President Barack Obama made major new military appointments on Memorial Day in the White House Rose Garden.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … BENEATH THE POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE: AN OBAMA DOCTRINE IS EMERGING BUT MAY BE OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS.
** OBAMA TODAY – MONDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Virginia.
At 6:10 AM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a breakfast for Gold Star Families in the State Dining Room.
At 7:10 AM Pacific, Obama made Department of Defense personnel announcements in the Rose Garden.
At 7:55 AM Pacific, Obama participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama participated in the Memorial Day Service at Arlington National Cemetery where he made remarks.
Obama was joined in these events by Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.
All these events were netcast live here on New West Notes.
Obama chose Memorial Day to announce three major appointments, those to the chairmanship and vice chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the chief of staff of the Army.
Obama named Army General Martin Dempsey to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pending Senate confirmation to replace the retiring Admiral Mullen.
Dempsey just became the chief of staff of the Army on April 11th.
Obama was long reported to favor Marine General James Cartwright, currently vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for the JCS chairmanship. But Cartwright had become a controversial figure for his advocacy — at Obama’s request — of the option for a reduced escalation in Afghanistan.
Along with Vice President Joe Biden, Cartwright backed a lesser escalation of the Afghan War. This rubbed many in the Pentagon, including Gates and Mullen, the wrong way, as did his independent relationship with Obama.
Cartwright, a Marine Corps pilot who call sign and nickname is “Hoss,” for the character on the Western TV series Bonanza, also came under fire for his lack of combat experience.
Then there was the controversy over his personal life. He was accused of having an affair with a junior officer. Nothing came of that charge, but he was lightly disciplined for allowing her to pass out in his hotel suite while other officers were present.
Dempsey, in contrast, is a West Pointer and more of a team player, and a veteran armored forces officer of the Gulf War and the Iraq War. Dempsey commanded the forces in and around Baghdad during the post-invasion insurgency there. Before that, he was in charge of training Saudi ground forces.
Dempsey, who picked up a master’s degree from Duke in the field, was also an English professor at West Point, which undoubtedly appealed to our writerly president.
Cartwright, who was praised by Obama this morning, will be replaced as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Navy Admiral James Alexander “Sandy” Winnefeld, also an aviator. Winnefeld, currently held of US Northern Command (the forces in North America, including the air defense command) was commander of the aircraft carrier Enterprise returning from Persian Gulf deployment on 9/11. On his own initiative, he immediately turned the ship around, placing it in position to launch retaliatory strikes against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan when the orders came from President George W. Bush.
Army General Ray Odierno, the operational architect of the Iraq War surge strategy, will be the new chief of staff of the Army.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban, who successfully assassinated the Afghan Army’s most effective general, Northern Alliance leader General Mohammed Daud Daud, over the weekend not far from the place where Al Qaeda assassinated Ahmad Shad Massoud two days before 9/11, carried out more successful attacks in another area supposedly pacified today.
But in Pakistan, there was some good news with word of a Pakistani Army offensive against jihadists in North Waziristan.
However, the news from Yemen is again bad, with the forces of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh killing a half-dozen protesters and Al Qaeda forces reportedly taking over a second small city.
And there is fascinating news from Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative government announced that it has decided to phase out all nuclear power plants.
Seven of the nation’s 17 nuclear power reactors down for inspection in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan will not be re-started. The remainder are to be phased out by 2022.
Germany thus joins Switzerland in deciding to phase out nuclear power production.
Germany also announced that it intends to get 50% of its electric power production from renewable energy sources.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – MONDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 7:10 AM Pacific on Monday, President Barack Obama appoints the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and announces other top military appointments in the White House Rose Garden. At 7:55 AM Pacific, he participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
A Taliban suicide bomber struck a big blow yesterday in Afghanistan. After successfully infiltrating the office of the governor of Takhar Province, he killed two Afghan generals and several German and Afghan soldiers, and wounded the provincial governor and Germany’s top general in Afghanistan. The main target was certainly General Mohammed Daud Daud, who commanded the Northern Alliance’s final victory over the Taliban in 2001, had led the effort putting a major crimp in the Taliban’s opium trade, and was in charge of security in northern Afghanistan.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Missouri.
Obama has received his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
After returning from Europe just last night, Obama is off again, this time to Missouri, hard hit by heavy weather.
Obama departed the White House this morning and flew to tornado-devastated Joplin, Missouri on Air Force One.
At 9:50 AM Pacific, Obama visits with community members who survived last week’s historic tornadoes in Joplin, Missour.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama delivers brief remarks at a memorial service held by local clergy and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon for those who lost their lives in the tornadoes. The event takes place at Missouri Southern University in Joplin.
At 12:30 PM Pacific, Obama departs Joplin, Missouri on Air Force One en route Andrews Air Force Base.
At 3:45 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 4 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
While the right wing has succeeded to a certain degree with an ADD news media culture in obfuscating the facts about climate change, the greenhouse effect continues nonetheless, with the past five years the warmest in recorded history, the Arctic icepack thinning more rapidly than expected … and strange weather patterns emerging around the world.
Tornadoes have already killed more people in 2012 than in any previous year in the US. Heavy weather events are predominating in the South and Midwest, causing massive floods and killing large numbers of people.
Joplin, Missouri was nearly wiped off the map by tornado activity. That’s where Obama is today.
But he has still has his other geopolitical crises to contend with.
The full import of yesterday’s Taliban attack in a provincial governor’s office in northern Afghanistan became apparent to me later on Saturday when I saw the names of the dead. While the current governor of Takhar Province and Germany’s top general in Afghanistan were both wounded in the attack, it was obvious that one of the two Afghan generals who were killed in the attack was actually the principal target.
He was General Mohammed Daud Daud. A young fighter and commander in the Afghan war against the Soviets, Daud was a bodyguard who became a protege to the legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance.
Massoud predicted in a speech to the European Union in 2000 that Al Qaeda, then harbored by the Afghan Taliban whom he fought as he had fought the Soviets before, would launch major attacks against the West. Two days before 9/11, Massoud was assassinated by an Al Qaeda team disguised as Arab TV journalists. This was widely regarded as a major favor to the Taliban by Osama bin Laden and as an obvious effort to remove the Taliban’s most dangerous adversary inside Afghanistan prior to any attempt by the US to retaliate for the coming attacks on Washington and New York.
Though the Northern Alliance was in considerable disarray following Massoud’s assassination, Daud took command of its forces and, working with the CIA, special operations forces, and US air assets, led the Northern Alliance to victory over the Taliban in the last battle of the post-9/11 war, the Battle of Kunduz.
Daud went on to become governor of Takhar Province — which is also where Massoud was assassinated by Al Qaeda — and then head of the Afghan government’s efforts to block the Taliban drug traffic. When he was killed, he was in charge of security in northern Afghanistan, one of the first areas in which US and NATO forces have planned to hand off all security arrangements to the Afghan government.
Meanwhile, Afghan government officials are complaining today that a NATO attack against jihadist cadre actually killed 16 civilians, mainly women and children.
Obama has some better news in Yemen, where the ceasefire between forces still loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a new tribal resistance seems to be holding.
And in the Libyan War, the Gaddafi regime sent its deputy foreign minister to Tunis, capital of Tunisia, the first Arab autocratic domino to fall, to negotiate with British representatives.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
In the weekend video/radio address, Vice President Joe Biden, pinch-hitting for President Barack Obama, talked up the administration’s revival of the once near moribund U.S. auto industry.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Poland, on Air Force One, and in Washington.
The time in Poland is nine hours ahead of Pacific time.
At 12:55 AM Pacific, Obama attended a U.S. Embassy meet and greet at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw.
At 1:25 AM Pacific, Obama participated in an arrival ceremony at the President Palace and then held an expanded bilateral meeting with President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland.
At 2:25 AM Pacific, Obama and President Komorowski made statements to the press at the Presidential Palace.
At 2:50 AM Pacific, Obama and President Komorowski participated in a discussion on democracy.
At 3:40 AM Pacific, Obama participated in an arrival ceremony at the Chancellery in Warsaw.
At 3:55 AM Pacific, Obama and Prime Minister Tusk of Poland held a working lunch at the Chancellery.
At 5:10 AM Pacific, Obama and Prime Minister Tusk held a joint press conference at the Chancellery.
At 6:15 AM Pacific, Obama visited the memorial to the victims of the Smolensk plane crash at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Military in Warsaw.
At 6:55 AM Pacific, Obama departed Warsaw on Air Force One en route Andrews Air Force Base.
At 3:50 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 4:05 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
While in Poland, Obama meet with the leaders of Central and Eastern European nations, assuring them of continued US support during the re-set of American and Russian relations and committed to the stationing of a US Air Force unit on Polish soil in 2013.
He also used Poland as an example for the Arab awakening of how a nation emerging from dictatorship can build a well-functioning democracy. Veterans of Poland’s anti-Soviet Solidarity movement are helping emerging democrats now in Libya and Tunisia.
Speaking of the Arab awakening, Egypt today, as it was reported would happen, permanently re-opened its border crossing with Gaza, ending a four-year old blockade. In the process, the Hamas government of Gaza has received a boost and Israel yet another setback in its try to isolate the group.
In Yemen, there is a ceasefire between the growing tribal opposition and the forces of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Widespread fighting raged in the capital city for days before spreading elsewhere.
In Libya, the Gaddafi regime’s ceasefire bid has been decisively rejected by NATO, with the alliance carrying out the first daytime air strikes today against regime targets in Tripoli. There will undoubtedly be more air strikes on Saturday night. The longtime dictator hasn’t surfaced publicly for days.
British and French attack helicopters are believed to be about to enter the fray in close air strikes against Gaddafi’s ground forces, and the Libyan rebels are now offering amnesty to surrendering regime troops.
In Afghanistan, however, there is more bad news. A Taliban suicide bomber dressed in an Afghan Army uniform infiltrated a provincial governor’s compound. When he detonated his suicide vest, he killed two Afghan Army generals, wounded the provincial governor and Germany’s top general in Afghanistan, and killed several other German and Afghan soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Republican presidential race, which is both wide open and in disarray, has two more names to conjure with.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who led his state into a massive budget crisis but is still lionized by right-wingers, says he’s thinking of running for president.
So, too, is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will appear next week in New Hampshire. He actually narrowly tops a CNN poll of the field.
9/11 hero Giuliani was the early frontrunner for the Republicans in 2008, but flamed out early on.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
On Friday, Brown issued the following proclamation for Memorial Day:
On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to Americans who have suffered and died in war.
The custom of marking this day originated just after the Civil War. To help heal the wounds of war, Americans in all parts of the country began decorating the graves of the dead with flowers, a universal symbol of the renewal of life. As a small step in the lengthy task of reuniting a nation divided, we chose to honor all the dead, Union and Confederate, regardless of our own allegiances during that terrible struggle. After the First World War, we expanded our observance to honor all Americans who have fought and died in any of our nation’s wars. In 1971, the United States Congress declared Memorial Day to be a national holiday observed on the last Monday in May.
Today, I ask all Californians to pay tribute to our fallen military heroes. In their memory, I have ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on all state buildings and grounds throughout the state.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, looking more grim than when they bounded into the conference center together, discussed agreements and differences yesterday. Russia mistrusts the U.S. missile shield program and dislikes the NATO air strikes, but today Medvedev announced that Moammar Gaddafi must go and Russia will work to expedite his departure.
** OBAMA TODAY – FRIDAY. President Barack Obama is in France and Poland.
French time is nine hours ahead of Pacific time.
Polish time is nine hours ahead of Pacific time.
At 11:30 PM Pacific, Obama held a bilateral meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France at Hotel Royal Barriere in Deauville, France.
At 12:30 AM Pacific, Obama participated in a G-8 Working Session at Centre International de Deauville.
At 2:30 AM Pacific, Obama participated in an expanded group G-8 Working Session at Centre International de Deauville.
At 3:45 AM Pacific, Obama participated in the expanded G-8 Family Photo at Centre International de Deauville.
At 4 AM Pacific, Obama participated in an expanded working lunch with G-8 Leaders at Villa Le Cercle in Deauville.
At 5:25 AM Pacific, Obama departed Deauville, France en route Paris, France.
At 6:10 AM Pacific, Obama arrived in Paris.
At 6:40 AM Pacific, Obama departed Paris on Air Force One en route Warsaw, Poland.
At 8:50 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Warsaw, Poland.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, Obama participates in a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.
At 10 AM Pacific, Obama participates in a wreath laying at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial.
At 10:25 AM Pacific, Obama arrives at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama and President Komorowski of Poland host a dinner for Central and European Union Leaders at the Presidential Palace.
Survivors of the infamous Srebrenica massacre of 1995 reacted to the capture of former Bosnian Serb warlord Ratko Mladic.
What was accomplished at the G-8 summit? And well you might ask.
The gathering of the heads of government of the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Russia has more frequently been a target for anti-globalist/anti-capitalist protesters — who weren’t much in evidence this time around as it has been a scene of major decision-making.
But a few significant decisions were taken in Deauville.
The G-8 agreed to put together a fund to aid countries emerging as a result of the Arab Awakening, specifically Egypt and Tunisia, to prevent them from sliding back into autocracy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy put the number at $40 billion. Which still must be raised from governments, international agencies, and private corporations and foundations.
The G-8 also condemned Syria’s massive crackdown on protesters and threatened further sanctions if it continues.
And Russia agreed to get off the fence on the Gaddafi regime in Libya. While highly critical of the NATO bombing campaign, which went beyond what it thought it had tacitly agreed to by refusing to veto the UN Security Council resolution in March which authorized the action, Russia has agreed to play a lead role in pushing longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi to step down.
Previously, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was not at the summit, had been highly critical of interference in Libya’s internal affairs. Now it is the Russian position that Gaddafi must go, and it has pledged to use its geopolitical clout to make it happen, though it is not joining the military campaign.
There was some criticism of Obama for not allowing the US to play the lead role in Libya, but Britain and France are both stepping up again, deciding to deploy attack helicopters which will enable NATO air forces to be even more effective in going after Gaddafi’s ground forces.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen are in Pakistan today, where they sought at once to smooth troubled waters in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid and to make specific demands.
Pakistan is to turn over some specific jihadist leaders which the US has identified as being in Pakistan, perhaps with the aid of intelligence gathered from bin Laden’s compound. If it does not comply, it may lose $2 billion in badly needed US aid.
While Pakistan has shut down three joint intelligence centers it’s been operating with the US, centers which may have been compromised all along, it has allowed CIA officers access to bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, which is being gone over with a fine tooth comb in a hunt for additional caches of intelligence. The Navy SEAL team which killed bin Laden was only on the ground for 40 minutes, and did not conduct a a full forensic survey before departing in advance of arriving Pakistani forces.
As it was, the five US helicopters which took part in the raid made it across the border into Afghanistan just before two Pakistani fighter jets caught up with them. Of course, the Pakistani fighters would have been shot down before they had the chance to fire on the departing commando team, which would certainly have made for an interesting situation.
The fighting in Yemen, which was virtually on the scale of a civil war in the past few days in the nation’s capital, has died down there with an apparent ceasefire in effect. But there are reports that the fighting has spread beyond the capital.
The problem is that longtime American ally President Ali Abdullah Saleh keeps agreeing to deals in which he is to step down, then reneges on the deal. The powerful Gulf Cooperation Council may have washed its hands of him after the latest escapade, which included the virtual imprisonments of US, UK, and Gulf Arab ambassadors by Saleh’s armed thugs.
Obama is also monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – FRIDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Sacramento.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working on California’s chronic budget crisis and his nascent administration.
Meanwhile, Brown seems to have an emerging problem with the largely dysfunctional state Legislature in addition to the constantly remarked upon difficulty with a do-nothing Republican crew.
It’s the Assembly Democrats.
First, very neatly (and quite promptly, may I say!) demonstrating the Democratic part of California’s Capitol dysfunction, Assembly Democrats moved to try to reverse some of the state’s just approved budget cuts. Why? Because there is some new revenue. Do we know if it will continue onward into the future? No. Just as we did not during the dot-com boom. Can the money be used for other things? Yes. Like, for example, paying off debt, or paying for future needs.
Needless to say, Brown is not thrilled with his very short-sighted colleagues, who would expand the state’s long-term spending base. It’s not just the easily lampooned Party of No that created this chronic crisis.
Then yesterday the state Assembly passed Democratic legislation to end California’s participation in a U.S. Department of Justice program in which arrestees’ fingerprints are checked for immigration status. If someone is an illegal immigrant, he or she is deported. As state attorney general, Jerry Brown signed the agreement making California part of the program and as mayor of Oakland Brown supported the idea.
** JERRY BROWN RETURNS (AGAIN!) ONLY TO DROP BACK INTO STEALTH MODE. Governor Jerry Brown is back. Again. For the third time. And not a moment too soon, as California needs to solve its chronic budget crisis and, after a Supreme Court ruling, deal with its chronic prison crisis. But will Brown try, once again, to do it all behind the scenes?
First, of course, he executed a spectacular political comeback, capped off by his landslide victory last November over the biggest spending non-presidential campaign in American history. (You can click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.) Brown celebrated briefly, then promptly disappeared for months into the underbrush of inside baseball politics, in interminable negotiations to try to solve California’s chronic budget crisis, making only a handful of public appearances. Not surprisingly, his standing in the polls suffered from his absence from the spotlight, as did support for his plans.When he surfaced at the end of March, nearly three weeks past his March 10th deadline for a budget deal, it was to announce that he had ended negotiations with Republican legislators.
He then engaged in a round of public appearances, seeing his standing in the polls go up, and have some big appearances on tap… only to pull back again as he underwent a relatively common procedure for a non-metastasizing skin cancer. Last week, none the worse for wear — which was no surprise as I’d spoken with him while he was conducting business in private and he had the same energy he’s had for the decades I’ve known him — Brown resurfaced to present the annual May revision of the budget proposal. But since that appearance, a wide-ranging press conference laced with his trademark humor, he’s been mostly back behind the scenes, with only two brief appearances in Sacramento and none around the state, unusual for a governor looking for support for his budget. Is he repeating past mistakes?
Brown ran into three very significant problems very early on.
First, he assumed that he could make a deal by dint of endless behind-the-scenes negotiations. He set March 10th as his target date for the deal. Which, of course, has long since come and gone.
Second, in his mono-focus on the inside game, Brown completely ignored the outside game. He brought no public pressure to bear, either from the governorship or from interested parties, on Republican legislators.
Third, he neglected his own public profile, making only a handful of public appearances, virtually none of them outside Sacramento, which most Californians have long since learned to tune out. As a result, his polling numbers went down,substantially lower than they should have for someone who won a landslide victory over the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history. … From my May 25th feature.
NASA astronauts today conducted the final spacewalk for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
** NCIS: AMERICA’S FAVORITE SHOW AND WHAT IT TELLS US. Tuesday night saw the season finale of NCIS, the most watched scripted television series in America. Indeed, if a national poll is to be believed, the veteran CBS procedural about Navy cops (NCIS standing for Naval Criminal Investigative Service), finishing its eighth season, is not only the most popular current scripted show in the country, it’s the favorite show of all time.
How was the season finale? On the anti-climactic side, actually, and not nearly as good as the penultimate episode, one of the show’s best. But it did set up an intriguing beginning to the show’s ninth season in the fall, one which says nefarious things about our national security apparat. More about that in a moment. There be some spoilers ahead.
So, NCIS, the most popular show of all-time? Really? … From my May 18th essay.
** IN THE SHADOW OF BIN LADEN: THE CALIFORNIA CONNECTION. … From my May 11th feature.
** IN THE SHADOW OF BIN LADEN: REPUBLICANS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. … From my May 7th essay.
** CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS: AN UNCERTAIN TRUMPET. … From my May 2nd feature.
** OBAMA’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS STILL LIE ABROAD. … From my April 29th essay.
** HAS CALIFORNIA’S REFORM MOMENT ARRIVED? … From my April 26th column.
** THE NON-IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY: OBAMA AND LIBYA. … From my April 21st essay.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** 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, 2009 Huffington Post column.
X-Men: First Class opens next Friday. This prequel to the popular film franchise takes place in the Mad Men era 1960s, centered around the Cuban Missile Crisis.
** 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 three wars in the region, and the Arab uprising underway, 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.
** 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 closed on Friday at $100.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $66 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 (50) |
Good news video of President Obama’s summit with the Russian President.
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
Great news video of the last space walk.
The X-Men movie looks good.
They don’t look real happy…
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:24 am
Good news video of President Obama’s summit with the Russian President.
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
It’s kind of sad, too…
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:37 am
Great news video of the last space walk.
Wow, that looks very cool!! The last 2 were kind of blah i thought.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:40 am
The X-Men movie looks good.
This X-Men movie looks extremely good. I especially like the Mad Men vibe, and January Jones! I just bet Bill will be writing on it…
I’m sure he had his apologists in the West, right Bill?
Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:22 am
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
More video today?
No.
Oh, yes, along the familiar lines of isolationism.
> Requiem says:
May 27, 2011 at 12:50 pm (Edit)
I’m sure he had his apologists in the West, right Bill?
Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:22 am
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
That would be a good bet, though I think there’s a lot of Bond in this movie, too.
> Requiem says:
May 27, 2011 at 12:43 pm (Edit)
This X-Men movie looks extremely good. I especially like the Mad Men vibe, and January Jones! I just bet Bill will be writing on it…
I only saw Wolverine once, and have had no desire to see it again.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:30 am (Edit)
Wow, that looks very cool!! The last 2 were kind of blah i thought.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:40 am
The X-Men movie looks good.
Clearly he was getting a lot of help …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:22 am (Edit)
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
No, but they’ve brightened up again.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:16 am (Edit)
They don’t look real happy…
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:24 am
Good news video of President Obama’s summit with the Russian President.
Gaddafi will go.
Good weekend address on saving the auto industry by VP Biden.
Biden is doing a great job working with Barack, he’s really worked out well.
There’s a pretty big war criminal apology lobby, even now in America…
Bill Bradley says:
May 27, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Clearly he was getting a lot of help …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:22 am (Edit)
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
Rudy has stated a pro-choice position in every election in which he was a candidate. Cannot win GOP nomination. End of story.
I traveled with Giuliani early in his last presidential campaign. It’s hard to see him doing well in this environment.
Incidentally, now that I’ve seen the names of the victims in today’s suicide bombing in Afghanistan, it looks like the Taliban got their real target.
A general who was head of the Northern Alliance forces in the post-9/11 war after his mentor, Ahmad Shah Massoud, was assassinated by Al Qaeda two days before 9/11.
It’s never clear where isolationism ends and apologism begins.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 28, 2011 at 12:43 pm (Edit)
There’s a pretty big war criminal apology lobby, even now in America…
Bill Bradley says:
May 27, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Clearly he was getting a lot of help …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 27, 2011 at 10:22 am (Edit)
How that monster escaped so long is outrageous.
Jonas Blane says:
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good news video of the Serbian war criminals’ victims.
With Russia’s involvement now, that looks more likely.
> sergei says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:59 am (Edit)
Gaddafi will go.
Indeed.
Not that it was ever in doubt, of course. And, I mean that sincerely – I’m not trying to be facetious here.
That was a very fine pinch hit – it wasn’t Biden on foreign policy for more than five minutes but, Biden on his new forte, the economy! That still takes some getting used to …
On this Memorial Day weekend, thanks to all US military service members and veterans, and their families, for their extraordinary service and sacrifice. As long as US and coalition forces are serving in harms way, every single day is Memorial Day and an opportunity for us to remember.
>Capitol Boy says:
May 28, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Biden is doing a great job working with Barack, he’s really worked out well.
Northern Alliance are reason Taliban were kicked out of power.
What we do not know is where.
Bill Bradley says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:01 pm
With Russia’s involvement now, that looks more likely.
> sergei says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:59 am (Edit)
Gaddafi will go.
Good bad news video on the Taliban assassination.
Talk about your bad news on a holiday weekend…
You finally came around to liking Biden, huh?
Elizabeth Miller says:
May 28, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Indeed.
Not that it was ever in doubt, of course. And, I mean that sincerely – I’m not trying to be facetious here.
That was a very fine pinch hit – it wasn’t Biden on foreign policy for more than five minutes but, Biden on his new forte, the economy! That still takes some getting used to …
On this Memorial Day weekend, thanks to all US military service members and veterans, and their families, for their extraordinary service and sacrifice. As long as US and coalition forces are serving in harms way, every single day is Memorial Day and an opportunity for us to remember.
>Capitol Boy says:
May 28, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Biden is doing a great job working with Barack, he’s really worked out well.
Maybe he wants a talk show.
Pat Skipper says:
May 28, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Rudy has stated a pro-choice position in every election in which he was a candidate. Cannot win GOP nomination. End of story.
Absolutely, positively, unequivocally!
>Capitol Boy says:
May 29, 2011 at 1:54 pm
You finally came around to liking Biden, huh?
Happy Memorial Day to American friends. I will watch the appointment of your new military commanders here.
Where’s Obama?
Good news video of President Obama’s military appointments.
Happy Memorial Day!!
I hope Barack made good choices…
Hahaha.
Elizabeth Miller says:
May 29, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Absolutely, positively, unequivocally!
>Capitol Boy says:
May 29, 2011 at 1:54 pm
You finally came around to liking Biden, huh?
Happy Memorial Day to New West friends!
Who controls your military, the President or the generals?
What new video today?
Obama at Arlington, the space shuttle returns, Germany drops nuclear power, and the new X-Men movie.
It’s a little of both …
> sergei says:
May 31, 2011 at 6:37 am (Edit)
Who controls your military, the President or the generals?
Indeed.
> Requiem says:
May 30, 2011 at 3:32 pm (Edit)
Happy Memorial Day to New West friends!
It took awhile to overcome her reservations …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 30, 2011 at 11:39 am (Edit)
Hahaha.
Elizabeth Miller says:
May 29, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Absolutely, positively, unequivocally!
>Capitol Boy says:
May 29, 2011 at 1:54 pm
You finally came around to liking Biden, huh?
Indeed.
>#
Jonas Blane says:
May 29, 2011 at 10:40 am (Edit)
Good bad news video on the Taliban assassination.
#
Capitol Boy says:
May 29, 2011 at 1:53 pm (Edit)
Talk about your bad news on a holiday weekend…
I assume that Moscow is not in the cards …
> sergei says:
May 29, 2011 at 7:55 am (Edit)
What we do not know is where.
Bill Bradley says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:01 pm
With Russia’s involvement now, that looks more likely.
> sergei says:
May 28, 2011 at 4:59 am (Edit)
Gaddafi will go.
They were certainly the critical Afghan force in the mix.
> sergei says:
May 29, 2011 at 7:54 am (Edit)
Northern Alliance are reason Taliban were kicked out of power.
Oh, I still had some doubt about your regard for Biden, Liz.
> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 28, 2011 at 5:24 pm (Edit)
Indeed.
Not that it was ever in doubt, of course. And, I mean that sincerely – I’m not trying to be facetious here.
That was a very fine pinch hit – it wasn’t Biden on foreign policy for more than five minutes but, Biden on his new forte, the economy! That still takes some getting used to …
On this Memorial Day weekend, thanks to all US military service members and veterans, and their families, for their extraordinary service and sacrifice. As long as US and coalition forces are serving in harms way, every single day is Memorial Day and an opportunity for us to remember.
>Capitol Boy says:
May 28, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Biden is doing a great job working with Barack, he’s really worked out well.
That’s not impossible.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 29, 2011 at 1:55 pm (Edit)
Maybe he wants a talk show.
Pat Skipper says:
May 28, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Rudy has stated a pro-choice position in every election in which he was a candidate. Cannot win GOP nomination. End of story.