Happy July 4th!

Sorry it's been awhile...but at any rate, happy July 4th to everyone! Here is your song:



Bob Dylan - Girl From the North Country

Boston's The Big Picture has some compelling photos of the Honduran coup d'etat up, and they have a nice little description for each one, as well as a kind of summary about what actually happened. Basically it's a kind of internal split between governmental elements and elements of society as well. Zelaya's unpopularity is sort of understandable as he is apparently largely seen as a kind of authoritarian figure within Honduras and he has had dissenting journalists harassed and murdered (gee, sounds like some other government we've been hearing a lot about lately). I believe nearly every country that's been asked about it is considering the move by the military a coup and is not recognizing the new government. From my understanding, coups are generally pretty undemocratic by nature so they might have a point.

Kim Jong-Il wants to ruin your 4th of July barbeque with his missiles - he issued a warning for boats to avoid an area in the Sea of Japan at certain times between June 29th and July 9th due to a military exercise of some sort. Well, that actually sounds like advice worth taking.

My policy towards people I am hoping will slowly burn out into history and not be heard from again generally includes an effort to not mention them on here, but it is a curious story so I feel compelled to mention that Sarah Palin is stepping down as Alaska governor. I'm not sure why that is, or what it means, but I assume the editorials will come rolling in before too long.

Lastly, the Iranian government has stepped up its attacks against Mousavi and his supporters; now they're saying Mousavi is a foreign agent and is responsible for treason, among other things. Further weakening the once unquestionable position of the Supreme Leader, a highly influential clerical group from Qom (a very religious city in Iran where most of the top clerics reside, study, and work) has denounced the elections and said that Ahmadinejad's government is illegitimate. It seems like good times all around in Iran. So guys, don't worry about like, patching things up there soon or anything so I can go ahead and come on over for awhile. Yeah, no rush. Happy Fourth!