International Angle: South China Sea

So as happens from time to time, China decides they own parts of the world other countries also claim to own.  If ever there's going to be a major conflict between sovereign nations in the near future, this is what it'll be over--islands, fisheries, and mineral resources in the South China Sea.

Currently, the Chinese government is a little pissed off that the US has been advocating a local, multi-lateral solution to the disputes through Asean, the Association of South East Asian Nations.  According to the BBC, state-run media in China is accusing the US of "attempting to sow discord in order to fish for advantage."

Mrs. Clinton's actual statement? <>(BBC, 1101 9/5/12)

Yep, them's fighting words alright.  Our apologies for not urging everyone to surrender their sovereign rights to the desires of the Chinese government, of course.  Perhaps America is historically qualified to judge thinly-veiled imperialistic endeavors, just maybe?

International Angle: South Africans Decide NOT to Use Apartheid-era Law Afterall

So let's say you're out on strike.  While you're out on the picket line, a group of your union brothers and sisters gets a lil rowdy, and starts throwing rocks at the cops.  The cops open fire with lethal force (as they do) and kill a bunch of the picket line.  Turn the page.

You're charged with the murder of those other picketers.  The ones the cops shot.  Because the picketers were throwing rocks.  While you were chanting slogans.

No folks, that's not a plot hole.  That's just the gut reaction of the South African government when police opened fire on a group of miners refusing to go back to work.  Interestingly enough, the law forming the basis for this decision was designed by the apartheid-era government in order to keep the black population down.

Consistency.  It's a myth.

But apparently prosecutors figured out this isn't the wisest move, and "provisionally dropped charges."