There is yet another protest movement going on. This time it is in Chile. Actually, the student strikes in Chile have been going on for years, and they have been very vibrant and well-organized. But like the student stirkes in Canada last year, the protests focus almost exclusively on the quality and cots of higher education. These are important issues, but do not necessarily indicate widespread social unrest. However, the labor movement is now joining in the student protest and the concerns articulate by the unions correlate almost perfectly with the other protest movements going on in the world.
The Russian Times is running a story that the US CIA is stockpiling weapons in Jordan to be used by Syrian rebels in a planned offensive scheduled for August. The suggestion is that the CIA is being used in order to avoid public scrutiny of the move. Although President Obama did signal that the US would step up support for the rebels after the announcement that the Syrian government had used sarin gas, this is the first hint of how the policy was changed. If the report is accurate, the move is not well-considered. Although the CIA claims that it is being very careful as to which rebel groups are getting arms, there is no combination of rebel forces strong enough to govern all of Syria. The only possible way out of the violence in Syria is a negotiated settlement.
The National Weather Service office in Phoenix released this graph today.
It’s getting pretty warm in the US Southwest.
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