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.”