"We still have a long way to go, but the step we have taken this afternoon is a very important step in the right direction," said Olusegun Obasanjo

The UN Wire reports today (link above):

Rebels, Sudan reach agreement on Darfur After two weeks of talks, and under threat of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, the Sudanese government has agreed to disarm the Janjaweed militia, create a no-fly zone over the Darfur region and help the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced by the conflict.

If the Sudanese Government and the Janjaweed militia were *reportedly* covertly working together in the past what is it that makes this step different? When I read that I am skeptical but perhaps this means an end to the atrocity in Sudan. Am I jaded and cynical if I say I won't hold my breath?

Raise your hand if you read Harpers Weekly by Roger D. Hodge!! I was interested by the reports about last week's presidential election:

"Lines at Ohio polls were extremely long; one was estimated at 22 hours. Election software in Onslow County, North Carolina, miscounted the votes for county commissioners. Some voting machines in Broward County, Florida, started counting backward once they reached 32,000. An electronic voting machine in Ohio added 3,893 votes to President Bush's tally in a district that had only 800 voters. Four thousand five hundred and thirty early electronic votes in Carteret County, North Carolina, were lost. Votes were also lost in Palm Beach County, Florida, and in Tampa.
Journalists were still trying to figure out why exit polls -- which projected that John Kerry would win in Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Iowa -- turned out to be completely wrong. "Exit polls are almost never wrong," wrote Dick Morris. "Exit polls cannot be as wrong across the board as they were on election night. I suspect foul play." It was noted that anomalous voting patterns in Florida (where a disproportionate number of Democrats apparently voted for George W. Bush) were all confined to counties where optical-scanning machines are used to read paper ballots. Such votes are tabulated by Windows-based PCs that are vulnerable to tampering."

Hrm. That is kind of scary, no? So much for democratic and free elections. Also, for those of you who are interested, Lewis Lapham is coming on January 21st for the revolutionary Speakers series on campus.

What is really strange is that I came here to blog about Saskatchewan fans and the Hardy Cup Playoff game on Saturday but I had all this Darfur and election stuff on my mind....Clearly my priorities are out of wack.

At the Debt Sentence Bake sale this morning I found out that Erin, advocacy director of the SU, is also a Huskies fan! They are everywhere! I see that we are going to have to be louder in cheering on our Bears to drown out the Huskies fans...I can't wait for the big game! Salmon was named CIS Offensive Player of the Week! Go Salmo!

Song Du Jour: Le Tigre ~ New Kicks

I've been listening to a lot of punk rock lately (thanks to The Dude) but this morning Hudema had this CD playing in his car and New Kicks is on it...love it!!