THE FLASHLIGHT, April 28 - May 4, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, April 28 – May 4, 2007
Iraq
CNN 4-30. Corruption in Iraq has cost the US taxpayers $5 billion dollars a year, according to a US government inspector. The money that the US allocated for construction has all been spent, and now the Iraqis will have to take over.
NYTimes 5-3. The new oil law, drawn up mainly by Americans, has not yet been debated in the Iraqi Parliament. The Kurds oppose it because they want the right to issue licenses independently to foreign developers of their choice. Added “annexes” would essentially cede control of nearly all known oil fields and related contracts to a state-owned oil company to be established after the passage of the oil law. A bloc of 44 Sunni members of Parliament think that the law would give foreign oil companies too large a role in the oil industry.
Turkey
CNN 5-1. The secular elite of Turkey has succeeded in preventing the Presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister Gul, an associate of the Islamist prime minister Erdogan, The Turkish Supreme Court cancelled the candidacy.. This provoked . 7000 to riot in Istanbul.
US Economy
CNN 4-27. The US economy grew only by 1% in the last quarter of 2006 – the worst rate in five years.
NBC 4-28. Inequality continues to increase. In 1991, the top 1% of earners received 15% of the national income. Now they received 22% of the total. The high stock prices reflect the gains of the companies who now export.
The Dow Jones Index hit a high of 13,136.
US Politics
NYTimes 4-28. According to David Brooks, conservative columnist, the Grand Old Party has become the Grim Old Party. Democrats are now favored by the public on all issues, including foreign policy. In the area of political identity, the Democrats are now crushing the Republicans in the under 30 age group. Republican officeholders are sullen and passive. They lack flexibility because of the power of big special interest groups: notably The Club For Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, and the religious fundamentalists.
4-30 Progressive Democrats of America press release. At the California State Democratic Party convention held in San Diego Progressives led a successful insurgency to invoke the misdeeds of the US President and Vice-President and to ask that they be subject to the appropriate remedies, including impeachment. Among their charges were the suspension of habeas corpus and the issuing of signing statements circumventing 750 Congressional statutes.
The California Democratic Party convention supported John Edwards for US President. [This press release received scant attention in the press.]
CBS 4-29, George Tenet, former director of the CIA, has published a book of memoirs in which he accuses the Bush Administration, especially Cheney, of starting the war in Iraq by cooking the intelligence books. Tenet said he was never present at a serious discussion as to whether or not the war ought to be undertaken. The CIA knew that Saddam had no nuclear weapons and had no hope of getting them until 2007 at least.
A number of journalists commented that Tenet did not speak up when it would have made a difference. He did not oppose the war either within the Administration or by resigning and speaking out in public.
Capital Sex
Guardian 5-1. A Capital madam who has been arrested is charged with running an “escort service” offering “massages” for the last thirteen years. The madam employed 132 woman, all college graduates, out of her home in California for a total of over 15,000 clients, according to her phone records. The agency charged $300 a hour for their services.
Scientist on Religious Education
The Skeptical Inquirer March-April 2007. Richard Dawkins, famous Oxford University defender of evolutionary theory and atheist, said that religious education is a form of “brainwashing and child abuse.”
Iraq
CNN 4-30. Corruption in Iraq has cost the US taxpayers $5 billion dollars a year, according to a US government inspector. The money that the US allocated for construction has all been spent, and now the Iraqis will have to take over.
NYTimes 5-3. The new oil law, drawn up mainly by Americans, has not yet been debated in the Iraqi Parliament. The Kurds oppose it because they want the right to issue licenses independently to foreign developers of their choice. Added “annexes” would essentially cede control of nearly all known oil fields and related contracts to a state-owned oil company to be established after the passage of the oil law. A bloc of 44 Sunni members of Parliament think that the law would give foreign oil companies too large a role in the oil industry.
Turkey
CNN 5-1. The secular elite of Turkey has succeeded in preventing the Presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister Gul, an associate of the Islamist prime minister Erdogan, The Turkish Supreme Court cancelled the candidacy.. This provoked . 7000 to riot in Istanbul.
US Economy
CNN 4-27. The US economy grew only by 1% in the last quarter of 2006 – the worst rate in five years.
NBC 4-28. Inequality continues to increase. In 1991, the top 1% of earners received 15% of the national income. Now they received 22% of the total. The high stock prices reflect the gains of the companies who now export.
The Dow Jones Index hit a high of 13,136.
US Politics
NYTimes 4-28. According to David Brooks, conservative columnist, the Grand Old Party has become the Grim Old Party. Democrats are now favored by the public on all issues, including foreign policy. In the area of political identity, the Democrats are now crushing the Republicans in the under 30 age group. Republican officeholders are sullen and passive. They lack flexibility because of the power of big special interest groups: notably The Club For Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, and the religious fundamentalists.
4-30 Progressive Democrats of America press release. At the California State Democratic Party convention held in San Diego Progressives led a successful insurgency to invoke the misdeeds of the US President and Vice-President and to ask that they be subject to the appropriate remedies, including impeachment. Among their charges were the suspension of habeas corpus and the issuing of signing statements circumventing 750 Congressional statutes.
The California Democratic Party convention supported John Edwards for US President. [This press release received scant attention in the press.]
CBS 4-29, George Tenet, former director of the CIA, has published a book of memoirs in which he accuses the Bush Administration, especially Cheney, of starting the war in Iraq by cooking the intelligence books. Tenet said he was never present at a serious discussion as to whether or not the war ought to be undertaken. The CIA knew that Saddam had no nuclear weapons and had no hope of getting them until 2007 at least.
A number of journalists commented that Tenet did not speak up when it would have made a difference. He did not oppose the war either within the Administration or by resigning and speaking out in public.
Capital Sex
Guardian 5-1. A Capital madam who has been arrested is charged with running an “escort service” offering “massages” for the last thirteen years. The madam employed 132 woman, all college graduates, out of her home in California for a total of over 15,000 clients, according to her phone records. The agency charged $300 a hour for their services.
Scientist on Religious Education
The Skeptical Inquirer March-April 2007. Richard Dawkins, famous Oxford University defender of evolutionary theory and atheist, said that religious education is a form of “brainwashing and child abuse.”
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 10:31 AM
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