I had a much fuller day of blogging planned for today, but the sunny, 70 degree weather we had here today was apparently too much for the local power grid, because we lost electricity early this afternoon and didn't get it back until it was too late for me to do anything productive with it. … Continue reading Good read on Muhammad Ali and the Middle East

The operation to liberate Fallujah has reportedly hit a wall, and control over it appears to have slipped entirely from Baghdad's grasp. The Iraqi special forces that have been tasked with leading the advance into the city say that they're being stymied not by ISIS's resistance but by an inability to coordinate their operation with … Continue reading The Fallujah operation is reportedly going sideways

Say hello to Florida Attorney General Pan Bondi! General Bondi has a complex system for determining when to bring the power of the Florida AG's office to bear on an important case, like the one about Trump University bilking all those rubes alleged victims. Has the potential defendant caused material harm to Florida citizens? Is … Continue reading Today in “how can this person possibly still have a job”

The United Nations is a good, some would argue necessary, institution. But man, there are days when you have to question what real impact it's having on the world. Days like, say, yesterday. The UN has been working, to its credit, to open regular access for humanitarian aid to reach Syrians living under siege and … Continue reading A banner day at the UN

The genius (just ask him) behind Dilbert, the daily comic strip whose four or five continuously recycled jokes are just as hilarious today as they were when he began writing the strip in 1860s Bonapartist France (Louis Napoleon was the original Pointy Haired Boss), is endorsing Hillary Clinton for President so that her assassins will … Continue reading The coming of Race War Catbert (or Dogbert, or whatever)

Whatever slim chance there was of seeing a breakthrough in the Syrian peace talks in the near future was probably eliminated entirely earlier this week, when lead rebel negotiator Mohammed Alloush decided to take his job and shove it: Mohammed Alloush, a member of the Saudi-backed rebel group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), condemned the … Continue reading Alloush quits Syrian peace talks

There's been a little recent fallout from Iran's Majles/Assembly of Experts elections, and it hasn't looked great for Iranian moderates despite their significant electoral successes. Ali Larijani, the conservative Majles speaker, won reelection to that post earlier this week. Ideologically, Larijani is usually lumped in with the so-called "Principlist" camp, the group that wants to … Continue reading Not an overnight change

Libya's UN ambassador, Ibrahim Dabbashi (who has incredibly managed to stay in that job since 2013 despite the fact that his country has collapsed into near-anarchy in the interim), says you shouldn't blame the foreign intervention, i.e. the United States, i.i.e.e. the Obama administration, i.i.i.e.e.e. Hillary Clinton, for the mess that Libya has become: Amid … Continue reading Nice of him to say

I'd been following this story about the contentious Saudi-Iran Hajj negotiations but neglected to post anything about the climax, so my apologies. After Iran walked away from the talks on Friday and giving the Saudis until Sunday to make additional concessions, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday that Tehran has officially banned its would-be pilgrims … Continue reading Iran calls off Hajj for its citizens

Foreign Policy ran an EXCLUSIVE report on Sunday to the effect that Iran and the Taliban are now collaborating in Afghanistan. They're sending money, ammo, and small arms (guns and RPGs) over the border to support Taliban fighters. This is BIG NEWS because, obviously, any aid the Taliban get will naturally make it harder for … Continue reading I still don’t know why this surprises anybody