Since Belinda Stronach's defection to the Liberals has made things close for the government, there has been no end to the stories about the confidence vote on Thursday. Even an MP with heartburn apparently qualifies as news these days, so long as it might keep them from voting on the budget. Perhaps I overstate, since at the time he was sent to hospital from the Parliament floor they didn't know what was wrong. Of course, you have to get the personal angle in, since Ms. Stronach happened to be dating high-profile Conservative MP Peter MacKay, who apparently wasn't aware that she was making this move. Of the two independent MPs, one of which needs to vote with the government in order for it to pass the budget, David Kilgor stated that he is leaning towards toppling Paul Martin's government. I guess that might leave it all up to Chuck Cadman, a former Conservative MP, who has been hinting lately that he will support the government.
The situation in Uzbekistan continues to receive coverage today. Louise Arbour, the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, has called for an inquiry to deal with allegations of human rights abuses by government forces. Foreign diplomats have been allowed to visit the sites of the conflict that killed hundreds of Uzbeki citizens for the first time today. The Uzbeki prosecutor-general has publicly stated that no citizens were killed in the violence, claiming that those killed were armed rebels. This is a sensitive issue for both Russia and the United States, as, harking back to the Cold War days, they are both supporting the dictatorial yet secular government to ensure that more extremist Islamists don't take control. If history repeats itself, the US should be going into Uzbekistan to free people from this tyranny in another 10-15 years or so, or whenever the leader becomes inconvenient for them.
New stories today about Iraq show the difficulties that the United States and allied countries still face in their attempt to create a stable society. For instance, there has been a recent tiff between the Shias and the Sunnis, with the latter claiming that the former of using militias to kill their clerics. The recent engagement of insurgent forces that has gotten so much media publicity seems to have been more of a general levelling of the territory. Recent reports from the ground have detailed the general destruction of villages, indepedent of whether insurgents or civilians were there. On top of it all, the Congressional Budget Office has tabled a report that puts the cost of the war at an almost unthinkable $600 billion by 2010, or about $5 billion a month.
Of course if this goes on for long enough, maybe they could just trash the whole place with the American Air Force's new proposal to weaponize space that they are sending to GW. A couple of metal rods dropped from orbit at 7200 mph on Iraq should quell things nicely, if not the other proposals outlined in this article.
Also:
- Wearing the colour red can give a real advantage to people playing sports.
- Recent studies seem to point to the apparent functionless nature of the female orgasm, at least from an evolutionary perspective.
- The PS3 has been unveiled, and it looks like it's going to be quite the gaming console.
- The United States is putting pressure on China to get rid of the constant exchange rate of the Yuan.
- The economic boom in China is expected to have serious environmental consequences if current trends continue unabated.
- Germany is moving forward with laws on the disclosure of CEO salaries and a ban on tobacco advertisements.
- The EU is planning on holding new talks with Iran over its nuclear programme.
- A story on Pakistan's first female fighter pilot.
- A personal commentary on why Wolfowitz might be good for the World Bank. Apparently he's a nice guy one-to-one, although I don't know if that's what qualifies you for the job.
- Consider yourself a food person? The Guardian lists the top 50 things that you have to experience in your lifetime.
- If you ever need to, how to fake your fingerprint.
- An article I ran across entitled "Ontology is Overrated." More interesting than the title might make it seem.
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