THE FLASHLIGHT, July 5 - 18, 2008
THE FLASHLIGHT
July 5 – 18, 2008
No Peace without Justice, No Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
The Searchlight is a non-commercial world news summary published on Fridays since March, 2006 by an independent editor. Mary Matossian has a B.A. in History from Stanford (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. in Near Eastern History from the American University of Beirut, and a Ph.D in History (with Distinction) from Stanford. She is the author of four scholarly books and a member of Palo Alto Friends Meeting (Quakers).
This news summary is not complete because it does not cover the Israel-Palestine conflict. For a complete news summary, see the companion Flashlight. It is available by email from the editor by writing to her email address, mary@matossian.net. It is also available as a non-commercial blog with the URL address http://theflashlightnet.blogspot.com. For those who have no computer, please contact the editor at Ext. 336.
The sources used are The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian Unlimited (London), Haaretz (Tel Aviv), An-Nahar (Beirut), Az-Zaman (Baghdad), The Teheran Times, The Economist, The New York Review of Books, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, PBS, CNN, BBC, Google News et al. The summary contains some book reviews and humor.
THE SEARCHLIGHT
July 5 – 18, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
US Economy
PBS 7-4. Midyear business report. In the first half of the year the economy was volatile and there was a liquidity crisis. June was the worst month for stocks since the Great Depression, with prices down 20% from their high in 2007. The prices of most commodities, including oil, rose. It was predicted that in the second half of the year the earnings recession would end, but if oil prices kept rising inflation would increase. House prices may bottom out. It was also predicted that Obama and the Congressional Democrats would raise taxes.
CNN financial report, 7-15 Inflation has increased faster than at any time in the last 25 years. 90 US banks are on the government’s watch list. Confidence in the economy and house prices has declined.
NYTimes 7-17. Al Gore said that Americans must abandon electric power generated by fossil fuels with ten years and rely on the sun, wind, and other environment-friendly sources of power.
US Politics
CNN 7-7. McCain promises to balance the budget by eliminating “wasteful spending.” This includes reducing Medicare spending. He claims that “victory” in Iraq will save money.
PBS 7-7. The Democrats are planning a drive in the Rocky Mountains states, especially Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana. They will hold their convention in Denver in a stadium that seats 75,000.
NY Times 7-9 Paul Krugman. The Senate Democrats have won a huge victory by restoring the Medicare payments to doctors which the Republicans tried to cut. Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from a brain tumor, came to cast the decisive vote. NYTimes 7-16. Both Houses overrode the President’s veto of the bill.
NYTimes 7-16. Obama faces a racial divide: more than 80% of black voters have a favorable opinion of him, while only 30% of white voters do.
CNN 7-17. Obama is expected to get a warm reception during his coming trip to Europe and the Middle East. NYTimes 7-18. To advise him on foreign policy, Obama has 300 advisers, organized like the State Department, to provide him with a daily summary of events and expected questions with suggested answers to them.
CNN 7-17. Last month Obama raised $52 million and the Democratic National Committee, $20 million: total $72 million.
In the same period McCain raised only $27 million, but the Republican National Committee raised $68 million: total, $95 million. For the Democrats, this was an improvement over previous presidential campaigns.
Iran
PBS 7-7. Iranian leaders send conciliatory messages with regard to their nuclear energy research.
Guardian 7-17. The US is planning to station diplomats in Teheran for the first time since 1979, when Iranians stormed the US Embassy and took its diplomats prisoner. The US announcement will be made next month.
Meanwhile the US will send a representative, William Burns, to Switzerland on Saturday to hear Iran’s response to the European offer aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.
7-17. Teheran Times. Gazprom (Russian energy organization) signed a major deal with the National Iranian Oil Company for the development of Iran’s oil and gas fields.
Iraq
Az-Zaman (Baghdad) 7-1. According to tallies of the Ministry of Human Rights of the Iraqi government, during 2005-2007 lawless gunmen killed 340 academics and 2,334 women. They are currently on a campaign to kill secular judges. [The gunmen are reported to be Islamic extremists.]
PBS 7-4. Obama promised again to remove US combat troops
from Iraq within 16 months after his election. He will give them a new mission: to end the war [not “victory”].
CNN 7-6. US Oil companies are pressuring Prime Minister Maliki to sign production sharing agreements
BBC, PBS 7-7. Maliki for the first time demands a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. He cannot get through his Parliament many US demands on the status of forces, notably a grant of immunity from Iraqi law for US contractors [such as Blackwater].
Az-Zaman (Baghdad) 7-15. After months of relative quiet, violence has returned to Anbar Province. The tribes who cooperated with the US and the Maliki government are disappointed in seeing little of the promised improvement in their living conditions and security. Anti-US sentiment is also increasing among the Shiites. The Sadrist Shiites are organizing demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of US troops.
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Rural Education
NY Times 7-13 Nicholas Kristoff reviews the achievement of Greg Mortenson who has built 20 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan entirely with private funds which he raised. He has worked closely with Muslim clerics and has emphasized the education of girls. Mortensen’s account of his adventures, Three Cups of Tea, has been a paperback best seller.
Sudan
The International Criminal Court has accused Omar Hassan al-
Bashir, President of Sudan, of genocide and crimes against humanity. It is doubtful he will be brought to trial.
Syria
NYT 7-15. Syria is emerging from diplomatic isolation, as its President, Bashar al-Assad, was guest of honor in the Bastile Day parade in Paris, 7-14. He has made an agreement with the new President of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, to open embassies in their respective capitals.
Australia
BBC 7-17. Pope Benedict arrived in Australia and is expected to deal with the clerical sexual abuse scandal in the Australian Roman Catholic Church.
Health
The Economist, 7-5. Joseph Kanner at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has found how red wine prevents heart disease and cancer. It contains polyphenols which are anti-oxidants. Red wine works best when it is drunk along with red meat. While in the stomach the polyphenols mix with toxic materials released from the fats in red meat. This prevents the toxic materials from entering the blood stream.
Eating fruit containing anti-oxidants at the end of the meal has the same effect on toxins in the stomach.
Cell Metabolism, 7-3. Evidence from the study of laboratory mice has shown that reservatrol in red wine, nuts, and blueberries prevents many age-related problems: heart disease, reduced bone density, cataracts, and impaired motor coordination.
BBC 7-7. Male fertility begins to decline after 35, and declines markedly after 40.
PBS 7-7. The American Academy of Pediatrics has been testing for bad cholesterol in children in families with a history of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. When a child’s cholesterol level is abnormally high, physicians recommend life style changes for at least six weeks. If these changes are ineffective, doctors may prescribe statin drugs to lower the cholesterol level. The Academy hopes that earlier treatment will be more effective in preventing serious problems later.
Newsday.com 7-18. A new Center for Disease Control report said that the US obesity rate continues to grow. Nationwide it is now 25.6%, which is 1.7% more than two years earlier. In 22 states it runs from 25-29%. Colorado has the lowest rate: 18.7%
Humor
The Economist 7-5. In a review of a book on anti-Soviet humor, Hammer and Tickle (2008), three classic jokes were identified:
1. Question: How do you deal with mice in the Kremlin?”
Answer: Put up a sign saying, “collective farm.” Then half the mice will starve and the rest will run away.
2. Who built the White Sea Canal [Stalin’s most murderous slave labor project]?
The left bank was built by those who told the jokes.
The right bank was built by those who listened. [left and right are references to political leanings]
3. A flock of sheep approached the Finnish border in a panic, pleading to be allowed to enter. They said, “Beria [the Soviet secret police chief] has ordered the arrest of all elephants.”
“But you are not elephants,” said the Finnish guards.
“Yes,” said the sheep. “But try explaining that to Beria.”
A similar joke was told in twelfth century Persia (Iran).
July 5 – 18, 2008
No Peace without Justice, No Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
The Searchlight is a non-commercial world news summary published on Fridays since March, 2006 by an independent editor. Mary Matossian has a B.A. in History from Stanford (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. in Near Eastern History from the American University of Beirut, and a Ph.D in History (with Distinction) from Stanford. She is the author of four scholarly books and a member of Palo Alto Friends Meeting (Quakers).
This news summary is not complete because it does not cover the Israel-Palestine conflict. For a complete news summary, see the companion Flashlight. It is available by email from the editor by writing to her email address, mary@matossian.net. It is also available as a non-commercial blog with the URL address http://theflashlightnet.blogspot.com. For those who have no computer, please contact the editor at Ext. 336.
The sources used are The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian Unlimited (London), Haaretz (Tel Aviv), An-Nahar (Beirut), Az-Zaman (Baghdad), The Teheran Times, The Economist, The New York Review of Books, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, PBS, CNN, BBC, Google News et al. The summary contains some book reviews and humor.
THE SEARCHLIGHT
July 5 – 18, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
US Economy
PBS 7-4. Midyear business report. In the first half of the year the economy was volatile and there was a liquidity crisis. June was the worst month for stocks since the Great Depression, with prices down 20% from their high in 2007. The prices of most commodities, including oil, rose. It was predicted that in the second half of the year the earnings recession would end, but if oil prices kept rising inflation would increase. House prices may bottom out. It was also predicted that Obama and the Congressional Democrats would raise taxes.
CNN financial report, 7-15 Inflation has increased faster than at any time in the last 25 years. 90 US banks are on the government’s watch list. Confidence in the economy and house prices has declined.
NYTimes 7-17. Al Gore said that Americans must abandon electric power generated by fossil fuels with ten years and rely on the sun, wind, and other environment-friendly sources of power.
US Politics
CNN 7-7. McCain promises to balance the budget by eliminating “wasteful spending.” This includes reducing Medicare spending. He claims that “victory” in Iraq will save money.
PBS 7-7. The Democrats are planning a drive in the Rocky Mountains states, especially Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana. They will hold their convention in Denver in a stadium that seats 75,000.
NY Times 7-9 Paul Krugman. The Senate Democrats have won a huge victory by restoring the Medicare payments to doctors which the Republicans tried to cut. Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from a brain tumor, came to cast the decisive vote. NYTimes 7-16. Both Houses overrode the President’s veto of the bill.
NYTimes 7-16. Obama faces a racial divide: more than 80% of black voters have a favorable opinion of him, while only 30% of white voters do.
CNN 7-17. Obama is expected to get a warm reception during his coming trip to Europe and the Middle East. NYTimes 7-18. To advise him on foreign policy, Obama has 300 advisers, organized like the State Department, to provide him with a daily summary of events and expected questions with suggested answers to them.
CNN 7-17. Last month Obama raised $52 million and the Democratic National Committee, $20 million: total $72 million.
In the same period McCain raised only $27 million, but the Republican National Committee raised $68 million: total, $95 million. For the Democrats, this was an improvement over previous presidential campaigns.
Iran
PBS 7-7. Iranian leaders send conciliatory messages with regard to their nuclear energy research.
Guardian 7-17. The US is planning to station diplomats in Teheran for the first time since 1979, when Iranians stormed the US Embassy and took its diplomats prisoner. The US announcement will be made next month.
Meanwhile the US will send a representative, William Burns, to Switzerland on Saturday to hear Iran’s response to the European offer aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.
7-17. Teheran Times. Gazprom (Russian energy organization) signed a major deal with the National Iranian Oil Company for the development of Iran’s oil and gas fields.
Iraq
Az-Zaman (Baghdad) 7-1. According to tallies of the Ministry of Human Rights of the Iraqi government, during 2005-2007 lawless gunmen killed 340 academics and 2,334 women. They are currently on a campaign to kill secular judges. [The gunmen are reported to be Islamic extremists.]
PBS 7-4. Obama promised again to remove US combat troops
from Iraq within 16 months after his election. He will give them a new mission: to end the war [not “victory”].
CNN 7-6. US Oil companies are pressuring Prime Minister Maliki to sign production sharing agreements
BBC, PBS 7-7. Maliki for the first time demands a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. He cannot get through his Parliament many US demands on the status of forces, notably a grant of immunity from Iraqi law for US contractors [such as Blackwater].
Az-Zaman (Baghdad) 7-15. After months of relative quiet, violence has returned to Anbar Province. The tribes who cooperated with the US and the Maliki government are disappointed in seeing little of the promised improvement in their living conditions and security. Anti-US sentiment is also increasing among the Shiites. The Sadrist Shiites are organizing demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of US troops.
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Rural Education
NY Times 7-13 Nicholas Kristoff reviews the achievement of Greg Mortenson who has built 20 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan entirely with private funds which he raised. He has worked closely with Muslim clerics and has emphasized the education of girls. Mortensen’s account of his adventures, Three Cups of Tea, has been a paperback best seller.
Sudan
The International Criminal Court has accused Omar Hassan al-
Bashir, President of Sudan, of genocide and crimes against humanity. It is doubtful he will be brought to trial.
Syria
NYT 7-15. Syria is emerging from diplomatic isolation, as its President, Bashar al-Assad, was guest of honor in the Bastile Day parade in Paris, 7-14. He has made an agreement with the new President of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, to open embassies in their respective capitals.
Australia
BBC 7-17. Pope Benedict arrived in Australia and is expected to deal with the clerical sexual abuse scandal in the Australian Roman Catholic Church.
Health
The Economist, 7-5. Joseph Kanner at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has found how red wine prevents heart disease and cancer. It contains polyphenols which are anti-oxidants. Red wine works best when it is drunk along with red meat. While in the stomach the polyphenols mix with toxic materials released from the fats in red meat. This prevents the toxic materials from entering the blood stream.
Eating fruit containing anti-oxidants at the end of the meal has the same effect on toxins in the stomach.
Cell Metabolism, 7-3. Evidence from the study of laboratory mice has shown that reservatrol in red wine, nuts, and blueberries prevents many age-related problems: heart disease, reduced bone density, cataracts, and impaired motor coordination.
BBC 7-7. Male fertility begins to decline after 35, and declines markedly after 40.
PBS 7-7. The American Academy of Pediatrics has been testing for bad cholesterol in children in families with a history of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. When a child’s cholesterol level is abnormally high, physicians recommend life style changes for at least six weeks. If these changes are ineffective, doctors may prescribe statin drugs to lower the cholesterol level. The Academy hopes that earlier treatment will be more effective in preventing serious problems later.
Newsday.com 7-18. A new Center for Disease Control report said that the US obesity rate continues to grow. Nationwide it is now 25.6%, which is 1.7% more than two years earlier. In 22 states it runs from 25-29%. Colorado has the lowest rate: 18.7%
Humor
The Economist 7-5. In a review of a book on anti-Soviet humor, Hammer and Tickle (2008), three classic jokes were identified:
1. Question: How do you deal with mice in the Kremlin?”
Answer: Put up a sign saying, “collective farm.” Then half the mice will starve and the rest will run away.
2. Who built the White Sea Canal [Stalin’s most murderous slave labor project]?
The left bank was built by those who told the jokes.
The right bank was built by those who listened. [left and right are references to political leanings]
3. A flock of sheep approached the Finnish border in a panic, pleading to be allowed to enter. They said, “Beria [the Soviet secret police chief] has ordered the arrest of all elephants.”
“But you are not elephants,” said the Finnish guards.
“Yes,” said the sheep. “But try explaining that to Beria.”
A similar joke was told in twelfth century Persia (Iran).
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 6:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home