Gareth Jenkins, a journalist writing for conservative American think tank the Jamestown Foundation,’ has blasted the so-called Erkenegon case in Turkey recently. “There is little doubt that the Ergenekon investigation is rooted in fact. But what is alarming about the indictment is that it extrapolates from a kernel of truth through rumor, hearsay, unsubstantiated supposition and simple invention into the realms of fantasy,” Jenkins wrote in a paper on the Ergenekon case published Tuesday. (more…)

When it comes to energy, Senator John McCain is quite a Republican maverick. He has said that he ‘respects’ former Vice President Al Gore’s work on this subject, and that he ’shares’ his (Gore’s) goals (energy independence, clean energy, and so on). (more…)

Via the Jerusalem Post comes the news that an Israeli official ‘close to [Israeli]
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the
prime minister will keep working towards a peace
agreement with the Palestinians until he leaves office.’ (more…)

Lanny J. Davis explains for the Wall Street Journal why Barack Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Firstly, Davis writes, Obama and his followers should keep in mind that ‘Sen. Clinton is the only Democrat who gives Sen. Obama a statistically significant boost in any national poll results.’ (more…)

Kemal wrote about the result of the closure case against Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) yesterday. As he pointed out, Turkey’s highest court ruled that, although some laws pushed through by the AK Parti were in breach with the secularism as established in the country’s constitution, there was not reason enough to close the party down now. (more…)

‘What to do with millions of illegal aliens in the US? The issue is still a sleeper in the presidential campaign. But maybe not for long. Americans who want strict law enforcement before a “total” immigration solution now have proof that stronger enforcement can bring results,’ the Christian Science Monitor opines. (more…)

Barack Obama and John McCain are both at risk; the one looks arrogant, the other negative and whiny. (more…)

Hillary Clinton is expected to speak at the democratic conventionon on the second night, which coincides with the 88th aniversery of women gaining the right to vote.
While a great priveledge this pretty much guarantees she WON´T be the vice-presidential nominee. Why? Because the vice-presidential nominee is expected to speak the next day, and it seems almost impossible that Clinton would speak two days straight.

PUMAS will be pissed, but then, they always are.

According to Henry Kissinger, the situation in Iraq has changed so dramatically in the last couple of months that the political debate (between John McCain and Barack Obama) about this subject are nearly useless. (more…)

It’s been a couple weeks since I wrote my third party roundup.  Since then, the Green Party has officially chosen its President and Vice President, and the Reform Party has joined the game as well.  I highly recommend reading it, especially if you’re dissatisfied with the big two parties, or just want to know more information about what other parties are out there.

Although I’ve done this roundup, I’ve yet to do an in-depth analysis on the role of third parties in 2008 during my time here.  It is coming.

Sad but not surprising news from Somalia: as the kidnapping and murder of foreign aid workers continues to escalate, the poor and hungry people they went to help now face a growing humanitarian crisis. Via Africa News Search:

MOGADISHU, 07/28- By December this year, aid agencies estimate that the number of displaced and hungry people in need of life-saving aid in Somalia will swell to 3.5 million-nearly half the country`s population. Yet, as drought and conflict conspire to worsen the crisis, the humanitarian space to deliver food and other essential assistance in this conflict zone has all but vanished.

Over the past few months, even this has become almost impossible to do. This year alone 20 aid workers, including foreigners, have been killed. Seventeen aid workers were freed after being kidnapped for ransom while 13 more are still in captivity. (more…)

More madness here.

A wonderful opportunity has arisen for me; I have been asked to be a panelist at a conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Assuming that most of you don’t know much about this country I thought it would be handy to link to its wikipedia article here.

The subject of the conference is “Views from America 2008.”

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‘International talks aimed at ushering in a new era of free trade collapsed in Geneva yesterday during a bitter split between developed and developing countries over the future shape of global commerce,’ the Washington Post reports.’ (more…)

Incoming breaking news has it that Turkey’s highest court has ruled against closing Turkey’s ruling AK party but cut its state funding by half in response to charges that it threatened the country’s secular regime during its six years in power. (more…)

The Stevens indictment may very well cost the Republican Party dearly. Not for the first time, Republicans give people the impression that when it comes to corruption, etc. they are not only not better than Democrats but possibly even worse.

Will the Republican Party as a whole be held responsible for the crimes of one individual? Or will voters consider Stevens to be a crooked politician and not specifically a crooked Republican?

First people who support the Justice and Development Party (or AKP) and most foreign observers said that Erkenegon is an organization of Kemalists who are, of course, all fascists. Then the storyline became that they are not ‘normal’ Kemalists but extremists, who are despised by Kemalists as well as liberal democrats (partially true). But then the story changed even more; they were part of a mythical organization which has existed for hundreds, nay thousands, of years.

As if that was not enough, the story changed even more radically; it now seems that Islamists are also part of the group whose goal it allegedly is to overthrow the democratically elected Turkish government by the use of force (especially a military coup). (more…)

Senator John McCain’s campaign, and Republicans in general, have criticized Democratic nominee Barack Obama for not visiting American soldiers stationed in Germany when he visited that country earlier this month. The reason for the cancellation of the scheduled trip to the (wounded) soldiers is, according to some that is, that no tv network was willing or able to accompany Obama on his visit. (more…)

A prominent African-American AIDS organization has accused the United States government of ‘doing too little to fight AIDS among black Americans, in whom the size and scope of the epidemic resembles that seen in many African nations.’ (more…)

Radovan Karadzic has been extradited to the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands. There he will face charges of planning the genocide inflicted upon Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, back in the 1990s. (more…)

There are three reasons, which are all fairly easy to understand, why oil prices have risen dramatically in recent years; Iran, the booming global economy and the weakness of the dollar. Especially the weakness of the dollar plays an important role. (more…)

‘There will be no more business as usual for housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if John McCain is elected president. That’s McCain’s clear message in a recent hard-hitting op-ed in the St. Petersburg Times and in various straight-talk media interviews,’ Lawrence Kudlow writes for Real Clear Politics. (more…)

Lets set it straight now: John McCain and Barack Obama were my favorites to win the Republican and Democratic nominations respectively.  However, I was ready to accept the possibility of a Hillary Clinton nomination.  Unlike some other bloggers, and unlike some of my friends, I wouldn’t have gagged if she had won the nomination, although I had to catch my gag reflex a couple times toward the end of the nomination season.  With Ron Paul, I think his economic policies go too far in limiting government, though I’d also be willing to see what a libertarian-minded president would do.

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As you all probably know by now, during Barack Obama’s trip to Germany last Friday he decided not to visit wounded American troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  Instead, he ended up going to the gym.  The situation has created a headache for Obama, what with the media reporting on it, and the McCain campaign jumping on to it right away with an ad blasting Obama.

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I live in the state of Connecticut.  For those who don’t know much about U.S. geography, it’s a small state in the northeastern portion of the country.  For years, Connecticut has had a reputation as a liberal haven.  The bicameral state legislature has a veto-proof majority; many of the 169 towns and cities are run by Democrats; all of the elected state official positions are Democrats; all the Congressional Representatives and Senators are Democrats except one (and he’s the last one in the northeast); only the Lieutenant Governor and Governor are Republicans; also, despite having a strong Democratic twinge, most politicians tend to be on the moderate side of the scale, and 44% of Connecticut voters are Independents.

So, with all the blue love going on in Connecticut, are we all a bunch of peace-loving hippies?  Not necessarily.

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Blogger Elrod at The Moderate Voice is a member of the Unitarian Church in Knoxville Tenn.  that was the victim of a terrible shooting a few days ago. He’s asking on their behalf for help. Many of the injured will require long term medical care, and many more psychological care (remember that many children witnessed the killings). Please help if you can.