Earlier today in Shanghai, President Barack Obama said that individual expression is not an American ideal but a universal right that should be available to all.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE INEVITABLE FLUKE THAT IS SARAH PALIN.
** RUSSIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev warned on Monday that climate change posed a “catastrophic” threat in some of the sharpest comments yet on a subject the Kremlin has often seemed reluctant to confront.
Russia is perhaps the leading fossil fuel — oil and natural gas — power on the planet. The big fossil fuel powers have either ignored greenhouse gases — for obvious reasons — or given the quietest of lip service to the threat.
“If we don’t take joint action, the consequences for the planet may be very distressing to the point that the Arctic and Antarctic ice can melt and change ocean levels,” he said shortly before leaving Singapore.
“All of this will have catastrophic consequences.”
Russia signed the Kyoto protocol after years of haggling about its implementation, but has been criticized by environmental groups for not offering more ambitious emissions cuts ahead of December’s Copenhagen summit.
In the past, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had appeared to shrug off the threat from climate change, joking that Russians would welcome warmer weather and would need to buy fewer fur coats.
Some prominent Russian scientists argue that climate change is a natural phenomenon.
Russia, as reported repeatedly on NWN, has been moving aggressively to stake energy claims beneath the Arctic Sea in anticipation of its eventual clearing of ice.
The fabled Northwest Passage through the Arctic has been clear the past two summers.
** PALIN POLLING: NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT. A new CNN poll on the eve of the publication of Sarah Palin’s book finds that a whopping 70% of Americans don’t believe the ex-Alaska governor is capable of being president.
28% do believe she is.
But that doesn’t mean she can’t win the Republican presidential nomination. Not in a multi-candidate field with largely winner-take-all primaries.
I can hardly believe I’m watching Oprah today.
The survey indicates that a majority of Republicans, 54 percent, feel Palin is qualified, with 44 percent indicating she isn’t. But only 29 percent of independent voters questioned feel she is qualified to serve as president, with 68 percent disagreeing. According to the poll, nine in 10 Democrats feel Palin is not qualified.
The poll’s release comes one day before the release of Palin’s book, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” …
According to the survey, nearly half of all Americans think Romney is qualified to be president, with 43 percent feeling the same way about Huckabee. Among Republicans, Palin is still lagging other potential 2012 primary candidates: 63 percent of GOPers think that Romney and Huckabee are qualified, 9 points higher than the number that say the same of Palin.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
A big week ahead in presidential politics. And a rather light week in California politics.
President Barack Obama continues his big Asia trip this week, in China and South Korea.
In Singapore over the weekend, Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev agreed that America and Russia will produce an accord cutting nuclear weapons by the end of the year.
Medvedev also said that Russia is increasing pressure on Iran to accept the deal its negotiators agreed to last month — in which Iran would ship its uranium to Russia for enrichment — and to demonstrate that its program is not geared to producing nuclear weapons.
Should Iran fail to do so, he said, Russia is open to “other options” to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. He brushed aside a threatening demand on Friday by a top Iranian legislator that Russia provide Iran with the S-300, one of the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft systems.
The news was not so good, though not surprising, on climate change.
The Asia Pacific leaders in Singapore agreed that next month’s Copenhagen conference will be an interim event, with no global accord to be reached.
Instead, they agreed to a plan proposed by a top UN official who flew in from Europe; namely that progress be achieved in Copenhagen toward an eventual agreement next year.
At a conference to be held in Mexico City.
Given that European leaders, as reported on NWN, failed to agree on subsidies for developing nations at their recent summit, this was an inevitable outcome.
Obama is working to achieve a cooperative relationship with China, on Iran and in other areas. Which makes sense, since China and America have a symbiotic relationship economically.
He’ll also be working behind the scenes on his new strategy for Afghanistan, which will be revealed when he’s back in Washington. And the ongoing crisis around Iran’s nuclear program.
While Obama is practicing geopolitics, ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is getting yet another shot of the limelight with this week’s publication of her memoirs.
She’s a deeply non-serious figure, but she is very popular in the Republican Party, and that is affecting national politics in a deep way.
So I’ll have a column about her shortly, discussing how she came to be selected as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate and various charges she makes in her book about her purported treatment by the McCain campaign.
The first president of the European Union is slated to be picked on Thursday in Brussells. Tony Blair has made a late push, including a big speech in Switzerland, but appears to be coming up short, with most reports indicating that the post will go to a smaller, less controversial figure.
Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian premier, is the favorite. Massimo D’Alema, Italy’s former prime minister, looks well placed for the other big new job: EU foreign policy chief.
Neither is likely to impress Washington and Beijing.
David Miliband, UK foreign secretary, has ruled himself out of the race for the foreign policy job.
In California politics, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is continuing his international trip this week. He might appoint the new lieutenant governor, who I expect to be State Senator Abel Maldonado, when he’s back in California at the end of the week.
Jerry Brown continues consolidating his position as the Democratic favorite to win the governorship in 2010.
This week Brown has a big Hollywood fundraiser hosted by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. Incidentally, new Star Trek director J.J. Abrams and his wife recently gave Brown $50,000.
A teapot tempest around Brown’s former aide recording interviews by a few reporters, notably one who had bollixed another story, is proving to have short legs despite efforts by the reporter and her paper to turn what was at the time her latest mistake into a crusade for press freedom.
Brown’s would-be GOP rivals, meanwhile, are scuffling again over debates. Who said what, and when? It’s all very exciting.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in China today.
The time in China is 16 hours ahead of the time in California. It is GMT + 8.
Obama held a town hall meeting with 500 Chinese stdents at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. The event was heavily screened by Chinese officials and not broadcast on Chinese television.
Obama then flew from Shanghai to Beijing, China’s capital, where he will be until Wednesday.
Obama arrived in Beijing, China and participated in a welcome ceremony.
He then went to the Diaoyutai State Guest House, where he was greeted by President Hu Jintao.
At 2:35 AM Pacific, Obama and President Hu held a bilateral meeting.
(Note: The president is not a doctor.)
At 3 AM Pacific, Obama and President Hu had dinner.
Meanwhile, Vice President Biden is in the West today.
He holds an economic recovery event and attends fundraisers for four members of Congress in Arizona and New Mexico.
On the geopolitical front, Obama is monitoring crises in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
These are discussed in my latest column linked below.
>>>>>>video
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was interviewed yesterday by Channel 2 News in Israel as seen in this video from Haaretz.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the road today.
Schwarzenegger flew from Israel to Iraq, where he is today visiting the troops and meeting with Iraqi government leaders.
He has no public schedule in Iraq, for reasons of security.
On Sunday, he took part in the Saban Forum in Jerusalem, where he and Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman discussed renewable energy and climate change.
Prior to that, he signed a memorandum of understanding on renewable energy with Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.
Schwarzenegger also met with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
** OBAMA IN FLUX. As he embarks on his first big trip to Asia, President Barack Obama’s strategies are in flux in many areas. …
It’s no surprise that Obama is being followed on his Asian trip by other crises. Because so much in his geopolitics is so fundamentally unresolved, making that Nobel Peace Prize more than a bit premature. … From my November 13th column.
** MAD MEN‘S SENSATIONAL SEASON FINALE. … From my November 9th review.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START. One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands. … From my November 4th column.
** IT’S NOVEMBER 22, 1963 ON MAD MEN. … From my November 2nd review.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF. … From my October 29th column.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE GYPSY AND THE HOBO.” … From my October 26th review.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” … From my October 21st column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation. You can listen to my recent video webchat with Schwarzenegger here.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $79 per barrel.
This is up about $45 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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| Comments (54) |
I didn’t get that far …
> yakushna says:
November 16, 2009 at 6:41 pm (Edit)
What is with the Playboy girls at the end of the Israel video.?
He did.
> Jonathan Hemlock says:
November 16, 2009 at 5:28 pm (Edit)
Did not Mr. Polanski get arrested in Switzerland, where he has long owned a home?
>>>> The first president of the European Union is slated to be picked on Thursday in Brussells. Tony Blair has made a late push, including a big speech in Switzerland, but appears to be coming up short, with most reports indicating that the post will go to a smaller, less controversial figure.
Not the only one …
> marcos leon says:
November 16, 2009 at 4:21 pm (Edit)
I am watching Palin with a horrified fascination.
Incidentally, NWN passed 90,000 comments sometime in the past week.