THE FLASHLIGNT, November 22-28, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
November 22-28, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
mary@matossian.net, Apt. 9-M

US Politics

NyTimes 11-21, 11-26. Obama appointed a number of highly talented individuals to top posts: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Bill Richardson, Commerce Secretary; retired Marine general Jim Jones as National Security Advisor, former Harvard president Larry Summers as Senior Presidential economic advisor; Robert Gates to continue as Defense Secretary, Paul Volcker as head of the Economic Advisory Committee.

Associated Press 11-21. The Obamas decide to send their two daughters, aged seven and ten, to Sidwell Friends School [Quaker] (which Chelsea Clinton also attended). The elementary school campus is in Bethesda, Maryland; the secondary school is in Northwest Washington.

US Economy

CNN 11-21. Congress demanded that the auto industry submit a detailed business plan by 12-2 before responding to its pleas for a bridge loan.
` There is no area of the economy that is safe now from layoffs.
The market may go down even lower. Gold is up 5-6%. Oil is down to $50 a barrel, one third of its July high, and Suzy Orman says it is a good buy at this price.

NYT, PBS 11-24. The US Treasury approved investment of $20 billion to Citigroup Bank. It was said to be too big to fail, with branches in 109 countries. The government could make money on the deal.

PBS 11-25. House prices are falling and will fall further. It was reported that Obama will cut subsidies to affluent farmers.
China and the oil rich states are no longer able to buy the US debt. We are facing a potential three trillion dollar deficit next year. The rich are going be required to pay higher taxes.

War Resistors League, 2008. In a fact sheet distributed by the Society of Friends [Quakers] “Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes” it was shown that contrary to US government claims, 51% tax money is going to current and past [veterans] military expenditures. The government has been claiming that only 21% is military. But this has been based on deception.
According to this deception, (1) spending to pay for past wars is treated as non-military and money from trust funds [e.g. Social Security] is added to income tax dollars. If spending to pay for past wars is added to current military spending, and trust fund money is subtracted from current revenue from income taxes, then total military spending = 51% of the budget.
[So far no prominent American politician has suggested that military spending be cut,]

India

NYT 11-27 and 28. In Mumbai [formerly Bombay], India’s financial center, terrorists of unknown origin attacked luxury hotels, a theater, a hospital et al. with rifles and hand grenades At least 127 persons were killed, 327 wounded. Americans, English, other Europeans, and Israelis were singled out for murder. The terrorist killed the head of counter-terrorism in Mumbai and his two chief assistants. An international investigation began.

Iraq

NYT 11-28. The Iraqi Parliament, by a vote of 149 to 35, approved a security agreement that provided that all US troops leave the country by the end of 2011.

THE FLASHLIGHT, November 15-21, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
November 15-21, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
mary@matossian.net, Apt. 9-M

US Economy

PBS 11-14. The US Treasury is no longer buying the bad assets of banks.

NYTimes 11-15. The computer industry is beginning to feel the bite of the economic downturn. Intel, Nokia, and Cisco warned of slowing sales. In the second week of November Google stock fell belong 300. Some companies which still had large cash reserves were Cisco ($27 billion), Apple ($24 billion) and Google ($14 billion). These three companies may use their reserves to acquire struggling competitors.

NYTimes 11-17. Citigroup’s stock is down 75%. It has discharged c. 52.000 employees.
NY Times 11-19. US auto manufacturing chiefs failed to convince Congress that it should provide a bridge loan for their companies of $25 billion.
PBS 11-20. The Dow Jones fell to 7552, lower than the predicted market bottom of 7789. The viability of Citibank is in doubt.

US Politics

The Economist. 11-15, [a British based conservative journal] Editorial. The U.S. Republican Party has lost its intellectual respectability and become a party of “white trash pride.” For several decades Republican leaders have believed that ideas have consequences. But idiocy also has consequences.

The New York Times 11-15. Sarah Palin promotes “the sad, threadbare hoax of sexual abstinence as the answer to the sizzling loins of the young.”

MSNBC 11-14 and Amazon.com. New book, The Limits of Power; The End of American Exceptionalism. By Col. Andrew Basevich. “War is not the answer to the challenges we face…and to persist in following that path is to invite inevitable overextension, bankruptcy, and ruin.” He says that the proper response to terrorism is police action on a global scale, not military action.

CNN 11-18. Eric Holder, an African-American lawyer close to Obama, will be nominated the next Attorney General. PBS 11-19. Tom Daschle, former Democratic Senate leader, will be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Greg Craig will be the President’s Counsel [lawyer]. Jane Napolitano, Governor of Arizona, skilled in handling immigration issues, will be Secretary of Homeland Security. Sen. Hilary Clinton is being considered for Secretary of State.

Israel

New York Review of Books, 12-4. On Sept. 21 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said to the Knesset: “We must seek an agreement with the Palestinians, meaning withdrawal from nearly all, if not all, of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem.”

Haaretz 11-20. In Hebron, West Bank, there are 650 Jewish settlers guarded by Israel troops living in the heart of a town of 180,000 Palestinians. Recently there have been clashes between Jewish settler activists and the Israel security forces. On Sunday the High Court of Israel ordered the settlers to evacuate a house after it was determined that they had forged ownership documents. The settlers refused. They threw stones at their Palestinian neighbors and spread graffiti on a mosque and Palestinian homes

THE FLASHLIGHT, November 8-14, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
November 8-14, 2008
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
mary@matossian.net, Apt. 9-M

US Politics

CNN 11-7. Obama received 53% of the popular vote.
Senator Byrd, 90, will give up his chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee.

CBS 11-9. 60 Minutes. The Obama Campaign. From the beginning Obama was clear as to what he wanted to say and do. He wanted a grassroots, idealistic approach. The organization was designed to be agile and to take risks. A record $600 million dollars was raised. There was no infighting, no turnover, and there were almost no leaks. The atmosphere was like that of a loving family. David Axelrod will go to the White House as Senior Advisor to Obama. Robert Gibbs will go as Press Secretary.

NY Times 11-11. The 2008 Election ended the centrality of the South in US national politics. The suburban south, in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, went for Obama. It has had an influx of better educated and more prosperous voters. The core of “red” voters, who are poor, uneducated, and white, is in the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains. The men are focused on hunting and military life.

Reuters 11-13. Sen. Ted Stevens now trails his democratic opponent, Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, Alaska.

US Economy

PBS 11-12. The federal government is turning to help the US auto industry, student loan sources, and credit card companies.

NY Times 11-13. Quotation of the Day. “People are grieving. There was death. Their money died.” Semi-retired psychotherapist Debray Beach, Florida

THE FLASHLIGHT, November 1-7, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
November 1-7, 2008
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
mary@matossian.net, Apt. 9-M

US Politics: The Election

PBS 11-1. Mark Shields: Every political campaign organization is a mirror of the personality of the candidate.
CNN 11-3. Madeline Dunham, 86, maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, died of cancer. She played a large role in raising him.
CNN 11-4. Shortly after 8:00 p.m. PST, when Ohio was declared for Obama, CNN declared him the national winner. A crowd of about 200,000 gathered in Grant Park, Chicago to hear his victory speech, He said to those who did not vote for him, “I will be your President too.” He said that his daughters would now get their promised puppy. His speech was intended to quiet, not excite people. Nevertheless the crowd cheered wildly.
11-6.With votes in Missouri close and not fully tallied, he won by 364 to 162 electoral votes. He won the suburban vote, the youth vote, the Latino vote, and (by 97%) the African-American vote. He won 43% of whites. He won 78% of Jewish voters. McCain carried only evangelical Christians and those over 65 years. Citizens of all but three countries abroad favored him.
11-5, 11-6. According to Wolf Blitzer, “The Republicans have a severe case of the blues.
The Democrats had 57 Senators including Bernie Sanders (Socialist) in Vermont and Joe Lieberman (Independent) in Connecticut. As a result of close races, the Senate seats in Minnesota and Georgia were undecided. If Sen. Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska is elected, he is likely to be removed by the Senate. Then the Republican governor of Alaska would appoint a Republican in his place. The only hope of a filibuster-proof majority of 60 would be if Stevens were defeated by a Democrat. The Democrats increased their membership in the House by 17 seats, with some contests still undecided.

NYTimes 11-5. In an analysis of Obama’s campaign organization, the Times praised its discipline and cohesiveness. It said that the campaign made only a few stumbles. David Axelrod, the chief strategist, and David Plouffe, a meticulous campaign manager, excelled. There was no drama or staff shakeup. Obama was a good debater with an eloquent message. He raised nearly a half a billion dollars. In the long primary contest with Hilary Clinton, Obama came through looking presidential in spite of his relative lack of experience.
As for the race factor, Stuart Stevens (R) of Miss. said, “If the house is on fire, the owner does not care what color the fireman is.”
Obama has appointed Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Emanuel has White House experience and is a keen-minded strategist.
People of color world wide were overjoyed. At Obama’s victory speech, the Rev.. Jesse Jackson cried, as did thousands of others. Gen. Colin Powell said that he and his whole family cried. Oprah Winfrey was exuberant. There was a national holiday in Kenya, and Barack Obama’s paternal grandmother, 86, danced.

US Economy

CNN 10-31. The stock market went down 15% in October.
11-3. Compared to October, 2007, General Motors sales declined 45%, Ford, 30%. PBS 11-7. October retail sales were the worst in 40 years. NYT 11-7. The unemployment rate in October = 6.5%

Israel

The Economist, 11-1. An editorial urged Israel to fulfill its promise to evacuate most of its settlements in the West Bank and to stop all illegal settlement building. P. 18: “The [new U.S.] President will take office before Israelis go to the polls. . It is not his job to tell Israelis who to vote for, but Israelis like their prime ministers to be persona grata in Washington.. So the new president should make an early statement of tough intent that includes a demand for Israel to fulfill its promises to stop expanding settlements and dismantle the outposts deep within the West Bank.”