agency says Iran is sending a submarine and a warship to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.  Press TV quotes the commander, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, as saying the deployment will serve the country’s interests and “convey the message of peace and friendship to all countries.”

Will Iran Nuke the Tea Party?
Jack Hunter, Charleston City Paper -- August 30, 2011
Why is it that during the last decade, when Republicans controlled all three branches of government, the national debt still exploded? Why is it that the last time a real conservative sat in the White House — Ronald Reagan — government grew astronomically?

NORTH KOREA
China, Russia rush to rebuild North Korea transport links
Jeremy Laurence, Reuters -- August 30, 2011
North Korea Aug 31 (Reuters) - Destitute North Korea's push to breathe new life into economic relationships with its neighbours China and Russia appears to be bearing fruit in its far north of the country where foreigners are busy helping rebuild a crumbling infrastructure.

Minister-nominee to seek flexibility on NK
Kim Young-jin, The Korea Times -- August 31, 2011
Newly appointed Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said in his first public comments since being named to the post Wednesday he would take a steady, yet adjustable approach toward North Korea.

We can turn back the Tea Party Tide!
Oct 21, 2010

On Monday the Tea Party Express, joined by Sarah Palin, began a nationwide tour to press their radical agenda.  First stop: Nevada, where they have targeted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

That radical movement has dominated the Republican primaries.

Tea Party candidates are determined to turn the country back to the “good old days” – days before Social Security was created to protect our senior citizens, unemployment insurance helped those out of work, corporations could pollute the environment with impunity and maintain lax safety standards, and bank failures caused millions of Americans to lose their savings.

Tea Party candidates such as Sharron Angle in Nevada, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Ken Buck in Colorado and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware object to the reforms implemented over the last 70 years that protect ordinary Americans. They argue these improvements are unconstitutional.

Senator Harry Reid in Nevada, Jack Conway in Kentucky, Senator Michael Bennet in Colorado and Chris Coons in Delaware, all Democrats, are working hard to keep the Tea Party extremists out of the U.S. Senate, but they need your help in the last two weeks of the campaign.

Saving Obama and the Democrats
May 05, 2010

Here is the problem for liberals: we need to protect the Democrats from the anger their policies have generated while pushing them to implement the promises they made to win the 2008 election.

The most unfortunate outcome in the November 2010 elections would be significant political gains by the movement led by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party reactionaries. A close second negative would be the takeover of Congress by the Republican Party committed to downsizing and disempowering government from its responsibility to protect the nation and the most vulnerable people from the wild swings of the capitalist market.

President Obama's policies make it difficult to rally the voters who voted for hope and change, his glittering generalities not yet implemented but of special importance to liberals. On March 29, Obama changed federal policy by allowing and promoting drilling for oil offshore California and the eastern seaboard from Florida to Virginia, violating the promises he made to environmentalists. Despite the terrible explosion and oil spill that now threatens vast areas of the US, Obama insists that he will continue the new drilling program once the current crisis has been overcome. The oil companies were preferred over the environmental groups,

In his State of the Union address on January 27, Obama confirmed his campaign promise by calling for repeal of the “Don't ask, Don't tell” DADT policy. Less than a week later, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate committee that repealing the policy that prevents gay men and women from serving openly in the military was “the right thing to do.” But that policy has not been repealed. DADT is still the law of land.