The new Cold Wars

China and the U.S. position themselves for a power grab in Africa. Can you guess where? Can you guess why? Look where people are dying and territory is being fought over.

Darfur.

It has oil.

That's a death sentence nowadays, isn't it?

The case of Darfur, a forbidding piece of sun-parched real estate in the southern part of Sudan, illustrates the new Cold War over oil, where the dramatic rise in China's oil demand to fuel its booming growth has led Beijing to embark on an aggressive policy of - ironically - dollar diplomacy. With its more than US$1.2 trillion in mainly US dollar reserves at the Peoples' National Bank of China, Beijing is engaging in active petroleum geopolitics. Africa is a major focus, and in Africa, the central region between Sudan and Chad is a priority.

This is defining a major new front in what, since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, is a new Cold War between Washington and Beijing over control of major oil sources. So far Beijing has played its cards a bit more cleverly than Washington. Darfur is a major battleground in this high-stakes contest for oil control.

And for those hardliners who missed the days of the Cold War and the Soviet Union:

Moscow, Russia (AHN) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday defended the test-launch of his country's new intercontinental ballistic missile, saying the move was in response to the United States' plans to deploy components of a missile shield system in central Europe. During an address to a joint news conference with Greek President Carolos Papoulias, the Russian leader also accused the U.S. government of dictatorship and initiating a new arms race.

"Our partners are filling eastern Europe with new weapons. What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this. In our opinion, it is nothing different from 'diktat,' nothing different from imperialism," Putin said referring to U.S. plans to build anti-ballistic missile sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The White House has denied the allegations by Moscow saying the planned anti-missile systems are not aimed at gaining any strategic advantage over Russia but are a defensive measure against countries like Iran which Washington believes may a pose threat to the U.S. and its European allies.

The comments come just two days after Russia test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile which it says can be armed with up to 10 different warheads.

And:

Russian President Vladimir Putin's Cold War-style speech in Munich in February and its combative follow-up, the State of the Nation speech in April, are being matched by Russia's stiffening, and its mounting assertiveness, in opposition to any bolstering or reconsolidating of ailing US-led unipolarity.
[snip]

Since US overreach after the Iraq invasion of 2003, and the subsequent decline of the US and the unrelenting rise of Russia, China and India, in concert with the globe's key resource-exporting regimes, have become ever more strident, even brazen, in opposition to US global hegemony. The US can no longer ride roughshod over, nor bully, nor simply ignore resurgent Russia, rising China, or the globe's regimes that supply the vital oil that fuels the US economy.

In the face of such developments, the US isn't finished in its attempt to stand unipolarity back on both its feet. It has by no means conceded the game. Instead, belatedly recognizing the damage done by its distraction in Iraq, a desperate and determined US is refocusing and getting started on the geopolitical project of restoring its lost global might.

A day late and a dollar short, Georgie. And this time you failed the final, you can't pay off the teacher, and the grades are set.

You fucked up and this time there is no one who can clean it up.

Hell did not freeze over

And Bush didn't collapse in a spineless heap when the U.S. and Iran held talks. Diplomacy does work:

The facility with which the US and Iran have arrived at a "broad policy agreement on Iraq" as a result of a four-hour closed meeting may have come as a minor shock to some Iran hardliners, in light of an editorial in the conservative daily Kayhan on the eve of the meeting. It predicted that "it will take a long time before the framework for the US-and-Iran dialogue becomes transparent. It is unlikely that the two sides can reach an agreement at their preliminary meeting."

But more important is the reaction of various groups, including the religio-nationalist Shi'ites of the Mahdi Army, who are increasingly turning insurgent toward the US. Their consent to any US-Iran security cooperation in Iraq is necessary. Yet it may not be forthcoming as long as the US rejects their demands for a timetable to exit Iraq.

Thus there are certain risks and "side effects" to Iran's Iraq - and regional - policy as a direct result of its dialogue with the US. That might cause disproportionate headaches both at home and in the region. Iran's politicians standing behind this new approach have their job cut out and need to show that the tangible, short- and long-term benefits outweigh the risks.

For instance, if the US releases the Iranians it has kidnapped in Iraq, then it will be an easier sell for Tehran. Yet according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Iran has not been allowed a meeting with its nationals in the United States' custody and the US has not yet allowed a family visit, either.

"If the US does not follow up with baby steps to build Iran's confidence about its intentions toward Iran, then we should not expect any meaningful progress," a Tehran political-science professor told the author. Perhaps the best course of action is to adopt an experimental, trial-and-error approach whereby mutual trust can be built gradually but firmly on concrete steps toward making the Iraqi government more stable and powerful.

After the historic meeting, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, who was the sole Iraqi observer at the talks, stated that with respect to his country, there is a broad agreement between the US and Iran.

Another Iraqi official went even further by citing "goodwill, agreement and commitment" between the US and Iran. Clearly, significant ice in the frigid US-Iran environment has been broken, portending a substantive thaw.

Iraq's security is, after all, about the security of both Iran and the US, and the common threats of neo-Salafi terrorism is the chief glue that binds Tehran and Washington together. Strange bedfellows or not, the US and Iran are now on the path toward reconciliation.

Now if we could just get Bush to back off his nine warships in the Persian Gulf and Cheney to hand over those five Iranian diplomats out of his private dungeon, we might show some more goodwill and actually look like we mean it.

Oregon shows the way

To do it right:

Salem – Today Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law House Bill 2700, requiring employee health insurance plans to provide prescription drug coverage of birth control and emergency contraception be made available by hospital emergency rooms to victims of sexual assault.

“This fight is fundamentally about women being able to make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families,” said the Governor at the signing ceremony. “Today, with the signing of this bill into law, we continue our ongoing work to expand personal freedom and offer women full equality in our society.”

Under the Act, which will go into effect January 1, 2008, health insurance plans would be obligated to offer the same level of coverage for birth control as they do for other prescription drugs. Nearly half of all indemnity health insurance plans provide no coverage for prescription birth control – even when there is coverage for other medications. Women on average spend $573 out-of-pocket each year on birth control.

In addition, the Act requires hospital emergency rooms in Oregon to offer women who have been victims of sexual assault, or that they believe have been a victim of sexual assault, information about and access to emergency contraception. Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy if administered within 72 hours of the assault. It contains the same hormones as those used in common birth control pills, though at different dosage levels.

The Governor was joined at the signing ceremony by Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, Representatives Diane Rosenbaum and Carolyn Tomei, CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia/Willamette David Greenberg and NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon Executive Director Michelle Stranger-Hunter.

“The women of Oregon have worked tirelessly for nearly 15 years for the passage of these measures. I am proud to have been part of that fight – and even more proud to be here today as we celebrate this victory,” said the Governor. “I congratulate the sponsors for their hard work and diligence. Today is a great day for the women of Oregon.”

Link via Phila at Bouphonia.

And we should believe you

Because you aren't talking about smoking guns or mushroom clouds? We know who you hang out with:

MADRID, Spain - The U.S. is not preparing for war against Iran and Vice President Dick Cheney supports that policy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, taking a swipe at a U.N. official who says he's worried about "crazies" who want to start bombing.
[snip]

Rice said the United States is using diplomacy to avoid "getting to a place where we have an unpalatable choice." She described that as a choice "between having to do something on the military side or allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon. That's a choice that people talk about."

Rice, who has tangled with ElBaradei before, suggested he is giving Iran mixed signals.

"We have a diplomatic choice, but it's only going to succeed if we are absolutely clear with the Iranians — not muddying the message in any way," she said.

Muddying the message? Like having nine warships playing leapfrog in the Persian Gulf?

It's only good for MY God, not yours

Because everyone knows my God is the right one and your god is stupid:

PZ Myers at Pharyngula notes a court case that was shot down:

At Tuesday's hearing, Mallory argued in part that witchcraft is a religion practiced by some people and, therefore, the books should be banned because reading them in school violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

"I have a dream that God will be welcomed back in our schools again," Mallory said. "I think we need him."

Friday Hope Blogging

Thank you, Phila from Bouphonia, for providing an island of good things in the sea of negativity.

Bush to world: Don't fuck with our destiny!

But by all reports, President Bush is more convinced than ever of his righteousness.

Friends of his from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated "I am the president!" He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny."

Just a quick trot back through the righteousness of the Deciderer Commander Guy Compassionator Preznit:

It's our destiny to make sure you serve time for war crimes, Mister Bush. And we're working on making sure you can't get out of it.

Did they really think nobody would notice?

It's only 104 acres or 80 football fields:

On Tuesday, ThinkProgress highlighted photos of the U.S. embassy in Iraq, which is set to open in September. Projected to cost $592 million, the embassy will have a staff of 1,000 people and operating costs will total $1.2 billion a year. The complex will be 104 acres, which is the size of approximately 80 football fields.

The architectural firm designing the embassy, Berger Define Yaeger, recently posted the designs for the colossus on its website (which is currently down). Today, the State Department ordered Berger to remove the images. AP reports:

Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project. […]

The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department.

I take it this 'embassy' is not a permanent base like thing, is it? Right?

The voices in mah haid

Sound alot like Unka Dick tellin' me to attack Iran. YouTube found via Sorghum Crow at Sorghum Crow's General Store:

The Bush administration wants you to eat mad cows

Because if they let one meatpacker test for mad cow, they'd have to let all meatpackers test for mad cow and that would be really expensive and would make the corporations unhappy and anyway you don't show the effects of mad cow until you get Alzheimer's and that's years away so why should you care?

Not many seemed to notice when Bush served the Japanese Prime Minister beef for the Camp David visit, but it was a snide dig at Japan's food safety demands.

At the meeting Friday at the US presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, the two leaders are set to dine on an all-American lunch of controversial US beef -- in the form of cheeseburgers.

Japanese curbs on US beef are one of the stickier trade issues the leaders were expected to discuss.

Japan this week agreed to ease its strict inspection regime on imports of US beef, which it had imposed over concerns about mad-cow disease.

Japan insists that beef be inspected for mad cow, the U.S. says Japan should buy our beef without inspection:

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - A White House visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week may not bring an expansion of U.S. beef sales to Japan, said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Thursday.

"I'd be very surprised if there was a breakthrough," Johanns told reporters. He said he had no meetings scheduled with Japanese officials during Abe's visit, set for April 26-27.

Johanns said he and Japan's agriculture minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, discussed beef trade by telephone earlier on Thursday. "We did not reach an agreement," said Johanns.

At present, Japan allows import of U.S. beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger provided that slaughterhouses remove organs posing the highest risk of carrying mad cow disease.

Chet at Vanity Press has the facts.

Reaction? EAT LESS BEEF.

Cows are causing global warming anyway.