Tag: extemp files Page 14 of 23

Here is your R&D for October 27th:

Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner dies from the BBC
Nestor Kirchner, the man who helped steer Argentina out of its economic meltdown in 2002, died of a heart attack today.  Kirchner was rumored to be considering another presidential run in 2011.

Turning the Taliban Against Al Qaeda from the New York Times
In this New York Times op-ed, Scott Atran, an antropologist at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, argues that while talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban won’t bring reconciliation, it could end the country’s nine year war.

2010 Electorate Still Looking More Republican Than in the Past from Gallup
Gallup is predicting a huge election wave for Republicans, as they predict that voters in the 2010 midterms will be more Republican and more conservative than in previous midterm elections.

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Here is your R&D for October 26th:

Chinese whistleblower faces hard road from the Asia Times
Is a Chinese version of WikiLeaks in the making?  If so, can it produce real change in China?  This article seeks to find the answer.

Coffee Party seeks to outbrew Tea Party in US politics from the Agence France Presse
The Coffee Party, which is a progressive reaction to the conservative Tea Party movement, is trying to make its mark on American politics.

G20’s Tepid Economic Reform from the Council on Foreign Relations
The G20’s recent meeting in South Korea failed to mitigate problems in trade and currency imbalances leading some experts to argue that the organization has major shortcomings in making global economic policy.

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Here is your R&D for October 25th:

Key Tax Breaks at Risk as Panel Looks at Cuts from the Wall Street Journal
President Obama’s deficit commission is looking at eliminating tax deducation on mortgage interest and child tax credits in its quest to create a plan that will balance the federal budget by 2015.  The deficit commission is part of President Obama’s plan to move to the center prior to the 2012 elections.

Iraq war logs: US turned over captives to Iraqi torture squads from the Guardian
Liberal Democratic Leader Nick Clegg has called for an investigation into reports that U.S. forces turned Iraqi detainees over to torture squads.  The move comes after Wikileaks released thousands of classified documents on its website over the weekend.

Obama’s Playbook After Nov. 2 from the New York Times
What might President Obama do after the November midterm elections?  This article from the New York Times lays out what his future plans may be, especially when it comes to working with Republican leaders.

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Here is your R&D for October 22nd:

NPR, Juan Williams: Did firing put network smack in tea party’s crosshairs? from the Christian Science Monitor
National Public Radio’s firing of Juan Williams for comments about Muslims has created a conservative firestorm, with some figures like Mike Huckabee calling for a withdrawal of the public funds the network receives.

DCCC gets $17M line of credit from Politico
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has taken out a $17 million line of credit so that they can fend off GOP ads in the closing days of the 2010 midterms.  Democrats feel that the move is appropriate because experts estimate that 100 House seats are in play this cycle.

Latin Americans See Barriers to Entrepreneurship from Gallup
In this useful poll for economic speeches, Gallup finds that two-thirds of Latin American residents believe that their governments are not making it easy enough to start a business.

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Here is your R&D for October 21st:

W. Va. election becomes a test for Obama from the Washington Post
In this op-ed, conservative columnist George Will writes that the West Virginia Senate race is a major test for President Obama because his policies could drag down West Virginia’s popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin.

Key Senate Battles Tighten from the Wall Street Journal
The number of Senate races considered “tossups” has jumped over the last several days.  Democratic candidates have tightened races in Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, while Republican candidates have gotten closer in Nevada and California.

Iraq’s Stalemate from the New York Times
In this op-ed piece, the New York Times argues that Iraq’s political stalemate is creating ethnic problems and delaying much needed reforms.

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Here is your R&D for October 20th:

China Said to Widen Its Embargo of Minerals from the New York Times
In a sign of increased economic strength, China is quietly halting the export of rare earth minerals to the U.S. and Europe.  Rare earth minerals help to manufacture advanced products and China’s actions will likely increase trade tensions with the West.  For its part, the Chinese government has refuted these accusations.

Pentagon is instructing recruiters to accept gays from the Washington Post
The Pentagon has instructed military recruiters to accept applications from homosexuals in light of U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruling on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Obama’s boat to India springs leaks from the Asia Times
After revelations that U.S. intelligence failed to thwart the 2008 Mumbai attacks, U.S. relations with India have become strained.  This is bad timing because President Obama is set to visit the South Asian power next month.

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Here is your R&D for October 19th:

Russia to Build A Nuclear Power Plant in Venezuela from the Latin American Herald Tribune
In a move that alarms U.S. diplomats and nuclear non-proliferation experts, Russia signed an agreement with Venezuela last Friday to build the nation’s first nuclear power plant.

France’s Sarkozy: We’ll crack down on protests from the Associated Press
Facing protests against his pension reform package, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to crack down on violent protesters today.  Protests have created a fuel shortage and created problems for air travelers.

The Road to Negotiations in Afghanistan from the Council on Foreign Relations
In this interview, Max Boot, the Council on Foreign Relations Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, discusses the need for military pressure on the Taliban if negotiations are to become viable.

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Here is your R&D for October 18th:

Dems Find Careers Threatened by Obamacare Votes from the DC Examiner (courtesy of RealClearPolitics)
According to conservative columnist Michael Barone, a vote for President Obama’s healthcare reform plan will be political death for many Democrats this November.  Find out who is in trouble in this piece.

Russia Risks Mass Unrest Under Current Regime, Gorbachev Says from Bloomberg
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned the Kremlin that if it fails to listen to the Russian people it may witness mass protests and disorder.  He also says that Russia has yet to go halfway down the road to freedom that he began to steer Russia on in the late 1980s.

China Vice-President given key military posting from the Agence France Presse
Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, the son of Xi Zhongxun, a communist guerrila who fought with Mao Zedong, was named vice-chairman of a military commission today.  Chinese experts believe that this makes him a likely successor to current Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2013.

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Here is your special R&D weekend edition for October 17th:

U.S. backs off in currency dispute with China from Reuters
On Friday, the Obama administration backed away from a showdown with China over its currency as the Treasury Department delayed a decision on whether to label China as a currency manipulator.

Lebanon becoming Iranian satellite, Netanyahu warns from the Jerusalem Post
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned over the weekend that Lebanon is becoming an Iranian satellite in the Middle East.  Netanyahu’s remarks follow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon last week.

GOP candidates surge ahead in fundraising from the Washington Post
For much of the midterm election cycle, Democrats have outfundraised Republicans.  However, Republican congressional candidates have taken the lead, which will give them a huge advantage in the two weeks before Election Day.

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Here is your R&D for October 14th:

New York is sued for missing deadline on overseas ballots from the Washington Post
The Justice Department has sued the state of New York for missing deadlines to mail ballots overseas troops.  The state’s inability to meet the deadline violates the 2009 MOVE Act, which required that states mail absentee ballots to troops, government workers, and other Americans living abroad 45 days before Election Day.

Colombia Wins Spot on UN Security Council from the Latin American Herald Tribune
On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly elected Colombia to hold one of the two non-permanent seats on the Security Council reserved for Latin America for 2011-2012.  Colombia ran unopposed and won 186-0 with five abstentions.  Colombia now joins Brazil as the Latin American representatives on the Security Council.

September home foreclosures top 100,000 for first time from Reuters
In a sign that the depressed housing market is still bottoming out, banks took over 100,000 homes last month.  However, foreclosures are likely to slow post-September because banks are working through questionable paperwork.

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Here is your R&D for October 13th:

Don’t-Ask Policy is Halted by Judge from the Wall Street Journal
In another headache for the Obama administration, a federal judge ordered the military to stop enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law yesterday.  The ruling forces President Obama to make a decision of whether to appeal and if he does it may anger a key Democratic constituency prior to next month’s midterm elections.

Colombia: President Santos’s Conflict Resolution Opportunity from the International Crisis Group
In this summary and full report (which you can access on the right of the webpage after you click on this link), the International Crisis Group lays out how Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos can end Colombia’s armed conflict and create a more stable nation.

French pension strikes go into second day from the BBC
French workers who are on strike to protest government reforms of the pension system are in their second day.  Yesterday saw the biggest strikes so far and rail service was restricted throughout the country, creating congestion and delays.

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Here is your R&D for October 12th:

Democrats Aim to Curb GOP Donors from the Wall Street Journal
Democrats are stepping up their attacks on the campaign spending of pro-Republican groups, hoping that they can force disclosure of donor’s indentities and curtail GOP financing.  Democrats have asked the Department of Justice and the IRS to look into Republican groups and their spending, but it may only antagonize the GOP base and hurt the Democrats this November.

Kyrgyzstan elections signal unease with parliamentary rule from the Christian Science Monitor
International observers have called Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary election a success, but voters have signaled that they may not like reforms that have been implemented to prevent a return to one-man rule.

Clinton is sitting this one out from the Associated Press
One figure that has been absent from the midterm campaign season is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Clinton is spending the weeks before the election in Europe and Asia and could be distancing herself from the political sphere so she is not impacted by the Democrats showing at the polls in a few weeks.

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Here is your R&D for October 11th:

Why Obama Is Losing the Political War from Time
Why has President Obama’s political position declined over the last year two years?  This article in Time magazine analyzes that issue and ponders whether Obama is on the verge of political death.

Pakistan’s nuclear arms push angers America from the UK Telegraph
Pakistan has been accelerating the pace of its nuclear weapons program, angering the Obama administration that is trying to reduce global nuclear stockpiles.

Norway: China cancels meeting, days after Nobel from the Associated Press
In a sign of Beijing’s increasing willingness to flex its diplomatic muscle, the Chinese government cancelled a meeting with Norway’s fisheries minister after Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political dissident, was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Here is your R&D for October 8th:

Analysis: Jobs report is bad news for Democrats from the Associated Press
The last jobs report before the midterm elections is not good for President Obama or the Democratic Party.  The Labor Department reported that 95,000 jobs were lost and that unemployment is at 9.6%.

Jones to step down as national security adviser from the Washington Post
There’s more turnover in the Obama administration as National Security Adviser James L. Jones has resigned.  He will be replaced by Thomas E. Dinilon, who was a deputy to James.

The quest for growth from the Economist
The Economist argues that the world economy need structural reform if it is to achieve the robust growth it had prior to the economic downturn.

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Here is your R&D for October 7th:

Is Chavez Following Iran Down the Radioactive Brick Road? from Foreign Policy in Focus
In this interesting article, Foreign Policy in Focus argues that Venezuela has been developing a nuclear program and that U.S. disarmament measures would do a great deal to stop global proliferation.

Ecuadorian president denies plan to dissolve parliament from Xinhua
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa denied reports that he is considering a dissolution of the country’s National Assembly after a police revolt last week.  If the National Assembly is dissolved, Correa would rule by decree until the next presidential election.

Time for U.S. to Get Real from the Asia Times
This article concludes a three-part report on U.S. sanctions against Iran.  It argues that the U.S. should look at other measures that might be more effective because the current sanction regime isn’t working.

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