From the UK's The Independent, we'll note Kim Sengupta's "After nine weeks of wrangling, Iraq has a new government:"
Questions were raised immediately about the ability of the government actually to govern, with continuing and widespread violence across the country. American and Iraqi government forces were engaged in fierce fighting with insurgents east of Baghdad at Diyala and one of the senior commanders of the Iraqi army was kidnapped. Brigadier General Jalal Mohammed Saleh, in charge of a specialised anti-insurgency unit, was abducted, along with four of his bodyguards, by insurgents as he left his home in the Mansour district of west Baghdad. Gunmen also shot dead Salim Hilai, a senior member of the provincial council in Babil, and a Sunni cleric, Hilal Karim, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he entered a mosque in the suburb of New Baghdad. Salim Ibrahim, a Kurdistan Democratic Party official was killed in the northern city of Mosul.
Francisco asks if anyone's seen anything detaling proposed changes at the borders (Mexico & Canada)?
Francisco: I don't mean the small story in The New York Times. I mean a serious discussion. This will effect a great number of people who regularly visit families in either country but, yes, I am concerned regarding Mexico.
Ruth e-mails that she agrees NPR has gotten a pass and will be listening to Morning Edition each morning while waiting for her ten-month-old grandson to be dropped off. This morning, she notes that the Bully Boy is up to new tricks with Social Security. She also notes an interview with Jane Fonda that she enjoyed. Links for both stories will be provided tonight and we'll quote from Ruth's e-mail (which is a great e-mail) tonight as well.
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