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Iran Nuclear Watch: National Security Adviser Steven J. Hadley – “Iran’s New Willingness to Discuss Iraq a PLOY”
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is pictured in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Friday, March 17, 2006. In the first major foreign policy review since 2002, President Bush said Thursday that Iran may pose the greatest challenge to the United States. He criticized China and Russia for political repression and underscored his administration’s strike-first policy against terrorists and other enemies.
ASSociated Press: Bush Adviser Says Iran Bluffing on Iraq
President Bush’s top foreign policy adviser said Friday that Iran’s new willingness to talk about Iraq with the United States is probably a ploy designed to “divert pressure and divert attention” from international concern that Tehran wants a nuclear bomb.
DUH……why? Do you think Iran is our ALLY?
The United States has accused Iran of using a civilian nuclear program as a cover to build atomic weapons, an allegation Tehran denies.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear program this month, with Washington pressing for penalties.
The Bush administration views Tehran’s acceptance of an American offer to talk about Iraq, made months ago, as an indication that Iran is feeling the international heat, national security adviser Steven J. Hadley said.“What is interesting is that the Iranians would choose now, at this moment, in such a very public way, to embrace this idea and try to expand it to a negotiation about a broader set of issues,” Hadley said.
“The concern, therefore, is that it is simply a device by the Iranians to try and divert pressure that they’re feeling in New York, to try and drive a wedge between the United States and the other countries with which we are working on the nuclear issue and, if you will, divert pressure and divert attention.”
Hadley added: “Obviously, this is something that we and those who are working with us on these issues will not let happen.”
The ball continues in President Bush’s court.
Stay tuned…….
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Wants IAEA Supervision and Inspections
Condoleezza Rice Watch: Iran is the “Central Bank of Terrorismâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – “Iran’s Nuclear Fuel Program IRREVERSIBLEâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Divided Over Response to Iran Nuclear FLAP
Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “Iran Still Considering Uranium Enrichment DEALâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Rebukes Iran Over Withdrawl from Uranium Enrichment Negotiations
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Builds a Secret Underground Command Center
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens “OIL†Weapon
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel – “America Needs to Get Its Act Together.â€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – “Iran – No GREATER Challengeâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “NO Compromiseâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “United Nations Sanctions on Iran Would Be Ineffectiveâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council to Meet on Iran Next Week
Iran Nuclear Watch: Hassan Rowhani Boasts of Fooling the Europeans
Iran Nuclear Watch: Vice President Cheney – “Iran Faces Meaningful Consequencesâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Europeans Capitulating for Iran Uranium Enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko
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France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Flames erupt from a car and a motorbike in front of a hotel during clashes between youths and police that followed a student protest against the First Employment Contract (CPE), in Paris, March 16, 2006.
News.telegraph: Police fire teargas as students riot in Paris
Police fired teargas and fought running battles with rioters in the Latin quarter of Paris last night in the worst violence to erupt since protests began over a new youth employment law.
The trouble flared around the Sorbonne University, closed last week as tensions rose, after a march through the capital by tens of thousands of students.
A red flare was fired as crowds gathered near the university, a key symbol of the 1968 student revolt. This led to a charge in which students were joined by anarchist elements.
Windows were smashed and some business premises looted as demonstrators went on the rampage in the Boulevard St Michelle. Police fired teargas to stop protesters reaching the university.
Some of the rioters wore ski masks to counter the effect of teargas in a clear sign that the trouble was premeditated.
An organized attempt to thwart France’s center-right government’s response to last November’s riots. Again, the government must crack down EARLY on the violence before riots spiral out of control.
Police arrest a protestor during clashes at the end of a students demonstration in Paris March 16, 2006.
The French interior ministry said an operation had begun to round up 300 trouble-makers considered to be at the heart of the violence. Student leaders claimed that more than 120,000 protesters took to the streets of Paris. They were showing their resistance to the centre-Right government’s new law allowing employers to hire young workers on special contracts and giving them the right to fire them without reason.
Estimates of the number of protesters across France varied from 250,000 according to police and more than half a million claimed by student leaders.
Riots over a new law allowing temporary employment contracts in which one can be dismissed within the first two years without cause. and what is so unusual? Flap supposes the socialist French have never heard of “AT WILL” employment?
A demonstrator holds a placard reading “Street governs” during a protest in Lille, northern France March 16, 2006.
As police in riot gear swept through the narrow streets off the main boulevard in Paris, demonstrators took refuge from the teargas in restaurants.
The trouble was significantly more serious than on Tuesday night when a series of marches also led to skirmishes. A kiosk and other targets were set on fire and protesters threw stones, bottles, metal barriers and other missiles at officers.
More than 60 of France’s 84 state universities have been closed or disrupted by the protests.
But the embattled French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin again insisted yesterday that the new employment law would not be abandoned.
Student and union leaders have rejected Mr de Villepin’s offer to discuss ways of improving the so-called “first job contract”.
They say street protests and blockades will continue until the government backs down.
Mr de Villepin said in an interview with Paris Match magazine published yesterday that he would stand firm. “I will do it until the end because I believe in this measure,” he said.
Protesters say that more than a million people will mount further demonstrations tomorrow as the biggest student revolt to hit France in more than a decade intensifies.
Stay tuned………
Related:
Suburban youths wary of new French job law
France braces for mass protests
Technorati Tags: France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract
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Michael Ramirez on Feingold’s Censure Resolution FLAP
Previously on Flap:
President 2008 Watch: Feingold Accuses Democrats of COWERING – “RUN and HIDEâ€in Censure Flap
President 2008 Watch: Senator Bill Frist Dares Democrats Over Feingold Effort to Censure President BushPresident 2008 Watch: Democrats Distance Themselves from Feingold’s Bush Censure FLAP
President 2008 Watch: Senator Russ Feingold Wants President Bush Censured for NSA Surveillance
Technorati Tags: BillFrist, RussFeingold, HarryReid, GeorgeWBush -
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Public Works Bonds are DEAD and so is Schwarzenegger’s Re-election?
BLOW TO CAMPAIGN: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to his office after his news conference Thursday. His inability to strike a deal on the public works plan underscores the continuing trouble he faces in trying to recover from the political damage left by his failed pursuit last year of an agenda that enraged organized labor.
Los Angeles Times: Loss on Public Works Is a Crack in Reelection Plan
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s failure to persuade lawmakers to put a vast public works plan on the June ballot denies him a concrete achievement that he counted on using as a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.
The setback is especially sharp for Schwarzenegger because both of the Democrats vying to replace him argue that he has accomplished little as governor and, more broadly, is unqualified for the job.
NEVER has Flap seen a politician with such promise self-destruct in so short of time. Arnold has been a disaster as California Governor. He, like Jesse Ventura, the former Governor of Minnesota has morphed from a popular entertainment celebrity to an unpopular “empty suit” politician who can and will accomplish nothing.
Dan Weintraub also has a good analysis of the Governor’s Infrastructure Bond failure, What went wrong?
Flap handicaps Schwarzenegger’s re-election at less than a 50-50 chance. His poll numbers are low, he has NO major accomplishments to his credit since he replaced Demcorat Gray Davis and he has alienated his Republican Party base. This is a recipe for electoral disaster.
Arnold’s only hope for re-election (slim that it is) is that California Controller Steve Westly and California Treasuer Phil Angelides beat each other to a pulp prior to the June primary election. In Flap’s estimation, Westly is winning the media war with Angelides.
A Westly vs. Schwarzenegger contest will NOT be pretty for the California GOP. Westly will slaughter the governor and all of the down ticket Republican candidates. In fact, Flap does not foresee one Republican winning a state constitutional office this year.
Did the California Republican Party err in recalling Gray Davis and installing the Governator?
You betcha…..
SHARP SETBACK: The governor acknowledged his disappointment at a Capitol news conference Thursday.
Previous:Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Governor Avoids “GLADIATOR†Controversy
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Arnold Classic 2006
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: The California Field Poll Part 1
California Republican Party Convention Watch: McClintock ASKS for Unity to Help Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: A History of BOLDNESS
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Keynote Address Tonight to California Republican PartyArnold Schwarzenegger Watch: New PPIC Poll Shows Schwarzenegger’s Republican Support Falling
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: “What Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Believe in?â€Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Latest Survey USA Poll NOT Favorable for California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: California Governor to Push Global Warming Fight
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy Paid by Cadiz Real Estate
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: New Politically Diverse Campaign Team Set for Governor’s Reelection
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Fundraiser with the Governor Nets Orange County Sheriff Carona $700,000
Technorati Tags: ArnoldSchwarzenegger, California, CaliforniaElection2006, CRP, CaliforniaRepublicanParty
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South Park Watch: Issac Hayes Quits and Scientology Episode Cancelled
Isaac Hayes arrives for the 2005 Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards, June 9, 2005, in New York. Hayes has quit ‘South Park,’ where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion. Hayes, who has played the ladies’ man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central cable television satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday, March 13,2006, that he feels a line has been crossed.
Variety: Inside Move: ‘South Park’ feeling some celeb heat?
Cable net abruptly pulls repeat of Scientology episode
The battle between “South Park”“South Park” creators Trey ParkerTrey Parker and Matt StoneMatt Stone and Scientology is escalating.The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a “South Park” episode called “Trapped in the Closet,” which lampooned both the religion and Tom CruiseTom Cruise.
The news story on Issac Hayes departure is here: Isaac Hayes Quits ‘South Park’
Isaac Hayes has quit “South Park,” where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.
Hayes, who has played the ladies’ man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.
“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
“Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”
Co-creator Matt Stone on the South Park website responds:
As some of you have already heard via CNN (click here) or Yahoo! News (click here), Isaac Hayes (the man behind Chef) will no longer be lending his voice to South Park. Matt Stone says:
This has nothing to do with intolerance and bigotry and everything to do with the fact that Isaac Hayes is a Scientologist and that we recently featured Scientology in an episode of ‘South Park.’ In ten years and over 150 episodes of ‘South Park,’ Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non-sequiter. Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well. And so Issac Hayes is a HYPOCRITE.
But, why did Comedy Central pull the Scientology episode?
The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Showing instead was another memorable seg which featured Hayes’s character, called “Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls.”
Blog reports pegged the mysterious episode switch to objections raised by Cruise, who, the reports stated, threatened to not promote “Mission: Impossible 3,” the summer tentpole for Viacom-owned Paramount.
Was it the money? the Tom Cruise movie factor? afraid of the Scientologists and their proclivity to file slap lawsuits?
South Park creators response:
So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!”The duo signed the statement “Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu.”
YouTube has the cancelled Episode here.
Looks like Comedy Central is following a Muhammad Caricature censorship plan.Pathetic……..
Technorati Tags: SouthPark, Scientology, Chef, IssacHayes, TomCruise, TreyParker, MattStone
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Day By Day by Chris Muir