Bush on International Development

President Bush recently announced his proposal to include the United States in a global pact on climate change. While some are happy that the United States are at least taking their first steps to join a global compact after rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, but critics remain uncertain. In his proposal, Bush emphasized the importance of included developing countries like China and India, which have not been asked to join the former global climate change pacts like the Kyoto Protocol due to the negative economic impact those countries would have to sustain.

C-SPAN Video

Bush Announces His Nomination for President of the World Bank

C-SPAN Video

Bush nominated Robert Zoellick, former US Trade Representative and former Deputy Secretary of State. Zoellick will have to be approved by the executive directors of the World Bank before Wolfowitz steps down on June 30.

Communication from the Executive Directors on the Selection of the President of the World Bank

Apparently, George W. Bush is not the only one who can nominate candidates to the World Bank according to this statement, posted late Tuesday night:

There has been intense interest in the selection process for the next World Bank President, following the announcement of Mr. Wolfowitz’s resignation effective June 30, 2007. The Executive Directors have met to discuss matters related to the nomination and selection process for the next President of the World Bank.

The Executive Directors have prepared a profile of key qualities for nominees to guide the selection process. The Board believes it is essential for the next World Bank President to have:

• a proven track record of leadership;
• experience managing large, international organizations, a familiarity with the public sector and a willingness to tackle governance reform
• a firm commitment to development;
• a commitment to and appreciation for multilateral cooperation, and
• political objectivity and independence.

As the selection process gets underway, the Board expects an intensive process of formal and informal consultation with the Executive Directors on potential nominees. In addition, they noted that nominations may be made by any Executive Director of the Bank and that the Executive Director for the United States has informed them that the United States will be nominating a candidate.

The Board expects to receive nominations by no later than June 15, 2007 and to complete the process for the selection of the President of the Bank by June 30, 2007.

Communication from the Executive Directors on the Selection of the President of the World Bank

Supreme Court Limits Flexibility in Discrimination Claims

In Ledbetter v. Goodyear, the Supreme Court put stricter rules on time limits for filing discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From the opinion of the court, delivered by Justice Alito:

...all Ledbetter has alleged is that Goodyear’s agents discriminated against her individually in the past and that this discrimination reduced the amount of later paychecks. Because Ledbetter did not file timely EEOC charges relating to her employer’s discriminatory pay decisions in the past, she cannot maintain a suit based on that past discrimination at this time.

Bush Expands Sanctions Against Sudan

Bush will toughen existing sanctions against Sudan, and will propose the UN take similar measures.




UN Resolution 1591 (2005) led to the creation of the Sudan Sactions Committee which currently has three types of sactions in place: arms embargo, travel ban, and assets freeze.

On April 18, 2006, US Ambassador John Bolton presented a draft resolution of sanctions against four individuals, which was adopted April 25, 2006 as UN Resolution 1672 (2006).

President Bush will implement broader sanctions as of Tuesday. Reporters were briefed on a draft of new UN resolution created by the State Department. The new sanctions will target 31 Sudanese companies, the Sudanese government in Khartoum, and three individuals. In addition it would expand the arms embargo and prohibit the Sudanese government from launching offensive military flights over Darfur.

Read More about the Sanctions
US State Department Press Release about John Bolton's April 18 Proposal

A short documentary about Darfur.

Radio Caracas TV (RCTV) Closes by Government Order

RCTV, Venezuela's largest television station, will cease broadcast at midnight tonight by the order of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez announced the decision last December following his reelection because the station supported a failed coup attempt against Chavez in 2002.

A statement from President of RCTV Eladio Larez.

There were protests throughout the weekend in support of the station:


More video here.

Congress Passes Iraq Spending Bill

The House and the Senate passed a supplemental spending bill for Iraq that does not set a timetable for troop withdrawal.

The bill also includes a raise in the Federal minimum wage from 5.15 to 7.25 over 2 years.

Israeli Air Strike in Gaza

Israel launched air strikes this week targeting Hamas following Palestinian rocket attacks. Thirty Palestinians have been killed. Four were injured in the strike depicted below.

Standoff With Islamic Militants in Lebanon

On May 21, fighting broke out in the northern Lebanon city of Tripoli between Lebanese soldiers and members of the militant Palistinian group Fatah al-Islam when the soldiers pursued bank robbers into a Palestinian refugee camp. A 2-day cease fire broke today and fighting resumed.

Goodling Testifies that Politics Played Role in Attorney Replacements

Former DoJ Director of Public Affairs Monica Goodling testified before the House Judiciary Committee today that she improperly discussed politics and loyalty in her interviews for replacement of fired federal prosecutors. She also testified that Attorney General Gonzalez's public account was inaccurate.

Goodling's opening statement:


Full testimony from C-SPAN.

In March, Goodling refused to testify, citing fifth amendment privilege.

After Recovering Gold, Guiliani Wanted to "Scoop and Dump" Bodies of 9/11 Victims/Firefighters

According to the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), then Mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani was more interested in recovering gold than the remains of firefighters who died trying to save others on September 11, 2001. At first, he allowed 300 firefighters to search for the remains of those who perished, however, after the Bank of Nova Scotia had found found their tens of millions of dollars in gold, silver, and other assets he reduced the number of firefighters able to search to 25. Upon hearing this news, firefighters protested and 15 firefighters were arrested. Due to such strong public support, Giuliani later changed his position and allowed the firefighters to proceed searching for remains, a search which did allow the finding of more bodies and allow decent burials for the fallen firefighters and their families. After the protest, Giuliani said the firefighters were acting like babies (referring to their desire to continue searching for fallen firefighters). Firefighters have a code like the military that does not allow them to leave fallen members behind.

IAFF Press Release

New Deployment Orders

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman recently announced deployment orders for the next 10 brigades to tour Iraq. They include:

-- 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas;
-- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.;
-- 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.;
-- 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood;
-- 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.;
-- 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii;
-- 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker), Vilseck, Germany; and
-- 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany

While Whitman stressed that this deployment is completely unrelated to the troop surge, many critics have voiced their uncertainty. Hearst Newspapers conducted an assessment of the deployment orders and found that due to extended combat tours, there may be as many as 28 brigades in Iraq in December of 2007. The situation is of course hypothetical, because the military will not discuss specific timelines of the movement of its soldiers due to national security reasons. If there is overlap between arriving and departing soldiers, however, there may be an increase from the approximate 162,000 troops in Iraq now to approximately 200,000 troops around Christmas (the highest level since the war began). Commenting on the situation was retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, a former U.S. commander of NATO troops in Bosnia, he said, "It doesn't surprise me that they're [Bush Administration] not talking about it, I think they would be very happy not to have any more attention paid to this."

United States Central Command Press Release

Senate Proposes Broad Immigration Reform

Several Democratic Senators made a high profile push for a new immigration reform bill, a bill President Bush says he supports. The bill is sponsored by Harry Reid, Edward Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Robert Menendez, and Ken Salazar, and would allow new immigrants to become temporary guest workers, and offer illegal immigrants an opportunity to become legal residents: after returning to their home country and paying a $5000 fine they will be allowed to reenter.

Paul Wolfowitz Resigns

"I am announcing today that I will resign as President of the World Bank Group effective at the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2007)." For full text of the World Bank's and Paul Wolfowitz's statement click here.

Wildfires Evacuate Thousands in New Jersey

The fire was started when a practicing fighter jet dropped a flare on dry pinelands.

Search for Three Captured U.S. Soldiers in Iraq

On March 12, three U.S. soldiers were captured near Mahmoudiya, in a Sunni stronghold 20 miles south of Baghdad, by Iraqi insurgents prompting an intensive search of the surrounding area by U.S. forces.

The ambush left four other U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator dead. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Islamist insurgent group with ties to Al-Qaeda, has taken credit for the attack in a written communique.

The ISI also recently released video of the execution of three Iraqi officers captured on May 7 and 8. Last month, the same organization captured and executed 20 officers of the Iraqi government.

Interview With An Insurgent

Via the video blog Alive in Baghdad, an interview with a member of the Islamic Army in Iraq, a Baathist influenced insurgent group that surfaced shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003. While invoking God frequently, the IAI takes a more nationalist stance and is more concerned with removing foreign influence in Iraq than the Al-Qaeda dominated Islamic State in Iraq.

Islamic Army in Iraq's web site.
Translated into English via Google.

Justice Department Official Recounts Confrontation Over Legality of Secret NSA Spying Program

The former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey recalls that he and then Attorney General John Ashcroft found the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program to be illegal.

Comey said that while Ashcroft was hospitalized for emergency gall bladder surgery, Former White House Counsel (and current Attorney General) Alberto Gonzalez and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card had come to Ashcroft's hospital bed in a last minute attempt to seek Justice Department approval for the wiretapping program. Comey testified before the Senate as part of the ongoing investigation into the firing of federal prosecutors.

Protests in Copenhagen Lead to Violence and Arrests

Protesters clashed with police over the destruction of a building in the Christiania neighborhood of Copenhagen.

The neighborhood has been a self-governed community for over 30 years. The Danish government recently abolished the collective government effective January, 2006. They are now attempting to demolish buildings in the neighborhood for condominiums, but have been met with fierce resistance in the streets.

Similar protests erupted in March after police evicted squatters from a long-held youth center and demolished the building.

Protest in Pakistan for Judicial Independence

On May 12, protesters gathered across Pakistan to support Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was recently removed from his position by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on charges of corruption. Opponents of Musharraf claim that the charges are false and that Musharraf is trying to replace the top judge so that he may once again run for the Pakistani presidency (his term limit is up). Many in Pakistan believe that judiciary independence is the stepping stone to free and democratic elections in Pakistan. Many people were hurt in the protests in Islamabad and around 30 people were killed in the protest in Karachi. People showed solidarity for those killed by calling a general strike across the country of Pakistan the day after. The picture shows burning effigies of Gen. Musharraf.



More video: here, destroying cars and the aftermath.

Los Angeles Police Use Rubber Bullets to End Peaceful Protest

Jonathan Mann took this footage from the Mayday rally for immigrants' rights in MacArthur Park, L.A. Police used rubber bullets to scatter the protest.

Women's Stories from Iraq

An anonymous woman filmmaker explores the obstacles women face daily living in Iraq. 48 minutes long, larger video here.

Protests in Tel Aviv Demand Resignation of Israeli PM

On April 30, a report from the Israeli government inquiry group the Winograd Commission faulted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for his handling of the recent military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. On May 3, thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv demanded Olmert's resignation.



More video here and here.

Bush Vetoes Iraq Spending Bill

On May 1, President Bush vetoed H.R. 1591, a supplemental spending bill that required the withdraw of US forces from Iraq next year.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded strongly before a vote to override the President's veto (which came short of the necessary two thirds majority), but vowed compromise after a bipartisan meeting with President Bush the following day.

British Medics in Afghanistan

Slideshow from The Guardian tells the story of the British Army's M*A*S*H teams.

Explosion Collapses Freeway Near Bay Bridge in Oakland

A tanker truck flipped and exploded on Interstate 80 in Oakland, Cali. at 3:40 AM April 30. The fire caused part of I-580 to collapse onto I-80. Both sections are expected to be out of commission for months.