Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Booze Ban In Basrah

By Cernig



After lots of PR and media stenography about how Basrah was now more open, with bars opening again and music in the streets...now, the far quieter turnaround arrives.

Alcohol has been banned in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.

The provincial Basra Council has approved a new law enforcing the ban in the territory, the Voices of Iraq news agency cited Council president Nasif al-Ibadi as saying.

The alcohol in the province was approved late on Wednesday, al-Ibadi said.

"You will not be able to cross the borders between Iraq and other neighbouring countries carrying loads of alcohol to other parts of the country," he stated.

The local administration applied the change under Article 2 of the Iraqi constitution that includes the application of Sharia law.

The alcohol ban appears to be one of several changes in the area following an offensive by Iraqi security forces against the Shia militias of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr a month ago.

Several local bars reopened in Basra recently after being closed for four years. They began serving alcohol after soldiers arrived from Baghdad to carry out the military offensive.

Well, now that they've served their purpose, those Potemkin Pubs have been closed again as the regional government invokes Sharia law. Plus ca change, plus ce la meme chose.



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