The Flashlight, Mar. 31 - Apr. 5
THE FLASHLIGHT, March 31 – April 5, 2007
Editorial note. The editor will henceforth be consulting regularly the Arabic newspaper Az-Zaman, (The Times), an independent journal published in Baghdad but based in London. Translations from the Arabic are this editor’s. M. Matossian.
The Iraq War
While the White House and Congress joust, an authoritative voice came from Maj. Gen. (ret.), Robert H. Scales, who, writing in The Washington Times 3-30, said: “We’re running out of soldiers faster than we’re running out of war fighting missions. The troops will be coming home soon. There simply are too few to sustain the surge for very much longer.”
Az.Zaman 4-5. The al-Maliki government is emptying the bodies from the morgue refrigerators in Baghdad and burying them in mass graves outside Karbala and Najaf. The government tries to keep the number secret, but a local source in Karbala says that since last June 2,252 bodies have been buried outside Karbala alone. Most bodies show evidence of torture with electric drills and acid fluids. The government forbids funerals at the mass graves. It also forbids journalists from covering the burials.
Supreme Court ruling on Global Warming
4-3. NY Times editorial, says “it is hard to overstate the importance” of the Supreme Court’s environmental rulings. The Court criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate emissions from cars, trucks and coal-fired plants, which it had the authority to do under the present Clean Air Act. However, some commentators said Congress too must take action to improve the situation.
Presidential Campaign 2008
For the first time on record, the Democratic candidates for President raised more money ($80 million) than the Republican candidates ($50 million) in the first three months of this year. Hilary Clinton raised $26 million, Barack Obama, $25 million, and the Mormon Republican, Mitt Romney, $23 million, although he is only third in the Republican polls.
Mexican abortion law
NY Times 3-31. A bill to permit legal abortion on demand in the national legislature is causing an uproar. Leftists and feminists complain about the total lack of contraceptives and the danger of illegal abortions, which are common among the poor. Mexico exports many illegal emigrants because it is overpopulated and cannot provide nearly enough jobs. The population of Mexico City is now eight million and air pollution is severe there.
Israel/Palestine
NYTimes 4-1. No rockets have been fired at Israel since last November, but Israel warns that Hamas is building tunnels and concrete bunkers in Gaza and smuggling in missiles and explosives. This was the tactic used by Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.
God and Sex
CNN 4-5. Special program on “Sex and Salvation.” With Anderson Cooper, one hour. Matt Keller, an evangelical preacher of the Next Level Church in Ft. Myers, Florida is shown proclaiming: “God created sex. God is for sex.” But this is a bait-and-switch tactic: he means sex within marriage. He thinks sex is not ok outside of marriage.
The Bush Administration’s abstinence program to persuade adolescents to take a purity vow has been found to be unsuccessful. Having made a promise to have no sex before marriage, nine out of ten break it.
The American Psychological Association’s position is that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and does not need treatment. However, many churches try hard to treat, and many gay people try hard to change, with scant demonstrable success.
Editorial note. The editor will henceforth be consulting regularly the Arabic newspaper Az-Zaman, (The Times), an independent journal published in Baghdad but based in London. Translations from the Arabic are this editor’s. M. Matossian.
The Iraq War
While the White House and Congress joust, an authoritative voice came from Maj. Gen. (ret.), Robert H. Scales, who, writing in The Washington Times 3-30, said: “We’re running out of soldiers faster than we’re running out of war fighting missions. The troops will be coming home soon. There simply are too few to sustain the surge for very much longer.”
Az.Zaman 4-5. The al-Maliki government is emptying the bodies from the morgue refrigerators in Baghdad and burying them in mass graves outside Karbala and Najaf. The government tries to keep the number secret, but a local source in Karbala says that since last June 2,252 bodies have been buried outside Karbala alone. Most bodies show evidence of torture with electric drills and acid fluids. The government forbids funerals at the mass graves. It also forbids journalists from covering the burials.
Supreme Court ruling on Global Warming
4-3. NY Times editorial, says “it is hard to overstate the importance” of the Supreme Court’s environmental rulings. The Court criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate emissions from cars, trucks and coal-fired plants, which it had the authority to do under the present Clean Air Act. However, some commentators said Congress too must take action to improve the situation.
Presidential Campaign 2008
For the first time on record, the Democratic candidates for President raised more money ($80 million) than the Republican candidates ($50 million) in the first three months of this year. Hilary Clinton raised $26 million, Barack Obama, $25 million, and the Mormon Republican, Mitt Romney, $23 million, although he is only third in the Republican polls.
Mexican abortion law
NY Times 3-31. A bill to permit legal abortion on demand in the national legislature is causing an uproar. Leftists and feminists complain about the total lack of contraceptives and the danger of illegal abortions, which are common among the poor. Mexico exports many illegal emigrants because it is overpopulated and cannot provide nearly enough jobs. The population of Mexico City is now eight million and air pollution is severe there.
Israel/Palestine
NYTimes 4-1. No rockets have been fired at Israel since last November, but Israel warns that Hamas is building tunnels and concrete bunkers in Gaza and smuggling in missiles and explosives. This was the tactic used by Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.
God and Sex
CNN 4-5. Special program on “Sex and Salvation.” With Anderson Cooper, one hour. Matt Keller, an evangelical preacher of the Next Level Church in Ft. Myers, Florida is shown proclaiming: “God created sex. God is for sex.” But this is a bait-and-switch tactic: he means sex within marriage. He thinks sex is not ok outside of marriage.
The Bush Administration’s abstinence program to persuade adolescents to take a purity vow has been found to be unsuccessful. Having made a promise to have no sex before marriage, nine out of ten break it.
The American Psychological Association’s position is that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and does not need treatment. However, many churches try hard to treat, and many gay people try hard to change, with scant demonstrable success.
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 7:21 AM
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