THE FLASHLIGHT, April 20-27, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, April 20-27, 2007
US Violence
[News media this week focused their attention on the murder of 32 students and Virginia Technical College on 4-21 by a student of South Korean origin. The coverage may have been exaggerated because there was little news of importance elsewhere. The event was unusual because of the high number of casualties and the college context. This college plays an important role in preparing students for the military.]
PBS 4-21. There is a federal law against selling guns to the mentally ill, but it is up to the states to enforce it, and the states provide little oversight. Moreover, the killer in this case, Seung-Hui Cho, was able to buy one of his guns on the Internet. He had been diagnosed as mentally ill two years before, but he ignored the call for outpatient treatment and was not committed to an institution.
A child from a poor immigrant family, Cho had a sister who graduated from Princeton. He was apparently a disappointment to his parents. His case had the following characteristics typical of school shooter: 1) he spoke little, behaved strangely as a child and was bullied in school 2) he had no adult whom he trusted and could talk to 3) he talked of suicide and what he planned to do before acquiring a weapon. 4) He was paranoid: he thought the world was against him. The college said that it did not have enough psychological counselors to deal with the need,
US Economy
CNN 4-23. Gasoline prices are expected to rise to $4.00 a gallon next month.
PBS 4-26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-tune high of 13,050. But housing was weak: existing home sales fell sharply in March.
Iraq : Mercenaries
4-20. The Daily Show, Comedy Central. Jon Steward interviewed Jeremy Cahill, author of Blackwater, a major military contractor in Iraq. It has a $750 million contract with the State Department to provide private soldiers for service there. Some are paid $30,000 a month. They are better trained and equipped than the regular US military. They may also have a higher casualty rate: their casualties are not counted in the official US toll. They are exempt from the usual military codes of behavior.
The number of private contractors in Iraq according to the author is 126,000 (Rep, Murtha: 125,000). The percentage of military contractors in this total is not known.
[When the US withdraws its official military forces from Iraq, it may not have to withdraw these mercenaries. The oil companies who win contracts with the Iraqi government can hire the mercenaries as security guards.]
Iraq: Oil
4-20. Times Herald in Google News. New estimates of Iraq’s oil reserves have increased from 116 million barrels to 200 million: the new reserves are thought to be in the Western desert.
4-25. Az-Zaman. The Iraq Kurds opposed the new oil law.
Turkish and Canadian firms have signed agreements to develop oil in northern Iraq; Ireland, to develop it in the southern part.
Iraqi Suffering
NY Times 4-22 and FCNL 4-27. An estimated 100 Iraqis are dying per day. Two-thirds have no clean water. With half the doctors gone, the health care system is near collapse.
. About two million Iraqis are displaced within Iraq. Another two million are refugees in Syria and Jordan. Kuwait is closed to refugees and Saudi Arabia is closing. The US, on account of tight security requirements, has accepted only 500 Iraqi refugees.
The Sunni neighbors of Iraq
Several Arab countries are planning a conference next May 3-4 at Sharm ash-Sheikh (Egypt) to replace withdrawing American troops. Two Sunni countries – Egypt and Saudi Arabia – plan to occupy the Sunni areas of northern Iraq. [This would balance the heavy involvement of Iranian Shias in the Shia areas of the south.] The conference affirmed emphatically that all American troops had to be withdrawn from Iraq.
Science: Salt and Health
A reduction of salt intake by 25 – 35% has been found to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 25% - 30% in the following fifteen years.
US Violence
[News media this week focused their attention on the murder of 32 students and Virginia Technical College on 4-21 by a student of South Korean origin. The coverage may have been exaggerated because there was little news of importance elsewhere. The event was unusual because of the high number of casualties and the college context. This college plays an important role in preparing students for the military.]
PBS 4-21. There is a federal law against selling guns to the mentally ill, but it is up to the states to enforce it, and the states provide little oversight. Moreover, the killer in this case, Seung-Hui Cho, was able to buy one of his guns on the Internet. He had been diagnosed as mentally ill two years before, but he ignored the call for outpatient treatment and was not committed to an institution.
A child from a poor immigrant family, Cho had a sister who graduated from Princeton. He was apparently a disappointment to his parents. His case had the following characteristics typical of school shooter: 1) he spoke little, behaved strangely as a child and was bullied in school 2) he had no adult whom he trusted and could talk to 3) he talked of suicide and what he planned to do before acquiring a weapon. 4) He was paranoid: he thought the world was against him. The college said that it did not have enough psychological counselors to deal with the need,
US Economy
CNN 4-23. Gasoline prices are expected to rise to $4.00 a gallon next month.
PBS 4-26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-tune high of 13,050. But housing was weak: existing home sales fell sharply in March.
Iraq : Mercenaries
4-20. The Daily Show, Comedy Central. Jon Steward interviewed Jeremy Cahill, author of Blackwater, a major military contractor in Iraq. It has a $750 million contract with the State Department to provide private soldiers for service there. Some are paid $30,000 a month. They are better trained and equipped than the regular US military. They may also have a higher casualty rate: their casualties are not counted in the official US toll. They are exempt from the usual military codes of behavior.
The number of private contractors in Iraq according to the author is 126,000 (Rep, Murtha: 125,000). The percentage of military contractors in this total is not known.
[When the US withdraws its official military forces from Iraq, it may not have to withdraw these mercenaries. The oil companies who win contracts with the Iraqi government can hire the mercenaries as security guards.]
Iraq: Oil
4-20. Times Herald in Google News. New estimates of Iraq’s oil reserves have increased from 116 million barrels to 200 million: the new reserves are thought to be in the Western desert.
4-25. Az-Zaman. The Iraq Kurds opposed the new oil law.
Turkish and Canadian firms have signed agreements to develop oil in northern Iraq; Ireland, to develop it in the southern part.
Iraqi Suffering
NY Times 4-22 and FCNL 4-27. An estimated 100 Iraqis are dying per day. Two-thirds have no clean water. With half the doctors gone, the health care system is near collapse.
. About two million Iraqis are displaced within Iraq. Another two million are refugees in Syria and Jordan. Kuwait is closed to refugees and Saudi Arabia is closing. The US, on account of tight security requirements, has accepted only 500 Iraqi refugees.
The Sunni neighbors of Iraq
Several Arab countries are planning a conference next May 3-4 at Sharm ash-Sheikh (Egypt) to replace withdrawing American troops. Two Sunni countries – Egypt and Saudi Arabia – plan to occupy the Sunni areas of northern Iraq. [This would balance the heavy involvement of Iranian Shias in the Shia areas of the south.] The conference affirmed emphatically that all American troops had to be withdrawn from Iraq.
Science: Salt and Health
A reduction of salt intake by 25 – 35% has been found to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 25% - 30% in the following fifteen years.
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 10:20 AM
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