Whats Next? War With Spain?

John McCain said that we'd be fighting more wars, but I had no idea when he said it that Spain could be a part of those "rogue" nations. Our NATO ally and specifically Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was dissed by McCain in an interview by El Pais, the largest newspaper in Spain. Either it was a slap in the face, or McCain completely forgot who Zapatero and with that, what his talking point should be.

From ThinkProgress:

McCain proceeded to launch into what appeared to be a boilerplate declaration about Mexico and Latin America — but not Spain — pressing the need to stand up to world leaders who want to harm America. “I will meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us cooperatively,” according to one translation. The reporter repeated the question two more times, apparently trying to clarify, but McCain referred again to Latin America.

Finally, the questioner said, “Okay, but I’m talking about Europe - the president of Spain, would you meet with him?” The Senator offered only a slight variance to his initial comment. “I will reunite with any leader that has the same principles and philosophy that we do: human rights, democracy, and liberty. And I will confront those that don’t [have them].”

What was the question praytell? Simply, would you meet with the head of the Spanish government. Apparently that was a tough one for the old "maverick." Then it gets worse today when the campaign responds to everyone's bewilderment. To make the candidate look competent, Randy Schunemann said that McCain did indeed mean to not meet with Zapatero, but didn't go into detail on why. It is especially odd because as TP points out, McCain said he would meet with our NATO ally back in April. For someone that claims to be strongest on foreign policy, this is a frightening development for a potential President of the United States.

The Water Wars Are Coming Soon

Although it is not widely known in the general populace of the west, more than one billion people do not have access to fresh water and sanitation problems exist for one out of every three people. Even when that statistic is read to westerners, it is processed with a sigh, a compassionate thought or two and then dismissed until somebody brings it up again, though each time jades the listener that much more. The problem with this is that just because water problems exist in the third world, it doesn't mean they can't come here.

In the Southeastern United States, people in Florida and Georgia got a good wakeup call to what happens with water shortages. There were no actual wars over this commodity, but tensions were definitely raised. Now it is happening again in Western Europe, specifically in regions of Spain. Things are not looking good there at all.

From The Guardian:

Already Barcelona's authorities have turned off civic fountains and beachside showers, brought in hosepipe bans, and banned the filling of swimming pools. Schoolchildren are being taught how to save water.

"We are only too aware of the crisis with the water as they have been giving my daughters classes for months on how to save water and only to use what they need," said city resident Begoña Gómez, 43, as she sipped a glass of bottled water. "But we need better management of water by the government."

As the reservoirs across Spain run dry, a "water war" has broken out, with different regions scrabbling for extra supplies.

The Socialist government, which initially opposed water transfers from one region to another, executed a political U-turn and allowed water to be pumped into Catalonia from the river Ebro in the neighbouring region of Aragon.

The move infuriated southern regions such as Murcia and Valencia, which asked for similar concessions. Both are significant agricultural areas, with a busy tourist season about to start, and expect their water supplies to be hit hard.

Both areas, run by the opposition conservative Popular party, claim Spain's Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodrìguez Zapatero denied their requests for water transfers for political reasons.

Today arguments are played out at a national political level. However in the future as the water shortages get worse and worse, things have the ability to get out of hand. Water is the most important life-giving resource and people will fight to the death over it. This isn't some crazy conspiracy theory either, or else the military wouldn't be seriously considering the potential scenarios and battles that lie ahead.

Another Award For Gore

The man on an environmental mission has been recognized for his work yet again, this time by Spain with the Prince of Asturias award for International Cooperation. The world clearly sees Al Gore as an agent of positive change for the environment with his highly acclaimed "An Inconvenient Truth" documentary, his new book "An Assault On Reason" and the upcoming concert extravaganza "Live Earth." He is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize later this year, but there's nothing wrong with receiving this honor in Spain.

From RawStory:

In a statement, the Prince of Asturias prize organizers said Gore is "one of the most influential leaders in the world in the fight against climate change."

"He has focused his public activity on promoting an awareness of humanity's responsibility for global warming and the urgent need to adopt measures that will mitigate its consequences," the statement added.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation gives out eight awards annually for outstanding contributions to areas ranging from the arts and science to sports and international cooperation.

The award also comes with a prize of 50,000 Euros ($67,500) for each recipient as well as a sculpture by artist Joan Miro. The cash sounds like a nice contribution to helping combat carbon by adding wind or solar power to our nation's power grid. As for the statue, perhaps Al can keep that for himself.