Bruce Bueno de Mesquita predicts Iran’s future. A 20 minute YouTube video. De Mesquita asserts that Ahmadinejad is on way down, but also claims that the equilibrium in Iraq is only marginally susceptible to US influence.
In other news, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) talks about a state House resolution in support of Texas sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on another YouTube video. The 10th amendment states “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Salon accuses Perry of attempting secession. Salon writes, “Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn’t immune from your typical American’s fear over their job security in this economy. Right now, in fact, it seems as if he might be out of a job pretty soon, as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison looks set to mount a primary challenge against him next year, and early polls show her in the lead. So he’s been working hard on his appeal to the right lately, rejecting some stimulus money (and fighting with Hutchison over it), talking with Glenn Beck and, now, appealing directly to the fringe.”
Meanwhile, Reuters warns that “right-wing extremists in the United States are gaining new recruits by exploiting fears about the economy and the election of the first black U.S. president, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a report to law enforcement officials.”
The April 7 report, which Reuters and other news media obtained on Tuesday, said such fears were driving a resurgence in “recruitment and radicalization activity” by white supremacist groups, antigovernment extremists and militia movements. It did not identify any by name. DHS had no specific information about pending violence and said threats had so far been “largely rhetorical.” But it warned that home foreclosures, unemployment and other consequences of the economic recession “could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists.”
Interesting times. I will be traveling over the next few days and may post only occasionally in the meantime.
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