THE FLASHLIGHT, April 19-25, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
April 19-25, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice, without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor

World Hunger

ABC, CBS 4-20. According to the UN, 850 million people in the second and third worlds are hungry as result of the “unparalleled” jump in food prices. This is especially true of Africa, where many people spend 80% of their income on food.
PBS 4-23 Food prices rose 83% in the last three years. 33 nations are endangered by food riots, including Egypt and Haiti.

US Economy

CNN 4-22. Oil price hit $120 a barrel. Bay Area gasoline price hit $4.00 a gallon.

US Presidential Primary
CNN 4-23. Hilary Clinton won in Pennsylvania by 9 points. Obama was able to cut her former double digit lead, but, according commentators, demographics and the support of local politicians for Clinton enabled her victory. 4-24. Obama still leads nationally: Clinton gained only 10 delegates. Her lead among committed super delegates is down to 23.
NYTimes 4-25. Paul Krugman criticized the Obama campaign for failing to appeal to white working class voters with lagging wages, insecure jobs, and fear of loss of their health insurance. These voters find unattractive appeals for national unity by transcending differences.

US Polygamy Case
AP 4-19. The children of a fundamentalist cult in West Texas have been tested for DNA to determine their parents. They have been transferred to foster care. According to psychiatrist Bruce Perry, the girls were taught that disobedience would lead to their damnation. He called the cult’s belief system “abusive.” Sect members have acknowledged that girls were married at below legal age.

US Pentagon Propaganda Machine

PBS 4-24. The NY Times has published an expose of an illegal Pentagon propaganda machine established by Sec. Rumsfeld just before the Iraq War began. Rumsfeld recruited 75 retired colonels and generals, in the guise of objective military analysis, to deliver the talking points of the Bush Administration over the TV networks. Their purpose was to sell the war and manage public opinion. The connections of the retired officers to the Pentagon were kept secret. In addition many of these officers had secret business ties to defense contractors. The Times called for a Congressional investigation.

US Educational Failures

NYTimes 4-25. In an op-ed by Edward B. Fiske, US public education (K-12) is in turmoil because
l) A disproportionate share of its students (one-third) perform at such a low level that they are unfit to serve as citizens and workers in a global competitive economy. As baby boomers retire, the US will be more dependent on this group.
2) The US is fifth among 27 industrialized countries in producing students able to profit from college level work, and sixteenth out of 27 such countries in the number of students who complete a college education.

THE SEARCHLIGHT, April 12-18, 2008

THE SEARCHLIGHT
April 12-18, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor

The Iraq War

Reuters 4-17. According to a study by the RAND Corporation, 320,000 American soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 18.7% of the total, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Of these, half receive no medical care; of those receiving care, half receive only minimal care. Mental illness reduces productivity and increases risk of suicide.

US Presidential Primaries

USA Today 4-15: According to a national Gallup Poll of Democrats, Obama now leads Clinton 51% to 40%.

US Economy

NYTimes 4-15. The price of oil hits $114 a barrel.
BBC 4-15. Delta and Northwest Airlines merge, This was precipitated by a steep rise in oil prices.
PBS and Market Watch, 4-17. Google reported 31% increase in its profits during the first quarter. In late trading Google stock rose to $527 a share.
PBS 4-17. Many businesses are going green in anticipation that there will be wealth shifts to companies that control their carbon dioxide emissions. Some businesses are also trying to save the energy being used by their computers, e.g. by turning them off automatically at night.

California Quake Forecast

Mercury News 4-15. According to the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, there is a 99.7% risk of a calamitous earthquake in California within 30 years. In the Bay Area the greatest threat is from the Hayward Fault in the East Bay. A quake there would affect the area from San Jose to Santa Rosa.
Health: Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factors

BBC 4-17. According to papers published by the American Academy of Neurology, life style factors play a role in the risk of getting dementia, and how early the onset of dementia is. Smoking and heavy drinking, defined as more than two drinks a day, are risk factors. People with a high cholesterol level in their early forties are one and a half times more likely to develop the disease.
Exercise and a diet rich in anti-oxidants and vitamins are factors favoring prevention of the disease.
There are also genetic factors.

THE FLASHLIGHT, April 5-11, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
April 5 – 11, 2008
Mary K. Matossian, Editor

The Global Economy

NYTimes 4-8. Rising global prices, especially of food and energy, are notable in China and India. Now that the US dollar buys less, American prices are rising here too. CNN 4-10. There are food riots in Haiti. In India, food prices are rising because the growing middle class can afford to eat two meals a day. However, one-third of the population is below the poverty line and can eat only one meal a day, if that.

PBS 4--9-10. A public television commentator said that there is no international oil scarcity, and that high oil prices are the result of “resource nationalism” and the concentration of oil ownership in a few states: the Persian Gulf states, Russia, and Venezuela in particular. Oil wealth tends to strengthen the power of autocrats in these states and the people benefit little if at all. Despite rising oil prices, in Iran and Venezuela the standard of living has fallen in the last five years.

Iraq

CNN 4-10. Pres. Bush announced that there would probably be no more troop withdrawals this year. The remainder of his speech was to announce “improvements” which weren’t real, being unavoidable changes. Bush claimed there has been a decline in sectarian violence, but ignored the fighting between Shia parties. He minimized the dollar cost of the war. Michael Ware, chief CNN reporter in Iraq, said that the US does not have enough troops in Iraq to “win” and cannot acquire them without a draft law. No US politician dares to suggest such a thing.
Gen. Petraeus admitted to CNN correspondent Michael Ware that Iran agents of influence have infiltrated the Maliki government to the highest level.
The Nation 4-21. Moqtada as-Sadr and his Mahdi army now control half of Baghdad and three-fourths of Basra. The Iraqi armed forces are waiting out the Surge. Round Two of civil war would produce high casualties because Syria and Jordan have closed their borders to refugees, and eleven out of the eighteen provinces in Iraq have closed their borders to internally displaced Iraqis.

US Presidential Primaries
CNN 4-5. In the month of March Obama raised $58 million dollars, while Hilary Clinton raised $33 million.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4-8. According to recent poll, Clinton’s lead in Pennsylvania as narrowed to 6 points. Obama is outspending her 3 to 1. The vote will be on April 22.

Texas Polygamy Case

CBS 4-5, Houston Chronicle 4-7. Texas authorities raided the compound-ranch of a polygamist sect, calling itself LDS (Mormon)
Fundamentalists, in West Texas. There were over 700 people inside. According to captured records, one man had 20 wives. The police removed 416 children from the premises, taking them into state custody, and 133 women voluntarily accompanied them. These people had no access to TV, magazines, or newspapers. They think the outside world belongs to the Devil. Warren Jeffs (now in prison), founded the sect. About 65-70 people, most men and older women, remain in the compound.
Girls in their early teens have been “spiritually married” by force to older men (c. in their fifties). A sixteen year old girl called Sarah called Texas authorities and said she had been forced at the age of 15 to have sex with a senior male, that she had a baby and was pregnant again. He had beaten her and she had been hospitalized for broken ribs. However, so far the authorities have not located her or identified her among the people in their custody.
It is difficult to prosecute polygamists because their “spiritual marriages” are not legal. It is necessary to prove multiple legal marriages to prove bigamy. It is difficult to prove marriages of underage girls because the polygamists keep no records of date of birth for girls. The usual grounds used to prosecute them are the complaints of female victims to outsiders. Most female victims are brainwashed and terrified of punishments for “disobedience.”

THE FLASHLIGHT, March 28 -April 4, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
March 28-April 4, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts

Iraq

PBS-NYT 3-28, A war between Shiite factions broke out, in which the Shiite dominated government of Nuri al-Maliki attacked Moqtada as-Sadr’s Mahdi army in Basra. The Maliki government tried to take over the city, but failed, producing a stalemate. The US tried to help Maliki with air strikes, but the militias In Baghdad retaliated with mortar attacks on the Green Zone, killing three Americans. CBS 3-30. Over 400 persons were killed during the fighting.
PBS 4-1. Iran brokered the settlement, setting up a federated government in South Iraq which is closer to Iran.

Turkey

CNN 3-31. The Supreme Court of Turkey, controlled by the Kemalist (secularist) elements, ruled that the democratically elected AK Party had committed breaches of the official Kemalist (secularist) ideology of Turkey and was trying to impose Muslim Sharia Law.

US 2008 Presidential Primaries

NYT 3-28, Three more Democratic leaders announced their support for Obama: Howard Dean, DNC chairman, Senator Dodd. and Senator Leahy, who asked Hilary Clinton to withdraw. In Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey campaigned for Obama among white working class males, with some success.
CNN 3-30, national Gallup Poll showed Obama leading Clinton by 10 points.
CNN 4-2. In Pennsylvania Clinton’s lead has shrunk from double digits to 9 points.
CNN 4-3. Obama is outspending Clinton by four to one in Pennsylvania. In March, he raised over $40 million to Clinton’s $20 million. 72% of Americans said people would vote for a black candidate for President and 71% said people would vote for a woman. [although not necessarily those currently running]

US Economy

` CNN 4-4. In March 80,000 jobs were lost. Unemployment is up 5.1%. Many commentators say that a recession has arrived.

FAA / Airline Scandal

CNN 4-2. Congress is investigating the FAA, listening to the testimony of two whistle-blowing inspectors that the agency was neglecting its role to secure the safety of air travel. In the last four years it has been permitting planes with defects to fly. The FAA admits that four airlines have been breaking safety rules: Southwest, American, Delta, and United. The FAA has been allowing them to ”police themselves.”

National Health Insurance

Annals of Internal Medicine, 4-3, as reported by CA State Senator Sheila Kuehl. A new study shows that 59% of physicians now support National Health Insurance, as compared with 49% of physicians in 2002. Doctors in all specialties are becoming disillusioned with private health insurance and want a system of health care that is publicly financed and privately delivered.

Global Warming

CBS – 60 Minutes 3-30. Al Gore announced a new campaign to raise public consciousness about the threat of global warming. Gore was an early investor in Google, and now possesses a considerable private fortune. He will issue a blitz of TV public service messages costing $300 million dollars. He is duplicating and distributing his slide show while recruiting 10 million speakers to spread his messages all over the world. Pat Robertson and other senior evangelical leaders are helping him.

Science: Climatology. The Dimming Sun

PBS 4-1. Dirty air, full of particulate matter like ash, is hazardous for health. But it also serves to offset global warming from greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil, and natural gases. Those emissions do not include particles of matter. Dirty air turns raindrops in the clouds into mirrors that reflect heat away from the earth. Multiple jet trails enhance this effect. The sun seems to be dimming.
But there is nothing wrong with the sun, which is behaving consistently. The trouble is in earth’s atmosphere.
When human societies clean up their air, the resulting reduction in particles increases global warming. The worst situation would be to have the air cleared of particles, leaving a cover of greenhouse gases.
Climatologists warn that drastic changes must be introduced within the next decade or it will be too late to prevent unbearable heat and rising oceans. In Asia hundreds of millions of people might die, not to mention other species.

Science: Brain “Fingerprinting”

PBS 4-1, Using MRI machines, which show varying circulation activity in different parts of the human brain, it may be possible to detect “guilty knowledge” in a criminal suspect. This knowledge of a criminal action is obtained by studying the reactions of the brain of a criminal suspect. The suspect is not questioned, so he is not offered a chance to lie. Criminologists using the new technique think that they can detect innocence and guilt by watching the subject’s brain react to certain information about the crime that only a guilty person could know.

Science: Willpower

NYT 4-2. An op-ed article by Aamodt and Wang. “Tighten your belt, strengthen your mind.” Human willpower is limited but it can be strengthened with training. Willpower gets depleted when people have been stressed and are short of sleep. Their blood sugar level being reduced, so is their willpower. But like a muscle, willpower increases with use. One method is to concentrate attention on one goal at a time, avoiding multi-tasking and distractions.

Summary of Economist article on Israel
[There is no editorial comment in the following summary.]

Lead article: “Israel at 60. The Dysfunctional Jewish State” p. 17. The main problem of Israeli government is the excessive number of small political parties that must form coalitions in order to rule. These coalitions are very unstable.
The writer says, “ Israeli settlers on the West Bank have woven such tight alliances with various parties that they have made themselves effectively untouchable, even though they are only a small proportion of Israeli society.” Politicians are not answerable to voters but to other politicians. The government does nothing to remove settlements on the West Bank that are on illegally appropriated Palestinian land, not state land as was originally claimed.

Introduction to the main article: “The Next Generation” A special report on Israel, pp. 3-16. Author: Gideon Lichfield. “Israel at 60 is as prosperous and secure as it has ever been, but its future looks increasingly uncertain.”
Jews have a four-fifths majority in the population of Israel, but that proportion in shrinking. Pressure is rising within Israel and abroad for Israel to become a fully democratic non-Zionist state which gives some autonomy to Arab Israelis.
The best and bright Israeli Jews may emigrate from Israel, leaving a waning economy. Economic growth now is widening gaps in wealth instead of easing poverty. Arab Israelis are increasingly resentful of their status as second class citizens and of job discrimination against them.
Political and Military Threats. These include Iran’s developing nuclear energy program, the armed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon, and political Islamism represented by Hamas in Gaza and its parent, The Muslim Brotherhood, in Egypt.
Policing the Palestinians “has eroded the soul of Israel’s people’s army.” Young people are increasingly claiming medical, psychological, and religious exemptions from military service. The ethos of self-sacrifice has declined. The Army is growing more sympathetic to West Bank settlers.
But the greatest threat to Israel is not military, but economic. especially the threatened loss of the best and brightest, who seek societies that are full of cultural and scientific ferment. In science education there is a wide gap between the best and the worst. The K-12 teachers are inferior.
There is low labor force participation in Israel among the yeshiva trained religious Jews, who lack practical skills, and the Arabs in Israel. These groups are growing faster than secular, intellectual Jews in Israel. They are an economic burden.
The article concludes, p. 15, “But if a moderate Israeli leader could take on the settlers without fear of the government collapsing, perhaps he could start a process of gradual disconnection from the West Bank to convince Palestinians that most Israelis really do want to let them build a state of their own.”
p. 16. The author describes Israel as a “blocked” society.
“It is this blockage, and not Palestinian missiles or an Iranian nuclear bomb, that is the main threat to Israel’s well being….To take the right decisions [Israel] needs a system that reduces the power of special interest groups without riding roughshod over minorities and allows long-term goals to override short-term politics. “