Buch Day 138
[back @ work week 18]

Men walk past a mural on a wall of the former U.S. embassy in central Tehran, January 14, 2008

[source: reuters.com]

Why did I choose this topic today? well, because in the midst of a campaigning year, it appears to me that overseas US action remains fogged up in disarray... here's what Reuters had to say:

The economic impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran is unclear and Iran has signed about $20 billion in energy contracts with foreign firms since 2003, said a U.S. audit report.

"U.S. officials and experts report that U.S. sanctions have specific impacts on Iran; however, the extent of such impacts is difficult to determine," said the report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, which was obtained by Reuters late on Tuesday.

"Other evidence raises questions about the extent of reported economic impacts," it added.

The report by the investigative arm of Congress comes as the Bush administration is pushing for a third round of U.N Security Council sanctions against Iran and planned talks with major powers in Berlin next week to iron out differences on those punitive measures. [...]

President George W. Bush has been pushing for tough measures against Iran during his trip to the Middle East over the past week, trying to shore up support to isolate Tehran and telling Arab allies that its nuclear program is a major threat to world peace.

[... and here's the missing part of the article, as well]

... now, may my skepticism be forgiven, but doesn't this type of external policy stubbornness kind of remind you of a series of particular events happening, roughly, about 5 years ago...?

as for my own spinning cycle, here's a little reminder - some wise planning spares you panic (:
air: feeling the deadlines' breath on my neck
mission: avoid getting sidetracked
today: possibly catching the night train to get my long-awaited BA diploma
this fortnight: the diploma, getting back to APPs, the plumber, the instructor, the book, the timetable... and avoiding getting hyper

on my ears: ADF's Collective Mode
Happy mid-Winter, everyone!