subprime voting

SWJ: the US military and governance
"...the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps actually have a long history of establishing and running “governments” in both smaller-scale contingency operations and in the aftermath of major theater war"
WP: the surge is working (op-ed)
WP: no it isn't (op-ed)

BBC: Cubans vote for parliament today
LAT: incremental change under Raul Castro?
"Analysts of the secretive Cuban power structure see signs of modest political and economic change emerging on the island in the 18 months since an ailing Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul and retreated to pen his thoughts and memoirs."

LAT: Chávez, Venezuela approve measure to recognize FARC, ELN as "belligerents"
"To qualify for "belligerent" status, experts say an armed group must control territory, have a unified command, demonstrate the capacity to carry out military operations and observe basic human rights...Various governments and human rights groups contended last week that the FARC neither controls territory in Colombia nor does it respect human rights, so it shouldn't qualify as a belligerent group."
Econ: the politics of the hostage release
"Proof of their continuing “terrorist” status could be found in the letters and photographs of eight of the remaining hostages, sent with the released women, Mr Uribe suggested. In a letter to his family, Luis Mendieta, a Colombian police officer, who has been held for nearly ten years, said his legs had become partially paralysed. “It's neither the physical pain nor the chains around my neck that torment me,” he wrote. “It's the mental anguish.”
Although Mr Uribe may not like it, any deal with the FARC will almost certainly have to involve Mr Chávez despite the souring of relations between the two men. "
BBC: US official accuses Chávez of colluding in cocaine trafficking

WP: constitutional debates in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia

WP: Ashura in Iran
Econ: and other sorrows

LAT: Bhutto's legacy and gender politics in Pakistan
"For women such as Mohsin, Pakistan is a land of bitter contradictions. Entrenched tribal and religious taboos subject women to what human rights groups call some of the cruelest repression in the world. But the country also elected Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation... 'She was a strong woman. But if Benazir Bhutto is not safe, what can the rest of us expect?'"
WP: India monitoring turmoil in Pakistan

WP: education and caste in India
"Activists fear that failure to close the education gap could not only cause further social unrest but also hold back national development. Backward castes, along with Muslims and other tribal groups, make up nearly 70 percent of India's 1.1 billion people."

WP: don't forget Burma (editorial)

BBC: postponed again: Lebanon to hold vote Feb 11

BBC: Georgia's Saakashvili sworn in

Econ: voting in Serbia today

Econ: turnover in Taiwan

BBC: 5 Kikuyu IDPs killed in Rift Valley camp by Kalenjin youths; Kenya opposition to return to protest Thurs
BG: violence in Kenya not caused by tribal hatreds (op-ed)

WP: South Africa leans on Mugabe to reform
BBC: meanwhile, lights out in Zimbabwe
WP: and South Africa

WP: Poland's support for missile shield cools
"He said that Poland would be exposing itself to risks if it agreed to host part of the shield -- Russia has threatened to aim missiles at Poland in retaliation -- and that it wants more American help in exchange."
WP: Princeton historian may be charged with slandering Poland for book on treatment of Polish Jews in aftermath of Holocaust
"The measure prohibits anyone from asserting that "the Polish nation" was complicit in crimes or atrocities committed by Nazis or communists. The maximum penalty is three years' imprisonment...Poland has prosecuted Gross for his views before. In 1968, during communist rule, he was arrested as a student for participating in a free-speech movement and served five months in prison. He departed for the United States a year later, taking advantage of a Polish government policy that encouraged Jews to leave the country. He enrolled at Yale University and ultimately became a U.S. citizen."

Econ: France sets up shop in the UAE

Econ: sex work in Chicago and Ecuador (and at the American Economic Association's annual meeting)
WP: less sex work in Amsterdam: revamping the red light district
"The area has been a center of prostitution since Amsterdam's golden age in the 1600s. After World War II, it became a major tourist attraction, along with coffee shops where marijuana is sold openly."

CFT: Cleveland, Baltimore sue banks over sub-prime lending; Cleveland cites public order concerns
"Citing state public nuisance statutes, Cleveland has targeted 21 Wall Street investment banks for fueling an explosion of subprime loan products that, given Cleveland's dim economic profile, city officials say, were bound to fail - and these banks knew it.
It's a gutsy move, and unprecedented. Cities have used similar state public nuisance laws in the past, in cases involving lead paint exposure and the gun industry (where gun manufacturers were sued for making weapons available to criminals and minors). But Cleveland is the first to make public nuisance claims against certain subprime mortgage lending practices - something not as obviously harmful as lead or firearms."

LAT: behind the scenes in a casino caucus