The Rolling Stones self-censored their own anti-Bush song, afraid it may be boycotted on media broadcasts in the US, on the eve of their Tour, following the issue of a new album. The Stones still can't cope with the US and with marketing of a song after 40 years in the field. It is easy to predict another floppy. From a crew that could sell us "no hope - no fear" we were expecting more.

Editor of Tell me a Secret, an Iraqi blog run by Khalis Jarrar (brother to Raed) was abducted by the new Iraqi mukhabarat as suspected for the London bombing! (They could have found a better excuse that was both intimidating and believable). Khalis has been blogging for 3 years, is not a radical by any stretch of imagination, writes in English and is very well known in the West for criticizing the USA invasion by illustrating plain Iraqi's everyday's life on a similar vein as what Riverbend (an Iraqi girl) does on Baghdad Burning. Civil rights in Iraq closing down? Invade China and free Chinese because they are boycotting Google? Unfortunately hammering down these few non-oriented voices may be part of a larger strategy that fits into America's exit strategy as well as into the not so far out Iran-shaped-Iraq.

Public orientation in the US is leaning strongly against the president on War in Iraq to a degree never seen before, enough to embarrass the Dems who had started playing conservative after the past Presidential Elections. The planners "on the dark side" have fine knowledge of American public orientation as the latest attacks are all targeting American troops (3 attacks in Ramadi, all car bombs, and that is just today). Iraqi can not be stabilized without serious, extensive and down-to-earth diplomatic effort. I emphasize down-to-earth: there is just not enough money, troops and patience to invade/liberate several neighboring countries simultaneously, including Oil-King Saudi. (... a decent and responsible plan for US withdrawal can be found here by good Juan Cole.

The price of finalizing a draft Iraqi constitution in the last tense few hours before yesterday's deadline was the exclusion of the Sunnis. After a week of complaints the Sunnis angrily said they "reject the draft constitution that was submitted because we did not have an accord on it" as one negotiator put it. But Sunni rejection of a central Kurdish and Shia political demand - federalism - proved too great an obstacle for negotiators determined to submit a document on time. (The Kurdish and Shia dominated assembly, wary of a missing a deadline that might have meant the dissolution of the body, decided at the last minute to approve a three-day extension to iron out what a wire service paraphrased the Shia assembly speaker as calling "final wording.") In a speech to a Utah audience, President Bush said yesterday "All of Iraq's main ethic and religious groups are working together on this vital project." By contrast, one Sunni member of the drafting commission warned the proposed Kurdish-Shia constitution "has elements that will lead to the break-up of Iraq and civil war."... Even worse, the draft of Iraqi constitution states Islam (Shari’a or Islamic law) the main source of legislation. Is that enough on the face of Mrs. Rice? Looking for some good negotiator here that knows the power of wording a constitution as well as carrying enough pounding power to reword it. It's not about giving gay rights, it's about giving women the right to live.

Chinese Petrochina buys out petroKazakhstan, via a friendly IPO to begin October 2005. Petrochina will control about 15% of Kazakhstan resources (which contributes to 3% of world resources), including oil and natural gas. The area is the world's most promising source for future, untapped, oil reserves. This is an important success for China after Cnooc failed to acquire American company Unolocal due to the American Congress vetoing the acquisition. China is in talks with Kazakhstan authorities to build a 3000 Km pipeline and has been participating to joint military exercises with Russia. Kazakhstan (and Turkmenistan) repeatedly invited the USA to close down bases, used in support of Enduring Freedom, and a final term of 3 months was issued to USA Secretary of Defense, Rumsfield. What's missing here is, besides getting the word Kazakhstan correct, a clear understanding of what is happening in this area. Media have been reporting in bits and pieces, but have failed to give a clear picture. The ball is back to the White House and the game isn't over yet.

Now a multi-faceted pearl in several sauces, related to a new drug, experiments being conducted on lab monkeys:

1 NEWKERALA.COM It may be good news for millions of call centre employees who work in night shifts and always complain about lack of sleep taking a toll on their mental and physical health. In a breakthrough study researchers have found a new drug which can temporarily improve performance and reverse the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain.
2 REUTERS A drug dubbed CX717, made by Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Irvine, California, reverses the biological and behavioral effects of sleep deprivation, according to results of animal studies.
3 FORBES Shift-workers, hospital staff clocking long hours, and other sleep-challenged Americans may someday have a means of restoring full alertness even if sleep-deprived.
4 BBC A drug could reverse the effects of sleep deprivation in the brain, a US study of monkeys has suggested.

This article shows that the race to discovering new drugs (normally said to be good candidates to fight Alzheimer's disease) is far from over.
Note how Forbes emphasizes the wording "sleep-challenged Americans" (#3).
If by checking how this is reported on #4, BBC, you see little disturbing colored rainbows, maybe this drug can help you.
Weird how Newkerala (#1) puts call-centre workers at the forefront of the sleep-deprived army. Not so weird when you consider this online newspaper is based in India.
For good enough reasons nobody goes as far as hinting to what the natural market to such drugs is (albeit probably illegal). Boys say Disco.

Don't forget to check Blogger's BlogSpot Objectionable Flag, active today. Please, pick up something censorable.