Chilled Words on a Cold Election Night

American conservatives are happy tonight, as most of their candidates for legitimately contested political office are winning. What could this event bring to the United States? Well, a lot of depressing actions. Here's an upcoming GOP menu for your digestion:

• Turning pregnant women into potential felons
• Dismembering health care fairness
• Voter repression campaigns aimed at minorities (why are conservatives afraid of people of color?)
• The evisceration of many environmental protections
• The disintegration of church-state separation
• The spectacle of Southern Republicans denouncing the federal government while pitching for increased defense spending in their respective districts

Of course, there are GOP presidential candidates to consider:
Scott Walker
Chris Christie
Rand Paul
Ted Cruz
Marco Rubio
Mitt Romney (!)
and the "moderate" Republican's great white hope, Jeb Bush

I'm trying to imagine any of this group in the same room with Vladimir Putin. If there's a wager in play, take Putin and the points against any of these right-wing lightweights (Bush excepted).

Tonight's voting let me to think about writers, in the belief that words can still sway minds to specific paths of thought and action. For books such as Albert Camus' La Peste, Leonardo Sciascia's Il Giorno della Civetta, Andrea Camilleri's Il  Cane de Terra-Cotta, Edna O'Brien's Country Girls, Chester Himes' Cotton Comes to Harlem, Anais Nin's diaries, and all other works that attempt to explore and depict reality, I take hope and, with them, defy tonight's vote that unfortunately delivered a profound ignorance upon our land.

Russia and Yanks Create Hotline to Thwart Cyberwar

The Prez and Mr. Putin comparing notes
during the G-8 Summit in Ireland this week.
(photo: voanews.com)

In what now seems like ancient history, the former Soviet Union and the United States created a "hotline" to prevent unintended nuclear conflict. Once Mr. Gorbachev tore down the Berlin Wall, the need for the hotline appeared less urgent. However, a new generation in the Kremlin and in the White House has concluded that the hotline remains a very useful tool in the prevention of "miscalculation." To that end, Barack Hussein Obama and Vladimir Putin agreed to open a direct phone line to address cyber issues that could be misinterpreted as hostile acts originating from either nation.

The story, initially appearing in Ars Technica, was later posted in theverge.com. 

Russian Prime Minister Putin Characterizes US Monetary Policy as "Hooliganism"

Well, the news isn't just about allegations of cybercriminality at Rupert Murdoch's various media enterprises. Old reliable Vladimir Putin recently emerged from the shadows with some scathing comments about American economic policy.

According to a report in the Russian state news service Rianovosti, and noted in the financial blog Zero Hedge, the former KGB boss indicated disgust with the current situation. "'Thank God, or unfortunately, we do not print a reserve currency, but what are they doing,'" Putin sharply observed. "'They are behaving like hooligans, switching on the printing press and tossing them around the world...'"

The image shows a young woman wearing a "Putin shirt."