Quickhits

Alot of little interesting items,

The Iraqis finally came to an agreement on their government. The politicians sequestered in the Green Zone have all agreed, we'll have to wait and see what the rest of the Iraqis out in the "red zone" make of the deal.

This article over at antiwar has about the most complete listing and details of likely permanent US bases in Iraq that I've seen.

The Army suicide rate is up again. I don't have enough of a sense of the data to say if this is significant, but it is noteworthy.

You may have seen this, but during President Bush's trip to California, protesters managed to block the President's passage, forcing him to move the meeting he had scheduled at Stanford.

Russia and Iran have reportedly come to an agreement on enriching uranium in Russia for Iranian reactors. My question on this is how they then transport it back to Iran. None of the routes look particularly secure to me.

And, lastly, Nigeria is buying itself out of its Paris Club debt. This is significant because it reflects a growing trend. For generations, the US has controlled second world nations through incredible amounts of debt, forcing privatization and other neoliberal economic policies. Argentina bought its freedom after the IMF collapsed their economy, and Russia bought it's freedom a couple of years ago.