Iran News Blog @newzblogz.com

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine --President Bush's summertime meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush family's oceanfront estate is about lobsters, legacies and a break from increasing tensions.

Relations between Washington and Moscow are strong, but on the skids, and both Bush and Putin want to massage those relations before leaving office.

Putin, bolstered by Russia's economic muscle and popularity at home, has adopted an assertive posture on the world stage. He has bluntly opposed a U.S. missile defense plan in Europe. Putin bristles when Bush scolds the Kremlin for rolling back democratic reforms and fends off what he sees as U.S. meddling in the affairs of ex-Soviet nations.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pulled off the seemingly impossible: The world's fourth-largest oil producer has imposed gasoline rationing. While their country pumps 4.3 million barrels of oil a day, Iranians are limited to 26 gallons a month, and they have to wait in lines to get it.

Some lawmakers would like substantial price hikes to cut dependence on imported gasoline and to generate cash to refurbish Iran's aging oil infrastructure. But Ahmadinejad insists on subsidizing gasoline at 38 cents a gallon.

Advertisement

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

As the credits roll for Michael Moore's new film "Sicko," a warm, familiar male voice (to anyone who knows '60s music) starts singing, "Don't be shy, just let your feelings roll on by / Don't wear fear or nobody will know you're there "

The song is familiar, and yet what is it? You might be hitting "search" in the memory bank until the credit line "Yusuf Islam" comes up on the screen.

Ah, yes -- Yusuf Islam = Cat Stevens. The song is "Don't Be Shy."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Eleven years ago, when Ron McAndrew became superintendent of the Florida prison where Death Row inmates are executed, he was an unflinching supporter of capital punishment.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," he said.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

All governments from time to time mess up their economies, but dictatorships seem to have a special affinity for it.

Iran?s ruling theocrats have engineered a combination of high unemployment and lackluster growth through stubbornness and mismanagement.

But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pulled off the seemingly impossible, and residents are increasingly discontent with his leadership.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit