http://valentinesmith.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by Charlie D. en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:56:27 GMT 2010-01-02T11:56:27Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218407 The confusion that seems to be emanating from the accounts of Banazir Bhutto's death does not make President General Musharraf's government come out looking very solid. The . . . Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:44:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218407 Charlie D. 2008-01-02T19:44:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218396 Banazir Bhutto's demise at the hands of assassins can only tip the balance in Pakistan dangerously away from democracy - the military may well dispense with both elections (or perhaps . . . Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:34:03 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218396 Charlie D. 2008-01-02T19:34:03Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218378 Pakistan's "democracy" took a severe blow today with the killing by suicide bomber (or a shooter AND a suicide bomber, reports are sketchy still) that brought her DOA . . . Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:22:26 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977218378 Charlie D. 2008-01-02T19:22:26Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977125952 According to the pro Med medical alert site - ProMED-mail <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>- there are some 7,000 reported cases of cholera within Iraq, with the first case reported in Baghdad on . . . Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:34:06 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977125952 Charlie D. 2007-09-23T21:34:06Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977122027 The World Without Us, written by Alan Weisman, was published 1 September, and I had acquired and read it by 7 September after hearing Weisman interviewed that day on NPR's "Talk of the Nation." . . . Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:09:58 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977122027 Charlie D. 2007-09-19T19:09:58Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977119246 It has been noted that President Bush has changed his rhetoric about Iraq from seeking "victory" to gaining "success." Thinking about that over the day, does "success" mean . . . Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:18:29 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977119246 Charlie D. 2007-09-17T03:18:29Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977118853 The Iraq war will be 4.5 years old on Wednesday. The much-vaunted report from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker about the state of the war, and the state of Iraqi politics, seems a very . . . Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:11:53 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977118853 Charlie D. 2007-09-16T19:11:53Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977118257 President Putin's dismissal of his entire government just under three months before parliamentary elections on 2 December was both startltling and unexpected. His choice for Prime Minister was startling . . . Sat, 15 Sep 2007 22:17:35 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977118257 Charlie D. 2007-09-15T22:17:35Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977112005 Over the months of this year and last, I've taken a fair amount of heat for repeating stories by a variety of folks about US (and/or Israeli) plans to get at Iran by one process or another, usually . . . Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:06:19 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977112005 Charlie D. 2007-09-10T01:06:19Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977112000 Yesterday, bitter fighting broke out in Karbala, one of the Shiite "holy cities" presently full of several "hundreds of thousands" of pilgrims. Apparently, from fragmentary reports . . . Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:58:59 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977112000 Charlie D. 2007-09-10T00:58:59Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977093116 Yesterday, Senator Levin (D-MI) called for al-Maliki's removal as Iraq's Prime Minister, stating that the Iraqi government is "non-functional." Levin's suggestion was that the Iraqi . . . Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:49:36 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977093116 Charlie D. 2007-08-21T22:49:36Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977091271 My friends on the American right continue to insist that the war in Iraq is going well. However, there are certain signs that continue to make me wonder how true that it is in the larger scheme of things. . . . Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:43:26 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977091271 Charlie D. 2007-08-20T03:43:26Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977089035 This was the breathless report from a local reporter in Lincoln NE thirty years ago this afternoon. I was both shocked and saddened by the news, especially when it was reported he had died of a drug overdose. . . . Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:03:55 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977089035 Charlie D. 2007-08-17T16:03:55Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977088350 The claim last week by a Russian submarine to “own” the Arctic Ocean, and the North Pole, plus their stated renewal of flying military missions with airplanes in both a “spying” . . . Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:41:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977088350 Charlie D. 2007-08-16T20:41:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977079506 Japan affirmed again today its committment to being a non-nuclear state as it commemorated the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This event killed about 150,000 people in almost an instant, . . . Wed, 08 Aug 2007 06:14:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977079506 Charlie D. 2007-08-08T06:14:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977079498 I have spent the past day or so meditating on how it is that some of us can see Iraq as being a better situation while others of us are fairly pessimistic - and I think I've arrived at a partial answer. . . . Wed, 08 Aug 2007 06:03:48 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977079498 Charlie D. 2007-08-08T06:03:48Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977077037 While I can agree that American casualties are down, and by *some* accounts sectarian murders are down, there are still some really critical things not working very well in Iraq besides the malfunctioning . . . Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:34:41 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977077037 Charlie D. 2007-08-05T23:34:41Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977070930 The Washington Post reporter Robin Wright, a fairly knowledgable soul on Middle Eastern affairs, wrote a piece yesterday that discusses in some detail a complex arms deal that is proposed to give some . . . Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:12:00 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977070930 Charlie D. 2007-07-30T14:12:00Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977070460   Russia appears on a course that grows in hostility towards the West, and leans to greater and greater authoritarianism and militarism at home. Many analyses seem to suggest that Russia's boom . . . Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:07:46 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977070460 Charlie D. 2007-07-30T00:07:46Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977063472 Here's a place in the world most of us, myself included, have not given much attention to and, in light of recent events, that perhaps we should be watching more closely. Pakistan, one of only . . . Sun, 22 Jul 2007 21:47:18 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977063472 Charlie D. 2007-07-22T21:47:18Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056233 Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's beleaguered Prime Minister, announced Saturday that US troops could leave "at any time" and Iraq's police and military could maintain the country's security. . . . Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:49:27 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056233 Charlie D. 2007-07-14T20:49:27Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056153 Yesterday I was watching the network (NBC) news, something I don't do a lot, but they had a feature piece about the Iraqi police complete with an animated reconstruction of how the incident early yesterday . . . Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:00:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056153 Charlie D. 2007-07-14T19:00:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056103 "- Deaths caused by sectarian violence in Iraq are down 75 percent from January to June" (quote from post on POLITICS by K. Smant 7/12/07) This assertion was one of several in a re-copied . . . Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:38:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977056103 Charlie D. 2007-07-14T18:38:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977052745 My companion, her daughter and I heard a great little band from western Australia on the 7th at a venue I only get to visit once in awhile - a small coffeehouse called Fiddler's Dream on the grounds . . . Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:06:35 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977052745 Charlie D. 2007-07-11T04:06:35Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049834 This weekend marks the end of of my fifth year on the Internet. Five years! Where has  it gone? In that time I've been to Russia and back, stayed online for most of three days when . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:14:07 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049834 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T18:14:07Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049548 These articles represent a period of the early Internet, when perhaps there were three-four million users worldwide, when the "backbone" was Bitnet-based, and when nodes crashed often, as . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:28:20 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049548 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T07:28:20Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049537 USSR- THe news continues to stun the brain, today's fall of the CPSU and Gorbachev's resignation as General Secretary of the party not even vaguely imaginable just a few months ago. . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:41:28 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049537 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T06:41:28Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049529 "On the Remarks of George Kennan on McNeil/Lehrer 22 August, 1991"   I would preface this by saying that though about 85, Kennan still stands as one of the premier Sovietologists in this . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:27:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049529 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T06:27:47Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049513 So much has happened in the past 48 hours that this report does not pretend to cover all the ground it could.   USSR- Today, a new power-sharing arrangement was announced in Moscow, where Yeltsin . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:09:38 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049513 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T06:09:38Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049501 As our system was crashed from midnight to about 0830 this morning, I could only sit on the sidelines, listen to news and think about the events of the past few days. Here are a few reflections on the . . . Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:36:03 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977049501 Charlie D. 2007-07-07T05:36:03Z