Tag Archives: afghanistan

Will Afghanistan Become the "Saudi Arabia of Lithium"?

Image: Flickr , CC The Bolivia of South-Central Asia? Who would have thought that “Afghanistan” would someday be associated with “electric cars”? Well, maybe some people did. As John points out in his post today , it’s been known for a while that Afghanistan contains vast mineral resources, including immense quantities of the main component of most portable electronics and electric car batteries: lithium. But what does this mean for electric cars, the… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Will Afghanistan Become the "Saudi Arabia of Lithium"?

Scott Ritter on Afghanistan: Don’t Believe the Hype

Is the war in Afghanistan worth the sacrifice of even one American life? Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter says, “No! … We are allowing the battle in Afghanistan to be defined by a domestic American political imperative. There is no urgency in Afghanistan, there is urgency in Washington, D.C.” 110209_ScottRitter_Truthdig.mp3

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Scott Ritter on Afghanistan: Don’t Believe the Hype

Spend Now, Save Later

By E.J. Dionne, Jr. Do Democrats honestly think that nickel-and-diming on stimulus now will either have a substantial impact on the long-term deficit or be of greater help to them in this fall’s elections than more robust growth? Related Entries June 13, 2010 They Just Found $1 Trillion in Afghanistan June 13, 2010 Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing

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Spend Now, Save Later

They Just Found $1 Trillion in Afghanistan

Afghanistan was thought to be a hardscrabble wasteland good for producing little more than opium, that is until a gang of American geologists working from old Soviet maps uncovered a variety of mineral deposits thought to be rich enough to radically alter our whole concept of Afghanistan and the war to control it. New York Times: The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. Read more Related Entries June 13, 2010 Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing June 13, 2010 Obama Wants $50 Billion For Teachers, Cops and Firemen

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They Just Found $1 Trillion in Afghanistan

Is Karzai Losing The Faith?

Rumors are swirling in Afghanistan that the country’s president, Hamid Karzai, is losing faith in the capacity for the West to defeat the Taliban, and some are even accusing Karzai of trying to strike his own deal with the Taliban and arch-rival Pakistan. The rumors follow a dramatic meeting between Karzai and the just-resigned intelligence chief and interior secretary, both of whom defected from the administration after claims that Karzai was unwilling to show interest in evidence proving the Talbian’s culpability in a rocket attack earlier this month. —JCL The New York Times: Two senior Afghan officials were showing President Hamid Karzai the evidence of the spectacular rocket attack on a nationwide peace conference earlier this month when Mr. Karzai told them that he believed the Taliban were not responsible. “The president did not show any interest in the evidence — none — he treated it like a piece of dirt,” said Amrullah Saleh, then the director of the Afghan intelligence service. Mr. Saleh declined to discuss Mr. Karzai’s reasoning in more detail. But a prominent Afghan with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Karzai suggested in the meeting that it might have been the Americans who carried it out. Minutes after the exchange, Mr. Saleh and the interior minister, Hanif Atmar, resigned — the most dramatic defection from Mr. Karzai’s government since he came to power nine years ago. Mr. Saleh and Mr. Atmar said they quit because Mr. Karzai made clear that he no longer considered them loyal. Read more Related Entries June 11, 2010 British PM: 2010 ‘Vital’ for Afghanistan June 9, 2010 Kandahar Test [A Cartoon From UAE]

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Is Karzai Losing The Faith?

Kathy Griffin: Puts Levi Johnston on TV as ‘Middle Finger’ to Palin, ‘Strong Conservative’ Means ‘Idiot’

As left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin appeared on Friday’s Larry King Live on CNN, after the conversation turned to her “My Life on the D List” show’s trip to Wasilla, Alaska, featuring Levi Johnston, host King asked her about her “attraction” to Johnston, referring to talk of a relationship between the two which is rumored to just be a publicity stunt. The left-wing comedian asserted that “every time that I’m with Levi and put him in the public eye, I feel that it’s my very subtle middle finger to Sarah Palin.” Griffin then added, “Yeah, go ahead, Tweet me, Palin freaks, I don’t care anymore.” A few minutes later, as the subject turned to her taking her show to a Senate hearing about the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on gays in the military, Griffin recounted her meeting with Republican Representative Michele Bachmann, whom she referred to as a “moron,” and, after she seemed to perceive that King was uncomfortable with the insult as he noted that Bachmann has been on the show before and is a “strong, conservative person,” Griffin shot back: “Oh, boy, I didn’t know it was “Be Kind to Bachmann Day” because my word for that is ‘idiot.’” Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Friday, June 11, Larry King Live on CNN: 9:28 p.m. KATHY GRIFFIN: Have you been to Wasilla? LARRY KING: No. GRIFFIN: It blows. I’m not gonna lie. KING: Yeah? GRIFFIN: It blows chunks, yeah. It’s not what we want the country to be like, when Sarah Palin said, you know, I would run the country, you know, you betcha, the way I run Wasilla, that’s not what we want. It’s a lot of boredom and then some crystal meth. Hey, go ahead, write your letters, I don’t care anymore. Go ahead, Tweet me about it. KING: What’s your attraction to Levi? GRIFFIN: I get him in a way that Bristol never did. And also, every time that I’m with Levi and put him in the public eye, I feel that it’s my very subtle middle finger to Sarah Palin. Yeah, go ahead, Tweet me, Palin freaks, I don’t care anymore. KING: Have you been intimate with Levi? GRIFFIN: Yes, I have. I’ve seen his Johnston. Have you? KING: No. GRIFFIN: It goes on and on- KING: Yeah? GRIFFIN: -for days. KING: Do you love him? GRIFFIN: Yeah. KING: He’s younger than you. GRIFFIN: Like a, like 30 years, not even that much. KING: Would you be serious with him? GRIFFIN: Yeah, that’s right, I would be very serious, in a committed, monogamous relationship. KING: Well, how’s it going, then? GRIFFIN: It’s, well, you know, now that I got a painting from Erik Menendez, I feel that I’m seeing other people. I mean, I’m torn. It’s like the Thornbirds, you know what I mean? It’s like a forbidden love. … 9:32 p.m. KING: You took the show to Washington for an episode. What was that like for you? GRIFFIN: It was fantastic because I learned a lot about how things work on the Hill, and I’m, you know, doing whatever I can to help repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I have many, many friends in the military after having been to Iraq and Afghanistan and Kuwait and all those places.

British PM: 2010 ‘Vital’ For Afghanistan

Britain’s Prime Minister popped over to Afghanistan on Thursday to reaffirm that 2010 would be the “vital year” for his country’s military campaign against the Taliban, a claim made in the face of one of the toughest weeks against coalition forces in the past few years. —JCL The New York Times: . Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain flew to Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, saying this would be the “vital year” for the campaign against the Taliban. “This is the year when we have to make progress — progress for the sake of the Afghan people, but progress also on behalf of people back at home who want this to work,” Mr. Cameron said. He said an increase in the number of British troops in Afghanistan, now about 10,000, was “not remotely on the U.K. agenda.” He made clear that Britain’s goal was to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces as soon as possible. At a news conference with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, Mr. Cameron said, “No one wants British troops to stay in Afghanistan for a day longer than is necessary.” Read more Related Entries June 9, 2010 Kandahar Test [A Cartoon From UAE] June 8, 2010 Newest National Security Strategy Is an Elaboration of the Old

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British PM: 2010 ‘Vital’ For Afghanistan

Jillette Mocks BP Boycott Try: ‘Oh No, Now They’re Boycotting us on Facebook’

There are a lot of people angry at BP for causing huge damage to the Gulf of Mexico. As a way to vent some of this emotion, some are volunteering their help to clean up where the oil has washed ashore. Others are petitioning lawmakers to clamp down on oil companies to ensure this doesn’t happen again. However, there’s one option that has proved to be pointless according to Penn Jillette, half of the famed Vegas duo Penn & Teller.  On the June 8 broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Imus in the Morning,” Jillette said the first thing that amazed him about the entire oil spill catastrophe was the notion of a Facebook group geared toward boycotting BP. “Well, you know, I don’t know there’s many different takes to take on it,” Jillette said. “I mean, it’s just a horrible disaster and a catastrophe. What amazes me about it is on Facebook, they just, they put this thing up, you know, ‘Boycott BP.'” Aside from hurting only local station owners, as Jonathan Berr pointed out for AOL’s Daily Finance on June 2 , Jillette explained this would likely be the least of BP’s worries considering the current circumstances. “A Facebook thing to boycott BP?” Jillette said. “And all I could think is, you know, 11 people dead, a corporation being destroyed, the biggest natural ecological disaster in American history and I picture these people on Facebook going, ‘But, this will get ‘em.’ And BP will be going ‘Oh no, now they’re boycotting us on Facebook.'” Jillette suggested these people take a step back and realize how their anger could not remotely come close to the emotions of people suffering from effects of the spill. “I mean, the idea that whatever punishment or anger people could have towards BP could come anywhere near the horror and misery of being part of that is just amazing to me,” Jillette said. “It’s amazing to me that people think that attacking a corporation is the way to get out of this. No one knows more about stopping this than they do and unfortunately, it’s not enough.”

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Jillette Mocks BP Boycott Try: ‘Oh No, Now They’re Boycotting us on Facebook’

Video: Arab Media Gives Platform to Woman Who Warns Israeli Women to Leave or Be Raped

As debate has been raging over Israel and the Middle East it is important that we understand how Israel is treated in the region. Here is a video of an Egyptian woman being given a platform on Arab television to threaten that Israeli women should “leave the land” or be “raped.” (Content warning): Make sure you visit this post at the Eyeblast blog for more details on and discussion of the video.

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Video: Arab Media Gives Platform to Woman Who Warns Israeli Women to Leave or Be Raped

Which of Tonight’s Elections is Most Important? (BUMPED – OPEN THREAD)

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Which of Tonight’s Elections is Most Important? (BUMPED – OPEN THREAD)