The sudden firing of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki while he was abroad on a diplomatic mission lying for his country is a sign of growing political tension within Iran’s increasingly isolated government. The abrupt sacking of Mottaki, who has served as Iran’s top diplomat since the installation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s …
When the Mexican government imposed punitive tariffs last year on $2.4 billion in American products the average Mexican citizen may not have noticed. But no more. Try finding a U.S.-grown Christmas tree in Mexico City this week. They are scarce since Mexico’s usual suppliers of holiday evergreens, growers in the …
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has just released an omnibus spending bill that will lock-in 2010 spending levels through the next fiscal year (ending September 30). The 1,924 page bill (pdf) contains unknown thousands of earmarks and will prevent the next Congress from making spending cuts until fiscal year 2012. …
An ongoing study in Yellowstone National Park seeks to measure the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a response to geologic activity and as a possible predictor of some geologic events. A story covering this study notes that researchers estimate that Yellowstone emits 45,000 tons of CO2 per day. That …