The Flashlight May 25 - June 7, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, May 25 – June 15, 2007
The World: Global Peace Index
The Economist 6-2. The Economist decided to give peace a rating using both internal and external measures. The internal measures included crime rates, prison population, and trust between citizens. The external measures included relations with neighbors, arms sales, and foreign troop deployments. The number of nations covered: 121. The top five most peaceful were: (1) Norway (2) New Zealand (3) Denmark (4) Ireland (5) Japan.
The worst five were: Nigeria (117) Russia (118) Israel (119) Sudan (120) and Iraq (121).
The United States ranked 96th, just above Iran, 97th.
The Middle East
Iraq
CNN 5-25. Moqtada as-Sadr has returned from Iran. Iran is now training “special operations” units in the Mahdi Army for kidnapping and killing.
Truthout.com 5-28. The first benchmark on the new US funding for Iraq is the passage of the Iraqi oil bill. It provides that only 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields should be controlled by the Iraqi government, contrary to the policies of all the other oil possessing nations in the Middle East. The bill would open up bidding for the exploitation of Iraqi oil fields by foreign oil companies on 20-30 year contracts. These companies claim that Iraqi is in desperate need for foreign capital and expertise to update its oil industry. This is misleading. Iraqi oil is easy to extract and does not need heavy new investment on a long-term basis to “modernize.” Iraq could easily obtain foreign capital and technology on short-term contracts, like those of other Middle Eastern countries.
The Iraqi Parliament has not taken action so far on the oil bill or any other benchmark in the US military funding bill. Parliament has passed a bill opposing the continued presence of US forces in Iraq.
UPI 6-7. The female leader of the Iraqi electrical workers union has been on a 12-city 36-day tour of the US, representing Iraqi labor unions, and she met with John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO. The unions oppose the U.S. designed oil bill and want all US troops and private contractors to withdraw from Iraq.
Washington Post 6-10. US officials foresee a “post-occupation” US presence in Iraq “for years”. By late 2008 or early 2009 about two-thirds of the present US force will be withdrawn. The US will leave behind “special operations” units to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. A command and logistics center will remain, manned by 10,000 US troops plus “some civilian contractors.” [read mercenaries].
It seems that the effort to organize new Iraqi security forces has failed.
The American Embassy in the Green Zone is the largest foreign embassy on the planet, a home for thousands, supplying its own food, water, electricity, and entertainment. It has cost over $592 million to build and fortify. There are five or six other big US bases.
Az.Zaman, Baghdad 6-10. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of American forces in the “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad, said that the Iraqi police are corrupt and that the Maliki government continues to make sectarian biased (pro-Shia) decisions.
The Kurds complained that a Turkish army of 30,000 men backed by tanks and helicopters has been making incursions in the territory of northern Iraq. Moqtada as-Sadr condemned the incursions but Condalizza Rice said the US can’t do anything about them.
Algeria: Women
Today Algerian women have emerged as a power to be reckoned with. They constitute 70%of lawyers, 60% of judges, and are dominant in medicine. They are starting to take over the government bureaucracy. They constitute 60% of university students. Females marry on average at the age of 29.
The men try to earn money in trade, leave the country in search of employment, or loaf. There is little religious and political extremism now in Algeria.
Lebanon
EuroNews 6-13. In Beirut another member of the anti-Syrian pro-government faction of Siniora-Hariri has been assassinated, along with his son and two bodyguards.
Israel
FCNL, Jim Fine. 6-7, Senators Feinstein, Lugar, Dodd, and Hagel have introduced a resolution calling for a two-state solution and intensified diplomatic efforts in solving the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Guardian 6-10. In Britain, unions, academics, and journalists are in furious debate over the use of sanctions against Israeli goods and disinvestment in Israel.
In the year 2006, the Palestinians killed 27 Israelis. The Israelis killed 650 Palestinians, of which 120 were children.
6-13, Veteran Labor Party leader Shimon Peres was elected President of Israel.
Washington Post 6-15. Hamas is in control of Gaza after a struggle with Fatah. The policies of the Bush Administration in this area have completely failed.
United States
Politics
5-25. NY Times poll. 69% of all Americans now oppose the Iraq War.
CNN 6-11, Hilary Clinton has increased her lead among Democratic presidential candidates to 48%, Women strongly support her. She is admired as strong and experienced, but not so likeable. Gov. Richardson of New Mexico has increased his support to double digits. He is of Latino descent.
CNN 6-11. A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that the federal government cannot indefinitely hold a terrorist suspect present in the US legally. He must be charged and tried, or released. The court did not recognize the category “enemy combatant.”
CNN 6-12. After the Republican presidential candidates debate in New Hampshire, Gov. Mitt Romney came out ahead by a narrow margin. He did well with conservatives and was seen as likeable.
Robert Mueller, Director of the F.B.I. was criticized for using a plane belonging to the Bureau for personal use. Congress gave the plane to the Bureau to fight terrorism.
65% of Americans disapprove of the current Democratic- controlled Congress, 36% approve. This is as bad as the rating of the late Republican controlled congress.
CNN 6-13, The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed two former White House aids, Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers, to testify on the politicization of the Department of Justice.
Science: Stem Cell Research Discovery
NYTimes 6-7. Japanese biologist Shinya Yamanaha of Kyoto University and his team were able to make skin cells of mice work like stem cells. In this way they can create heart, kidney, and liver cells when needed. All that is necessary is to insert four particular genes into the skin cell. This work was published in Nature and Cell-Stem-Cell. However, procedures that work in mice often do not transfer to human use.
Important New Books on American Politics and Society
Albert Gore. The Assault on Reason. New York, 2007.
This is a comprehensive well-organized critique of the Bush Administration. Gore says that a number of important moral issues are called [merely] “political.” They are global warming, the funding of FEMA, and ending of the Iraq War. He charges that Bush has outsourced the truth on public policy to special interest groups.
Robert Frank. Richistan. A Journey Through the Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich. New York, 2007.
In 1985 there were 13 billionaires. Now there are more than one thousand. They have there own health care system, a travel network of private jets, and destination clubs. Most obtain their billionaire status not by inheritance, but by buying out a company. Anyone owning $10 million or less they regard as merely “affluent,” meaning not really rich. After interviewing the new rich the author thought they were dreadful and not very happy.
Chalmers Johnson. Nemesis. The Last Days of the American Republican Republic. NY 2007.
The author claims that the United States is now an empire, comparable to the British and Roman Empires of the past. Most Americans find this incredible, since they think the US has no colonies. “But it does!” says the author. There are officially 737 US military bases in foreign countries, including 132 of the 190 member states of the United Nations. Actually, there are probably over 1000 military bases. The US Embassy in Baghdad is a big base containing 104 acres, the largest embassy on the planet.
The World: Global Peace Index
The Economist 6-2. The Economist decided to give peace a rating using both internal and external measures. The internal measures included crime rates, prison population, and trust between citizens. The external measures included relations with neighbors, arms sales, and foreign troop deployments. The number of nations covered: 121. The top five most peaceful were: (1) Norway (2) New Zealand (3) Denmark (4) Ireland (5) Japan.
The worst five were: Nigeria (117) Russia (118) Israel (119) Sudan (120) and Iraq (121).
The United States ranked 96th, just above Iran, 97th.
The Middle East
Iraq
CNN 5-25. Moqtada as-Sadr has returned from Iran. Iran is now training “special operations” units in the Mahdi Army for kidnapping and killing.
Truthout.com 5-28. The first benchmark on the new US funding for Iraq is the passage of the Iraqi oil bill. It provides that only 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields should be controlled by the Iraqi government, contrary to the policies of all the other oil possessing nations in the Middle East. The bill would open up bidding for the exploitation of Iraqi oil fields by foreign oil companies on 20-30 year contracts. These companies claim that Iraqi is in desperate need for foreign capital and expertise to update its oil industry. This is misleading. Iraqi oil is easy to extract and does not need heavy new investment on a long-term basis to “modernize.” Iraq could easily obtain foreign capital and technology on short-term contracts, like those of other Middle Eastern countries.
The Iraqi Parliament has not taken action so far on the oil bill or any other benchmark in the US military funding bill. Parliament has passed a bill opposing the continued presence of US forces in Iraq.
UPI 6-7. The female leader of the Iraqi electrical workers union has been on a 12-city 36-day tour of the US, representing Iraqi labor unions, and she met with John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO. The unions oppose the U.S. designed oil bill and want all US troops and private contractors to withdraw from Iraq.
Washington Post 6-10. US officials foresee a “post-occupation” US presence in Iraq “for years”. By late 2008 or early 2009 about two-thirds of the present US force will be withdrawn. The US will leave behind “special operations” units to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. A command and logistics center will remain, manned by 10,000 US troops plus “some civilian contractors.” [read mercenaries].
It seems that the effort to organize new Iraqi security forces has failed.
The American Embassy in the Green Zone is the largest foreign embassy on the planet, a home for thousands, supplying its own food, water, electricity, and entertainment. It has cost over $592 million to build and fortify. There are five or six other big US bases.
Az.Zaman, Baghdad 6-10. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of American forces in the “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad, said that the Iraqi police are corrupt and that the Maliki government continues to make sectarian biased (pro-Shia) decisions.
The Kurds complained that a Turkish army of 30,000 men backed by tanks and helicopters has been making incursions in the territory of northern Iraq. Moqtada as-Sadr condemned the incursions but Condalizza Rice said the US can’t do anything about them.
Algeria: Women
Today Algerian women have emerged as a power to be reckoned with. They constitute 70%of lawyers, 60% of judges, and are dominant in medicine. They are starting to take over the government bureaucracy. They constitute 60% of university students. Females marry on average at the age of 29.
The men try to earn money in trade, leave the country in search of employment, or loaf. There is little religious and political extremism now in Algeria.
Lebanon
EuroNews 6-13. In Beirut another member of the anti-Syrian pro-government faction of Siniora-Hariri has been assassinated, along with his son and two bodyguards.
Israel
FCNL, Jim Fine. 6-7, Senators Feinstein, Lugar, Dodd, and Hagel have introduced a resolution calling for a two-state solution and intensified diplomatic efforts in solving the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Guardian 6-10. In Britain, unions, academics, and journalists are in furious debate over the use of sanctions against Israeli goods and disinvestment in Israel.
In the year 2006, the Palestinians killed 27 Israelis. The Israelis killed 650 Palestinians, of which 120 were children.
6-13, Veteran Labor Party leader Shimon Peres was elected President of Israel.
Washington Post 6-15. Hamas is in control of Gaza after a struggle with Fatah. The policies of the Bush Administration in this area have completely failed.
United States
Politics
5-25. NY Times poll. 69% of all Americans now oppose the Iraq War.
CNN 6-11, Hilary Clinton has increased her lead among Democratic presidential candidates to 48%, Women strongly support her. She is admired as strong and experienced, but not so likeable. Gov. Richardson of New Mexico has increased his support to double digits. He is of Latino descent.
CNN 6-11. A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that the federal government cannot indefinitely hold a terrorist suspect present in the US legally. He must be charged and tried, or released. The court did not recognize the category “enemy combatant.”
CNN 6-12. After the Republican presidential candidates debate in New Hampshire, Gov. Mitt Romney came out ahead by a narrow margin. He did well with conservatives and was seen as likeable.
Robert Mueller, Director of the F.B.I. was criticized for using a plane belonging to the Bureau for personal use. Congress gave the plane to the Bureau to fight terrorism.
65% of Americans disapprove of the current Democratic- controlled Congress, 36% approve. This is as bad as the rating of the late Republican controlled congress.
CNN 6-13, The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed two former White House aids, Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers, to testify on the politicization of the Department of Justice.
Science: Stem Cell Research Discovery
NYTimes 6-7. Japanese biologist Shinya Yamanaha of Kyoto University and his team were able to make skin cells of mice work like stem cells. In this way they can create heart, kidney, and liver cells when needed. All that is necessary is to insert four particular genes into the skin cell. This work was published in Nature and Cell-Stem-Cell. However, procedures that work in mice often do not transfer to human use.
Important New Books on American Politics and Society
Albert Gore. The Assault on Reason. New York, 2007.
This is a comprehensive well-organized critique of the Bush Administration. Gore says that a number of important moral issues are called [merely] “political.” They are global warming, the funding of FEMA, and ending of the Iraq War. He charges that Bush has outsourced the truth on public policy to special interest groups.
Robert Frank. Richistan. A Journey Through the Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich. New York, 2007.
In 1985 there were 13 billionaires. Now there are more than one thousand. They have there own health care system, a travel network of private jets, and destination clubs. Most obtain their billionaire status not by inheritance, but by buying out a company. Anyone owning $10 million or less they regard as merely “affluent,” meaning not really rich. After interviewing the new rich the author thought they were dreadful and not very happy.
Chalmers Johnson. Nemesis. The Last Days of the American Republican Republic. NY 2007.
The author claims that the United States is now an empire, comparable to the British and Roman Empires of the past. Most Americans find this incredible, since they think the US has no colonies. “But it does!” says the author. There are officially 737 US military bases in foreign countries, including 132 of the 190 member states of the United Nations. Actually, there are probably over 1000 military bases. The US Embassy in Baghdad is a big base containing 104 acres, the largest embassy on the planet.
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