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Caucuses in Iowa, Investigations, Allegations and Pranks in Pakistani politics, and other gems of New Year’s news |
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Caucus in Iowa
The much-anticipated presidential caucus in Iowa begins at 6:30 p.m. CST (for the Dems, 7:00 CST for the GOP), with online updates scheduled to appear shortly after voting begins. (NB: I can’t seem to locate a reliable site with up-to-the-minute updates on the Republican caucus. If you have a link, share it below.)
Reuters has additional coverage on the caucus, including results from last-minute opinion polling.
In the final days before the caucus, candidates shared their last-minute thoughts with Iowans, others made some pretty entertaining blunders.
The NY Times Caucus blog offers an interesting look at republican candidate Mike Huckabee — a down-to-earth, working class man with a net worth estimated at over $250 million.
Newsweek magazine wonders what will happen if Hillary loses…or takes second.
And a humorous look at candidate popularity, courtesy of World of Warcraft and the folks over at Foreign Policy.
Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to allow the UK’s Scotland Yard to aid the investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s death. With all of the suspicious evidence pointing toward Musharraf’s involvement, an impartial inquisition is the only way to exonerate him (and keep him in power).
Were the gunshots and suicide bomb decoys in Bhutto’s assassination? Various allegations have been flying around since the hour of her assassination, some are more credible than others. The PPP offered the interesting allegation that advanced laser beam technology, used by the American forces in Iraq, was responsible for Bhutto’s death. I suppose it’s possible, but I’m not convinced by this conspiracy theory.
What happens when you are pushed into the political spotlight at the age of 19 following your mother’s assassination? Apparently, people play pranks and try to impersonate you on Facebook.
With parliamentary elections rescheduled for February, the BBC examines what delaying the election date means for the various parties involved.
Elsewhere in the World
Jared Diamond (author of the best-selling Guns, Germs and Steel) is back at it with a look at global population growth and first world consumption.
An investigation has been launched to uncover the truth behind the CIA’s destroyed interrogation tapes and their mysterious omission from the evidence offered to the 9/11 Commission.
India has decided to halt its arms sales to the military junta in Burma.
Venezula greeted the new year with a new currency — the Strong Bolivar — aimed at simplifying everyday transactions in the wake of incredibly high inflation.
“Stocks” and finance have surpassed “sex” as the most popular Google search terms in China.
The Attorney General in Kenya has called for an independent inquiry into the recent presidential elections, whose results and alleged rigging caused rioting that has led to 300 or so deaths.
The search is still on-going for passengers exposed to a drug-resistant strain of TB on a recent flight from New Delhi to Chicago.
Predictions for Iowa? Thoughts about Benazir? Share your comments below.
Update from Jason Rosenbaum:
I hereby deem this the official Seminal caucus watching thread!
If you’re watching, have at it! I’m off to a bar (drinking if my guy wins, drinking if he loses), but I’ll be checking in as the situation warrants.
I just want Giuliani to do as badly as possible. Following that, I’d like Hillary to come in third. Nothing else matters quite as much in my eyes.
This is the night that we’ve been waiting for for a goddamn year. Some definitive voting on this clown of a race.
I’ll be glad when this farce is just over in November. We’ll keep getting screwed and brown people will keep on dying, but at least there will be someone new to blame.
It’s funny, it feels extremely anticlimactic. Maybe I’ll feel differently once the results are announced, especially if there are surprises, but for the moment I’m just sick of the horse race. As you suggest, it seems structural change is a ways away…
Also check this out:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3457/dropping_out_of_electoral_col lege/
entrance polls are putting it at a tight race between Hillary and obama and romney and huckabee, whatever that means.
The Democratic Party of Iowa site puts Edwards in the lead (but perhaps a statistically insignificant lead over Obama and Clinton).
Not what I expected, but we’ll see what happens in the end.
Now it’s Barack at the top. But still, so close.
50% reporting. obam on top, Clinton and Edwards tied. its a race for second place.
I think it is almost done
Obama and Huckabee win Iowa
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/19172/