The House of Representative
failed
to either authorize the war in Libya or to de-fund it, leaving the
current legal situation intact. The Obama Administration is neither
following the War Powers Act, not is Congress insisting that it do so,
nor has Congress thrown in the towel and authorized the war.
President Obama does a modest little bit of push-back on Republican
attempts to eviscerate the Federal Budget and to impoverish all those
citizens who depend on an active government and
gets
called a "dick" for his efforts.
Good
quote on that:
Forget the trees; look at the forest:
congressional Republicans, for the first time in American history, are
holding the debt ceiling hostage. They’ve announced to the country and
the world that they’ll cause an economic crash, on purpose, unless
Democrats agree to dramatic spending cuts. Yesterday, President Obama
held a press conference to urge GOP leaders to accept a compromise — he
and other Democrats will accept massive cuts, but the president wants
Republicans to agree to some concessions as part of a
bipartisan agreement.
Casualties
are
going up in Iraq. Why might that be?
Some analysts have said that the
primary
reason attacks on U.S. troops have increased significantly in
recent months is because top U.S. officials have been saying publicly
that the U.S. military will stay past the Dec. 31, 2011 total
withdrawal deadline. One former Iraqi U.N. diplomat
said
that “U.S. soldiers are likely being targeted more now because there is
talk that Iraqi and American officials will try to keep additional
troops” past 2011.
Now,
this looks
promising! Attorney General Eric Holder opens up inquiry into
detainee deaths. Granted, the cases are from 2002 and 2003 and he has
promised not to look into 101 other suspicious cases, but hey, baby
steps, y'know.
Also, a United Nations report on Afghanistan
directly
contradicts US stories of progress in that country.
Protest on the
detention of
ship's captain by Greece.
Captain John Klusmer was arrested when
the US boat Audacity of Hope -- the flagship in a flotilla of
pro-Palestinian activists -- attempted to leave Greek waters on Friday
after Athens banned all Gaza-bound ships from setting sail.
Description of protest
with
press release from Audacity of Hope added as comment.