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POPS News Corp Quells Unrest In Pro-Western Georgia The US and its Coalition allies can ill-afford to ignore this week's developments in the small but geo-strategically significant Caucasus nation of Georgia. Major outside players including Vladimir Putin and Rupert Murdoch are involved in a story involving media and politics. The events in Georgia, including unrest involving some 50,000 people and President Mikhail Saakashvili's crackdown, are not just a political fight between the ruling government and the opposition. It is part of a complex struggle involving the old Russian guard, business oligarchs, and a media outlet in the continuing battle with leftist tyrants masquerading as "progressives." The opposition parties are trying to rearrange political alliances to effectively counter Shaakashvili's National Movement bloc, and are scrambling to find a replacement leader to salvage what turned out to be a politically suicidal week of demonstrations.
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POPSFrom Russia With Love:Prime Minister Putin
Foreign investments, though at record levels, remain less than 3% of GDP, on the whole foreigners remain reluctant - not to say scared stiff - to touch Russia. Worse yet, though foreign investments have grown, they usually go to mineral extraction, not to production of finished goods. During Putin's reign oil and gas production nearly trebled, to nearly a full third of the entire economy, and four-fifths of all exports. Putin initially capped government spending and ended the derelict printing of cash, last year - according to The Economist - the state bureaucracy expanded by more than 50% to 828,000 people, while government spending rose 20%. PUTIN'S MAIN message has been that the demise of communism and the Warsaw Pact, and even the arrival of former communist states in the EU and NATO, don't yet spell freedom's historic victory. The world has been introduced to a new authoritarianism, one which emulates the kind overseen a generation ago by Chile's Augusto Pinochet
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POPS Iran 'Lying' About Nukes Says Rice "There is an Iranian history of obfuscation and, indeed, lying to the IAEA," she said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. U.S. officials have long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons behind the facade of a civil atomic energy program, charges that Tehran denies. But Rice's strong words, including the blunt reference to Iranian "lying," come at a critical time in dealing with the matter. She also noted that Russia had in the past demonstrated its concern about Iran's program by limiting its cooperation to prevent Tehran from acquiring a full nuclear fuel cycle that could be used to produce weapons-grade material. "That concern was seen very clearly in Russia's offer to Iran to enrich and reprocess in a joint venture and to bring back any spent fuel so that the fuel cycle wouldn't be available to Iran," she said. "I think there is a reason for that and that is suspicion about Iran's intentions."
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POPSSenator McCain by Mark Steyn January 31, 2008 Primary triumph doesn't seem to be doing anything to mitigate the small and graceless side of McCain. On the other hand, John Hinderaker might be on to something here: "Businessmen, in my experience, are generally more idealistic than politicians. Businessmen really do make deals with a handshake. No one would dream of doing that with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or the Clintons. Turning a businessman loose in the political world is basically a mismatch. That's the sense I get of McCain's reaction to having Romney as his last serious rival. He can't believe his good fortune; Romney is an amateur. McCain can poke him in the eye, knee him in the groin, and the rule-following businessman has no idea how to respond" powerline.com Maybe. But, just because McCain can poke Mitt in the eye is no indication he'll be as effective with Putin, a remarkable number of whose enemies wind up splattered on the sidewalk outside their apartment house after opting for....... http://corner.nationa
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