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31 May 2010 21:30

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Politics: For some reason, Obama not ready to throw Israel under the bus

  • The President expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today’s incident, and concern for the wounded, many of whom are being treated in Israeli hospitals. The President also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning’s tragic events as soon as possible.
  • A statement from the White House • Regarding today’s insane flotilla situation in Israel. Obama has to respect the diplomatically-important relationship with Israel, but it’s kinda tough because they keep doing stupid crap like killing humanitarians. There are a lot of sides to this story, so it’s good to take them all in, but it’s clear that Israel had to get on that boat somehow. They weren’t there for tea and strumpets. They weren’t there to show off their new iPads. They weren’t there to give high-fives to the hundreds of people on board that boat. Even if the ship had weapons and the humanitarians were ready for a fight, it wasn’t like they were about to invade Gaza, either. Why not scold Israel, Obama, and tell them they screwed up? Because they clearly screwed up. source

11 Jan 2010 10:07

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U.S., World: North Korea wants to make peace with the U.S. all of a sudden

  • peace The country wants to write up a new peace treaty with the U.S. – the first rewrite since the end of the Korean war nearly 60 years ago.
  • leverage The carrot – and stick – for the U.S.? If they sign it, North Korea will give up their nuclear weapons program. A plan too good to be true?
  • flipped? Unfortunately for North Korea, the U.S. wants them to get rid of the nukes first – then they’ll talk about rewriting the peace treaty. source

10 Dec 2009 09:55

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U.S., World: Obama had to make a peace speech as a war president. Painful.

  • To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history, the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
  • Barack Obama • Offering a defense of his wartime strategy while accepting his Nobel Peace Prize. If that’s not ironic, then we don’t know exactly what is. Really good speech, though. He handled a potentially bizarre situation without a lot of trouble. source

08 Dec 2009 10:39

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26 Sep 2009 12:27

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19 Sep 2009 22:27

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U.S., World: Obama’s working on Middle East peace. What about health care?

  • From one major hurdle to another. On Tuesday, the president will get together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The dynamic duo will try to restart peace talks with the charismatic president, which means that it’s going to be a disappointment if Obama leaves Israel with anything less than complete peace. source

29 Aug 2009 18:29

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World: Chechnya’s lasting peace didn’t last; they relapsed

The level of discord in the country has gone up in recent months. Between June and August, 436 people have died, way up from 2008. source
 

13 Aug 2009 09:52

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Culture, U.S.: Woodstock, N.Y. 40 years later: It still looks like hippie central

The festival wasn’t even held in Woodstock, yet for some reason, the town can’t seem to shake off the festival’s legacy. source

15 Mar 2009 10:13

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World: Who’s upsetting the peace in Northern Ireland?

  • 300 sepratists and “a few nutters and idiots,” police say source