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The Pajamas Media info site is online:
Welcome to our ongoing series of biographies on contributors and bloggers who have joined our effort to gather a vast array of topics, opinions, news and personal passions into one easy-access place. While we finalize our plans and approach our online launch date, we thought you’d enjoy meeting some of the people who comprise the dazzling mix of expertise, talent and individuality of the blogosphere. Enjoy!
It's really a pleasure to be part of the team that's working on launching Pajamas Media. It's a great group, and it's very cool to have an inside look at the creation of an exciting new business. Stay tuned for more announcements coming from Pajamas Media as the launch date approaches.
N.M., MEXICO AGREE TO RAZE TOWN TO DETER IMMIGRATION:
LAS CRUCES, N.M — The dusty Mexican community of Las Chepas (search) is home to only about 35 full-time residents, but U.S. border patrol agents say a caravan of old school buses and vans hauls people into the town every day. Las Chepas, authorities say, is a staging ground for would-be immigrants and drug and human smugglers.
I was at first suprised. Mexico is strongly in favor of illegal immigration to America from Mexico. How could this have happened, I wondered. The article contains the answer:
On Friday, the governors of New Mexico and its southern neighbor, the Mexican state of Chihuahua, agreed to bulldoze or board up the lawless town's abandoned buildings to stem the illegal activity there.
So New Mexico worked out a deal with a neighboring Mexican state government, not with the Mexican national government.
According to this AP article, items yet to be resolved include:
Among other things, the five Sunnis objected to measures reserving posts for members of specific religious groups, asked for postponement of any decision on federalism, wanted all references to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party removed from the draft and insisted that the constitution identify Iraq as an Arab — and not just an Islamic — country.
Federalism appears to be the point of biggest disagreement. Reuters quotes "Hussein al-Falluji, one of 15 Sunnis on the panel drafting the constitution" as saying:
"I don't think there will be an agreement because we find federalism in principle unacceptable and that has been our position from the start."
However, as noted previously, Iraq-American Fawaz Saraf has emailed the following analysis in favor of federalism in Iraq:
Both Shiites and Kurdish representatives on the Constitutional committee as well as Shiites and Kurdish members of parliament should not compromise on the issue of federalism. A loose federation of a predominantly Kurdish northern region, a predominantly shiite southern region, a predominantly sunni western region, and region of a ethnically and religiously mixed Baghdad and possibly Kirkuk is the best hope for a stable Iraq.
The sooner Sunni leaders accept the reality that Iraq is a diverse country with very rich regional traditions and customs and the sooner they abandon their destructive delusion that we all should be united under one Iraqi (and Arab) cultural banner, the sooner Iraq can return to normalcy and stability.
Iraqi shiites and kurds, having suffered the brunt of a strong Sunni dominated central government campaign of intimidation and murder, should never again allow their regions to be controlled by a strong central government.
As for the Sunni leaders’ fear of a Shiite region dominated by Iran, I must admit that in the midst of a Sunni dominated insurgency assisted by thousands of Arab terrorists murdering Iraqis by the thousands, the audacity and hypocrisy of such fears are startling.
The Sunnis will probably have to get on board with some form of federalism before this is over.
