The Flashlight, Dec. 30, 2006 - Jan. 5, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, December 30, 2006 – January 5, 2007
Iraq
NYTimes 1-1. US deaths in the Iraq War passed the 3000 mark. The US turned over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi Shiite dominated government, which promptly hung him, to jeers. A secret photographer took pictures and they appeared soon after in the mass media. The photographer was later arrested.
NYTimes 1-5. Lt. Gen. Petraeus was appointed head of US military operations in Iraq.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Importance of Settlement
NYTimes 1-4. Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush, argued that a vigorous effort to resolve
the Israeli-Arab Conflict was important because:
1. It would push Iran into a more defensive position.
2. Hizbollah and Hamas would lose their rallying principle.
3. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states would assist in stabilizing Iraq.
He argued that a settlement is feasible because Arab leaders are keen to resolve the conflict, and perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as well. Moreover,
An agreement on settlement of the conflict was negotiated in 2000, and a plan for implementation in 2002. What is needed now is to put it into effect, and that requires U.S. leadership.
US Politics
NYTimes 1-4. The new Democratic led Congress went into session. The Democrats moved immediately to sever ties between legislators and lobbyists by rules forbidding gifts and free travel on corporate jets. They sought to end pressures on trade groups and lobbying firms to hire Republicans.
Democrats said that they would follow a pay as you go policy on government finance, but made no mention of reversing Bush tax cuts.
Rep. Charlie Rangel, Chairman of the important House Ways and Means Committee, moved into the suite formerly occupied by Vice President Cheney.
Rep. John Conyers, one of the minority of Democrats who favor impeaching Pres. Bush, became Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He announced six hearings on the Iraq War and the “war on terror.”
The White House announced some new appointments. John Negroponte was shifted from Director of Intelligence to Deputy Secretary of State. Admiral Mike McConnell, an intelligence specialist, will replace him as Director of Intelligence. Zalmay Khalilazad, born in Afghanistan, became the US Ambassador to the UN.
CNN. 1-4. The NY Daily News reported that Pres. Bush, in a recent signing statement, claimed the right to open the first class mail of US citizens.
Reform in Health Care
NYTimes 1-3. Paul Krugman summarized the case for health care reform in 2007. He said that today there are 47 million Americans (out of c. 300 million) who have no health insurance, and many more who have inadequate insurance. People who have the slightest hint of a pre-existing condition are denied insurance.
Lack of insurance causes millions of Americans severe financial distress and thousands of premature deaths.
The US is the only advanced country which does not provide essential health care to its civilian population. The US health care system is very inefficient. American spend more on health care per person than any other nation, and yet they have the highest infant mortality and rate and life expectancy than the people of any other advanced country.
The causes of this inefficiency are:
1. The high cost of excessive paperwork and high overhead of private insurance companies.
2. Private insurers do not pay for preventive care. [Kaiser Permanente is an exception.]
3. The US is far behind in the use of electronic medical records.
Of the candidates for President in 2008, so far only former Senator John Edwards has called for universal health insurance. Other Democratic candidates have called for insurance coverage for all children.
Science: the Electric Brain
NY Times 12-30. The human brain is powered by electricity. It constantly generates twelve watts of energy.
Human beings tend to add meaning to events that have none.
According to a recent issue of Nature, the leading British journal of science, by stimulating the brain with electricity, scientists can produce a sense of being haunted by a shadowy figure, or ghost. But only two subjects have been studied so far.
Iraq
NYTimes 1-1. US deaths in the Iraq War passed the 3000 mark. The US turned over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi Shiite dominated government, which promptly hung him, to jeers. A secret photographer took pictures and they appeared soon after in the mass media. The photographer was later arrested.
NYTimes 1-5. Lt. Gen. Petraeus was appointed head of US military operations in Iraq.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Importance of Settlement
NYTimes 1-4. Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush, argued that a vigorous effort to resolve
the Israeli-Arab Conflict was important because:
1. It would push Iran into a more defensive position.
2. Hizbollah and Hamas would lose their rallying principle.
3. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states would assist in stabilizing Iraq.
He argued that a settlement is feasible because Arab leaders are keen to resolve the conflict, and perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as well. Moreover,
An agreement on settlement of the conflict was negotiated in 2000, and a plan for implementation in 2002. What is needed now is to put it into effect, and that requires U.S. leadership.
US Politics
NYTimes 1-4. The new Democratic led Congress went into session. The Democrats moved immediately to sever ties between legislators and lobbyists by rules forbidding gifts and free travel on corporate jets. They sought to end pressures on trade groups and lobbying firms to hire Republicans.
Democrats said that they would follow a pay as you go policy on government finance, but made no mention of reversing Bush tax cuts.
Rep. Charlie Rangel, Chairman of the important House Ways and Means Committee, moved into the suite formerly occupied by Vice President Cheney.
Rep. John Conyers, one of the minority of Democrats who favor impeaching Pres. Bush, became Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He announced six hearings on the Iraq War and the “war on terror.”
The White House announced some new appointments. John Negroponte was shifted from Director of Intelligence to Deputy Secretary of State. Admiral Mike McConnell, an intelligence specialist, will replace him as Director of Intelligence. Zalmay Khalilazad, born in Afghanistan, became the US Ambassador to the UN.
CNN. 1-4. The NY Daily News reported that Pres. Bush, in a recent signing statement, claimed the right to open the first class mail of US citizens.
Reform in Health Care
NYTimes 1-3. Paul Krugman summarized the case for health care reform in 2007. He said that today there are 47 million Americans (out of c. 300 million) who have no health insurance, and many more who have inadequate insurance. People who have the slightest hint of a pre-existing condition are denied insurance.
Lack of insurance causes millions of Americans severe financial distress and thousands of premature deaths.
The US is the only advanced country which does not provide essential health care to its civilian population. The US health care system is very inefficient. American spend more on health care per person than any other nation, and yet they have the highest infant mortality and rate and life expectancy than the people of any other advanced country.
The causes of this inefficiency are:
1. The high cost of excessive paperwork and high overhead of private insurance companies.
2. Private insurers do not pay for preventive care. [Kaiser Permanente is an exception.]
3. The US is far behind in the use of electronic medical records.
Of the candidates for President in 2008, so far only former Senator John Edwards has called for universal health insurance. Other Democratic candidates have called for insurance coverage for all children.
Science: the Electric Brain
NY Times 12-30. The human brain is powered by electricity. It constantly generates twelve watts of energy.
Human beings tend to add meaning to events that have none.
According to a recent issue of Nature, the leading British journal of science, by stimulating the brain with electricity, scientists can produce a sense of being haunted by a shadowy figure, or ghost. But only two subjects have been studied so far.
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 9:05 AM
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