Iraq's Parliament Passes Major Reconciliation Law, and other rainy afternoon items

Iraq's Parliament Passes Major Reconciliation Law

The provincial elections and powers law was bundled together with the $48 billion 2008 budget measure and another that grants limited amnesty to prisoners being held in Iraqi custody.

Kurds, who operate from a semiautonomous region in the north of the country, insisted on the unusual legislative maneuver because they feared getting double-crossed on a deal that maintained their 17% share of the national budget.

The provincial law calls for new elections in all Iraq's provinces, except those in the Kurdish region, on Oct. 1. The newly elected councils will then elect an executive committee and appoint a governor, the top provincial official. The law calls for the provinces to work with the United Nations on how the elections will operate and whether candidates will be selected by parties and voted on as a list or be listed on the ballot individually.

Most importantly, the measure would allow provinces to band together into regional governments that would begin making many decisions that now lie with the authorities in Baghdad.

In today's Iraq Update, the US Embassy in Iraq stated

the Provincial Powers Law represents an important step toward framing the balance the Iraqi people seek between central government authority and the strengthening of local governments. In passing this landmark law, Iraqi legislators have reached an historic compromise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------Via Maggie's Farm, what gun licensing leads to:

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The Archbishop's Tale, told in Middle English:
Heere Bigynneth the Tale of the Asse-Hatte

"Unfortunately, some are excited about the Archibishop's proposal:

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For peaceful purposes,
Last week the Mullahs inagurated their space program by launching a rocket.

This week Iran Puts Uranium Gas in Centrifuges.

For peaceful purposes.
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Cold?

Very.
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Marty Beckerman says that when he was at CPAC only black man I see over the course of the day cleans the restroom.

Obviously he missed the exhibit hall, since the first booth you found as you walked in was for Black Republicans Group. And then there was the presentation by Rev. Le Roy Thomas, Why Blacks Think Conservative, But Vote Liberal, and Angela McGlowan's book signing, and the folks from the Congress for Racial Equality, and a number of other things that I missed.

Next thing you know, Marty's going to say that there were no Puerto Ricans at CPAC...
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A little over two years ago Wolcott called me a rightwing blogger bouncing off the padded wall. Siggy, on the other hand, got called a hacky quack.

I'm jealous. What does a woman have to do to get a catchy handle in this town?



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