January 25, 2008
Going Out of Business ?????
.
Attention
If you would like to see me continue posting items here, please let me know.
B.K.
Attention
If you would like to see me continue posting items here, please let me know.
B.K.
November 04, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
November 4, 2007
“Planned Parenthood is trying to expand. It has 4.3m clients across the country, to whom it provides everything from uncontroversial breast exams to contraception, which upsets some zealots, to some 265,000 abortions a year, which are the cause of the bitterest battles. Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's president, wants to have 17m clients one day, the number of women who need subsidised birth control.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“CNBC, owned by General Electric, makes a profit of more than $400m a year, according to Richard Greenfield of Pali Research. Its money comes from cable subscriptions and from selling advertisers an audience of rich businesspeople. Only 246,000 people watch CNBC on average during the business day in America according to Nielsen. But they have an average net worth of $2.7m.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Political realignment - The managerial elite class are Democrats
“A Wall Street Journal poll last month showed that only 37% of professionals and managers identify themselves as Republicans or leaning that way. A YouGov/Polimetrix poll for The Economist finds that only 44% of those earning more than $150,000 plan to vote Republican. So it is no surprise--though historically astonishing--that the Democrats’ presidential candidates have raised substantially more than Republican ones.” (Source: The Economist, October 20, 2007)
My editorial comments: Perhaps these folks know a good investment when they see one.
*****
“Indonesian Journalists Visit Israel” - Calev Ben-David (Jerusalem Post)
“Eight Indonesian journalists from the world's most populous Muslim nation are visiting Israel through the joint efforts of the Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Committee (AIJAC) and the American Jewish Committee.
“‘There is new thinking in Indonesia, including in the government, about upgrading relations with Israel,’ said Endy Bayuni, editor-in-chief of the English-language Jakarta Post.
“‘Israelis are quietly doing business with Indonesians, and in places like Bali you can see Israeli flags openly displayed in tourist stores or restaurants.’
“Bambang Harymurti, editor-in-chief of Tempo Weekly magazine, said, ‘Frankly, before coming here I thought of Israel as something of a police state, but you probably see more police and soldiers on the streets of Jakarta.’ ” Source: Daily Alert, October 23, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
U.S. defense spending: “At 4% of GDP [Gross Domestic Product], America’s defence spending is low by historic standards: it was 9% during the Vietnam War and 14% during the Korean War. The problem is worse in Europe: many of America's allies spend less than the 2% minimum target set by NATO.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“Unlicensed drivers are five times more likely to be in a fatal crash than licensed ones.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“According to an August report by America’s Government Accountability Office, over 90% of cocaine in transit to the United States now passes through Mexico, up from two-thirds in 2000. Over the same period seizures of methamphetamines at the United States-Mexico border increased fivefold.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“The American Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Centre reckons that each year between $8 billion and $23 billion in illegal drug proceeds flow south, much of it to the gangs in Mexico.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
According to Chicago Tribune, “U.S. consumers overdrew $15.8 billion from their checking accounts last year. Their banks collected $17.5 billion in overdraft fees.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Ohio State’s $109 million athletics budget provides an average of $110,000 for each of its 980 athletes, about triple what the school spends to educate each student.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “After falling behind Toyota earlier this year, General Motors is again the biggest-selling car company, selling 2.3 million vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, compared to Toyota’s sales of 2.2 million” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to MarketWatch.com, “Thirty-eight percent of employees worldwide describe themselves as disenchanted or disengaged, according to a new survey by recruiter Towers Perrin. Only 21 percent say they are willing to make an ‘extra effort’ for their employer.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to Zogby International, “11% of Americans say they’d be willing to implant a device in their brain that allowed them to use their mind to access the Internet. 24% say the Internet can serve as a substitute for a spouse or significant other.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Americans spend, on average, about $65 per person to celebrate Halloween, with $23 going toward costumes, $20 for candy, $18 for decorations, and $4 for greeting cards.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
According to The Baltimore Sun, “Discretionary government spending--which excludes Social Security, Medicaid, and other mandatory entitlement programs--has grown 5.3 percent per year during the Bush administration, the libertarian Cato Institute reported. That makes Bush the biggest spending president since Lyndon Johnson.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Government in Action”
“Concerns were raised about the handling of America's nuclear weaponry apparatus. Around 70 air force personnel, including four officers, were disciplined for an incident in August when six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads were mistakenly flown on the wing of a B-52 from North Dakota to Louisiana, a serious breach of safety protocols. And in a separate incident, a navy investigation revealed that sailors had failed to carry out safety checks on a submarine's nuclear reactor for a month, and had tried to cover it up.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
[Refer to - Your Government in Action - from Briefly Noted of September 16, 2007.
“Washington, D.C. - Phony press conference: The Federal Emergency Management Agency admitted that it staged a press conference on the Southern California wildfires last week, with FEMA employees posing as reporters. The agency had called the press conference with only 15 minutes’ notice. When no reporters showed up at FEMA’s Washington pressroom, stand-ins from the agency took their place. They lobbed softball questions at FEMA deputy chief Harvey Johnson, such as, Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far? Johnson denied any intent to deceive. Our intent was to provide information, Johnson said. The White House expressed its disapproval, and a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, called it offensive. After the ruse was publicized, FEMA public affairs chief Pat Philbin resigned.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Hugo Chavez Watch
“About 20,000 students in Venezuela demonstrated against plans by Hugo Chávez, the left-wing president, to change the constitution to abolish term limits and give the government control over the central bank's reserves.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
*****
“Tutu Tut-Tuts” - Marty Peretz (New Republic)
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached in Boston on Saturday about the evil the Jews are inflicting on the Palestinians. You wonder why a South African cleric of the Anglican Church is fixated on Israel, or at least I wonder. It could be for the same reason that many Christian clerics have always found reason to damn the Jews. With his characteristic sneer he actually threatened Israel - and not just the state but the whole people. ‘Remembering what happened to you in Egypt and much more recently in Germany - remember and act accordingly.’ Tutu has outdone even Jimmy Carter by charging that the Israeli government is worse than the apartheid government, and there is a certain gall to this since Israel's actions are a response to the refusal of most Palestinians to talk peace, let alone act peacefully.
“Of course, Tutu's moralizing is historically blind. The Arabs started every war in the modern Holy Land, and each loss has emboldened them to expect more from any settlement. This is just nonsense. And Tutu knows it. Why is he encouraging such self-deception at the price of bloodshed and Palestinian blood, particularly?” (Source: Daily Alert, November 2, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Good week for Gandhi’s legacy, with the growing momentum of the world-wide ‘Panties for Peace’ campaign on behalf of democracy in Myanmar. By mailing packets of women’s underwear to Myanmar’s embassies around the world, activists hop to defeat the ruling junta by exploiting its superstitious belief that contact with ladies’ personal garments will sap a man’s strength.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
“Bad week for the credibility of the Italian government, after an official investigation concluded that ‘aliens testing secret weapons, are probably behind the recent strange events in the Sicilian village of Canneto di Caronia. Villagers said that refrigerators and other appliances have been spontaneously bursting into flames.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Hillary Clinton’s fundraising
“New York City - Clinton cash questioned: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from busboys, cooks, and street vendors in poor Chinese neighborhoods in New York City, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. Some of those donors could not be located at the addresses listed on their donation forms, the Times reported, and many were not registered to vote--raising questions about whether they were fronting for unknown individuals or groups. A follow-up story in the New York Post found that some of the donors did not live at the addresses listed, while others said they had been reimbursed for the checks they wrote to the Clinton campaign. Federal law bars such ‘straw donations.’ Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said the campaign regularly checks contributions for irregularities and returns any questionable ones. But, Wolfson said, ‘we do not ethnically profile donors.’” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
*****
“Violence down again in Iraq”
“U.S. troop deaths in Iraq dropped sharply for the second consecutive month, the Pentagon announced this week. Thirty-seven Americans died in October, down from 65 in September and 84 in August. the monthly death toll was the second lowest since February 2004, when 20 troops were killed. Violence against civilians n and around Baghdad also continued to decline, with 598 attacks, down from 2,455 in January. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that in Baghdad, the presence of al Qaida in Iraq ‘has been significantly reduced and its actions degraded.’” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007 [excerpted])
*****
“A state liquor official in Utah is calling for restaurants that serve alcohol to cover up the bottles because some may be offended at the sight of alcohol. State law in the heavily Mormon state already mandates that bartenders work behind a glass partition, but liquor control commissioner Bobbie Coray, a nondrinker herself, says that on a recent visit to a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, she was disturbed to see bottles of alcohol in plain view. We have a dual responsibility, Coray told her fellow commission members. We are to make alcohol available to those who want to consume it and at the same time not make anyone uncomfortable.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“A 7-year-old New Jersey boy was suspended from school for drawing a stick figure holding a gun. Shirley McDevitt says she was told that her son Kyle’s doodle violated the school’s zero-tolerance policy on guns and that his suspension was a reflection of the time we live in. Kyle was suspended for only one day, says McDevitt, but is it the time we live in when a little boy can’t draw a picture?” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“Good week for The King, after Elvis Presley regained his proper berth as the world’s highest-paid dead celebrity. Presley, who will earn an estimated $49 million this year, was edged out in 2006 by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“Bad week for The mile-high club, after Singapore Airlines announced that passengers would not be allowed to have sex in the luxury double-bed suites aboard its new fleet of Airbus A380 jets. ‘There are things that are acceptable on an aircraft,’ said a spokesman, ‘and things that aren’t.’” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
“Planned Parenthood is trying to expand. It has 4.3m clients across the country, to whom it provides everything from uncontroversial breast exams to contraception, which upsets some zealots, to some 265,000 abortions a year, which are the cause of the bitterest battles. Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's president, wants to have 17m clients one day, the number of women who need subsidised birth control.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“CNBC, owned by General Electric, makes a profit of more than $400m a year, according to Richard Greenfield of Pali Research. Its money comes from cable subscriptions and from selling advertisers an audience of rich businesspeople. Only 246,000 people watch CNBC on average during the business day in America according to Nielsen. But they have an average net worth of $2.7m.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Political realignment - The managerial elite class are Democrats
“A Wall Street Journal poll last month showed that only 37% of professionals and managers identify themselves as Republicans or leaning that way. A YouGov/Polimetrix poll for The Economist finds that only 44% of those earning more than $150,000 plan to vote Republican. So it is no surprise--though historically astonishing--that the Democrats’ presidential candidates have raised substantially more than Republican ones.” (Source: The Economist, October 20, 2007)
My editorial comments: Perhaps these folks know a good investment when they see one.
*****
“Indonesian Journalists Visit Israel” - Calev Ben-David (Jerusalem Post)
“Eight Indonesian journalists from the world's most populous Muslim nation are visiting Israel through the joint efforts of the Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Committee (AIJAC) and the American Jewish Committee.
“‘There is new thinking in Indonesia, including in the government, about upgrading relations with Israel,’ said Endy Bayuni, editor-in-chief of the English-language Jakarta Post.
“‘Israelis are quietly doing business with Indonesians, and in places like Bali you can see Israeli flags openly displayed in tourist stores or restaurants.’
“Bambang Harymurti, editor-in-chief of Tempo Weekly magazine, said, ‘Frankly, before coming here I thought of Israel as something of a police state, but you probably see more police and soldiers on the streets of Jakarta.’ ” Source: Daily Alert, October 23, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
U.S. defense spending: “At 4% of GDP [Gross Domestic Product], America’s defence spending is low by historic standards: it was 9% during the Vietnam War and 14% during the Korean War. The problem is worse in Europe: many of America's allies spend less than the 2% minimum target set by NATO.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“Unlicensed drivers are five times more likely to be in a fatal crash than licensed ones.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“According to an August report by America’s Government Accountability Office, over 90% of cocaine in transit to the United States now passes through Mexico, up from two-thirds in 2000. Over the same period seizures of methamphetamines at the United States-Mexico border increased fivefold.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
“The American Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Centre reckons that each year between $8 billion and $23 billion in illegal drug proceeds flow south, much of it to the gangs in Mexico.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
According to Chicago Tribune, “U.S. consumers overdrew $15.8 billion from their checking accounts last year. Their banks collected $17.5 billion in overdraft fees.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Ohio State’s $109 million athletics budget provides an average of $110,000 for each of its 980 athletes, about triple what the school spends to educate each student.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “After falling behind Toyota earlier this year, General Motors is again the biggest-selling car company, selling 2.3 million vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, compared to Toyota’s sales of 2.2 million” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to MarketWatch.com, “Thirty-eight percent of employees worldwide describe themselves as disenchanted or disengaged, according to a new survey by recruiter Towers Perrin. Only 21 percent say they are willing to make an ‘extra effort’ for their employer.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
According to Zogby International, “11% of Americans say they’d be willing to implant a device in their brain that allowed them to use their mind to access the Internet. 24% say the Internet can serve as a substitute for a spouse or significant other.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Americans spend, on average, about $65 per person to celebrate Halloween, with $23 going toward costumes, $20 for candy, $18 for decorations, and $4 for greeting cards.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
According to The Baltimore Sun, “Discretionary government spending--which excludes Social Security, Medicaid, and other mandatory entitlement programs--has grown 5.3 percent per year during the Bush administration, the libertarian Cato Institute reported. That makes Bush the biggest spending president since Lyndon Johnson.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Government in Action”
“Concerns were raised about the handling of America's nuclear weaponry apparatus. Around 70 air force personnel, including four officers, were disciplined for an incident in August when six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads were mistakenly flown on the wing of a B-52 from North Dakota to Louisiana, a serious breach of safety protocols. And in a separate incident, a navy investigation revealed that sailors had failed to carry out safety checks on a submarine's nuclear reactor for a month, and had tried to cover it up.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
[Refer to - Your Government in Action - from Briefly Noted of September 16, 2007.
“Washington, D.C. - Phony press conference: The Federal Emergency Management Agency admitted that it staged a press conference on the Southern California wildfires last week, with FEMA employees posing as reporters. The agency had called the press conference with only 15 minutes’ notice. When no reporters showed up at FEMA’s Washington pressroom, stand-ins from the agency took their place. They lobbed softball questions at FEMA deputy chief Harvey Johnson, such as, Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far? Johnson denied any intent to deceive. Our intent was to provide information, Johnson said. The White House expressed its disapproval, and a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, called it offensive. After the ruse was publicized, FEMA public affairs chief Pat Philbin resigned.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Hugo Chavez Watch
“About 20,000 students in Venezuela demonstrated against plans by Hugo Chávez, the left-wing president, to change the constitution to abolish term limits and give the government control over the central bank's reserves.” (Source: The Economist, October 27, 2007)
*****
“Tutu Tut-Tuts” - Marty Peretz (New Republic)
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached in Boston on Saturday about the evil the Jews are inflicting on the Palestinians. You wonder why a South African cleric of the Anglican Church is fixated on Israel, or at least I wonder. It could be for the same reason that many Christian clerics have always found reason to damn the Jews. With his characteristic sneer he actually threatened Israel - and not just the state but the whole people. ‘Remembering what happened to you in Egypt and much more recently in Germany - remember and act accordingly.’ Tutu has outdone even Jimmy Carter by charging that the Israeli government is worse than the apartheid government, and there is a certain gall to this since Israel's actions are a response to the refusal of most Palestinians to talk peace, let alone act peacefully.
“Of course, Tutu's moralizing is historically blind. The Arabs started every war in the modern Holy Land, and each loss has emboldened them to expect more from any settlement. This is just nonsense. And Tutu knows it. Why is he encouraging such self-deception at the price of bloodshed and Palestinian blood, particularly?” (Source: Daily Alert, November 2, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Good week for Gandhi’s legacy, with the growing momentum of the world-wide ‘Panties for Peace’ campaign on behalf of democracy in Myanmar. By mailing packets of women’s underwear to Myanmar’s embassies around the world, activists hop to defeat the ruling junta by exploiting its superstitious belief that contact with ladies’ personal garments will sap a man’s strength.” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
“Bad week for the credibility of the Italian government, after an official investigation concluded that ‘aliens testing secret weapons, are probably behind the recent strange events in the Sicilian village of Canneto di Caronia. Villagers said that refrigerators and other appliances have been spontaneously bursting into flames.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Hillary Clinton’s fundraising
“New York City - Clinton cash questioned: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from busboys, cooks, and street vendors in poor Chinese neighborhoods in New York City, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. Some of those donors could not be located at the addresses listed on their donation forms, the Times reported, and many were not registered to vote--raising questions about whether they were fronting for unknown individuals or groups. A follow-up story in the New York Post found that some of the donors did not live at the addresses listed, while others said they had been reimbursed for the checks they wrote to the Clinton campaign. Federal law bars such ‘straw donations.’ Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said the campaign regularly checks contributions for irregularities and returns any questionable ones. But, Wolfson said, ‘we do not ethnically profile donors.’” (Source: The Week, November 2, 2007)
*****
“Violence down again in Iraq”
“U.S. troop deaths in Iraq dropped sharply for the second consecutive month, the Pentagon announced this week. Thirty-seven Americans died in October, down from 65 in September and 84 in August. the monthly death toll was the second lowest since February 2004, when 20 troops were killed. Violence against civilians n and around Baghdad also continued to decline, with 598 attacks, down from 2,455 in January. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that in Baghdad, the presence of al Qaida in Iraq ‘has been significantly reduced and its actions degraded.’” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007 [excerpted])
*****
“A state liquor official in Utah is calling for restaurants that serve alcohol to cover up the bottles because some may be offended at the sight of alcohol. State law in the heavily Mormon state already mandates that bartenders work behind a glass partition, but liquor control commissioner Bobbie Coray, a nondrinker herself, says that on a recent visit to a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, she was disturbed to see bottles of alcohol in plain view. We have a dual responsibility, Coray told her fellow commission members. We are to make alcohol available to those who want to consume it and at the same time not make anyone uncomfortable.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“A 7-year-old New Jersey boy was suspended from school for drawing a stick figure holding a gun. Shirley McDevitt says she was told that her son Kyle’s doodle violated the school’s zero-tolerance policy on guns and that his suspension was a reflection of the time we live in. Kyle was suspended for only one day, says McDevitt, but is it the time we live in when a little boy can’t draw a picture?” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“Good week for The King, after Elvis Presley regained his proper berth as the world’s highest-paid dead celebrity. Presley, who will earn an estimated $49 million this year, was edged out in 2006 by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
*****
“Bad week for The mile-high club, after Singapore Airlines announced that passengers would not be allowed to have sex in the luxury double-bed suites aboard its new fleet of Airbus A380 jets. ‘There are things that are acceptable on an aircraft,’ said a spokesman, ‘and things that aren’t.’” (Source: The Week, November 9, 2007)
October 21, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
October 21, 2007
Politics On Parade - Dynastic Politics
“If Mrs Clinton wins the White House in 2008, members of the Bush and Clinton families will have been president for 24 years on the trot. Over 100 m[illion] Americans have never known anybody but a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. If Mrs Clinton wins re-election, that 24 years will swell to 28.” (Source: The Economist, October 6, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places
“Roberto Madrazo, the 55-year-old candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in last year’s presidential election in Mexico, was disqualified from the Berlin marathon for cheating after recording an improbably fast time. The PRI has a notorious history of electoral fraud.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
“The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, publicly raised the possibility of altering the 1967 borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, which he said must cover the same amount of land the Palestinian territories had before the war of 1967.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
My editorial comments: This notion has been raised several years ago when Israel raised the suggestion that there be an exchange of territory between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It was proposed that the city of Um al-Fahm, close to the 1967 border, but on the Israeli side, be included in the PA. The mayor, previously a fervent Palestinian nationalist, immediately came out in opposition to this idea, stating a preference to remain Israeli instead of becoming Palestinian. Abba Eban, who was the Israeli Foreign Minister and served as its Ambassador to the United Nations for a long time, once said something along the lines that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss and opportunity.
*****
“Some Palestinians Prefer Life in Israel: East Jerusalem Residents Say They Would Fight Handover to PA” - Mark MacKinnon (Globe and Mail-Canada)
“Nabil Gheit, the mayor of Ras Hamis, a Palestinian neighborhood on the eastern fringe of Jerusalem, says he can't think of a worse fate than being handed over to the Palestinian Authority. ‘If there was a referendum here, no one would vote to join the Palestinian Authority,’ Gheit said. ‘We will not accept it. There would be another intifada [uprising] to defend ourselves from the PA.’ Many Palestinians dislike the idea of their neighborhoods, which are generally more prosperous than other parts of the West Bank, being absorbed into the chaotic Palestinian territories.
“Gheit, 53, with two posters of ‘the martyr Saddam Hussein’ hanging over his cash register, can hardly be called an admirer of the Jewish state. He says he'd be happy to one day live in a properly independent Palestinian state, but not one that looks anything like the corruption-racked and violence-prone areas that are split between the warring Hamas and Fatah factions. ‘At least in Israel, there's law,’ he says.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 16, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rivalry Fuels Jump in West Bank Gun Prices” - Haitham Tamimi (Reuters/Washington Post)
“Two years ago, an M16 automatic rifle could fetch $5,400 or more in the Palestinian West Bank. Now buyers at Hebron's clandestine gun market are asked to pay more than double.
“Fears that clashes between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah could erupt in the West Bank is fuelling a scramble for guns.
“Dealers in Hebron say weapons sales have jumped by up to 70% since Hamas took control of Gaza.
“‘I don't feel safe anymore,’ said West Banker Abo Abdo, 28, who sold his car this month to buy a rifle to protect his wife and two children. ‘Everyone is buying guns.’
“‘People distrust the Palestinian police. They are buying guns to defend themselves,’ a Palestinian security source said.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 17, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“Bad week for Free Speech, after the speaker of Quebec’s parliament banned members from uttering the term ‘weather vane.’ When used as a metaphor for a flip-flopping, poll-driven politician, the term is ‘unparliamentary and hurtful,’ said Speaker Michel Bissonnet.” (Source: The Week, October 26, 2007)
Politics On Parade - Dynastic Politics
“If Mrs Clinton wins the White House in 2008, members of the Bush and Clinton families will have been president for 24 years on the trot. Over 100 m[illion] Americans have never known anybody but a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. If Mrs Clinton wins re-election, that 24 years will swell to 28.” (Source: The Economist, October 6, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places
“Roberto Madrazo, the 55-year-old candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in last year’s presidential election in Mexico, was disqualified from the Berlin marathon for cheating after recording an improbably fast time. The PRI has a notorious history of electoral fraud.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
*****
“The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, publicly raised the possibility of altering the 1967 borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, which he said must cover the same amount of land the Palestinian territories had before the war of 1967.” (Source: The Economist, October 13, 2007)
My editorial comments: This notion has been raised several years ago when Israel raised the suggestion that there be an exchange of territory between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It was proposed that the city of Um al-Fahm, close to the 1967 border, but on the Israeli side, be included in the PA. The mayor, previously a fervent Palestinian nationalist, immediately came out in opposition to this idea, stating a preference to remain Israeli instead of becoming Palestinian. Abba Eban, who was the Israeli Foreign Minister and served as its Ambassador to the United Nations for a long time, once said something along the lines that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss and opportunity.
*****
“Some Palestinians Prefer Life in Israel: East Jerusalem Residents Say They Would Fight Handover to PA” - Mark MacKinnon (Globe and Mail-Canada)
“Nabil Gheit, the mayor of Ras Hamis, a Palestinian neighborhood on the eastern fringe of Jerusalem, says he can't think of a worse fate than being handed over to the Palestinian Authority. ‘If there was a referendum here, no one would vote to join the Palestinian Authority,’ Gheit said. ‘We will not accept it. There would be another intifada [uprising] to defend ourselves from the PA.’ Many Palestinians dislike the idea of their neighborhoods, which are generally more prosperous than other parts of the West Bank, being absorbed into the chaotic Palestinian territories.
“Gheit, 53, with two posters of ‘the martyr Saddam Hussein’ hanging over his cash register, can hardly be called an admirer of the Jewish state. He says he'd be happy to one day live in a properly independent Palestinian state, but not one that looks anything like the corruption-racked and violence-prone areas that are split between the warring Hamas and Fatah factions. ‘At least in Israel, there's law,’ he says.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 16, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rivalry Fuels Jump in West Bank Gun Prices” - Haitham Tamimi (Reuters/Washington Post)
“Two years ago, an M16 automatic rifle could fetch $5,400 or more in the Palestinian West Bank. Now buyers at Hebron's clandestine gun market are asked to pay more than double.
“Fears that clashes between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah could erupt in the West Bank is fuelling a scramble for guns.
“Dealers in Hebron say weapons sales have jumped by up to 70% since Hamas took control of Gaza.
“‘I don't feel safe anymore,’ said West Banker Abo Abdo, 28, who sold his car this month to buy a rifle to protect his wife and two children. ‘Everyone is buying guns.’
“‘People distrust the Palestinian police. They are buying guns to defend themselves,’ a Palestinian security source said.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 17, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“Bad week for Free Speech, after the speaker of Quebec’s parliament banned members from uttering the term ‘weather vane.’ When used as a metaphor for a flip-flopping, poll-driven politician, the term is ‘unparliamentary and hurtful,’ said Speaker Michel Bissonnet.” (Source: The Week, October 26, 2007)
Another article about ethanol
.
[Source: The Economist, September 29, 2007]
“Advanced biofuels
“Ethanol, schmethanol
“EMERYVILLE, REDWOOD CITY AND SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA
“Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars greener. Everyone is wrong
“SOMETIMES you do things simply because you know how to. People have known how to make ethanol since the dawn of civilisation, if not before. Take some sugary liquid. Add yeast. Wait. They have also known for a thousand years how to get that ethanol out of the formerly sugary liquid and into a more or less pure form. You heat it up, catch the vapour that emanates, and cool that vapour down until it liquefies.
“The result burns. And when Henry Ford was experimenting with car engines a century ago, he tried ethanol out as a fuel. But he rejected it—and for good reason. The amount of heat you get from burning a litre of ethanol is a third less than that from a litre of petrol. What is more, it absorbs water from the atmosphere. Unless it is mixed with some other fuel, such as petrol, the result is corrosion that can wreck an engine's seals in a couple of years. So why is ethanol suddenly back in fashion? That is the question many biotechnologists in America have recently asked themselves.
“The obvious answer is that, being derived from plants, ethanol is ‘green’. The carbon dioxide produced by burning it was recently in the atmosphere. Putting that CO2 back into the air can therefore have no adverse effect on the climate. But although that is true, the real reason ethanol has become the preferred green substitute for petrol is that people know how to make it—that, and the subsidies now available to America's maize farmers to produce the necessary feedstock. Yet such things do not stop ethanol from being a lousy fuel. To solve that, the biotechnologists argue, you need to make a better fuel that is equally green. Which is what they are trying to do.
“Designer petrol
“The first step on the road has been butanol. This is also a type of alcohol that can be made by fermenting sugar (though the fermentation is done by a species of bacterium rather than by yeast), and it has some advantages over ethanol. It has more carbon atoms in its molecules (four, instead of two), which means more energy per litre—though it is still only 85% as rich as petrol. It also has a lower tendency to absorb water from the atmosphere.
“A joint venture between DuPont, a large American chemical company, and BP, a British energy firm, has worked out how to industrialise the process of making biobutanol, as the chemical is commonly known when it is the product of fermentation. Although BP plans to start selling the stuff in the next few weeks (mixed with petrol, to start with), the truth is that butanol is not all that much better than ethanol. The interesting activity is elsewhere.
“One route might be to go for yet-larger (and thus energy-richer) alcohol molecules. Any simple alcohol is composed of a number of carbon and hydrogen atoms (like a hydrocarbon such as petrol) together with a single oxygen atom. In practice, this game of topping up the carbon content to make a better fuel stops with octanol (eight carbon atoms) as anything bigger tends to freeze at temperatures that might be encountered in winter. But living things are familiar with alcohols. Their enzymes are geared up to cope with them. This makes the biotechnologists' task that much easier.
“The idea of engineering enzymes to make octanol was what first brought Codexis, a small biotechnology firm based in Redwood City, California, into the field. Codexis's technology works with pharmaceutical precision—indeed, one of its main commercial products is the enzyme system for making the chemical precursor to Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug that is marketed by Pfizer. Codexis controls most of the important patents for what is known as molecular evolution. This designs enzymes in the way that normal evolution designs organisms. It creates lots of variations on a theme, throws away the ones it does not want, and shuffles the rest in a process akin to sex. It then repeats the process on the survivors until something useful emerges—though, unlike natural evolution, there is a bit of intelligent design in the process, too. The result, according to Codexis's boss, Alan Shaw, is enzymes that can perform chemical transformations unknown in nature.
“Dr Shaw, however, is no longer so interested in octanol as a biofuel. Like two other, nearby firms, he is now focusing Codexis's attention on molecules even more chemically similar to petrol. The twist that Codexis brings is that unlike petrol, of which each batch from the refinery is chemically different from the others (because the crude oil from which it is derived is an arbitrary mixture of hydrocarbon molecules), biopetrol could be turned out exactly the same, again and again, and thus designed to have the optimal mixture of properties required of a motor fuel.
“Exactly which molecules Codexis is most interested in these days, Dr Shaw is not yet willing to say. But Amyris Biotechnologies, which is also based in California, in Emeryville, and which also started by dabbling in drugs (in its case an antimalarial medicine called artemisinin), is slightly more forthcoming. Under the guidance of its founder Jay Keasling, it has been working on a type of isoprenoid (a class of chemicals that include rubber).
“Unlike Codexis, which deals in purified enzymes, Amyris employs a technique called synthetic biology, which turns living organisms into chemical reactors by assembling novel biochemical pathways within them. Dr Keasling and his colleagues scour the world for suitable enzymes, tweak them to make them work better, then sew the genes for the tweaked enzymes into a bacterium that thus turns out the desired product. That was how they produced artemisinin, which is also an isoprenoid.
“Isoprenoids have the advantage that, like alcohols, they are part of the natural biochemistry of many organisms. Enzymes to handle them are thus easy to come by. They have the additional advantage that some are pure hydrocarbons, like petrol. With a little judicious searching, Amyris thinks it has come up with isoprenoids that have the right characteristics to substitute for petrol.
“The third Californian firm in the business, LS9 of San Carlos, is cutting to the chase. If petrol is what is wanted, petrol is what will be delivered. And diesel, too, although in this case the product is actually biodiesel, which is in some ways superior to the petroleum-based stuff.
“LS9 also uses synthetic biology, but it has concentrated on controlling the pathways that make fatty acids. Like alcohols, fatty acids are molecules that have lots of hydrogen and carbon atoms, and a small amount of oxygen (in their case two oxygen atoms, rather than one). Plant oils consist of fatty acids combined with glycerol—and these fatty acids (for example, those from palm oil) are the main raw material for the biodiesel already sold today.
“LS9 has used its technology to turn microbes into factories for fatty acids containing between eight and 20 carbon atoms—the optimal number for biodiesel. But it also plans to make what it calls ‘biocrude’. In this case the fatty acids would have 18-30 carbon atoms, and the final stage of the synthetic pathway would clip off the oxygen atoms to create pure hydrocarbons. This biocrude could be fed directly into existing oil refineries, without any need to modify them.
“These firms, however, have one other competitor. His name is Craig Venter. Dr Venter, a veteran of biotechnological scraps ranging from gene patenting to the private human-genome project, has been interested in bioenergy for a long time. To start with, it was hydrogen that caught his eye, then methane—both of which are natural bacterial products. But now that eye is shifting towards liquid fuels. His company, modestly named Synthetic Genomics (and based, unlike the others, on the east side of America, in Rockville, Maryland), is reluctant to discuss details, but Dr Venter, too, is taken with the pharmaceutical analogy. Indeed, he goes as far as to posit the idea of clinical trials for biofuels—presumably pitting one against another, perhaps with petroleum-based products acting as the control, and without the drivers knowing which was which.
“Whether biofuels will ever be competitive with fossil fuels remains to be seen. That will depend on a mixture of economics and politics. But the political rush to back ethanol, just because it is green and people have heard of it, is a mistake. Let a thousand flowers bloom, and see which one wins Dr Venter's Grand Prix.”
[Source: The Economist, September 29, 2007]
“Advanced biofuels
“Ethanol, schmethanol
“EMERYVILLE, REDWOOD CITY AND SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA
“Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars greener. Everyone is wrong
“SOMETIMES you do things simply because you know how to. People have known how to make ethanol since the dawn of civilisation, if not before. Take some sugary liquid. Add yeast. Wait. They have also known for a thousand years how to get that ethanol out of the formerly sugary liquid and into a more or less pure form. You heat it up, catch the vapour that emanates, and cool that vapour down until it liquefies.
“The result burns. And when Henry Ford was experimenting with car engines a century ago, he tried ethanol out as a fuel. But he rejected it—and for good reason. The amount of heat you get from burning a litre of ethanol is a third less than that from a litre of petrol. What is more, it absorbs water from the atmosphere. Unless it is mixed with some other fuel, such as petrol, the result is corrosion that can wreck an engine's seals in a couple of years. So why is ethanol suddenly back in fashion? That is the question many biotechnologists in America have recently asked themselves.
“The obvious answer is that, being derived from plants, ethanol is ‘green’. The carbon dioxide produced by burning it was recently in the atmosphere. Putting that CO2 back into the air can therefore have no adverse effect on the climate. But although that is true, the real reason ethanol has become the preferred green substitute for petrol is that people know how to make it—that, and the subsidies now available to America's maize farmers to produce the necessary feedstock. Yet such things do not stop ethanol from being a lousy fuel. To solve that, the biotechnologists argue, you need to make a better fuel that is equally green. Which is what they are trying to do.
“Designer petrol
“The first step on the road has been butanol. This is also a type of alcohol that can be made by fermenting sugar (though the fermentation is done by a species of bacterium rather than by yeast), and it has some advantages over ethanol. It has more carbon atoms in its molecules (four, instead of two), which means more energy per litre—though it is still only 85% as rich as petrol. It also has a lower tendency to absorb water from the atmosphere.
“A joint venture between DuPont, a large American chemical company, and BP, a British energy firm, has worked out how to industrialise the process of making biobutanol, as the chemical is commonly known when it is the product of fermentation. Although BP plans to start selling the stuff in the next few weeks (mixed with petrol, to start with), the truth is that butanol is not all that much better than ethanol. The interesting activity is elsewhere.
“One route might be to go for yet-larger (and thus energy-richer) alcohol molecules. Any simple alcohol is composed of a number of carbon and hydrogen atoms (like a hydrocarbon such as petrol) together with a single oxygen atom. In practice, this game of topping up the carbon content to make a better fuel stops with octanol (eight carbon atoms) as anything bigger tends to freeze at temperatures that might be encountered in winter. But living things are familiar with alcohols. Their enzymes are geared up to cope with them. This makes the biotechnologists' task that much easier.
“The idea of engineering enzymes to make octanol was what first brought Codexis, a small biotechnology firm based in Redwood City, California, into the field. Codexis's technology works with pharmaceutical precision—indeed, one of its main commercial products is the enzyme system for making the chemical precursor to Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug that is marketed by Pfizer. Codexis controls most of the important patents for what is known as molecular evolution. This designs enzymes in the way that normal evolution designs organisms. It creates lots of variations on a theme, throws away the ones it does not want, and shuffles the rest in a process akin to sex. It then repeats the process on the survivors until something useful emerges—though, unlike natural evolution, there is a bit of intelligent design in the process, too. The result, according to Codexis's boss, Alan Shaw, is enzymes that can perform chemical transformations unknown in nature.
“Dr Shaw, however, is no longer so interested in octanol as a biofuel. Like two other, nearby firms, he is now focusing Codexis's attention on molecules even more chemically similar to petrol. The twist that Codexis brings is that unlike petrol, of which each batch from the refinery is chemically different from the others (because the crude oil from which it is derived is an arbitrary mixture of hydrocarbon molecules), biopetrol could be turned out exactly the same, again and again, and thus designed to have the optimal mixture of properties required of a motor fuel.
“Exactly which molecules Codexis is most interested in these days, Dr Shaw is not yet willing to say. But Amyris Biotechnologies, which is also based in California, in Emeryville, and which also started by dabbling in drugs (in its case an antimalarial medicine called artemisinin), is slightly more forthcoming. Under the guidance of its founder Jay Keasling, it has been working on a type of isoprenoid (a class of chemicals that include rubber).
“Unlike Codexis, which deals in purified enzymes, Amyris employs a technique called synthetic biology, which turns living organisms into chemical reactors by assembling novel biochemical pathways within them. Dr Keasling and his colleagues scour the world for suitable enzymes, tweak them to make them work better, then sew the genes for the tweaked enzymes into a bacterium that thus turns out the desired product. That was how they produced artemisinin, which is also an isoprenoid.
“Isoprenoids have the advantage that, like alcohols, they are part of the natural biochemistry of many organisms. Enzymes to handle them are thus easy to come by. They have the additional advantage that some are pure hydrocarbons, like petrol. With a little judicious searching, Amyris thinks it has come up with isoprenoids that have the right characteristics to substitute for petrol.
“The third Californian firm in the business, LS9 of San Carlos, is cutting to the chase. If petrol is what is wanted, petrol is what will be delivered. And diesel, too, although in this case the product is actually biodiesel, which is in some ways superior to the petroleum-based stuff.
“LS9 also uses synthetic biology, but it has concentrated on controlling the pathways that make fatty acids. Like alcohols, fatty acids are molecules that have lots of hydrogen and carbon atoms, and a small amount of oxygen (in their case two oxygen atoms, rather than one). Plant oils consist of fatty acids combined with glycerol—and these fatty acids (for example, those from palm oil) are the main raw material for the biodiesel already sold today.
“LS9 has used its technology to turn microbes into factories for fatty acids containing between eight and 20 carbon atoms—the optimal number for biodiesel. But it also plans to make what it calls ‘biocrude’. In this case the fatty acids would have 18-30 carbon atoms, and the final stage of the synthetic pathway would clip off the oxygen atoms to create pure hydrocarbons. This biocrude could be fed directly into existing oil refineries, without any need to modify them.
“These firms, however, have one other competitor. His name is Craig Venter. Dr Venter, a veteran of biotechnological scraps ranging from gene patenting to the private human-genome project, has been interested in bioenergy for a long time. To start with, it was hydrogen that caught his eye, then methane—both of which are natural bacterial products. But now that eye is shifting towards liquid fuels. His company, modestly named Synthetic Genomics (and based, unlike the others, on the east side of America, in Rockville, Maryland), is reluctant to discuss details, but Dr Venter, too, is taken with the pharmaceutical analogy. Indeed, he goes as far as to posit the idea of clinical trials for biofuels—presumably pitting one against another, perhaps with petroleum-based products acting as the control, and without the drivers knowing which was which.
“Whether biofuels will ever be competitive with fossil fuels remains to be seen. That will depend on a mixture of economics and politics. But the political rush to back ethanol, just because it is green and people have heard of it, is a mistake. Let a thousand flowers bloom, and see which one wins Dr Venter's Grand Prix.”
October 14, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
October 14, 2007
The Long Hand of Justice Reaches Out
“Police in Cambodia arrested Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime, responsible for more than a million deaths between 1975 and 1979. He was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and will be tried by a UN-backed tribunal.” (Source: The Economist, September 22, 2007)
*****
Reading Other People’s Mail - selected letters to publications
Source: The Economist, September 22, 2007
“SIR – Your briefing on capital punishment in America was permeated with the usual anti-death-penalty claptrap, which no doubt flattered the prejudices of Europeans and some here (’Revenge begins to seem less sweet’, September 1st). For instance, you repeated a staple belief of abolitionists that the death penalty is losing support among Americans. Yet in truth, support for the death penalty in America remains strong.
“You should also peruse the FBI's crime statistics for 2005. They show that the murder rate per 100,000 people in the ultra-liberal, abolitionist jurisdiction of Washington, DC, was an eye-popping 35.4, whereas in Texas, peppered with your death-penalty ‘enthusiasts’, it was 6.2. It appears that the citizens of the good district are vastly more enthusiastic and liberal in meting out the death penalty, albeit privately, than we allegedly trigger-happy Texans.”
P.P.
Austin, Texas
“SIR – With regard to those who like to refer to the Old Testament in defence of the death penalty, such as the Texan prosecutor you quoted, I seem to recall that the Sixth Commandment instructs: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ I do not remember it adding, ‘some exceptions apply.’”
J.S.
London
My editorial comments: Actually, what it says is “Do not murder.” In the original Hebrew/Aramaic, what is says is “al tirtzach” -- “Do not murder.” “Do not kill” is “al taharog”. This is a very significant difference.
*****
“Iranians Chant ‘Death to Israel’ [and ‘Death to United States’] in Mass Protest” - (AFP)
“Tens of thousands of Iranians marched through Tehran on Friday proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians and chanting ‘Death to Israel’ in Iran's annual protest against the Jewish state. Colored bibs were handed out to protestors with the legend ‘Death to Israel, Death to United States.’ There was a festive mood with the numerous children present having their faces painted as cats and rabbits. (AFP)” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Children’s Magazine Glorifies Martyrdom” - C. Jacob (MEMRI)
“The Hamas children's magazine Al-Fateh is published biweekly in London, and is posted online at www.al-fateh.net.
“In stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations, as well as characterizations of Jews as ‘murderers of the prophets’ and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews.
“In each issue, a regular feature titled ‘The Story of a Martyr’ presents the ‘heroic deeds’ of a mujahid who died in a suicide operation or who was killed by the IDF.
“The magazine includes illustrations of child warriors, presenting them as role models. The magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh (’The Conqueror’), is depicted as a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn sword.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Divided Over Future Under Hamas” - Donald Macintyre (Independent-UK)
“Asked about the 2006 Palestinian elections, Gaza shopkeeper Khaled Abu Ahmed slipped off his sandal and used it to beat his head several times to demonstrate his remorse for voting Hamas. Before the elections and the subsequent international boycott, he said, he used to make between £1,200 and £1,400 a month. Now, he said, thanks to closures and two years of only sporadic payments to public employees, he is lucky to make £25. ‘We have been occupied by the Turks, the British, and the Egyptians,’ he added, his voice rising. ‘We were occupied by Fatah and now we are occupied by Hamas. And the best of these occupations was by the Jews.’” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Iran
“Iran’s Crackdown Victimizes Baha’is” - U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk - (Chicago Sun-Times)
“There is a little-told story from Iran - a story we thought would forever stay buried in the darkness of 1930s Europe. The Baha'i faith - a faith of tolerance and diversity of thought - was founded in Iran in the mid-1800s and has become Iran's largest religious minority with over 250,000 members. In March 2006, just a few months into Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Command Headquarters of Iran's Armed Forces ordered the police, Revolutionary Guard and Ministry of Information to identify all Baha'is and collect information on their activities. Two months later, the Iranian Association of Chambers of Commerce began compiling a list of Baha'is serving in every business sector.
“In August, Iran's feared Ministry of the Interior ordered provincial officials to ‘cautiously and carefully monitor and manage’ all Baha'i social activities. The Central Security Office of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha'i; this year, 104 Baha'is were expelled from Iranian universities. In April, the Iranian Public Intelligence and Security Force ordered 25 industries to deny business licenses to Baha'is. Banks are closing Baha'i accounts and refusing loans to Baha'i applicants.
“According to the U.S. State Department's 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom, ‘Broad restrictions on Baha'is severely undermined their ability to function as a community. The Government repeatedly offers Baha'is relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their faith.... Baha'is may not teach or practice their faith or maintain links with co-religionists abroad. Baha'is are often officially charged with 'espionage on behalf of Zionism.' We have seen this movie before. What happened to our solemn promise of ‘never again’ made in 1945?”
“U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is co-chairman of the House Iran Working Group and a member of the Human Rights Caucus.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
All The News That Fits - The New York Times and MoveOn.org
“How the Times betrayed its own values - Clark Hoyt - The New York Times -- For two weeks now, critics have been hammering The New York Times over its handling of the now-famous MoveOn.org ad denouncing ‘General Betray Us.’ My own investigation, said Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt, suggests the critics are right. Conservatives have accused the Times of giving the liberal activist group a deep discount on the ad attacking the credibility of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. The Times charged MoveOn.org its lowest price for a full-page ad, $64,575. After days of denying any favorable treatment, the Times now admits that since MoveOn.org was given a say over when the ad ran, it should have been charged $142,083. That ‘error’ was blamed on a salesman. In attacking Petraeus’ honesty and character, the ad also seemed to violate the newspaper’s ‘own written standards’ for advocacy ads, which bar ‘attacks of a personal nature.’ By ignoring those standards, the newspaper has given ‘fresh ammunition to a cottage industry that loves to bash the Times as a bastion of the “liberal media.” ’ ” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
*****
Department of Selling Them the Rope
“A police state that American investors love - Harold Meyerson - The Washington Post -- The U.S. economy might be wobbling, but some American investors have found an overseas industry with ‘an almost limitless future,’ said Harold Meyerson in The Washington Post: ‘The Chinese police state.’ A slew of Chinese electronic surveillance companies is going public in the U.S., with the enthusiastic support of American hedge funds. Ostensibly private, these companies are actually ‘a for-profit adjunct of the Chinese government.’ Take China Security and Surveillance Technology, the recipient of a $110 million loan from Chicago hedge fund Citadel Group. CSST makes face-recognition software and security cameras that can monitor street demonstrations--perfect for fighting terrorists. China doesn’t have a terrorism problem, of course. But as a totalitarian state, it ‘can never be sure how many of its citizens would relish its demise.’ That explains why China’s surveillance industry, which generated $500 million in 2003, is now projected to grow to $43 billion by 2010. That’s an opportunity America’s hedge funds can’t pass up, even if it means shattering the myth that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. The Bush administration could discourage these investments, but don’t hold your breath. If it comes down to a choice in the White House between capitalism and democracy, ‘that smart money’s on capitalism.’” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Student Protest Targets Iranian President” - Ali Akbar Dareini (AP/Washington Post)
“About 100 students staged a protest Monday against Iranian President Ahmadinejad, calling him a ‘dictator’ as he gave a speech at Tehran University. Ahmadinejad ignored chants of ‘Death to the dictator’ and gave his speech on the pitfalls of Western-style democracy. Hard-line students chanted ‘Thank you, president’ and police looked on from outside the university without intervening. In recent months, hundreds of dissenters have been detained on accusations of threatening the Iranian system. Numerous pro-reform newspapers have been shut down and those that remain have muted their criticism.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 9, 2007)
*****
“Reporting the (Bad) News” - Frida Ghitis (Miami Herald)
“News coverage from Israel in the European press is often little more than a parody of honest journalism. To highlight at least one of the techniques used by European - and some American - news organizations, one Israeli has launched his own news parody. ''Bad News from the Netherlands,'' run by Manfred Gerstenfeld, reports on the Netherlands focusing exclusively on negative news. By the time you run through the clippings - all real news stories - the usually placid Netherlands sounds like the abode of the devil himself: Dutch soldiers suspected of torturing prisoners and killing civilians; soldiers beating an immigrant to death; Dutch politicians guilty of incitement against foreigners. His point? You can make any country look bad by the way you report about it.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 9, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Pakistan
“Islamists Damage Giant Ancient Buddha” - Ben Quinn (Telegraph-UK)
“Islamist radicals in Pakistan have attempted to destroy an ancient carving of Buddha by drilling holes in the rock and filling them with dynamite.
“The Buddha, in the Swat district of northwest Pakistan, dates from the seventh century and was considered the largest in Asia, after the two Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed six years ago by the Taliban in Afghanistan.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 11, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Ashland, Oregon
“The entire city council of Ashland, Ore., has decided to enter relationship counseling. The catalyst was Councilman David Chapman’s telling Councilman Eric Navickas to ‘shut your f---ing mouth’ during last week’s meeting, though Navickas had previously called the city’s mayor ‘a Nazi,’ and tensions have generally been running high. Taxpayers will pay $27,000 for the council’s five months of therapy, which ‘may seem like a lot of money,’ said City Administrator Martha Bennett. ‘But if the council doesn’t function, the city doesn’t function.’” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Italy
“Bad week for Sisterhood, after a previously serene Italian convent near Bari descended suddenly into all-out nun-on-nun violence. Nuns at the Santa Clara convent had apparently been chafing for months under the heavy-handed rule of the Mother Superior, who required hospital treatment for scratches to the face. She has beseeched Pope Benedict himself to crack down on the insurrection.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Tax Dollars At Work”
“Coronado, Calif. - Costly renovations: The U.S. Navy will spend $682,000 to camouflage a California barracks after aerial photos revealed that it’s shaped like a swastika. Navy officials had long known about the shape of the building, completed in 1967, but figured few people would notice, because civilian planes are barred from flying directly over the base. But the building is now visible to anyone with a computer, thanks to Web sites such as Google Earth, which features aerial photographs of large segments of the globe. ‘You have to realize, back in the ‘60s we did not have the Internet,’ said Navy spokeswoman Angelic Dolan. The Navy says it will alter the building’s roof and landscaping to disguise its shape.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Although corn prices are at record highs, corn growers will collect $10.5 billion in federal subsidies over the next five years.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
According to The New York Times, “Forty-four percent of U.S. CEOs have contracts that call for them to receive severance payments even if they’re fired for committing fraud or embezzlement.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
According to Forbes, “Not taxing the $113 billion U.S. marijuana industry, plus enforcing anti-marijuana laws, costs U.S. taxpayers $41.8 billion a year, a George Mason University study found.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
The myth of increased U.S. military spending - According to The Wall Street Journal, “During the Vietnam era, we spent 9 percent of our ross domestic product on defense, while it’s only 4 percent today.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The City Council of Belmont, Calif., has voted to ban residents from smoking in their own apartments. Many of the state’s apartment complexes already have no-smoking policies, but Belmont is the first city to pass legislation making it a crime to light up at home. The city of Calabassas may be next. ‘The time has come,’ said Councilman Barry Groveman, sponsor of the Calabassas no-smoking bill, who acknowledged the public reaction has not been wholly positive. ‘I’ve gotten threats like you wouldn’t believe.’” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - The Vatican
“Good week for The God squad, after the Vatican purchased a controlling interest in Italy’s AC Ancona soccer club and announced that the team and its fans would henceforth eschew taunting the opposition, cursing, and bribing officials. The team will soon receive a pep talk from Pope Benedict XVI.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
“Good week for Barstool philosophers, after New Zealand scientists confirmed that moderate alcohol consumption does indeed make you smarter. To experience ‘heightened cognition,’ they recommend one to three drinks daily.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Democratic presidential candidates
“Bad week for Myths, after The Washington Pot debunked claims by Democratic presidential candidates that there are more young black men in jail than in college. As of the 2005 census, there were actually 530,000 black males ages 18-24 in college, and 193,000 in jail.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
The Long Hand of Justice Reaches Out
“Police in Cambodia arrested Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime, responsible for more than a million deaths between 1975 and 1979. He was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and will be tried by a UN-backed tribunal.” (Source: The Economist, September 22, 2007)
*****
Reading Other People’s Mail - selected letters to publications
Source: The Economist, September 22, 2007
“SIR – Your briefing on capital punishment in America was permeated with the usual anti-death-penalty claptrap, which no doubt flattered the prejudices of Europeans and some here (’Revenge begins to seem less sweet’, September 1st). For instance, you repeated a staple belief of abolitionists that the death penalty is losing support among Americans. Yet in truth, support for the death penalty in America remains strong.
“You should also peruse the FBI's crime statistics for 2005. They show that the murder rate per 100,000 people in the ultra-liberal, abolitionist jurisdiction of Washington, DC, was an eye-popping 35.4, whereas in Texas, peppered with your death-penalty ‘enthusiasts’, it was 6.2. It appears that the citizens of the good district are vastly more enthusiastic and liberal in meting out the death penalty, albeit privately, than we allegedly trigger-happy Texans.”
P.P.
Austin, Texas
“SIR – With regard to those who like to refer to the Old Testament in defence of the death penalty, such as the Texan prosecutor you quoted, I seem to recall that the Sixth Commandment instructs: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ I do not remember it adding, ‘some exceptions apply.’”
J.S.
London
My editorial comments: Actually, what it says is “Do not murder.” In the original Hebrew/Aramaic, what is says is “al tirtzach” -- “Do not murder.” “Do not kill” is “al taharog”. This is a very significant difference.
*****
“Iranians Chant ‘Death to Israel’ [and ‘Death to United States’] in Mass Protest” - (AFP)
“Tens of thousands of Iranians marched through Tehran on Friday proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians and chanting ‘Death to Israel’ in Iran's annual protest against the Jewish state. Colored bibs were handed out to protestors with the legend ‘Death to Israel, Death to United States.’ There was a festive mood with the numerous children present having their faces painted as cats and rabbits. (AFP)” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Children’s Magazine Glorifies Martyrdom” - C. Jacob (MEMRI)
“The Hamas children's magazine Al-Fateh is published biweekly in London, and is posted online at www.al-fateh.net.
“In stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations, as well as characterizations of Jews as ‘murderers of the prophets’ and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews.
“In each issue, a regular feature titled ‘The Story of a Martyr’ presents the ‘heroic deeds’ of a mujahid who died in a suicide operation or who was killed by the IDF.
“The magazine includes illustrations of child warriors, presenting them as role models. The magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh (’The Conqueror’), is depicted as a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn sword.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Divided Over Future Under Hamas” - Donald Macintyre (Independent-UK)
“Asked about the 2006 Palestinian elections, Gaza shopkeeper Khaled Abu Ahmed slipped off his sandal and used it to beat his head several times to demonstrate his remorse for voting Hamas. Before the elections and the subsequent international boycott, he said, he used to make between £1,200 and £1,400 a month. Now, he said, thanks to closures and two years of only sporadic payments to public employees, he is lucky to make £25. ‘We have been occupied by the Turks, the British, and the Egyptians,’ he added, his voice rising. ‘We were occupied by Fatah and now we are occupied by Hamas. And the best of these occupations was by the Jews.’” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Iran
“Iran’s Crackdown Victimizes Baha’is” - U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk - (Chicago Sun-Times)
“There is a little-told story from Iran - a story we thought would forever stay buried in the darkness of 1930s Europe. The Baha'i faith - a faith of tolerance and diversity of thought - was founded in Iran in the mid-1800s and has become Iran's largest religious minority with over 250,000 members. In March 2006, just a few months into Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Command Headquarters of Iran's Armed Forces ordered the police, Revolutionary Guard and Ministry of Information to identify all Baha'is and collect information on their activities. Two months later, the Iranian Association of Chambers of Commerce began compiling a list of Baha'is serving in every business sector.
“In August, Iran's feared Ministry of the Interior ordered provincial officials to ‘cautiously and carefully monitor and manage’ all Baha'i social activities. The Central Security Office of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha'i; this year, 104 Baha'is were expelled from Iranian universities. In April, the Iranian Public Intelligence and Security Force ordered 25 industries to deny business licenses to Baha'is. Banks are closing Baha'i accounts and refusing loans to Baha'i applicants.
“According to the U.S. State Department's 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom, ‘Broad restrictions on Baha'is severely undermined their ability to function as a community. The Government repeatedly offers Baha'is relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their faith.... Baha'is may not teach or practice their faith or maintain links with co-religionists abroad. Baha'is are often officially charged with 'espionage on behalf of Zionism.' We have seen this movie before. What happened to our solemn promise of ‘never again’ made in 1945?”
“U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is co-chairman of the House Iran Working Group and a member of the Human Rights Caucus.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 5, 2007)
*****
All The News That Fits - The New York Times and MoveOn.org
“How the Times betrayed its own values - Clark Hoyt - The New York Times -- For two weeks now, critics have been hammering The New York Times over its handling of the now-famous MoveOn.org ad denouncing ‘General Betray Us.’ My own investigation, said Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt, suggests the critics are right. Conservatives have accused the Times of giving the liberal activist group a deep discount on the ad attacking the credibility of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. The Times charged MoveOn.org its lowest price for a full-page ad, $64,575. After days of denying any favorable treatment, the Times now admits that since MoveOn.org was given a say over when the ad ran, it should have been charged $142,083. That ‘error’ was blamed on a salesman. In attacking Petraeus’ honesty and character, the ad also seemed to violate the newspaper’s ‘own written standards’ for advocacy ads, which bar ‘attacks of a personal nature.’ By ignoring those standards, the newspaper has given ‘fresh ammunition to a cottage industry that loves to bash the Times as a bastion of the “liberal media.” ’ ” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
*****
Department of Selling Them the Rope
“A police state that American investors love - Harold Meyerson - The Washington Post -- The U.S. economy might be wobbling, but some American investors have found an overseas industry with ‘an almost limitless future,’ said Harold Meyerson in The Washington Post: ‘The Chinese police state.’ A slew of Chinese electronic surveillance companies is going public in the U.S., with the enthusiastic support of American hedge funds. Ostensibly private, these companies are actually ‘a for-profit adjunct of the Chinese government.’ Take China Security and Surveillance Technology, the recipient of a $110 million loan from Chicago hedge fund Citadel Group. CSST makes face-recognition software and security cameras that can monitor street demonstrations--perfect for fighting terrorists. China doesn’t have a terrorism problem, of course. But as a totalitarian state, it ‘can never be sure how many of its citizens would relish its demise.’ That explains why China’s surveillance industry, which generated $500 million in 2003, is now projected to grow to $43 billion by 2010. That’s an opportunity America’s hedge funds can’t pass up, even if it means shattering the myth that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. The Bush administration could discourage these investments, but don’t hold your breath. If it comes down to a choice in the White House between capitalism and democracy, ‘that smart money’s on capitalism.’” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
*****
“Student Protest Targets Iranian President” - Ali Akbar Dareini (AP/Washington Post)
“About 100 students staged a protest Monday against Iranian President Ahmadinejad, calling him a ‘dictator’ as he gave a speech at Tehran University. Ahmadinejad ignored chants of ‘Death to the dictator’ and gave his speech on the pitfalls of Western-style democracy. Hard-line students chanted ‘Thank you, president’ and police looked on from outside the university without intervening. In recent months, hundreds of dissenters have been detained on accusations of threatening the Iranian system. Numerous pro-reform newspapers have been shut down and those that remain have muted their criticism.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 9, 2007)
*****
“Reporting the (Bad) News” - Frida Ghitis (Miami Herald)
“News coverage from Israel in the European press is often little more than a parody of honest journalism. To highlight at least one of the techniques used by European - and some American - news organizations, one Israeli has launched his own news parody. ''Bad News from the Netherlands,'' run by Manfred Gerstenfeld, reports on the Netherlands focusing exclusively on negative news. By the time you run through the clippings - all real news stories - the usually placid Netherlands sounds like the abode of the devil himself: Dutch soldiers suspected of torturing prisoners and killing civilians; soldiers beating an immigrant to death; Dutch politicians guilty of incitement against foreigners. His point? You can make any country look bad by the way you report about it.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 9, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Pakistan
“Islamists Damage Giant Ancient Buddha” - Ben Quinn (Telegraph-UK)
“Islamist radicals in Pakistan have attempted to destroy an ancient carving of Buddha by drilling holes in the rock and filling them with dynamite.
“The Buddha, in the Swat district of northwest Pakistan, dates from the seventh century and was considered the largest in Asia, after the two Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed six years ago by the Taliban in Afghanistan.” (Source: Daily Alert, October 11, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Ashland, Oregon
“The entire city council of Ashland, Ore., has decided to enter relationship counseling. The catalyst was Councilman David Chapman’s telling Councilman Eric Navickas to ‘shut your f---ing mouth’ during last week’s meeting, though Navickas had previously called the city’s mayor ‘a Nazi,’ and tensions have generally been running high. Taxpayers will pay $27,000 for the council’s five months of therapy, which ‘may seem like a lot of money,’ said City Administrator Martha Bennett. ‘But if the council doesn’t function, the city doesn’t function.’” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Italy
“Bad week for Sisterhood, after a previously serene Italian convent near Bari descended suddenly into all-out nun-on-nun violence. Nuns at the Santa Clara convent had apparently been chafing for months under the heavy-handed rule of the Mother Superior, who required hospital treatment for scratches to the face. She has beseeched Pope Benedict himself to crack down on the insurrection.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Tax Dollars At Work”
“Coronado, Calif. - Costly renovations: The U.S. Navy will spend $682,000 to camouflage a California barracks after aerial photos revealed that it’s shaped like a swastika. Navy officials had long known about the shape of the building, completed in 1967, but figured few people would notice, because civilian planes are barred from flying directly over the base. But the building is now visible to anyone with a computer, thanks to Web sites such as Google Earth, which features aerial photographs of large segments of the globe. ‘You have to realize, back in the ‘60s we did not have the Internet,’ said Navy spokeswoman Angelic Dolan. The Navy says it will alter the building’s roof and landscaping to disguise its shape.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Although corn prices are at record highs, corn growers will collect $10.5 billion in federal subsidies over the next five years.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
According to The New York Times, “Forty-four percent of U.S. CEOs have contracts that call for them to receive severance payments even if they’re fired for committing fraud or embezzlement.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
According to Forbes, “Not taxing the $113 billion U.S. marijuana industry, plus enforcing anti-marijuana laws, costs U.S. taxpayers $41.8 billion a year, a George Mason University study found.” (Source: The Week, October 12, 2007)
The myth of increased U.S. military spending - According to The Wall Street Journal, “During the Vietnam era, we spent 9 percent of our ross domestic product on defense, while it’s only 4 percent today.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The City Council of Belmont, Calif., has voted to ban residents from smoking in their own apartments. Many of the state’s apartment complexes already have no-smoking policies, but Belmont is the first city to pass legislation making it a crime to light up at home. The city of Calabassas may be next. ‘The time has come,’ said Councilman Barry Groveman, sponsor of the Calabassas no-smoking bill, who acknowledged the public reaction has not been wholly positive. ‘I’ve gotten threats like you wouldn’t believe.’” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - The Vatican
“Good week for The God squad, after the Vatican purchased a controlling interest in Italy’s AC Ancona soccer club and announced that the team and its fans would henceforth eschew taunting the opposition, cursing, and bribing officials. The team will soon receive a pep talk from Pope Benedict XVI.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
“Good week for Barstool philosophers, after New Zealand scientists confirmed that moderate alcohol consumption does indeed make you smarter. To experience ‘heightened cognition,’ they recommend one to three drinks daily.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade - Democratic presidential candidates
“Bad week for Myths, after The Washington Pot debunked claims by Democratic presidential candidates that there are more young black men in jail than in college. As of the 2005 census, there were actually 530,000 black males ages 18-24 in college, and 193,000 in jail.” (Source: The Week, October 19, 2007)
September 30, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
September 30, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“... the 57 nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference can boast only 8.5 scientists per 1,000 population, while the world average is 40.7. Of the lowest national producers of scientific articles in 2003, half are members of the OIC. The OIC countries spend about 0.3 percent of their gross national product on research and development, in contrast to the global average of 2.4 percent.
“Some Muslim nations have recently boosted such spending, but throwing money at the problem is no good unless it is used by well-educated professionals who are capable of quality work. And so far, evidence of such quality is lacking. Of the approximately 1,800 universities in OIC nations, only 312 publish journal articles, and no OIC university was included in the top 500 of the ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’ that was produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 10, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “More than 100 state and local officials in New Jersey have been convicted of corruption charges in the past five years. Last week, 11 more officials, including two state legislators and two mayors, were charged with taking bribes and other offenses.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to Newsweek, “Only 25 percent of the nation's 3 million teachers are men--a 40 year low. In elementary school, it’s only 9 percent. Educators say men are being scared away from the profession by low salaries and fears that they will be accused of being pedophiles if they even pat a student on the arm.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to U.S. News & World Report, “A growing number of parents are choosing to start their children in kindergarten a year late, figuring their kids will have a better chance of being at the top of their class if they’re older than most of their classmates. In some affluent communities, a government report found, as many as 20 percent of eligible kindergartners are held back.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to The Weekly Standard, “About 70 percent of the visits to Internet porn sites come during regular office hours. In surveys, the average worker admits to wasting 2 hours each workday, often by visiting Web sites.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to USA Today, “In 1990, the average credit card holder had an outstanding balance of $2,966. The average balance in 2006 was $9,659.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
Ethanol from corn might not be such a great idea: “Ethanol produced from sugar cane has an energy balance of 8-to-1—that is, sugar cane generates eight times more energy than is used to produce, transport, and refine it. Other ethanol sources, such as prairie grass, also have a high energy balance. Gasoline itself has an energy balance of 5-to-1. But corn’s energy balance, according to one study, is only 1.3-to-1—meaning that corn-based ethanol produces barely more energy than is consumed to make it. Other studies have concluded that making ethanol actually consumes more energy than the fuel produced. Nonetheless, almost all ethanol produced in the U.S. comes from corn—about 5 billion gallons this year, equivalent to 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop.” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
According to Time, “Three-quarters of African-American students attend schools that are more than 50 percent black or Latino, while the average white student goes to a school that is 80 percent white, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Overall, schools are more segregated today than they were in 1970.” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“... the 57 nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference can boast only 8.5 scientists per 1,000 population, while the world average is 40.7. Of the lowest national producers of scientific articles in 2003, half are members of the OIC. The OIC countries spend about 0.3 percent of their gross national product on research and development, in contrast to the global average of 2.4 percent.
“Some Muslim nations have recently boosted such spending, but throwing money at the problem is no good unless it is used by well-educated professionals who are capable of quality work. And so far, evidence of such quality is lacking. Of the approximately 1,800 universities in OIC nations, only 312 publish journal articles, and no OIC university was included in the top 500 of the ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’ that was produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 10, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “More than 100 state and local officials in New Jersey have been convicted of corruption charges in the past five years. Last week, 11 more officials, including two state legislators and two mayors, were charged with taking bribes and other offenses.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to Newsweek, “Only 25 percent of the nation's 3 million teachers are men--a 40 year low. In elementary school, it’s only 9 percent. Educators say men are being scared away from the profession by low salaries and fears that they will be accused of being pedophiles if they even pat a student on the arm.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to U.S. News & World Report, “A growing number of parents are choosing to start their children in kindergarten a year late, figuring their kids will have a better chance of being at the top of their class if they’re older than most of their classmates. In some affluent communities, a government report found, as many as 20 percent of eligible kindergartners are held back.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to The Weekly Standard, “About 70 percent of the visits to Internet porn sites come during regular office hours. In surveys, the average worker admits to wasting 2 hours each workday, often by visiting Web sites.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
According to USA Today, “In 1990, the average credit card holder had an outstanding balance of $2,966. The average balance in 2006 was $9,659.” (Source: The Week, September 21, 2007)
Ethanol from corn might not be such a great idea: “Ethanol produced from sugar cane has an energy balance of 8-to-1—that is, sugar cane generates eight times more energy than is used to produce, transport, and refine it. Other ethanol sources, such as prairie grass, also have a high energy balance. Gasoline itself has an energy balance of 5-to-1. But corn’s energy balance, according to one study, is only 1.3-to-1—meaning that corn-based ethanol produces barely more energy than is consumed to make it. Other studies have concluded that making ethanol actually consumes more energy than the fuel produced. Nonetheless, almost all ethanol produced in the U.S. comes from corn—about 5 billion gallons this year, equivalent to 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop.” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
According to Time, “Three-quarters of African-American students attend schools that are more than 50 percent black or Latino, while the average white student goes to a school that is 80 percent white, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Overall, schools are more segregated today than they were in 1970.” (Source: The Week, October 5, 2007)
September 16, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
September 16, 2007
“A United Nations report showed that Afghanistan's opium production had climbed sharply. It is now producing twice the amount it did just two years ago, and accounts for 93% of heroin on global markets. In northern Afghanistan the area under poppy has fallen, but poppy-sowing has risen sharply in the south, notably in Helmand province. There is increasing evidence of direct involvement in the business by Taliban insurgents.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
“A judge in the United States ruled that Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France to face money-laundering charges. Panama's former dictator will be released later this month after spending 17 years in an American jail for drug-trafficking.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Living In the U.S.A. - “Poverty”
“[T]he Census Bureau's latest report on income, poverty and health insurance in the United States, which was released on August 28th. ...
“...
“It sounds awful to say that 36.5m Americans are living in poverty. But ‘poverty’ in America, as defined by the Census Bureau, does not mean destitution. A typical poor American lives in a three-bedroom house with a car, air-conditioning and two televisions. His children actually eat more meat than rich kids do. And he receives substantial benefits that the census bizarrely excludes from its calculations.
“Americans are deemed poor if their pre-tax income falls below a certain threshold—for example, $20,614 for a family of four. By this measure, the proportion of Americans who are poor is no better today than it was in the 1970s. But this is nonsense. The census ignores non-cash benefits such as government health insurance, food stamps and subsidised housing. It also ignores the earned-income tax credit, a wage subsidy for the working poor that is reckoned to be one of America's most effective anti-poverty measures.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Animal Testing
“... Britain conducts a surprising number of experiments on animals: some 3m a year. America appears to use fewer animals—just 1.1m a year, according to official statistics—but that is an illusion. Unlike Britain's government, America's does not think rats and mice worth counting. Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America, and animals used in research in those two countries are not protected to the same extent that they are in the West.
“...
“The number of animals used in experiments has fallen by half in the past 30 years, at least in those countries that record such things. There has also been a shift in the sort of animal used. Most of those employed today are rodents rather than dogs, cats, rabbits and monkeys. (That public opinion generally welcomes this is, however, a good example of ‘cutist’ prejudice for one species over another: there is no reason to believe that rodents suffer less than other mammals.) Also, of the experiments that are still conducted, the majority are now concerned with developing and testing medicine rather than, say, checking how toxic cosmetics are. Of the 11m animals involved each year in experiments that have to be reported to the European Commission, about 45% are used for medical and veterinary purposes and another 35% for basic biomedical research...
“...
“Yet replacing monkeys with mice does not cut the number of animals used.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal. Coal generates half of our electricity.... ... we have enough for 240 more years.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 3, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “If China’s growth continues at its current pace, its consumer market will be the world’s second largest by 2015. The Chinese already eat 32 percent of the world’s rice, use 47 percent of the cement, and smoke one out of every three cigarettes.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to Associates Press, “Maryland was the wealthiest state in the union in 2006, with an annual household income of $65,144. Mississippi had the lowest, $34,473.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to Marketwatch.com, “Nigeria has surpassed Ireland as the second largest market for Guinness Stout, after the U.K.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Almost one-third of recently foreclosed homes are investment properties whose owners live elsewhere.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “U.S. workers produce an average $63,85 of wealth per person per year, making them the world’s most productive. Longer hours are part of the reason. Americans work an average of 1,804 hours a year, compared to 1,564 for the French, and 1,407 for Norwegians.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “The average CEO of a large U.S. company made $10.8 million in 2006, 364 times the average pay of U.S. full-time and part-time workers. That ratio is down from last year’s, which was 411 times the average worker’s pay, and well below the all-time high of 525 times the average pay, set in 2000.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
My editorial comments: Gee, that indicates that CEOs were doing better under President Clinton than they are under President Bush II.
*****
Department of “What Are You Talking About?” - Mike
Speaking about a photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin fishing without a shirt on, the Republican presidential hopeful said, “While I am impressed with the fact that he can get out an go fishing, the shirtless photo doesn’t do anything for me. Now, if it was a picture of Scarlett Johansson, that would be another story.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 3, 2007)
Notable Quotables
“Very ingenious ... but how much better not to have said it.” George Orwell (1930)
*****
“U.S. Defense Secretary: Hizbullah Has Killed Hundreds of Americans” (U.S. Defense Department)
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates told the Marine Corps Association on July 18, 2007: ‘I remember vividly a day in December 1991, when as CIA Director I - along with then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney - attended an arrival ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base. We were there to receive the remains of two men - two of our nation's "bravest sons" - who had been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by terrorists in Lebanon. One was William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut. The other was Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins, who served with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. These two Americans were murdered by the same Hizbullah-linked extremists who killed hundreds of Americans in 1983 at the Marine barracks and U.S. embassy in Beirut. It is important to remember that until the morning of September 11, 2001, Hizbullah had been responsible for the deaths of more Americans, our countrymen, than any other terrorist group in the world.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 10, 2007)
*****
“The Resurrection of Al-Qaeda Central” - Craig Whitlock (Washington Post)
“Al-Qaeda Central has moved quickly to overcome extensive leadership losses by promoting loyalists who had served alongside bin Laden for years. It restarted fundraising, recruiting and training, and it expanded its media arm.
“Today, al-Qaeda operates much the way it did before 2001. The network is governed by a leadership council that meets regularly and reports to bin Laden, who continues to approve some major decisions, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official.
“About 200 people belong to the core group and many receive regular salaries, another senior U.S. intelligence official said.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 10, 2007)
*****
“IDF Has Removed Most West Bank Roadblocks” (Jerusalem Post)
“In the past year, Israel has dismantled most of the roadblocks and temporary barriers in the West Bank, a senior officer in the IDF's Central Command said Tuesday.
“‘In most of the area, Palestinian traffic is flowing and there is an improvement in the economy,’ he said, adding that the remaining roadblocks were ‘critical for security needs.’
“Israel Radio quoted the officer as saying the IDF was continuing its surveillance of Fatah terrorists who relinquished their weapons in exchange for Israeli amnesty and that many of them had indeed ceased their terrorist activities.
“According to the officer, PA security forces are not targeting Hamas terrorists in the West Bank - as per Israel's request - but are focusing solely on Hamas-affiliated institutions such as charities and summer camps.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“In Foiled German Terror Plot, the Detonators Came from Syria” - Simone Kaiser, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark (Der Spiegel-Germany)
“With the help of the CIA, German investigators foiled what would likely have been the most devastating terror attack of its kind in the country's history. Last October, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted suspicious emails between Germany and Pakistan. This month in the central German Sauerland region two German converts to Islam were arrested: Fritz Gelowicz, 28, the son of a doctor, and Daniel S., 22, who had learned how to handle weapons during his military service. His neighbors in nearby Saarbrucken had noticed that he prayed to Allah ‘often and very loudly.’ Adem Y., 28, a Turkish national, was also arrested.
“The trio was caught in the act of mixing chemicals to make explosives at a vacation house. When they searched the house, German investigators found military detonators from Syria that a courier had smuggled into Germany, as well as 60 liters of hydrogen peroxide. The materials were apparently intended for use in three car bombs that the group may have planned to detonate in front of a U.S. military base in Germany, a nightclub or a major airport.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“‘Under God’s Sovereignty’ Is Not a Solution” - Shlomo Avineri (Ha'aretz)
“The ideas resurfacing before the peace meeting in November include the proposal to remove the ‘sacred basin’ in Jerusalem from any sovereign authority, Israeli or Palestinian, and to leave supervision with representatives of the three monotheistic religions. Sovereignty will be ‘in God's hands.’ However, this suggestion is far from providing an answer to the problem. The international system - at least since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 - has been built on the principle of territorial sovereignty.
“It is not by chance that no territorial or international conflict has ever been solved by giving sovereignty to supra-national entities. Everywhere such an experiment has been tried, it has failed. Any solution must offer an unambiguous answer to practical questions, such as who will disperse Muslims who try to stone Jews praying at the Western Wall. The writer is Professor Emeritus of the Hebrew University and former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Whither Iran?
“Ahmadinejad’s Power Slipping in Iran?” - Patrick Clawson and Mehdi Khalaji (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
“Two intriguing developments have unfolded in Iran: the election of a new Assembly of Experts Speaker on September 4 and the appointment of a new Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in chief on September 1. Both suggest the growing power of former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, a powerful politician who is openly critical of Ahmadinejad and his policies.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“UN Resolution 242 (Land for Peace): Setting the Record Straight” Eran Benedek (Henry Jackson Society)
“Many assume that UN Resolutions 242 and 338 call for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-Six-Day-War lines (the lines of June 4, 1967) and establish the principle of land-for-peace to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both assumptions are incorrect. The essence of Resolution 242 is that Israel is allowed to remain in the territories it captured in 1967 until such a time as ‘a just and lasting peace in the Middle East’ is achieved. The authors of the resolution emphasized time and again that Israel was not required to retreat to the pre-war lines. Indeed, the authors of the resolution fully recognized that Israel needed to establish defensible borders because the pre-war lines were indefensible and invited attack.
“Resolution 242 defined three principles regarding the territorial component of the peacemaking process: 1. Israel is allowed to administer the territories it captured until the Arab states make peace. 2. Peace agreements reached between Israel and the Arab states should demarcate ‘secure and recognized boundaries.’ 3. Israel's future boundaries would necessarily be different from the 1949 armistice lines and the lines of June 4, 1967, which are essentially the same.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Indonesian Pop Star a Soldier in the Culture War within Islam” Mona Charen (Washington Times)
“Ahmad Dhani, a devout Muslim and Indonesia's leading pop star, has a tune that topped the charts called ‘Warriors of Love’ The lyrics are derived from the Koran and Hadith: ‘If hatred has already poisoned you against those...who worship differently, then evil has already gripped your soul, then evil's got you in its damning embrace.’ Dhani is a soldier in the culture war within Islam. With 190 million people, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country - but its religious culture is far more tolerant and humane than that of Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim lands.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Shmita and Israeli-Palestinian Business Ties
“Jewish Law Confers Rare Advantage on Palestinian Farmers” (AFP/Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Thousands of Palestinian farmers across the West Bank are expecting a surge in business this year thanks to a Jewish biblical law - Shmita - which dictates that once every seven years all Jewish-owned fields in Israel must lie fallow.
“With the new Jewish year just days away, Israel's most strict Orthodox Jews are turning to neighboring Palestinian and Jordanian farmers to supply tons of fruit and vegetables in the coming year.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s Lobby as Scapegoat” - Tim Rutten (Los Angeles Times)
“Anyone familiar with the tortured history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will have a hard time recognizing the history Mearsheimer and Walt rehearse. Every hoary old Israeli atrocity tale is trotted out, and the long story of Palestinian terrorism is rendered entirely as a reaction to Israeli oppression.
“There is nothing here of Palestinian corruption, division and duplicity or even of this unhappy people's inability to provide a reliable secular partner with whom peace can be negotiated.
“They write that al-Qaeda would hammer its swords into ploughshares and Osama bin Laden would lay down with the lamb if only the United States would come out from under Israel's thrall and create by coercion a Palestinian state. Baloney. If - as was long ago proposed - the Jewish state had been established in Uganda, the Twin Towers still would be rubble.
“Mearsheimer and Walt go to great pains to proclaim their disinterested benevolence toward all and to attach the word ‘realist’ to their argument. The only adjective that comes to this reader's mind is ‘sinister.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Rationalizing Israel Out of Existence” - Richard Cohen (Washington Post)
“In a way, like Israel, Britain is also a strategic liability. Who needs that soggy isle? In a fight, it would be of little consequence. You could argue, therefore, that Britain is a strategic burden - and some made precisely that argument in the run-up to World War II. There are factors, though, that move the scale not at all but have an incalculable weight nonetheless. Who and what are we as a nation if we measure everything by self-interest? Who and what are we as a nation if we abandon our friends, blowing empty kisses to them as we cut them loose? Who and what are we as a nation if we don't calculate the incalculable: Values? Principles? Mearsheimer and Walt's argument is so one-sided - an Israel lobby that leads America around by the nose - they suggest that not only do they not know Israel, they don't know America, either.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Government in Action”
“Washington, D.C. - Live nukes flown across U.S.: The Air Force this week said it was investigating how six nuclear warheads were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 bomber and flown from North Dakota to Louisiana. The cruise missiles attached to the bomber were supposed to have been warhead-free, but when the plane landed at Barksdale Air Force Base last week, officers discovered it was carrying 150-kiloton nukes. The squadron commander in charge of the mission, whose name has not been released, has been relieved of his command. ‘The weapons were always in our custody,’ said Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas, ‘and there was never a danger to the American public.’ All U.S.-based flights of fighters and bombers will be halted next week, the Pentagon said, to allow for a thorough review of procedures.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Varanasi, India - Too many bodies: The demand for Hindu funeral pyres is rapidly deforesting India, environmental groups say. Burning a single body in the traditional Hindu manner requires 600 to 1,000 pounds of wood. With more than 8 million Hindu deaths a year, India burns 50 million trees annually, producing 500,000 tons of ash and 8 million tons of carbon dioxide. ‘If we don’t come up with a solution for dealing with the dead, we are going to affect the survival of the living,’ said Anshul Garg, director of a New Delhi environmental group. The government offers environmentally friendly gas-powered cremations, but only the poorest are sent off that way, as most observant Hindus insist on wood. Garg’s group, Mokshda, has invented an eco-friendly wood-burning crematorium that uses just over 200 pounds of wood per body, but it has yet to catch on.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Sydney - Lost in translation: The colorful language used by Aussie diplomats often baffles foreigners, a new book says. Undiplomatic Activities, by former diplomat Richard Woolcott, chronicles the snafus created when cheerful Aussies sling slang abroad. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, for example, tried to brush off a questioner in Japan by saying, ‘I am not here to play funny buggers’—which in Australia means to split hairs. The translator rendered it as, ‘I am not here to play laughing homosexuals.’ It’s worse when Aussies try to speak local languages. One diplomat tried to tell his French audience that as he looked back on his career, it was divided into two parts, boredom before he came to Paris and excitement now. Instead, he said, ‘When I look at my backside, I find it is divided into two parts.’ (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Peace isn’t always the answer - Bruce Bawer - Los Angeles Times -- ‘If you want peace, prepare for war,’ the Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus counseled more than 1,600 years ago. This was not belligerence, said Bruce Bawer, but wisdom based on history and human nature. Our world has always included rogues and bullies who prey on the weak, and the more prepared and willing a nation is to defend itself, the less likely it is that it will have to go to war. But the fast-growing ‘peace racket’ denies this age-old truth, insisting that all war is unjust. The leftist academics and dreamers who’ve created these ‘peace institutes’ and ‘peace centers,’ strangely enough, have no quarrel with such murderous dictators as Kim Jong Il or Fidel Castro; it’s the U.S., they say, that is the source of most or all of the world’s oppression and poverty. College courses in ‘peace studies’ teach students that if terrorists such as Osama bin Laden kill American civilians, it is wrong to respond with violence. Instead, we should try to reason with these fanatics, or address their grievances. It’s a message that could only appeal to pampered young Americans totally insulated from the realities that Vegetius spoke of centuries ago. As George Orwell once observed, ‘To abjure violence, it is necessary to have no experience of it.’” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
My editorial comments: Israeli novelist Amos Oz, speaking about European pressure on Israeli to make more concessions to the Arabs, but also appropriate here, points out that this attitude is “based on the mistaken European assumption that every conflict is based on a misunderstanding.”
*****
Politics On Parade
According to Time, “In 1968, the average length of a candidate’s sound bite on TV newscasts was 42 seconds, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Now it is only eight seconds.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
A thought on mortgage crisis bail-outs
“Everyone now seems to favor rescuing Americans from their foolish financial decisions, said Roben Farzad in BusinessWeek. So let’s discuss a few of mine. I don’t have a mortgage, but I did buy shares in two dot-coms that cratered within a year. And then there was ‘the tragicomic Putnam fund that somehow managed to lose 44 percent a year between 2000 and 2002.’ Around that time, I also became ‘irrationally exuberant about a beautiful brunette, spending my paper stock gains’ on candlelit dinners, Broadway shows, and enough flowers ‘to line the streets of Pyongyang on Kim Jong Il’s birthday.’ She dumped me, breaking both my heart and my bank account. All told, these losses cost me about $74,400. Just send me the check. I promise I’ll invest more wisely this time.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“The trouble with free Internet access - John Dvorak - Marketwatch.com -- ‘Remember when all those U.S. cities announced they would provide free wireless Internet access? asked venture capitalist John Dvorak in Marketwatch.com. Well, don’t fire up that laptop just yet. ‘Most of the nation’s free Wi-Fi initiatives are dying one-by-one.’ Cities have discovered that free access ‘steps on too many powerful toes.’ The toes in question belong to AT&T and Comcast, ‘the two major providers of Internet connectivity in many parts of the U.S.’ Obviously, they don’t want cities giving away for free a service that generates much of their revenue. And they have a less apparent motive for opposing free municipal Wi-Fi. It’s now possible to make free or virtually free telephone calls over the Internet, using either a computer or a specially equipped cell phone. So, municipal wireless access wouldn’t just cut the Internet-access revenues of AT&T and Comcast. It would also cost them a big chunk of their telephone revenues. ‘Free universal access to the Internet would be of great benefit to society as a whole.’ Too bad AT&T and Comcast have other interests in mind.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
“A United Nations report showed that Afghanistan's opium production had climbed sharply. It is now producing twice the amount it did just two years ago, and accounts for 93% of heroin on global markets. In northern Afghanistan the area under poppy has fallen, but poppy-sowing has risen sharply in the south, notably in Helmand province. There is increasing evidence of direct involvement in the business by Taliban insurgents.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
“A judge in the United States ruled that Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France to face money-laundering charges. Panama's former dictator will be released later this month after spending 17 years in an American jail for drug-trafficking.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Living In the U.S.A. - “Poverty”
“[T]he Census Bureau's latest report on income, poverty and health insurance in the United States, which was released on August 28th. ...
“...
“It sounds awful to say that 36.5m Americans are living in poverty. But ‘poverty’ in America, as defined by the Census Bureau, does not mean destitution. A typical poor American lives in a three-bedroom house with a car, air-conditioning and two televisions. His children actually eat more meat than rich kids do. And he receives substantial benefits that the census bizarrely excludes from its calculations.
“Americans are deemed poor if their pre-tax income falls below a certain threshold—for example, $20,614 for a family of four. By this measure, the proportion of Americans who are poor is no better today than it was in the 1970s. But this is nonsense. The census ignores non-cash benefits such as government health insurance, food stamps and subsidised housing. It also ignores the earned-income tax credit, a wage subsidy for the working poor that is reckoned to be one of America's most effective anti-poverty measures.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Animal Testing
“... Britain conducts a surprising number of experiments on animals: some 3m a year. America appears to use fewer animals—just 1.1m a year, according to official statistics—but that is an illusion. Unlike Britain's government, America's does not think rats and mice worth counting. Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America, and animals used in research in those two countries are not protected to the same extent that they are in the West.
“...
“The number of animals used in experiments has fallen by half in the past 30 years, at least in those countries that record such things. There has also been a shift in the sort of animal used. Most of those employed today are rodents rather than dogs, cats, rabbits and monkeys. (That public opinion generally welcomes this is, however, a good example of ‘cutist’ prejudice for one species over another: there is no reason to believe that rodents suffer less than other mammals.) Also, of the experiments that are still conducted, the majority are now concerned with developing and testing medicine rather than, say, checking how toxic cosmetics are. Of the 11m animals involved each year in experiments that have to be reported to the European Commission, about 45% are used for medical and veterinary purposes and another 35% for basic biomedical research...
“...
“Yet replacing monkeys with mice does not cut the number of animals used.” (Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal. Coal generates half of our electricity.... ... we have enough for 240 more years.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 3, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “If China’s growth continues at its current pace, its consumer market will be the world’s second largest by 2015. The Chinese already eat 32 percent of the world’s rice, use 47 percent of the cement, and smoke one out of every three cigarettes.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to Associates Press, “Maryland was the wealthiest state in the union in 2006, with an annual household income of $65,144. Mississippi had the lowest, $34,473.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to Marketwatch.com, “Nigeria has surpassed Ireland as the second largest market for Guinness Stout, after the U.K.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Almost one-third of recently foreclosed homes are investment properties whose owners live elsewhere.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “U.S. workers produce an average $63,85 of wealth per person per year, making them the world’s most productive. Longer hours are part of the reason. Americans work an average of 1,804 hours a year, compared to 1,564 for the French, and 1,407 for Norwegians.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
According to CNNmoney.com, “The average CEO of a large U.S. company made $10.8 million in 2006, 364 times the average pay of U.S. full-time and part-time workers. That ratio is down from last year’s, which was 411 times the average worker’s pay, and well below the all-time high of 525 times the average pay, set in 2000.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
My editorial comments: Gee, that indicates that CEOs were doing better under President Clinton than they are under President Bush II.
*****
Department of “What Are You Talking About?” - Mike
Speaking about a photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin fishing without a shirt on, the Republican presidential hopeful said, “While I am impressed with the fact that he can get out an go fishing, the shirtless photo doesn’t do anything for me. Now, if it was a picture of Scarlett Johansson, that would be another story.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, September 3, 2007)
Notable Quotables
“Very ingenious ... but how much better not to have said it.” George Orwell (1930)
*****
“U.S. Defense Secretary: Hizbullah Has Killed Hundreds of Americans” (U.S. Defense Department)
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates told the Marine Corps Association on July 18, 2007: ‘I remember vividly a day in December 1991, when as CIA Director I - along with then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney - attended an arrival ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base. We were there to receive the remains of two men - two of our nation's "bravest sons" - who had been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by terrorists in Lebanon. One was William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut. The other was Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins, who served with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. These two Americans were murdered by the same Hizbullah-linked extremists who killed hundreds of Americans in 1983 at the Marine barracks and U.S. embassy in Beirut. It is important to remember that until the morning of September 11, 2001, Hizbullah had been responsible for the deaths of more Americans, our countrymen, than any other terrorist group in the world.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 10, 2007)
*****
“The Resurrection of Al-Qaeda Central” - Craig Whitlock (Washington Post)
“Al-Qaeda Central has moved quickly to overcome extensive leadership losses by promoting loyalists who had served alongside bin Laden for years. It restarted fundraising, recruiting and training, and it expanded its media arm.
“Today, al-Qaeda operates much the way it did before 2001. The network is governed by a leadership council that meets regularly and reports to bin Laden, who continues to approve some major decisions, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official.
“About 200 people belong to the core group and many receive regular salaries, another senior U.S. intelligence official said.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 10, 2007)
*****
“IDF Has Removed Most West Bank Roadblocks” (Jerusalem Post)
“In the past year, Israel has dismantled most of the roadblocks and temporary barriers in the West Bank, a senior officer in the IDF's Central Command said Tuesday.
“‘In most of the area, Palestinian traffic is flowing and there is an improvement in the economy,’ he said, adding that the remaining roadblocks were ‘critical for security needs.’
“Israel Radio quoted the officer as saying the IDF was continuing its surveillance of Fatah terrorists who relinquished their weapons in exchange for Israeli amnesty and that many of them had indeed ceased their terrorist activities.
“According to the officer, PA security forces are not targeting Hamas terrorists in the West Bank - as per Israel's request - but are focusing solely on Hamas-affiliated institutions such as charities and summer camps.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“In Foiled German Terror Plot, the Detonators Came from Syria” - Simone Kaiser, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark (Der Spiegel-Germany)
“With the help of the CIA, German investigators foiled what would likely have been the most devastating terror attack of its kind in the country's history. Last October, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted suspicious emails between Germany and Pakistan. This month in the central German Sauerland region two German converts to Islam were arrested: Fritz Gelowicz, 28, the son of a doctor, and Daniel S., 22, who had learned how to handle weapons during his military service. His neighbors in nearby Saarbrucken had noticed that he prayed to Allah ‘often and very loudly.’ Adem Y., 28, a Turkish national, was also arrested.
“The trio was caught in the act of mixing chemicals to make explosives at a vacation house. When they searched the house, German investigators found military detonators from Syria that a courier had smuggled into Germany, as well as 60 liters of hydrogen peroxide. The materials were apparently intended for use in three car bombs that the group may have planned to detonate in front of a U.S. military base in Germany, a nightclub or a major airport.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“‘Under God’s Sovereignty’ Is Not a Solution” - Shlomo Avineri (Ha'aretz)
“The ideas resurfacing before the peace meeting in November include the proposal to remove the ‘sacred basin’ in Jerusalem from any sovereign authority, Israeli or Palestinian, and to leave supervision with representatives of the three monotheistic religions. Sovereignty will be ‘in God's hands.’ However, this suggestion is far from providing an answer to the problem. The international system - at least since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 - has been built on the principle of territorial sovereignty.
“It is not by chance that no territorial or international conflict has ever been solved by giving sovereignty to supra-national entities. Everywhere such an experiment has been tried, it has failed. Any solution must offer an unambiguous answer to practical questions, such as who will disperse Muslims who try to stone Jews praying at the Western Wall. The writer is Professor Emeritus of the Hebrew University and former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Whither Iran?
“Ahmadinejad’s Power Slipping in Iran?” - Patrick Clawson and Mehdi Khalaji (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
“Two intriguing developments have unfolded in Iran: the election of a new Assembly of Experts Speaker on September 4 and the appointment of a new Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in chief on September 1. Both suggest the growing power of former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, a powerful politician who is openly critical of Ahmadinejad and his policies.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“UN Resolution 242 (Land for Peace): Setting the Record Straight” Eran Benedek (Henry Jackson Society)
“Many assume that UN Resolutions 242 and 338 call for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-Six-Day-War lines (the lines of June 4, 1967) and establish the principle of land-for-peace to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both assumptions are incorrect. The essence of Resolution 242 is that Israel is allowed to remain in the territories it captured in 1967 until such a time as ‘a just and lasting peace in the Middle East’ is achieved. The authors of the resolution emphasized time and again that Israel was not required to retreat to the pre-war lines. Indeed, the authors of the resolution fully recognized that Israel needed to establish defensible borders because the pre-war lines were indefensible and invited attack.
“Resolution 242 defined three principles regarding the territorial component of the peacemaking process: 1. Israel is allowed to administer the territories it captured until the Arab states make peace. 2. Peace agreements reached between Israel and the Arab states should demarcate ‘secure and recognized boundaries.’ 3. Israel's future boundaries would necessarily be different from the 1949 armistice lines and the lines of June 4, 1967, which are essentially the same.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Indonesian Pop Star a Soldier in the Culture War within Islam” Mona Charen (Washington Times)
“Ahmad Dhani, a devout Muslim and Indonesia's leading pop star, has a tune that topped the charts called ‘Warriors of Love’ The lyrics are derived from the Koran and Hadith: ‘If hatred has already poisoned you against those...who worship differently, then evil has already gripped your soul, then evil's got you in its damning embrace.’ Dhani is a soldier in the culture war within Islam. With 190 million people, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country - but its religious culture is far more tolerant and humane than that of Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim lands.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Shmita and Israeli-Palestinian Business Ties
“Jewish Law Confers Rare Advantage on Palestinian Farmers” (AFP/Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Thousands of Palestinian farmers across the West Bank are expecting a surge in business this year thanks to a Jewish biblical law - Shmita - which dictates that once every seven years all Jewish-owned fields in Israel must lie fallow.
“With the new Jewish year just days away, Israel's most strict Orthodox Jews are turning to neighboring Palestinian and Jordanian farmers to supply tons of fruit and vegetables in the coming year.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s Lobby as Scapegoat” - Tim Rutten (Los Angeles Times)
“Anyone familiar with the tortured history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will have a hard time recognizing the history Mearsheimer and Walt rehearse. Every hoary old Israeli atrocity tale is trotted out, and the long story of Palestinian terrorism is rendered entirely as a reaction to Israeli oppression.
“There is nothing here of Palestinian corruption, division and duplicity or even of this unhappy people's inability to provide a reliable secular partner with whom peace can be negotiated.
“They write that al-Qaeda would hammer its swords into ploughshares and Osama bin Laden would lay down with the lamb if only the United States would come out from under Israel's thrall and create by coercion a Palestinian state. Baloney. If - as was long ago proposed - the Jewish state had been established in Uganda, the Twin Towers still would be rubble.
“Mearsheimer and Walt go to great pains to proclaim their disinterested benevolence toward all and to attach the word ‘realist’ to their argument. The only adjective that comes to this reader's mind is ‘sinister.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
“Rationalizing Israel Out of Existence” - Richard Cohen (Washington Post)
“In a way, like Israel, Britain is also a strategic liability. Who needs that soggy isle? In a fight, it would be of little consequence. You could argue, therefore, that Britain is a strategic burden - and some made precisely that argument in the run-up to World War II. There are factors, though, that move the scale not at all but have an incalculable weight nonetheless. Who and what are we as a nation if we measure everything by self-interest? Who and what are we as a nation if we abandon our friends, blowing empty kisses to them as we cut them loose? Who and what are we as a nation if we don't calculate the incalculable: Values? Principles? Mearsheimer and Walt's argument is so one-sided - an Israel lobby that leads America around by the nose - they suggest that not only do they not know Israel, they don't know America, either.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 12, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Government in Action”
“Washington, D.C. - Live nukes flown across U.S.: The Air Force this week said it was investigating how six nuclear warheads were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 bomber and flown from North Dakota to Louisiana. The cruise missiles attached to the bomber were supposed to have been warhead-free, but when the plane landed at Barksdale Air Force Base last week, officers discovered it was carrying 150-kiloton nukes. The squadron commander in charge of the mission, whose name has not been released, has been relieved of his command. ‘The weapons were always in our custody,’ said Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas, ‘and there was never a danger to the American public.’ All U.S.-based flights of fighters and bombers will be halted next week, the Pentagon said, to allow for a thorough review of procedures.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Varanasi, India - Too many bodies: The demand for Hindu funeral pyres is rapidly deforesting India, environmental groups say. Burning a single body in the traditional Hindu manner requires 600 to 1,000 pounds of wood. With more than 8 million Hindu deaths a year, India burns 50 million trees annually, producing 500,000 tons of ash and 8 million tons of carbon dioxide. ‘If we don’t come up with a solution for dealing with the dead, we are going to affect the survival of the living,’ said Anshul Garg, director of a New Delhi environmental group. The government offers environmentally friendly gas-powered cremations, but only the poorest are sent off that way, as most observant Hindus insist on wood. Garg’s group, Mokshda, has invented an eco-friendly wood-burning crematorium that uses just over 200 pounds of wood per body, but it has yet to catch on.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Sydney - Lost in translation: The colorful language used by Aussie diplomats often baffles foreigners, a new book says. Undiplomatic Activities, by former diplomat Richard Woolcott, chronicles the snafus created when cheerful Aussies sling slang abroad. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, for example, tried to brush off a questioner in Japan by saying, ‘I am not here to play funny buggers’—which in Australia means to split hairs. The translator rendered it as, ‘I am not here to play laughing homosexuals.’ It’s worse when Aussies try to speak local languages. One diplomat tried to tell his French audience that as he looked back on his career, it was divided into two parts, boredom before he came to Paris and excitement now. Instead, he said, ‘When I look at my backside, I find it is divided into two parts.’ (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
“Peace isn’t always the answer - Bruce Bawer - Los Angeles Times -- ‘If you want peace, prepare for war,’ the Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus counseled more than 1,600 years ago. This was not belligerence, said Bruce Bawer, but wisdom based on history and human nature. Our world has always included rogues and bullies who prey on the weak, and the more prepared and willing a nation is to defend itself, the less likely it is that it will have to go to war. But the fast-growing ‘peace racket’ denies this age-old truth, insisting that all war is unjust. The leftist academics and dreamers who’ve created these ‘peace institutes’ and ‘peace centers,’ strangely enough, have no quarrel with such murderous dictators as Kim Jong Il or Fidel Castro; it’s the U.S., they say, that is the source of most or all of the world’s oppression and poverty. College courses in ‘peace studies’ teach students that if terrorists such as Osama bin Laden kill American civilians, it is wrong to respond with violence. Instead, we should try to reason with these fanatics, or address their grievances. It’s a message that could only appeal to pampered young Americans totally insulated from the realities that Vegetius spoke of centuries ago. As George Orwell once observed, ‘To abjure violence, it is necessary to have no experience of it.’” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
My editorial comments: Israeli novelist Amos Oz, speaking about European pressure on Israeli to make more concessions to the Arabs, but also appropriate here, points out that this attitude is “based on the mistaken European assumption that every conflict is based on a misunderstanding.”
*****
Politics On Parade
According to Time, “In 1968, the average length of a candidate’s sound bite on TV newscasts was 42 seconds, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Now it is only eight seconds.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
A thought on mortgage crisis bail-outs
“Everyone now seems to favor rescuing Americans from their foolish financial decisions, said Roben Farzad in BusinessWeek. So let’s discuss a few of mine. I don’t have a mortgage, but I did buy shares in two dot-coms that cratered within a year. And then there was ‘the tragicomic Putnam fund that somehow managed to lose 44 percent a year between 2000 and 2002.’ Around that time, I also became ‘irrationally exuberant about a beautiful brunette, spending my paper stock gains’ on candlelit dinners, Broadway shows, and enough flowers ‘to line the streets of Pyongyang on Kim Jong Il’s birthday.’ She dumped me, breaking both my heart and my bank account. All told, these losses cost me about $74,400. Just send me the check. I promise I’ll invest more wisely this time.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“The trouble with free Internet access - John Dvorak - Marketwatch.com -- ‘Remember when all those U.S. cities announced they would provide free wireless Internet access? asked venture capitalist John Dvorak in Marketwatch.com. Well, don’t fire up that laptop just yet. ‘Most of the nation’s free Wi-Fi initiatives are dying one-by-one.’ Cities have discovered that free access ‘steps on too many powerful toes.’ The toes in question belong to AT&T and Comcast, ‘the two major providers of Internet connectivity in many parts of the U.S.’ Obviously, they don’t want cities giving away for free a service that generates much of their revenue. And they have a less apparent motive for opposing free municipal Wi-Fi. It’s now possible to make free or virtually free telephone calls over the Internet, using either a computer or a specially equipped cell phone. So, municipal wireless access wouldn’t just cut the Internet-access revenues of AT&T and Comcast. It would also cost them a big chunk of their telephone revenues. ‘Free universal access to the Internet would be of great benefit to society as a whole.’ Too bad AT&T and Comcast have other interests in mind.” (Source: The Week, September 14, 2007)
Living In the U.S.A. - Islam
.
“Mosques in the West
Living In the U.S.A. - “Islam, the American way
“Why the United States is fairer to Muslims than ‘Eurabia’ is”
[Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007]
“IN PITTSBURGH, a Turkish group, pious but peaceful, decides to rethink its plans for an Islamic centre after an angry public hearing. In Clitheroe, a town in northern England, a plan to turn an ex-church into a mosque wins planning approval after seven failed bids. In Austria a far-rightist, Jörg Haider, grabs headlines by proposing that no mosques or minarets should be built in the province of Carinthia, where he is governor. In Memphis, Tennessee, Muslims manage to build a large cemetery despite local objections to their burial customs.
“On the face of it, there is something similar about all these vignettes of inter-faith politics in the Western world. They all illustrate the strong emotions, and opportunistic electoral games, that are surfacing in many countries as Muslim minorities, increasingly prosperous and confident, aspire to build more mosques and other communal buildings. All these stories show the way in which whipped-up fears of a ‘clash of civilisations’ can inflame the humdrum politics of a locality.
“But there is a big transatlantic difference in the way such disputes are handled. Although America has plenty of Islam-bashers ready to play on people's fears, it offers better protection to the mosque builders. In particular, its constitution, legal system and political culture all generally take the side of religious liberty. America's tradition of freedom is rooted in the First Amendment, and its stipulation that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...’ Another recourse for embattled minorities of any kind is ‘Section 1983’ of America's civil-rights legislation, which allows an individual who is deprived of a legal or constitutional right to sue the official responsible.
“More important than the letter of the law is an ethos that leans in favour of religious communities which are ‘new’ (to their neighbours) and simply want to practise their faith in a way that harms nobody. In America the tone of disputes over religious buildings (or cultural centres or cemeteries) is affected by everyone's presumption that if the issue went to the highest level, the cause of liberty would probably prevail.
“The European Convention on Human Rights, and the court that enforces it, also protect religious freedom. But the convention is not central to European politics in the way the Supreme Court and constitution are in America. The European court disappointed advocates of religious liberty when it upheld Turkey's ban on the headscarf in universities.
“The risk in the garages
“Legal principles aside, there are pragmatic reasons for favouring the American way. Most mosques in the Western world pose no threat to non-Muslim citizens; but a few do pose such a danger, because of the hatred that is preached in them. In such cases police forces generally have the legal armoury they need to step in and make arrests if necessary. Quashing extremism will surely be easier in an atmosphere where the founding and running of mosques is an open, transparent business. As Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, once said: ‘It is not minarets which are dangerous; it is basements and garages which hide secret places of worship.’
“Will someone please tell the Swiss? Politicians from two of the biggest political parties are seeking to insert a sentence into the country's constitution forbidding the building of minarets. Measures of this sort exemplify the bigotry that lies behind much of the opposition to mosque building in Europe. Christians in the West have long complained about how hard it is for their brethren in Muslim lands to build churches. Fair enough. But they should practise what they preach.”
“Mosques in the West
Living In the U.S.A. - “Islam, the American way
“Why the United States is fairer to Muslims than ‘Eurabia’ is”
[Source: The Economist, September 1, 2007]
“IN PITTSBURGH, a Turkish group, pious but peaceful, decides to rethink its plans for an Islamic centre after an angry public hearing. In Clitheroe, a town in northern England, a plan to turn an ex-church into a mosque wins planning approval after seven failed bids. In Austria a far-rightist, Jörg Haider, grabs headlines by proposing that no mosques or minarets should be built in the province of Carinthia, where he is governor. In Memphis, Tennessee, Muslims manage to build a large cemetery despite local objections to their burial customs.
“On the face of it, there is something similar about all these vignettes of inter-faith politics in the Western world. They all illustrate the strong emotions, and opportunistic electoral games, that are surfacing in many countries as Muslim minorities, increasingly prosperous and confident, aspire to build more mosques and other communal buildings. All these stories show the way in which whipped-up fears of a ‘clash of civilisations’ can inflame the humdrum politics of a locality.
“But there is a big transatlantic difference in the way such disputes are handled. Although America has plenty of Islam-bashers ready to play on people's fears, it offers better protection to the mosque builders. In particular, its constitution, legal system and political culture all generally take the side of religious liberty. America's tradition of freedom is rooted in the First Amendment, and its stipulation that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...’ Another recourse for embattled minorities of any kind is ‘Section 1983’ of America's civil-rights legislation, which allows an individual who is deprived of a legal or constitutional right to sue the official responsible.
“More important than the letter of the law is an ethos that leans in favour of religious communities which are ‘new’ (to their neighbours) and simply want to practise their faith in a way that harms nobody. In America the tone of disputes over religious buildings (or cultural centres or cemeteries) is affected by everyone's presumption that if the issue went to the highest level, the cause of liberty would probably prevail.
“The European Convention on Human Rights, and the court that enforces it, also protect religious freedom. But the convention is not central to European politics in the way the Supreme Court and constitution are in America. The European court disappointed advocates of religious liberty when it upheld Turkey's ban on the headscarf in universities.
“The risk in the garages
“Legal principles aside, there are pragmatic reasons for favouring the American way. Most mosques in the Western world pose no threat to non-Muslim citizens; but a few do pose such a danger, because of the hatred that is preached in them. In such cases police forces generally have the legal armoury they need to step in and make arrests if necessary. Quashing extremism will surely be easier in an atmosphere where the founding and running of mosques is an open, transparent business. As Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, once said: ‘It is not minarets which are dangerous; it is basements and garages which hide secret places of worship.’
“Will someone please tell the Swiss? Politicians from two of the biggest political parties are seeking to insert a sentence into the country's constitution forbidding the building of minarets. Measures of this sort exemplify the bigotry that lies behind much of the opposition to mosque building in Europe. Christians in the West have long complained about how hard it is for their brethren in Muslim lands to build churches. Fair enough. But they should practise what they preach.”
“Dennis Kucinich's Syria follies - an editorial
“Cleveland's own helps neither himself nor his nation with his one-sided pseudo-diplomacy in the Middle East”
[Source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 13, 2007]
“Dennis Kucinich gets it half-right. The Cleveland congressman's grand ideas fizzle because of his tin ear for details and nuance. Now his quest for the presidency is leading him even farther afield of reality, right into the lion's den of Middle East deception and manipulation.
“It's too bad, because Kucinich's foreign-policy instincts aren't always misguided. He was right to vote against the war in Iraq. His wish to avoid further knee-jerk policy by reaching out to Middle Eastern leaders is laudable.
“Yet these ideas turn to farce when Kucinich unveils the specifics.
“His 12-point Iraq withdrawal plan includes nonexistent U.N. peacekeepers and U.S. and British reparations. His outreach to Middle Eastern leaders involves pretending that Iran's threats against Israel were mistranslations, and then making a ‘peace’ trip to Syria this month that amounted to a propaganda coup for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Kucinich used the opportunity to bash President Bush's policies and praise Assad on Syrian television. (Excerpts from that interview can be viewed at www.memritv.org/clip/en/1550.htm.)
“Kucinich then told the Associated Press in Lebanon that he'd ruled out a visit to Iraq because he didn't want to ‘bless’ the ‘illegal occupation.’ Instead, he ‘blessed’ a government that harbors terrorists and is under a U.N. cloud for possible involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Syria remains a crucial piece of the Iraq solution. Not only is Syria providing a safe haven for more than a million Iraqi refugees, but it also is a weak link in the chain mail of Hezbollah terrorism. Syria was a U.S. ally as recently as the 1991 Persian Gulf War and is a natural supporter of a secular solution in Iraq. That U.S. officials after Colin Powell at State have been unwise enough not to reach out to Damascus doesn't change those facts.
“The very nature of American democracy means it does not function like a monolith. U.S. lawmakers should be free to travel to Syria; Republican Rep. David Hobson of Springfield, near Dayton, did so earlier this year, traveling with Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Yet it's also important that U.S. interests be kept paramount. The idea must be to promote U.S. diplomacy, not to undermine it through ill-informed antics.
“Kucinich speaks of the need for more even-handed U.S. foreign policy - but then he travels on the dime of interest groups. His tour last year of Lebanese war damage with his wife, Elizabeth, that included stops in Damascus and Jerusalem, was paid for by AACCESS-Ohio, a local Arab-American group, according to his latest congressional financial disclosure.
“As for this trip to Syria and Lebanon, Kucinich's presidential campaign initially told The Plain Dealer's Stephen Koff that it was paid for out of 2008 campaign coffers. When asked about that Tuesday, campaign spokeswoman Sharon Manitta said she had ‘heard that a group of people in Cleveland were trying to pay for it.’ Hmmm. Let's hope the campaign gets the details straight before the next filing deadline.
“There's nothing wrong with traveling for knowledge and outreach. Yet Kucinich undercuts his own good ideas and his ability to push for change when his policy response itself seems so skewed by self-interest, and by others' interests.”
[Source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 13, 2007]
“Dennis Kucinich gets it half-right. The Cleveland congressman's grand ideas fizzle because of his tin ear for details and nuance. Now his quest for the presidency is leading him even farther afield of reality, right into the lion's den of Middle East deception and manipulation.
“It's too bad, because Kucinich's foreign-policy instincts aren't always misguided. He was right to vote against the war in Iraq. His wish to avoid further knee-jerk policy by reaching out to Middle Eastern leaders is laudable.
“Yet these ideas turn to farce when Kucinich unveils the specifics.
“His 12-point Iraq withdrawal plan includes nonexistent U.N. peacekeepers and U.S. and British reparations. His outreach to Middle Eastern leaders involves pretending that Iran's threats against Israel were mistranslations, and then making a ‘peace’ trip to Syria this month that amounted to a propaganda coup for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Kucinich used the opportunity to bash President Bush's policies and praise Assad on Syrian television. (Excerpts from that interview can be viewed at www.memritv.org/clip/en/1550.htm.)
“Kucinich then told the Associated Press in Lebanon that he'd ruled out a visit to Iraq because he didn't want to ‘bless’ the ‘illegal occupation.’ Instead, he ‘blessed’ a government that harbors terrorists and is under a U.N. cloud for possible involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Syria remains a crucial piece of the Iraq solution. Not only is Syria providing a safe haven for more than a million Iraqi refugees, but it also is a weak link in the chain mail of Hezbollah terrorism. Syria was a U.S. ally as recently as the 1991 Persian Gulf War and is a natural supporter of a secular solution in Iraq. That U.S. officials after Colin Powell at State have been unwise enough not to reach out to Damascus doesn't change those facts.
“The very nature of American democracy means it does not function like a monolith. U.S. lawmakers should be free to travel to Syria; Republican Rep. David Hobson of Springfield, near Dayton, did so earlier this year, traveling with Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Yet it's also important that U.S. interests be kept paramount. The idea must be to promote U.S. diplomacy, not to undermine it through ill-informed antics.
“Kucinich speaks of the need for more even-handed U.S. foreign policy - but then he travels on the dime of interest groups. His tour last year of Lebanese war damage with his wife, Elizabeth, that included stops in Damascus and Jerusalem, was paid for by AACCESS-Ohio, a local Arab-American group, according to his latest congressional financial disclosure.
“As for this trip to Syria and Lebanon, Kucinich's presidential campaign initially told The Plain Dealer's Stephen Koff that it was paid for out of 2008 campaign coffers. When asked about that Tuesday, campaign spokeswoman Sharon Manitta said she had ‘heard that a group of people in Cleveland were trying to pay for it.’ Hmmm. Let's hope the campaign gets the details straight before the next filing deadline.
“There's nothing wrong with traveling for knowledge and outreach. Yet Kucinich undercuts his own good ideas and his ability to push for change when his policy response itself seems so skewed by self-interest, and by others' interests.”
THE WHO OWNS WHOM DEPARTMENT
.
Just exactly who owns that funky, Whole-Earth-type, progressive-minded, Third World-motif store which makes you feel oh, so sensitive when you frequent it? What about that earth-friendly brand name that you identify with? And what about that trusty brand that you feel comfortable with, since you’ve used it for years? (Oh yeah, and what about those multinational businesses that own more than you ever suspected?)
(This will be constantly updated and reorganized.)
NEW FOR THIS POSTING:
“That’s hot®” - The combination of the word “that’s” and the word “hot” is a registered trademark (“®”) owned by Paris Hilton. (9/16/07)
Oakley, a California manufacturer of “sporty” sunglasses - acquired for $2.1 billion by Italy’s Luxottica, a manufacturer of “fashionable” eyewear.
Ray-Ban sunglasses - acquired by Luxottica in 1999. (9/16/07)
Sunglass Hut, the world’s leading sunglass retailer - Luxottica. (9/16/07)
LensCrafters, America’s leading optical retailer - acquired by Luxottica in 1995. (9/16/07)
Loctite adhesive - Henkel, a German consumer-goods group. (9/16/07)
Cosco international shipping operator - the government of The People’s Republic of China. (9/16/07)
Bobcat, the construction equipment division of Ingersol Rand - acquired (with two other Ingersol Rand construction equipment units) for $4.9 billion by Korea’s Doosan Infracore (formerly Daewoo Heavy Industries). (9/16/07)
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - Feld Entertainment. (9/16/07)
Swift, one of the U.S.’s biggest beef and pork processors - the company that controls JBS, Latin America’s biggest meat producer. (9/16/07)
San Pellegrino water - Nestlé (9/16/07)
Evian bottled water - Danone, a French food group (9/16/07)
Vitaminwater - Glaceau (9/16/07)
Glaceau - acquired in May, 2007 for $4.1 billion by Coca-Cola (9/16/07)
Stride Rite footwear retailer - Purchased in 2007 by Payless Shoe Source, Inc. for roughly $800 million cash (9/16/07)
Virgin Atlantic airline - Singapore Airlines purchases a 49% stake in 1999. (9/16/07)
KLM (Dutch airline) - Air France (9/16/07)
PayPal online payments service - Purchased in 2002 by eBay for $1.5 billion. According to the May 5, 2007 edition of The Economist, “It now boasts 143m accounts, double the number it had two years ago. Already international--35m of the accounts are in Europe, 15m of those in Britain alone--it is striving to become truly global.” (9/16/07)
Hilton Hotels - Acquired in 2007 by The Blackstone Group in a transaction worth $26 billion. (9/16/07)
The Blackstone Group - In May, 2007, China paid $3 billion for a 10 percent stake in this U.S. private equity firm. The deal marks the first time that the Chinese government. (9/16/07)
PREVIOUSLY POSTED:
Florigene commercial flower growers - Suntory (a Japanese drinks company) (3/4/07)
Expedia.com on-line travel agency - IAC/InterActive Corp, the chairman and senior executive of which is Barry Diller. (Expedia was founded as a part of Microsoft in 1995. Expedia, Inc. was spun off in 1996.) (3/4/07)
Maytag - Purchased in 2006 by Whirlpool for $2.6 billion (12/3/06)
Radisson Hotels - Carlson Companies (11/5/06)
The Chrysler Building in New York - Tishman Speyer (real estate developers (11/5/06)
Sheaffer writing instruments - BIC USA, Inc. (11/5/06)
YouTube (a website to which one can upload video clips for others to view) - Purchased in October, 2006 by Google for $1.65 billion in shares. (According to the October 14, 2006 edition of The Economist, “Every day YouTube fans upload 65,000 videos and watch 100m.” Also, “Google has the largest online network of advertisers.” And, “The main benefit of the deal ... may be the difficulties it creates for Google's rivals. Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as News Corporation and Viacom, two media giants, all wanted YouTube. But Google pre-empted them, just as it denied them access to AOL, another portal, in which it bought a defensive stake last winter.” (11/5/06)
Virgin Mobile mobile phone service provider - NTL (a British cable television company (11/5/06)
Fisher-Price toys and games - [“You can tell it’s] Mattel [-- it’s swell!”] (10/22/06)
Simon and Schuster publishers - CBS (10/22/06)
Unocal - Purchased in 2005 by Chevron (9/30/06)
MySpace.com - Purchased in July, 2005 by News Corporation (does the name “Fox” ring a bell with you? How about Rupert Murdoch?) for $580 million. It has 108 million users. According to the April 1, 2006 edition of The Economist, “MySpace is now earning advertising revenues of about $13m [that’s ‘million’] a month ...” According to the July 29, 2006 edition of The Economist, “The social-networking site had 17m unique monthly visitors last July; ... now it has 54m, and is the most visited website in America.” According to the September 16, 2006 edition of The Economist, in August, 2006, “MySpace made a deal allowing Google, an internet-search giant, to sell a big chunk of ad space on MySpace and on News Corp’s other websites over the next three years. Google has guaranteed a minimum of $900 in revenue in return.” (9/30/06)
Autostrade (operator of toll-roads in Europe) - the biggest shareholder is Edizione Holding, the [United Colors of] Benetton family’s holding company (9/3/06)
Hard Rock Cafe (operates in 43 countries) - Rank (a Britain-based company whose core business is gambling) (8/8/06)
IBM personal computers - Purchased in 2004 by Lenovo (according to The Economist, “arguably China’s most important company”) for $1.25 billion (8/8/06)
DHL delivery service - Deutsche Post (Germany’s Post Office) (6/25/06)
Skype VOIP (‘voice over internet protocol’) which allows phone calls to be made over the internet - Purchased in 2005 by eBay for $2.6 billion (Source: The Economist, May 27, 2006) (6/11/06)
London Stock Exchange - NASDAQ recently revealed that it had become the LSE’s largest shareholder when it obtained a 15% stake for $780,000.000. It has even more recently increased its stake to 18.7%. And then, it has even further increased its stake to 24.1%. (British “takeover rules” prevent NASDAQ from either making another takeover bid before October, 2006 or increasing its ownership stake above 29.9%.) (Source: The Economist, April 15, 2006, May 6, 2006, May 13, 2006, May 27, 2006) (6/11/06)
NASDAQ - French insurance company AXA has recently taken a 10.6% stake in NASDAQ. (5/21/06)
“Bird Friendly®” - The combination of the word “bird” and the word “friendly” was created by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center [probably ®] at the National Zoological Park [probably ®], and is a registered trademark (“®”) owned by the Smithsonian Institution [probably ®]. (5/8/06)
Duracell - Owned by Gillette (4/25/06)
Gillette (which controls three-quarters of the world market in razors and shaving cream) - Purchased in 2005 by Procter & Gamble for $57 billion (4/25/06)
Wella - Purchased in 2003 by Procter & Gamble for $5.7 billion (4/25/06)
Clairol - Purchased in 2001 by Procter & Gamble for $5 billion (4/25/06)
Tom’s of Maine - Purchased in 2006 by Colgate-Palmolive for $100 million. (4/25/06)
Hollister - Owned by Abercrombie & Fitch (4/19/06)
The Body Shop - Purchased in 2006 by L’Oreal. (4/7/06)
WEARING APPAREL:
Reebok - Adidas (3/4/07)
Banana Republic - Gap (3/4/07)
Old Navy clothing stores - Gap (3/4/07)
ENTERTAINMENT:
BET (Black Entertainment Television) cable station - Viacom. (According to the October 14, 2006 edition of The Economist, "MTV Networks ... along with BET ... brings in just over 60% of Viacom’s revenues.”) (11/5/06)
MTV - Viacom (10/22/06)
Pixar animated film studio co-founded by Steve Jobs - Purchased in 2006 by The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Touchstone studio - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Mirimax studio - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
ESPN - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Dream Works SKG - Purchased in February, 2006 by Viacom (9/30/06)
DirectTV (satellite-delivered television programming - News Corporation (9/30/06)
PUBLISHING (INCLUDING NEWSPAPERS):
New York Post - News Corporation (12/3/06)
Harper Collins publishers - News Corporation (12/3/06)
Bloomberg data and news service - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (12/3/06)
Boston Globe - The New York Company (According to the November 4, 2006 edition of The Economist, Jack Welch, former boss of General Electric, wants to buy the Globe) (12/3/06)
Los Angeles Times - The Tribune Company (which also owns Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, two dozen television stations and The Chicago Cubs) (12/3/06)
Simon and Schuster publishers - CBS (10/22/06)
The New York Times - Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, owns a 5.6% stake of the New York Times Company (6/25/06)
FOOD AND DRINK:
Kentucky Fried Chicken - Yum Brands (5/6/07)
Taco Bell - Yum Brands (5/6/07)
Gerber (baby-food business) - Novartis, a Swiss drugs company (5/6/07)
Manischewitz - R.A.B. Food Group (of Seacaucus, New Jersey). Manischewitz was founded in Cincinnati by Rabbi Dov Ber Manischewitz to produce Matzoh. Manischewitz also produces matzoh under the Horowitz-Margareten and Goodman’s brands. (5/6/07)
Milka brand German chocolate - Kraft Foods (3/4/07)
Scharfen Berger brand chocolate - Purchased in 2005 by Hershey’s (3/4/07)
Joseph Schmidt brand chocolate truffles - Hershey’s (3/4/07)
Häagen-Dazs brand ice cream - Nestlé. (In 1983, Häagen-Dazs was acquired by Pillsbury for $70 million.) (3/4/07)
Breyers brand ice cream - Unilever (an Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant) (3/4/07)
Skippy brand peanut butter - Unilever (12/3/06)
Arrowhead Water - Nestlé (12/3/06)
Poland Spring (the top-selling spring-water brand in America - Nestlé (11/5/06)
TGI Friday’s restaurant chain - Carlson Companies (11/5/06)
Chipotle Mexican food chain - McDonalds (10/22/06)
El Pollo Loco - Trimarin Capital Partners (a New York-based private-equity group (10/22/06)
Baja Fresh - Purchased in 2002 by Wendy’s (10/22/06)
Baskin-Robbins - Dunkin’ Brands (the firm behind Dunkin’ Donuts) (10/22/06)
Nestea - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Minute Maid juices - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Dasani water - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Aquafina water - PepsiCo (10/22/06)
Gatorade sports drinks - Quaker (9/30/06)
Quaker - PepsiCo (9/30/06)
Tropicana juices - PepsiCo (9/30/06)
Lipton - Unilever (9/30/06)
Good Humor Ice Cream - Owned by Unilever (9/30/06)
Ben & Jerry’s - Purchased in 2000 by Unilever. (According to the March 25, 2006 edition of The Economist, "Ben & Jerry’s latest social audit says a survey of employees found that only 45% thought that top management was taking the company’s social mission seriously.”) (9/30/06)
Trident gum - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Dentyne - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Halls cough drops - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Dr Pepper - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
7-Up - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Tazo brand specialty teas - Starbucks Corporation (8/8/06)
Hear Music Coffeehouse - Starbucks Corporation (8/8/06)
Albertson’s supermarket - Supervalu (6/25/06)
Cascadian Farm organic foods brand - General Foods (6/11/06)
Muir Glen organic foods brand - General Foods (6/11/06)
Kashi organic cereal - Kellogg (6/11/06)
Keebler - Kellogg (6/11/06)
Johnny Walker Whiskey - Diageo (5/8/06)
Guiness - Diageo (5/8/06)
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY:
Bentley - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Bugatti - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Lamborghini - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Volkswagen - Porsche owns 27.4% of Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Scion automobiles - Toyota (10/22/06)
Nissan - a 44% interest is owned by Renault (9/30/06)
Aston Martin luxury automobiles - Ford (9/30/06)
Jaguar - purchased in 1989 by Ford. Since then, Jaguar has cost Ford $10 billion (Source: The Economist, August 26, 2006) (9/3/06)
Saturn - General Motors (6/25/06)
Saab - General Motors (6/25/06)
Hummer - General Motors (6/25/06)
Rolls-Royce - BMW (6/25/06)
Just exactly who owns that funky, Whole-Earth-type, progressive-minded, Third World-motif store which makes you feel oh, so sensitive when you frequent it? What about that earth-friendly brand name that you identify with? And what about that trusty brand that you feel comfortable with, since you’ve used it for years? (Oh yeah, and what about those multinational businesses that own more than you ever suspected?)
(This will be constantly updated and reorganized.)
NEW FOR THIS POSTING:
“That’s hot®” - The combination of the word “that’s” and the word “hot” is a registered trademark (“®”) owned by Paris Hilton. (9/16/07)
Oakley, a California manufacturer of “sporty” sunglasses - acquired for $2.1 billion by Italy’s Luxottica, a manufacturer of “fashionable” eyewear.
Ray-Ban sunglasses - acquired by Luxottica in 1999. (9/16/07)
Sunglass Hut, the world’s leading sunglass retailer - Luxottica. (9/16/07)
LensCrafters, America’s leading optical retailer - acquired by Luxottica in 1995. (9/16/07)
Loctite adhesive - Henkel, a German consumer-goods group. (9/16/07)
Cosco international shipping operator - the government of The People’s Republic of China. (9/16/07)
Bobcat, the construction equipment division of Ingersol Rand - acquired (with two other Ingersol Rand construction equipment units) for $4.9 billion by Korea’s Doosan Infracore (formerly Daewoo Heavy Industries). (9/16/07)
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - Feld Entertainment. (9/16/07)
Swift, one of the U.S.’s biggest beef and pork processors - the company that controls JBS, Latin America’s biggest meat producer. (9/16/07)
San Pellegrino water - Nestlé (9/16/07)
Evian bottled water - Danone, a French food group (9/16/07)
Vitaminwater - Glaceau (9/16/07)
Glaceau - acquired in May, 2007 for $4.1 billion by Coca-Cola (9/16/07)
Stride Rite footwear retailer - Purchased in 2007 by Payless Shoe Source, Inc. for roughly $800 million cash (9/16/07)
Virgin Atlantic airline - Singapore Airlines purchases a 49% stake in 1999. (9/16/07)
KLM (Dutch airline) - Air France (9/16/07)
PayPal online payments service - Purchased in 2002 by eBay for $1.5 billion. According to the May 5, 2007 edition of The Economist, “It now boasts 143m accounts, double the number it had two years ago. Already international--35m of the accounts are in Europe, 15m of those in Britain alone--it is striving to become truly global.” (9/16/07)
Hilton Hotels - Acquired in 2007 by The Blackstone Group in a transaction worth $26 billion. (9/16/07)
The Blackstone Group - In May, 2007, China paid $3 billion for a 10 percent stake in this U.S. private equity firm. The deal marks the first time that the Chinese government. (9/16/07)
PREVIOUSLY POSTED:
Florigene commercial flower growers - Suntory (a Japanese drinks company) (3/4/07)
Expedia.com on-line travel agency - IAC/InterActive Corp, the chairman and senior executive of which is Barry Diller. (Expedia was founded as a part of Microsoft in 1995. Expedia, Inc. was spun off in 1996.) (3/4/07)
Maytag - Purchased in 2006 by Whirlpool for $2.6 billion (12/3/06)
Radisson Hotels - Carlson Companies (11/5/06)
The Chrysler Building in New York - Tishman Speyer (real estate developers (11/5/06)
Sheaffer writing instruments - BIC USA, Inc. (11/5/06)
YouTube (a website to which one can upload video clips for others to view) - Purchased in October, 2006 by Google for $1.65 billion in shares. (According to the October 14, 2006 edition of The Economist, “Every day YouTube fans upload 65,000 videos and watch 100m.” Also, “Google has the largest online network of advertisers.” And, “The main benefit of the deal ... may be the difficulties it creates for Google's rivals. Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as News Corporation and Viacom, two media giants, all wanted YouTube. But Google pre-empted them, just as it denied them access to AOL, another portal, in which it bought a defensive stake last winter.” (11/5/06)
Virgin Mobile mobile phone service provider - NTL (a British cable television company (11/5/06)
Fisher-Price toys and games - [“You can tell it’s] Mattel [-- it’s swell!”] (10/22/06)
Simon and Schuster publishers - CBS (10/22/06)
Unocal - Purchased in 2005 by Chevron (9/30/06)
MySpace.com - Purchased in July, 2005 by News Corporation (does the name “Fox” ring a bell with you? How about Rupert Murdoch?) for $580 million. It has 108 million users. According to the April 1, 2006 edition of The Economist, “MySpace is now earning advertising revenues of about $13m [that’s ‘million’] a month ...” According to the July 29, 2006 edition of The Economist, “The social-networking site had 17m unique monthly visitors last July; ... now it has 54m, and is the most visited website in America.” According to the September 16, 2006 edition of The Economist, in August, 2006, “MySpace made a deal allowing Google, an internet-search giant, to sell a big chunk of ad space on MySpace and on News Corp’s other websites over the next three years. Google has guaranteed a minimum of $900 in revenue in return.” (9/30/06)
Autostrade (operator of toll-roads in Europe) - the biggest shareholder is Edizione Holding, the [United Colors of] Benetton family’s holding company (9/3/06)
Hard Rock Cafe (operates in 43 countries) - Rank (a Britain-based company whose core business is gambling) (8/8/06)
IBM personal computers - Purchased in 2004 by Lenovo (according to The Economist, “arguably China’s most important company”) for $1.25 billion (8/8/06)
DHL delivery service - Deutsche Post (Germany’s Post Office) (6/25/06)
Skype VOIP (‘voice over internet protocol’) which allows phone calls to be made over the internet - Purchased in 2005 by eBay for $2.6 billion (Source: The Economist, May 27, 2006) (6/11/06)
London Stock Exchange - NASDAQ recently revealed that it had become the LSE’s largest shareholder when it obtained a 15% stake for $780,000.000. It has even more recently increased its stake to 18.7%. And then, it has even further increased its stake to 24.1%. (British “takeover rules” prevent NASDAQ from either making another takeover bid before October, 2006 or increasing its ownership stake above 29.9%.) (Source: The Economist, April 15, 2006, May 6, 2006, May 13, 2006, May 27, 2006) (6/11/06)
NASDAQ - French insurance company AXA has recently taken a 10.6% stake in NASDAQ. (5/21/06)
“Bird Friendly®” - The combination of the word “bird” and the word “friendly” was created by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center [probably ®] at the National Zoological Park [probably ®], and is a registered trademark (“®”) owned by the Smithsonian Institution [probably ®]. (5/8/06)
Duracell - Owned by Gillette (4/25/06)
Gillette (which controls three-quarters of the world market in razors and shaving cream) - Purchased in 2005 by Procter & Gamble for $57 billion (4/25/06)
Wella - Purchased in 2003 by Procter & Gamble for $5.7 billion (4/25/06)
Clairol - Purchased in 2001 by Procter & Gamble for $5 billion (4/25/06)
Tom’s of Maine - Purchased in 2006 by Colgate-Palmolive for $100 million. (4/25/06)
Hollister - Owned by Abercrombie & Fitch (4/19/06)
The Body Shop - Purchased in 2006 by L’Oreal. (4/7/06)
WEARING APPAREL:
Reebok - Adidas (3/4/07)
Banana Republic - Gap (3/4/07)
Old Navy clothing stores - Gap (3/4/07)
ENTERTAINMENT:
BET (Black Entertainment Television) cable station - Viacom. (According to the October 14, 2006 edition of The Economist, "MTV Networks ... along with BET ... brings in just over 60% of Viacom’s revenues.”) (11/5/06)
MTV - Viacom (10/22/06)
Pixar animated film studio co-founded by Steve Jobs - Purchased in 2006 by The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Touchstone studio - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Mirimax studio - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
ESPN - The Walt Disney Company (9/30/06)
Dream Works SKG - Purchased in February, 2006 by Viacom (9/30/06)
DirectTV (satellite-delivered television programming - News Corporation (9/30/06)
PUBLISHING (INCLUDING NEWSPAPERS):
New York Post - News Corporation (12/3/06)
Harper Collins publishers - News Corporation (12/3/06)
Bloomberg data and news service - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (12/3/06)
Boston Globe - The New York Company (According to the November 4, 2006 edition of The Economist, Jack Welch, former boss of General Electric, wants to buy the Globe) (12/3/06)
Los Angeles Times - The Tribune Company (which also owns Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, two dozen television stations and The Chicago Cubs) (12/3/06)
Simon and Schuster publishers - CBS (10/22/06)
The New York Times - Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, owns a 5.6% stake of the New York Times Company (6/25/06)
FOOD AND DRINK:
Kentucky Fried Chicken - Yum Brands (5/6/07)
Taco Bell - Yum Brands (5/6/07)
Gerber (baby-food business) - Novartis, a Swiss drugs company (5/6/07)
Manischewitz - R.A.B. Food Group (of Seacaucus, New Jersey). Manischewitz was founded in Cincinnati by Rabbi Dov Ber Manischewitz to produce Matzoh. Manischewitz also produces matzoh under the Horowitz-Margareten and Goodman’s brands. (5/6/07)
Milka brand German chocolate - Kraft Foods (3/4/07)
Scharfen Berger brand chocolate - Purchased in 2005 by Hershey’s (3/4/07)
Joseph Schmidt brand chocolate truffles - Hershey’s (3/4/07)
Häagen-Dazs brand ice cream - Nestlé. (In 1983, Häagen-Dazs was acquired by Pillsbury for $70 million.) (3/4/07)
Breyers brand ice cream - Unilever (an Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant) (3/4/07)
Skippy brand peanut butter - Unilever (12/3/06)
Arrowhead Water - Nestlé (12/3/06)
Poland Spring (the top-selling spring-water brand in America - Nestlé (11/5/06)
TGI Friday’s restaurant chain - Carlson Companies (11/5/06)
Chipotle Mexican food chain - McDonalds (10/22/06)
El Pollo Loco - Trimarin Capital Partners (a New York-based private-equity group (10/22/06)
Baja Fresh - Purchased in 2002 by Wendy’s (10/22/06)
Baskin-Robbins - Dunkin’ Brands (the firm behind Dunkin’ Donuts) (10/22/06)
Nestea - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Minute Maid juices - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Dasani water - Coca-Cola (10/22/06)
Aquafina water - PepsiCo (10/22/06)
Gatorade sports drinks - Quaker (9/30/06)
Quaker - PepsiCo (9/30/06)
Tropicana juices - PepsiCo (9/30/06)
Lipton - Unilever (9/30/06)
Good Humor Ice Cream - Owned by Unilever (9/30/06)
Ben & Jerry’s - Purchased in 2000 by Unilever. (According to the March 25, 2006 edition of The Economist, "Ben & Jerry’s latest social audit says a survey of employees found that only 45% thought that top management was taking the company’s social mission seriously.”) (9/30/06)
Trident gum - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Dentyne - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Halls cough drops - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Dr Pepper - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
7-Up - Cadbury-Schweppes (9/30/06)
Tazo brand specialty teas - Starbucks Corporation (8/8/06)
Hear Music Coffeehouse - Starbucks Corporation (8/8/06)
Albertson’s supermarket - Supervalu (6/25/06)
Cascadian Farm organic foods brand - General Foods (6/11/06)
Muir Glen organic foods brand - General Foods (6/11/06)
Kashi organic cereal - Kellogg (6/11/06)
Keebler - Kellogg (6/11/06)
Johnny Walker Whiskey - Diageo (5/8/06)
Guiness - Diageo (5/8/06)
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY:
Bentley - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Bugatti - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Lamborghini - Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Volkswagen - Porsche owns 27.4% of Volkswagen (5/6/07)
Scion automobiles - Toyota (10/22/06)
Nissan - a 44% interest is owned by Renault (9/30/06)
Aston Martin luxury automobiles - Ford (9/30/06)
Jaguar - purchased in 1989 by Ford. Since then, Jaguar has cost Ford $10 billion (Source: The Economist, August 26, 2006) (9/3/06)
Saturn - General Motors (6/25/06)
Saab - General Motors (6/25/06)
Hummer - General Motors (6/25/06)
Rolls-Royce - BMW (6/25/06)
September 09, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
September 9, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“According to the All-China Lawyers Association, the country has only 122,000 lawyers. That is 70,000 fewer than California where the population is only 37m (against China's 1.3 billion). Many business people might argue that California is overlawyered, but there are parts of China without any lawyers at all.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
Obesity and the American child: “THE proportion of children in America who are overweight has tripled over the past 20 years and now exceeds 17%, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ... All the while, the proportion of children who take part in daily exercise at high school has dropped from 42% in 1991 to only 28% in 2004, according to the CDC. Snacking has greatly increased; the Government Accountability Office found in 2003 that 99% of America's high schools now sell snacks and other food as well as providing lunches.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
“Tyson Foods, a meat-processing giant, employs 128 chaplains to minister to 85,000 employees in the United States, Mexico and Canada.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
If President Bush is in the hip-pocket of the Evangelicals, than where was President Clinton? - “Bill Clinton ... mentioned Jesus more frequently in his public utterances [as President] than Mr Bush has, at least so far (5.1 times a year compared with 4.7).” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
*****
Behind Mattel’s toy recalls
“UNTIL a brief notice appeared in China's state-run People's Daily on August 14th announcing that Zhang Shuhong had hanged himself, almost no one had ever heard of him. ... The same day that he died, Mattel recalled 436,000 cars daubed with lead-based paint and more than 18m toys containing small magnets which could come loose and be swallowed by children, with dire medical consequences. The recall was Mattel's second of the month. Earlier, the company's Fisher-Price unit had found lead paint on its toys, at least some of which came from Mr Zhang's factory. All of the flawed items were made in China, where 65% of Mattel's products are sourced. The first recall will cost the firm about $30m, and the second might prove more expensive still.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
*****
“It would undermine the brands that Adidas, Puma and Nike have spent so much to promote if their customers knew that a Taiwanese contractor called Yue Yuen produced shoes for all of them in China.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
*****
The American funeral home industry
“It is a strange industry: more than 85% of funeral homes are still owned by families or independent firms (similar perhaps to dry-cleaning shops but not much else). Just 3,000 of 22,000 funeral homes are owned by big corporations, estimates George Clarke, executive director of an association of independent funeral homes. Houston-based SCI is the biggest of the corporates, claiming a 14% share of revenues from ‘death care’, as they tactfully call their business. ... Richard Puryear of Salem Funerals and Cremations estimates that a typical burial costs $6,400, whereas cremations average at best $2,800. In 2005 about 32% of funerals in America were cremations, up from 26% in 2000, according to the Cremation Association of North America. It expects the number to rise to 46% by 2025.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
*****
“The Israel Bashing Club” - Daniel Schwammenthal (Wall Street Journal)
“‘Israel is an apartheid state,’ was the most often-heard charge, closely followed by calls for a boycott. The West should cut its economic ties with the Jewish state, the speakers urged, and engage the ‘democratically elected’ Islamists now running Gaza. No, this was not a Hamas rally somewhere in the Palestinian territories. This was Brussels, where the European Parliament last week played host to the ‘United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.’ Speaker after speaker presented the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an exclusively Palestinian perspective. Israel was accused of human rights violations while Palestinian terrorism and incitement went unmentioned.
“The only attempt to present the other side came from an Arab-Israeli. Nadia Hilou, a member of the Israeli Parliament (so much for the ‘apartheid’ charge), explained why her countrymen are pessimistic about the prospects for peace. ‘It's the disappointment that the withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon, which were seen as gestures of good will, have worsened, not improved, Israel's security situation.’ By hosting this conference, the European Parliament has lent its good name to propaganda and helped to make radical anti-Israeli claims more mainstream. It's a huge disservice to the search for Mideast peace, which must be based on compromise and dialogue.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 3, 2007)
*****
“Peres: Hamas Wants to Destroy Israel” - Ronny Sofer (Ynet News)
“President Shimon Peres told Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer on Monday in Jerusalem: ‘We had a rough day in Sderot. Seven rockets fell and almost killed our children. It's an intolerable situation and there is one address for it - Hamas. There is a limit to how much Israel is willing to tolerate....Israel left Gaza completely. There is not one Israeli citizen in its territory. Today I ask myself why? Why is Hamas shooting? What is its goal? There is only one answer. Hamas is a religious-fanatic organization that does not want a Palestinian state for its people, but wants to impose the dangerous radical religious hegemony that is taking over the entire Middle East and gives a green light to kill innocent people in its name.’
“‘Hamas has one goal,’ he said, ‘to destroy the State of Israel....While Israel is making great efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians, it has a greater duty to protect the lives of its citizens and its children. The terror must stop.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s Example: Fighting Terrorism without Sacrificing Due Process” - Editorial (Washington Post)
“No one would say that Israel is soft on terrorism, which makes it all the more fascinating that a country that essentially lives under siege provides so many legal accommodations to those it detains as unlawful combatants. In Israel, even noncitizens captured outside the country and designated unlawful combatants are entitled to due process in Israeli civilian courts. They are guaranteed judicial review of their detention within 14 days of capture. They are guaranteed the services of a lawyer no later than 34 days after capture. And they are guaranteed a review of their detention by an Israeli district court judge every six months thereafter. If an unlawful combatant is captured in the West Bank, the case proceeds through Israeli military courts, with similar guarantees of judicial review and legal representation.
“Nothing in the Israeli system prevents a lengthy and potentially indefinite detention of an enemy combatant. But the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that these combatants can be held only so long as the state can prove they are an imminent danger. If the state fails to make that case, the detainees must be released. These safeguards have not prevented Israeli security forces from defending the country.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“The Islamization of Gaze under Hamas” - Reuven Erlich (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)
“Gaza is ruled today by Hamas, whose ideology is radical Islam, which it aspires to impose on the entire Palestinian populace. Since the Hamas takeover in June, it has increasingly imposed a compulsory radical Islamic lifestyle which influences the daily life of all Gaza residents. One of the most visible signs is the increasing number of bearded men. Some Gaza residents said they were doing it because they were afraid of Hamas, whose operatives were detaining and interrogating everyone who looked secular.
“Hamas' Executive Force, the movement's main enforcement arm, also functions as ‘morality police’ to impose Islamic social codes on the population in Gaza. The force operates along the Gaza coastline and prevents young men from congregating in places where there are many women. The force disrupts weddings where, it claims, songs are played which ‘inflame passions.’ At least two popular singers were detained after they appeared at events of important figures affiliated with Fatah, and were charged with singing immoral songs. On July 22, Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for the force, announced that an Islamic legal committee had been formed to replace the PA district attorney's office.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel Tops Green List” - Zafrir Rinat (Ha'aretz)
“The IUCN-World Conservation Union recently named Israel the nation with the highest percentage of preserved land in the Mediterranean region.
“According to the IUCN, Israel has set aside 16% of its land to protect nature. In contrast, France protects 12%.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“The News Anti-Semitism” - Denis MacShane (Washington Post)
“Hatred of Jews has reached new heights in Europe. Last year I chaired a blue-ribbon committee of British parliamentarians that examined the problem of anti-Semitism in Britain. None of us are Jewish or active in the unending debates on the Israeli-Palestinian question.
“Our report showed a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens - there are around 300,000 Jews in Britain - that is not acceptable in a modern democracy. Synagogues attacked. Jewish schoolboys jostled on public transportation. Rabbis punched and knifed. British Jews feeling compelled to raise millions to provide private security for their weddings and community events. On campuses, militant anti-Jewish students fueled by Islamist or far-left hate seeking to prevent Jewish students from expressing their opinions.
“More worrisome was what we described as anti-Jewish discourse, a mood and tone whenever Jews are discussed, whether in the media, at universities, among the liberal media elite or at dinner parties of modish London. To express any support for Israel or any feeling for the right of a Jewish state to exist produces denunciation, even contempt.
“To Britain's credit, the Blair administration produced a formal government response setting out tough new guidelines for the police to investigate anti-Semitic attacks and for universities to stop anti-Jewish ideology from taking root on campuses. Britain's Foreign Office has been told to protest to Arab states that allow anti-Jewish broadcasts. Tony Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, recently said in London that he stood with Israel ‘in bad times as well as good times,’ and one of the remarkable turnarounds of the new Labor leadership that governs Britain is a strong support for Israel and its commitment to combating anti-Semitism.
“Today the old anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have morphed into something more dangerous. Anti-Semitism today is officially sanctioned state ideology and is being turned into a mobilizing and organizing force to recruit thousands in a new crusade to eradicate Jewishness from the region whence it came and to weaken and undermine all the humanist values of rule of law, tolerance and respect for core rights such as free expression that Jews have fought for over time.
“We are at the beginning of a long intellectual and ideological struggle. It is not about Jews or Israel. It is about everything democrats have long fought for: the truth without fear, no matter one's religion or political beliefs. The new anti-Semitism threatens all of humanity. The Jew-haters must not pass.
““The writer is a Labor member of the British House of Commons and has served as Britain's Europe minister.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel to Naturalize Several Hundred Darfut Refugees” - Mazal Mualem (Ha'aretz)
“Israel intends to grant citizenship to several hundred refugees from Darfur who are currently in the country, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said Tuesday. Israel cannot ignore the refugees' fate because of the history of the Jewish people, Sheetrit said. ‘Just as Prime Minister Menachem Begin acted to grant citizenship to refugees from Vietnam, the same ought to be done today,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 5, 2007)
*****
“Iran Seals Its Doors Tighter Against the West” - Michael Slackman
(New York Times)
“The police shut down 20 barbershops for men in Tehran last week because they offered inappropriate hairstyles and women have been banned from riding bicycles in many places, as a crackdown on social freedoms presses on. President Ahmadinejad's economic missteps and the animosity generated in the West by his aggressive posture on the nuclear issue have helped his government stymie what it sees as corrupting foreign influences, by increasing the country's economic and political isolation.
“A Western diplomat said, ‘They are convinced the rest of the world is trying to put pressure on Iran to keep Iran down....They believe if Iran makes a concession to the West on the nuclear issue, it will be the first step toward regime change.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 6, 2007)
*****
“Pulling the Plug on Gaza Won’t Work” - Moshe Arens (Ha'aretz)
“It has been proposed to attach a price to every Palestinian rocket launched against Israel. We will cut off water and electricity to the population of Gaza until they force the terrorists to stop launching rockets. But it won't work. Collective punishment of civilian populations did not work in World War II, and it won't work in Gaza. The international community will quickly mobilize help for the starving and the thirsty in Gaza. Water tankers will bring water to Gaza, generators will be flown in from Europe, and Israel will be asked to contribute to this humanitarian cause. It is immoral, and not worthy of Israel.
“The rockets are being launched from a distance of one to three kilometers from the fence surrounding Gaza. The only way to put a stop to this is for the IDF to enter Gaza to this depth and put the rockets out of range. How long are we going to stay there after the IDF has put the rockets out of range, ask the perennial doubters. The answer is simple - as long as the children of Sderot will need protection.
“The writer is a former minister of defense.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 6, 2007)
*****
“Cut Gaza's power?” - Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 6, 2007
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/760
“Question asked of Jerusalem Post columnists: ‘As Kassam rockets continue to pound Sderot, Minister Haim Ramon has suggested responding to the salvos by cutting off vital infrastructure such as water, electricity and gasoline to Gaza for a specific time frame, while the 'price' of such measures will be 'determined by Hamas and its actions'. What is your opinion of this proposition?’ For all replies, see ‘Burning Issues #34: Cut Gaza's power?’ [http://blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=4&blog_id=61&blog_post_id=1476]
“Believing that if you don't win a war, you lose it, I have long encouraged the Israeli government to take more assertive measures in response to attacks.
“In a Jerusalem Post piece six years ago, Preventing war: Israel's options [http://www.danielpipes.org/article/385] I called for shutting off utilities to the Palestinian Authority as well as a host of other measures, such as permitting no transportation in the PA of people or goods beyond basic necessities, implementing the death penalty against murderers, and razing villages from which attacks are launched.
Then and now, such responses have two benefits: First, they send a strong deterrent signal ‘Hit us and we will hit you back much harder’ thereby reducing the number of attacks in the short term. Second, they impress Palestinians with the Israeli will to survive, and so bring closer their eventual acceptance of the Jewish state.
“As for the inevitable objection that tough measures will generate ill-will toward Israel, the reply is easy: back when the IDF did deploy deterrent tactics, the country enjoyed a much higher standing internationally. Since 1993, its weakness has earned it not just scorn but also heightened hostility.
“For now, however, a deterrent policy remains remote, as Prime Minister Olmert is said to oppose the shutting off of utilities as ‘collective punishment.’ And so will the Palestinian assaults continue.”
To subscribe to an e-mailing of Daniel Pipes’ writings, go to http://www.DanielPipes.org/subscribe.php
(Daniel Pipes sends out a mailing of his writings 2-3 times a week.)
“You may freely forward this information, but on condition that you send the text as an integral whole along with complete information about its author, date, and source.”
*****
“Hamas Rejects Red Cross Requests to See Abducted Soldier Gilad Shalit” - Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, and Jack Khoury (Ha'aretz)
“A senior Hamas official in Gaza, Osama Al-Mazini, on Thursday turned down a request by the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid in June 2006. The request was made Wednesday by the director-general of the Red Cross, Angelo Gnaedinger, during a visit to Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Hardline Takeover of British Mosques” - Andrew Norfolk (Times-UK)
“Almost half of Britain's mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to ‘shed blood’ for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found.
“Riyadh ul-Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain.
“The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the Taliban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain's 1,350 mosques, according to a police report.
“Ul-Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda.
“17 of Britain's 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80% of home-trained Muslim clerics.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
*****
Trade Unions in Gaza
“Hamas Disbands Journalists Union” (Reporters Without Borders)
“Reporters Without Borders Thursday condemned Hamas' decision on September 3 to dissolve the Gaza branch of the Union of Palestinian Journalists, most of whose members are affiliated to or support Fatah.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“According to the All-China Lawyers Association, the country has only 122,000 lawyers. That is 70,000 fewer than California where the population is only 37m (against China's 1.3 billion). Many business people might argue that California is overlawyered, but there are parts of China without any lawyers at all.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
Obesity and the American child: “THE proportion of children in America who are overweight has tripled over the past 20 years and now exceeds 17%, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ... All the while, the proportion of children who take part in daily exercise at high school has dropped from 42% in 1991 to only 28% in 2004, according to the CDC. Snacking has greatly increased; the Government Accountability Office found in 2003 that 99% of America's high schools now sell snacks and other food as well as providing lunches.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
“Tyson Foods, a meat-processing giant, employs 128 chaplains to minister to 85,000 employees in the United States, Mexico and Canada.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
If President Bush is in the hip-pocket of the Evangelicals, than where was President Clinton? - “Bill Clinton ... mentioned Jesus more frequently in his public utterances [as President] than Mr Bush has, at least so far (5.1 times a year compared with 4.7).” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
*****
Behind Mattel’s toy recalls
“UNTIL a brief notice appeared in China's state-run People's Daily on August 14th announcing that Zhang Shuhong had hanged himself, almost no one had ever heard of him. ... The same day that he died, Mattel recalled 436,000 cars daubed with lead-based paint and more than 18m toys containing small magnets which could come loose and be swallowed by children, with dire medical consequences. The recall was Mattel's second of the month. Earlier, the company's Fisher-Price unit had found lead paint on its toys, at least some of which came from Mr Zhang's factory. All of the flawed items were made in China, where 65% of Mattel's products are sourced. The first recall will cost the firm about $30m, and the second might prove more expensive still.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
*****
“It would undermine the brands that Adidas, Puma and Nike have spent so much to promote if their customers knew that a Taiwanese contractor called Yue Yuen produced shoes for all of them in China.” (Source: The Economist, August 18, 2007)
*****
The American funeral home industry
“It is a strange industry: more than 85% of funeral homes are still owned by families or independent firms (similar perhaps to dry-cleaning shops but not much else). Just 3,000 of 22,000 funeral homes are owned by big corporations, estimates George Clarke, executive director of an association of independent funeral homes. Houston-based SCI is the biggest of the corporates, claiming a 14% share of revenues from ‘death care’, as they tactfully call their business. ... Richard Puryear of Salem Funerals and Cremations estimates that a typical burial costs $6,400, whereas cremations average at best $2,800. In 2005 about 32% of funerals in America were cremations, up from 26% in 2000, according to the Cremation Association of North America. It expects the number to rise to 46% by 2025.” (Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
*****
“The Israel Bashing Club” - Daniel Schwammenthal (Wall Street Journal)
“‘Israel is an apartheid state,’ was the most often-heard charge, closely followed by calls for a boycott. The West should cut its economic ties with the Jewish state, the speakers urged, and engage the ‘democratically elected’ Islamists now running Gaza. No, this was not a Hamas rally somewhere in the Palestinian territories. This was Brussels, where the European Parliament last week played host to the ‘United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.’ Speaker after speaker presented the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an exclusively Palestinian perspective. Israel was accused of human rights violations while Palestinian terrorism and incitement went unmentioned.
“The only attempt to present the other side came from an Arab-Israeli. Nadia Hilou, a member of the Israeli Parliament (so much for the ‘apartheid’ charge), explained why her countrymen are pessimistic about the prospects for peace. ‘It's the disappointment that the withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon, which were seen as gestures of good will, have worsened, not improved, Israel's security situation.’ By hosting this conference, the European Parliament has lent its good name to propaganda and helped to make radical anti-Israeli claims more mainstream. It's a huge disservice to the search for Mideast peace, which must be based on compromise and dialogue.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 3, 2007)
*****
“Peres: Hamas Wants to Destroy Israel” - Ronny Sofer (Ynet News)
“President Shimon Peres told Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer on Monday in Jerusalem: ‘We had a rough day in Sderot. Seven rockets fell and almost killed our children. It's an intolerable situation and there is one address for it - Hamas. There is a limit to how much Israel is willing to tolerate....Israel left Gaza completely. There is not one Israeli citizen in its territory. Today I ask myself why? Why is Hamas shooting? What is its goal? There is only one answer. Hamas is a religious-fanatic organization that does not want a Palestinian state for its people, but wants to impose the dangerous radical religious hegemony that is taking over the entire Middle East and gives a green light to kill innocent people in its name.’
“‘Hamas has one goal,’ he said, ‘to destroy the State of Israel....While Israel is making great efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians, it has a greater duty to protect the lives of its citizens and its children. The terror must stop.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s Example: Fighting Terrorism without Sacrificing Due Process” - Editorial (Washington Post)
“No one would say that Israel is soft on terrorism, which makes it all the more fascinating that a country that essentially lives under siege provides so many legal accommodations to those it detains as unlawful combatants. In Israel, even noncitizens captured outside the country and designated unlawful combatants are entitled to due process in Israeli civilian courts. They are guaranteed judicial review of their detention within 14 days of capture. They are guaranteed the services of a lawyer no later than 34 days after capture. And they are guaranteed a review of their detention by an Israeli district court judge every six months thereafter. If an unlawful combatant is captured in the West Bank, the case proceeds through Israeli military courts, with similar guarantees of judicial review and legal representation.
“Nothing in the Israeli system prevents a lengthy and potentially indefinite detention of an enemy combatant. But the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that these combatants can be held only so long as the state can prove they are an imminent danger. If the state fails to make that case, the detainees must be released. These safeguards have not prevented Israeli security forces from defending the country.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“The Islamization of Gaze under Hamas” - Reuven Erlich (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)
“Gaza is ruled today by Hamas, whose ideology is radical Islam, which it aspires to impose on the entire Palestinian populace. Since the Hamas takeover in June, it has increasingly imposed a compulsory radical Islamic lifestyle which influences the daily life of all Gaza residents. One of the most visible signs is the increasing number of bearded men. Some Gaza residents said they were doing it because they were afraid of Hamas, whose operatives were detaining and interrogating everyone who looked secular.
“Hamas' Executive Force, the movement's main enforcement arm, also functions as ‘morality police’ to impose Islamic social codes on the population in Gaza. The force operates along the Gaza coastline and prevents young men from congregating in places where there are many women. The force disrupts weddings where, it claims, songs are played which ‘inflame passions.’ At least two popular singers were detained after they appeared at events of important figures affiliated with Fatah, and were charged with singing immoral songs. On July 22, Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for the force, announced that an Islamic legal committee had been formed to replace the PA district attorney's office.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel Tops Green List” - Zafrir Rinat (Ha'aretz)
“The IUCN-World Conservation Union recently named Israel the nation with the highest percentage of preserved land in the Mediterranean region.
“According to the IUCN, Israel has set aside 16% of its land to protect nature. In contrast, France protects 12%.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“The News Anti-Semitism” - Denis MacShane (Washington Post)
“Hatred of Jews has reached new heights in Europe. Last year I chaired a blue-ribbon committee of British parliamentarians that examined the problem of anti-Semitism in Britain. None of us are Jewish or active in the unending debates on the Israeli-Palestinian question.
“Our report showed a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens - there are around 300,000 Jews in Britain - that is not acceptable in a modern democracy. Synagogues attacked. Jewish schoolboys jostled on public transportation. Rabbis punched and knifed. British Jews feeling compelled to raise millions to provide private security for their weddings and community events. On campuses, militant anti-Jewish students fueled by Islamist or far-left hate seeking to prevent Jewish students from expressing their opinions.
“More worrisome was what we described as anti-Jewish discourse, a mood and tone whenever Jews are discussed, whether in the media, at universities, among the liberal media elite or at dinner parties of modish London. To express any support for Israel or any feeling for the right of a Jewish state to exist produces denunciation, even contempt.
“To Britain's credit, the Blair administration produced a formal government response setting out tough new guidelines for the police to investigate anti-Semitic attacks and for universities to stop anti-Jewish ideology from taking root on campuses. Britain's Foreign Office has been told to protest to Arab states that allow anti-Jewish broadcasts. Tony Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, recently said in London that he stood with Israel ‘in bad times as well as good times,’ and one of the remarkable turnarounds of the new Labor leadership that governs Britain is a strong support for Israel and its commitment to combating anti-Semitism.
“Today the old anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have morphed into something more dangerous. Anti-Semitism today is officially sanctioned state ideology and is being turned into a mobilizing and organizing force to recruit thousands in a new crusade to eradicate Jewishness from the region whence it came and to weaken and undermine all the humanist values of rule of law, tolerance and respect for core rights such as free expression that Jews have fought for over time.
“We are at the beginning of a long intellectual and ideological struggle. It is not about Jews or Israel. It is about everything democrats have long fought for: the truth without fear, no matter one's religion or political beliefs. The new anti-Semitism threatens all of humanity. The Jew-haters must not pass.
““The writer is a Labor member of the British House of Commons and has served as Britain's Europe minister.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 4, 2007)
*****
“Israel to Naturalize Several Hundred Darfut Refugees” - Mazal Mualem (Ha'aretz)
“Israel intends to grant citizenship to several hundred refugees from Darfur who are currently in the country, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said Tuesday. Israel cannot ignore the refugees' fate because of the history of the Jewish people, Sheetrit said. ‘Just as Prime Minister Menachem Begin acted to grant citizenship to refugees from Vietnam, the same ought to be done today,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 5, 2007)
*****
“Iran Seals Its Doors Tighter Against the West” - Michael Slackman
(New York Times)
“The police shut down 20 barbershops for men in Tehran last week because they offered inappropriate hairstyles and women have been banned from riding bicycles in many places, as a crackdown on social freedoms presses on. President Ahmadinejad's economic missteps and the animosity generated in the West by his aggressive posture on the nuclear issue have helped his government stymie what it sees as corrupting foreign influences, by increasing the country's economic and political isolation.
“A Western diplomat said, ‘They are convinced the rest of the world is trying to put pressure on Iran to keep Iran down....They believe if Iran makes a concession to the West on the nuclear issue, it will be the first step toward regime change.’” (Source: Daily Alert, September 6, 2007)
*****
“Pulling the Plug on Gaza Won’t Work” - Moshe Arens (Ha'aretz)
“It has been proposed to attach a price to every Palestinian rocket launched against Israel. We will cut off water and electricity to the population of Gaza until they force the terrorists to stop launching rockets. But it won't work. Collective punishment of civilian populations did not work in World War II, and it won't work in Gaza. The international community will quickly mobilize help for the starving and the thirsty in Gaza. Water tankers will bring water to Gaza, generators will be flown in from Europe, and Israel will be asked to contribute to this humanitarian cause. It is immoral, and not worthy of Israel.
“The rockets are being launched from a distance of one to three kilometers from the fence surrounding Gaza. The only way to put a stop to this is for the IDF to enter Gaza to this depth and put the rockets out of range. How long are we going to stay there after the IDF has put the rockets out of range, ask the perennial doubters. The answer is simple - as long as the children of Sderot will need protection.
“The writer is a former minister of defense.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 6, 2007)
*****
“Cut Gaza's power?” - Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 6, 2007
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/760
“Question asked of Jerusalem Post columnists: ‘As Kassam rockets continue to pound Sderot, Minister Haim Ramon has suggested responding to the salvos by cutting off vital infrastructure such as water, electricity and gasoline to Gaza for a specific time frame, while the 'price' of such measures will be 'determined by Hamas and its actions'. What is your opinion of this proposition?’ For all replies, see ‘Burning Issues #34: Cut Gaza's power?’ [http://blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=4&blog_id=61&blog_post_id=1476]
“Believing that if you don't win a war, you lose it, I have long encouraged the Israeli government to take more assertive measures in response to attacks.
“In a Jerusalem Post piece six years ago, Preventing war: Israel's options [http://www.danielpipes.org/article/385] I called for shutting off utilities to the Palestinian Authority as well as a host of other measures, such as permitting no transportation in the PA of people or goods beyond basic necessities, implementing the death penalty against murderers, and razing villages from which attacks are launched.
Then and now, such responses have two benefits: First, they send a strong deterrent signal ‘Hit us and we will hit you back much harder’ thereby reducing the number of attacks in the short term. Second, they impress Palestinians with the Israeli will to survive, and so bring closer their eventual acceptance of the Jewish state.
“As for the inevitable objection that tough measures will generate ill-will toward Israel, the reply is easy: back when the IDF did deploy deterrent tactics, the country enjoyed a much higher standing internationally. Since 1993, its weakness has earned it not just scorn but also heightened hostility.
“For now, however, a deterrent policy remains remote, as Prime Minister Olmert is said to oppose the shutting off of utilities as ‘collective punishment.’ And so will the Palestinian assaults continue.”
To subscribe to an e-mailing of Daniel Pipes’ writings, go to http://www.DanielPipes.org/subscribe.php
(Daniel Pipes sends out a mailing of his writings 2-3 times a week.)
“You may freely forward this information, but on condition that you send the text as an integral whole along with complete information about its author, date, and source.”
*****
“Hamas Rejects Red Cross Requests to See Abducted Soldier Gilad Shalit” - Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, and Jack Khoury (Ha'aretz)
“A senior Hamas official in Gaza, Osama Al-Mazini, on Thursday turned down a request by the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid in June 2006. The request was made Wednesday by the director-general of the Red Cross, Angelo Gnaedinger, during a visit to Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Hardline Takeover of British Mosques” - Andrew Norfolk (Times-UK)
“Almost half of Britain's mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to ‘shed blood’ for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found.
“Riyadh ul-Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain.
“The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the Taliban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain's 1,350 mosques, according to a police report.
“Ul-Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda.
“17 of Britain's 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80% of home-trained Muslim clerics.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
*****
Trade Unions in Gaza
“Hamas Disbands Journalists Union” (Reporters Without Borders)
“Reporters Without Borders Thursday condemned Hamas' decision on September 3 to dissolve the Gaza branch of the Union of Palestinian Journalists, most of whose members are affiliated to or support Fatah.” (Source: Daily Alert, September 7, 2007)
Department of Corruption in High Places, Business Section
.
(Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
“Defence fraud
Creative billing
“If your scam is brazen enough you can still hoodwink the Pentagon—for a while
“EVERYONE knows about the $400 hammer and the $600 lavatory-seat, but these days defrauding the Pentagon is a seriously big business. Twin sisters from the town of Lexington, South Carolina, a few miles from the state capitol in Columbia, managed to swindle America's Defence Department out of no less than $20.5m over the past nine years by using an automated payment system intended to cut red tape and speed up shipments to troops.
“In one case, Charlene Corley and her sister, Darlene Wooten, the owners of a small-parts company called C&D Distributors, shipped three machine screws costing $1.31 each to marines in Habbaniyah in Iraq. They then proceeded to charge the government $455,009 for transportation costs—and got paid.
The company also received $998,798 for shipping two 19-cent lock-washers, $492,097 for shipping a $10.99 threaded machine plug, $445,641 for shipping a single $8.75 plumbing tube elbow, and $403,436 for mailing six machine screws worth a total of $59.94.
“C&D submitted these and other shipping invoices separately from 1997 onwards, and the system paid the sisters automatically. It wasn't until last September that the scheme was finally uncovered. Until then, however, the women were in ‘high cotton,’ as they say in the South, buying four beach houses, ten fancy cars, boats and lots of jewellery. They also took expensive holidays and bought five businesses, including a cookie store.
“All of this came to light in court last week when the 46-year-old Ms Corley pleaded guilty to defrauding the Pentagon. She was fined $750,000 and faces up to 40 years in prison. Ms Corley's lawyers tried to place most of the blame on her sister Darlene, who killed herself last autumn when the government began closing in.
“American taxpayers may be relieved to know that the Pentagon has tightened its payment procedures in response to the sisters' scam. If only its officials could locate 190,000 assault rifles and handguns distributed during the past few years to Iraqi security forces. The Government Accountability Office reported recently that the weapons seem to have gone missing.”
(Source: The Economist, August 25, 2007)
“Defence fraud
Creative billing
“If your scam is brazen enough you can still hoodwink the Pentagon—for a while
“EVERYONE knows about the $400 hammer and the $600 lavatory-seat, but these days defrauding the Pentagon is a seriously big business. Twin sisters from the town of Lexington, South Carolina, a few miles from the state capitol in Columbia, managed to swindle America's Defence Department out of no less than $20.5m over the past nine years by using an automated payment system intended to cut red tape and speed up shipments to troops.
“In one case, Charlene Corley and her sister, Darlene Wooten, the owners of a small-parts company called C&D Distributors, shipped three machine screws costing $1.31 each to marines in Habbaniyah in Iraq. They then proceeded to charge the government $455,009 for transportation costs—and got paid.
The company also received $998,798 for shipping two 19-cent lock-washers, $492,097 for shipping a $10.99 threaded machine plug, $445,641 for shipping a single $8.75 plumbing tube elbow, and $403,436 for mailing six machine screws worth a total of $59.94.
“C&D submitted these and other shipping invoices separately from 1997 onwards, and the system paid the sisters automatically. It wasn't until last September that the scheme was finally uncovered. Until then, however, the women were in ‘high cotton,’ as they say in the South, buying four beach houses, ten fancy cars, boats and lots of jewellery. They also took expensive holidays and bought five businesses, including a cookie store.
“All of this came to light in court last week when the 46-year-old Ms Corley pleaded guilty to defrauding the Pentagon. She was fined $750,000 and faces up to 40 years in prison. Ms Corley's lawyers tried to place most of the blame on her sister Darlene, who killed herself last autumn when the government began closing in.
“American taxpayers may be relieved to know that the Pentagon has tightened its payment procedures in response to the sisters' scam. If only its officials could locate 190,000 assault rifles and handguns distributed during the past few years to Iraqi security forces. The Government Accountability Office reported recently that the weapons seem to have gone missing.”
September 02, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
September 2, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“The price of structural concrete has gone up by 73% in the past two years alone. As a result, the [U.S.’s highway] network is growing only slowly. Between 1960 and 1965 America built 144,000 miles of new highway. Between 2000 and 2005 it added just 59,000 miles.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“The petrol taxes that paid for much of America's post-war freeway system have been eaten away by inflation and higher fuel efficiency. The federal tax, of 18.4 cents a gallon, has not been raised since 1993. California's 18-cent tax has remained unchanged since 1994. The state's motorists now pay about one-third as much in petrol taxes, in real terms, to drive a mile as they did in the early 1960s, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“P&G [Proctor & Gamble] is the world's biggest consumer-goods company. It sold $76.5 billion-worth of them in the year to June 30th. ... Wal-Mart, alone gobbles up one-fifth of P&G sales. ... As the world's biggest advertiser, P&G has tremendous clout in adland. It spent $6.8 billion in 2005-06 and at least 10% more in 2006-07 (Advertising Week, a trade publication, reckons $7.5 billion). It has often been a pioneer of new marketing techniques.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“Alcohol kills up to 2,000 Estonians a year, in a nation of just 1.3 million.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “In 2006, 99 Army soldiers committed suicide--the highest total in the 26 years the military has kept track. Army officials blamed the strain of long tours of duty abroad, which can lead to broken marriages and relationships. ‘Very often a young soldier jets a “Dear John” or “Dear Jane” letter and shoots himself,’ an Army official said.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Consumers file more complaints about cell phones than about any other industry, according to the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The biggest gripe: Service contracts that require customers to pay up to $250 to switch to another carrier.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to Associated Press/MTV, “72% of whites between the ages of 13 and 24 say they are generally happy with life, compared with 56% of blacks and 51% of Hispanics.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Thefts of construction materials and large appliances cost the residential building industry $5 billion a year. Builders include a share of the cost in every new house they sell.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
Coal mining in China: “... 181 men died in a flooded mine last week. China loses more than a dozen miners each day in fires, explosions, and floods.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Of the 4,000 musicians who fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, only a third have returned.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a shortage of bullets, affecting police departments across the nation, which are cutting back on live-fire training. U.S. soldiers are now firing 1 billion bullets per year.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Whither The People’s Republic of China?
“... the Achilles heel of China’s economic boom [is] corruption. Last year alone, some 100,000 members of te Communist Party were censured for graft, a number that still understates the extent of the problem. Almost no major business transaction gets done in China without a cash payment under the table, long term observers say.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, August 27, 2007)
*****
“Rights Group Accuses Hizbullah of War Crimes During Lebanon War” - (Human Rights Watch)
“During the 2006 war, Hizbullah fired thousands of rockets indiscriminately and at times deliberately at civilian areas in northern Israel, killing at least 39 civilians and inflicting moderate or serious injuries on 101 more, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Wednesday. The 128-page report presents more than 20 case studies based on extensive field research in northern Israel into rocket attacks that killed or injured civilians in Jewish, Arab and mixed towns and cities. It also draws evidence of Hizbullah's intent behind these rocket attacks from more than 100 Hizbullah communiques and declarations. Statements by leaders in the military chain of command indicating intent to fire indiscriminately toward civilian areas are evidence of war crimes.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 30, 2007)
*****
“15-Year-Old Palestinian Bomber Intercepted” - (IDF Spokesman/Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“On Tuesday night, IDF soldiers spotted a Palestinian youth approaching them and discovered that the 15-year-old was carrying two explosive devices, which he apparently intended to detonate in a suicide bombing attack against the troops. The IDF regrets that terrorist organizations make frequent use of children and youth in order to execute attacks against Israelis.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 30, 2007)
*****
“Tehran - Dissidents hanged: Iran has resumed public executions in downtown Tehran for the first time in five years. Two men were hanged from cranes above one of the city’s busiest streets for murdering a judge. Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, executions have risen sharply. At least 150 people have been put to death this year, including around 30 in the past month. Some of the executed were criminals, but others were political activists accused of participating in ‘U.S.-backed plots’ to topple the regime. Four Iranian-Americans are being held in Iran on such charges. One of them, scholar Haleh Esfandiari, was released from prison on bail this week, but cannot leave the country.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Michael Vick: Should he ever play again?”
[Source: The Week, August 31, 2007 (excerpted)]
“Since when did sports fans—or the NFL—care about morals? said Gregg Easterbrook in ESPN.com. The NFL has employed hundreds of convicted criminals, and continues to sell—and profit from—the jerseys of people-killing stars such as O.J. Simpson and Rae Carruth. The Baltimore Ravens continue to employ Ray Lewis, who was convicted of obstructing a murder investigation. In a league overflowing with convicted brawlers, wife-beaters, and sex-offenders, it would be a travesty of justice for Vick to lose his NFL career ‘for a first offense of cruelty to animals and gambling.’ Those other reprobates had the good sense not to rankle with the animal-rights brigade, said Rick Maese in the Baltimore Sun. Animal lovers are a ‘rabid sect’ with memories as long as those of elephants. If there’s a lesson in the Vick affair, it’s this: ‘Do not mess with animal people.’
“Vick fully deserves their wrath, said Jeff Schultz in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vick owned and operated his nightmarish Bad Newz Kennelz for six long years of blood, gore, and abuse.”
*****
“Bad week for The state of Virginia, whose ‘Live Passionately’ ad campaign inadvertently promoted one of America’s most violent street gangs. The campaign’s logo was a pair of human hands using thumbs and forefingers to form a heart shape, which happens to be the gang sign of Chicago’s notorious Gangster Disciples. ‘Obviously, this is disappointing,’ said Alisa Bailey of the state tourism office.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
According to Associated Press/Ipsos, “One in four American adults did not read any books last year. 41% read between one and five books, 31% read between six and 15, and 27% say they read more than 15 books.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
Department of Corrections
“A poll watch item in the Aug. 31 issue omitted a phrase, making the percentages in an Associated Press/Ipsos poll incorrect. The item should have read: One in four American adults did not read any books last year. Of those who did read books last year, 41% read between one and five books, 31% read between six and 15, and 27% say they read more than 15 books.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“What we don’t know about climate change - Jeff Jacoby - The Boston Globe -- If there’s anything climate-change crusaders are adamant about,’ said Jeff Jacoby, ‘it is that the science of the matter is settled.’ But it’s not. In fact, science’s view of how the climate will be affected by greenhouse-gas emissions ‘changes all the time,’ with some very reputable scientists questioning whether a man-made disaster is looming at all. NASA administrator Michael Griffin recently pointed out that the climate has been fluctuating for millennia, and that it’s arrogant to assume we now possess ‘the optimal climate.’ Scientists recently admitted that their understanding of future sea-level rises is ‘limited,’ and dropped estimates from the catastrophic 3 feet trumpeted by Al Gore to 17 inches. This month, climate scientists had to admit that 1998 was not the hottest year on record after all--1934 was. After an error was found in previous data, in fact, it turns out that five of the 10 hottest years in the U.S. occurred before 1940, with only three in the last decade. Do these mistakes mean global warming is entirely a myth? No, but it does mean that ‘the science of climate change is still young and unsettled,’ with years of trial and error ahead of us.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places, Business Section
According to The Washington Post, “C&D Distributors pleaded guilty last week to cheating the Pentagon out of $20.5 million by inflating shipping charges. In one case,C&D charged the government $998,798 to ship two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Israel Warned U.S. on Iraq” - Gareth Porter (Asia Times-Hong Kong)
“Israeli officials warned the Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilizing to the region and urged the U.S. instead to target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former Bush administration official Lawrence Wilkerson, a member of the State Department's policy planning staff and later chief of staff for secretary of state Colin Powell. After the Israeli government picked up the first signs that the Bush administration was thinking of war against Iraq, said Wilkerson, ‘The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy - Iran is the enemy.’
“Wilkerson describes the Israeli message to the Bush administration in early 2002 as being, ‘If you are going to destabilize the balance of power, do it against the main enemy.’ The warning against an invasion of Iraq was ‘pervasive’ in Israeli communications with the U.S. administration, Wilkerson recalled. It was conveyed to the administration by a wide range of Israeli sources, including political figures, intelligence, and private citizens. Wilkerson noted that the main point of their communications was not that the U.S. should immediately attack Iran, but that ‘it should not be distracted by Iraq and Saddam Hussein’ from a focus on the threat from Iran.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s New Highway” - Marty Peretz (New Republic)
“Steven Erlanger of the New York Times filed a report with the headline, ‘New West Bank Road Sets Arabs Apart’ and a second headline, ‘New Israeli Highway Has Palestinian Lanes.’ Once again, the specter of apartheid. For years the Palestinians have complained that there was no direct highway from Ramallah and further north (Nablus, Jenin) in the West Bank to Bethlehem, Hebron and further south. Now they will have it, and Israelis will not be able to use their road. It is preposterous to think of this highway as a demonic act against the Palestinians. It may, in fact, hasten an agreement. When and if there will be a negotiated peace there will also be two highways systems, however close.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Poisonously Biased” - Andrea Levin (Jerusalem Post)
“CNN's Christiane Amanpour has set a new standard - and not the kind a news network usually trumpets. ‘God's Jewish Warriors,’ her two-hour screed against Israeli settlers and American supporters of Israel, is the most poisonously biased and factually shoddy feature to air on mainstream American television in recent memory. To demonstrate the supposed threat of Jewish fundamentalism, the few cases of Jewish terrorism - a handful spanning decades, with each one overwhelmingly denounced by Israeli society and with those involved arrested, tried and jailed - are elaborated on at length and cast as a profound peril.
“Amanpour is similarly deceptive and manipulative in other depictions of nefarious Jewish power, respectfully interviewing both Jimmy Carter and John Mearsheimer, and giving not the slightest hint of the gross factual errors in the charges leveled by the two controversial figures whose recent, incendiary allegations against Israel have been extensively debunked.
“Amanpour declares bizarrely that ‘the 40-year tug of war over Jerusalem began when Israel bulldozed the Arab neighborhood next to the Western Wall and built a plaza where Jews now pray.’ Obviously, the modern battle over Jerusalem ‘began’ 60 years ago, when the Arabs attacked in 1948 to destroy the newborn State of Israel, seizing the eastern side of Jerusalem, including the Jewish quarter of the Old City. Every Jew was expelled or killed and all synagogues were destroyed. Thereafter, for 19 years, no Jew could pray at the Western Wall and Christians had limited access to their holy sites.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Wealthy New Yorkers have started sending their dogs to swimming lessons. The Dog Run pet spa in Manhattan has its own canine pool, complete with doggie steps, in which well-heeled dogs wearing life jackets are instructed by a trained ‘swim therapist.’ ‘We teach them how to swim, how to get in the pool,’ says owner Stacy Alldredge. ‘It’s about becoming socialized.’ The notion that all dogs are born knowing how to swim is, Alldredge says, ‘a myth.’ Some breeds are natural swimmers, but others ‘feel awkward’ in the water and can benefit from gentle instruction.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Good week for ‘Trouble,’ a white Maltese bitch who was awarded a $12 million trust fund in the will of her former owner, the late real-estate developer Leona Helmsley. The billionaire known as the ‘Queen of Mean’ left nothing to two of her grandchildren.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade
“Democrats punish Florida - The national Democratic Party stripped the Florida Democratic Party of its delegates to next year’s nominating convention, to punish it for scheduling its primary election for Jan. 29. National party rules prohibit primaries before Feb. 5. With 30 days to reschedule its contest, the Florida party is standing firm. Many analysts think the two sides will work out some kind of accommodation, but in the meantime, Democratic candidates must decide how hard to campaign in a ‘beauty contest’ that may not award delegates to the winner.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Berlin - Chinese hack attack: Dozens of German government computers have been infected with spyware made by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Der Spiegel reported this week. The sophisticated spy software was disguised as PowerPoint or Microword Word programs on computers belonging to the Foreign, Economics, and Research and Development ministries. Chinese hackers appeared to be using the programs mainly for industrial espionage. The reports of computer espionage surfaced just hours before Chancellor Angela Merkel left for Beijing, on a visit that was intended to focus on climate change and the 2008 Olympics. In his official remarks welcoming Merkel, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao promised to ‘crack down’ on hackers.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Kabul - Bumper poppy crop: Opium production has doubled in Afghanistan in the past two years, the U.N.’s anti-drug agency said this week. Afghanistan is now the source of 93 percent of the world’s heroin and morphine supplies. Except for China in the 19th century, ‘no country in the world has ever produced narcotics on such a deadly scale,’ the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in its annual report. When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, it banned poppy cultivation as anti-Islamic. Now, though, the taliban is running the opium business to fund its insurgency.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News / Department of “Stop Your Sobbing”
“The Rev. Ted Haggard asked his supporters for money to put him and his wife through graduate school for social work, so they can become therapists. ‘It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again,’ Haggard said, ‘so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years.’ Last year, Haggard resigned as head of the New Life mega-church and the National Association of Evangelicals after admitting he engaged in ‘sexual immorality’ with a male prostitute. That year, he received a salary of $200,000, plus a severance package of $138,000 and book royalties.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“The price of structural concrete has gone up by 73% in the past two years alone. As a result, the [U.S.’s highway] network is growing only slowly. Between 1960 and 1965 America built 144,000 miles of new highway. Between 2000 and 2005 it added just 59,000 miles.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“The petrol taxes that paid for much of America's post-war freeway system have been eaten away by inflation and higher fuel efficiency. The federal tax, of 18.4 cents a gallon, has not been raised since 1993. California's 18-cent tax has remained unchanged since 1994. The state's motorists now pay about one-third as much in petrol taxes, in real terms, to drive a mile as they did in the early 1960s, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“P&G [Proctor & Gamble] is the world's biggest consumer-goods company. It sold $76.5 billion-worth of them in the year to June 30th. ... Wal-Mart, alone gobbles up one-fifth of P&G sales. ... As the world's biggest advertiser, P&G has tremendous clout in adland. It spent $6.8 billion in 2005-06 and at least 10% more in 2006-07 (Advertising Week, a trade publication, reckons $7.5 billion). It has often been a pioneer of new marketing techniques.” (Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007)
“Alcohol kills up to 2,000 Estonians a year, in a nation of just 1.3 million.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “In 2006, 99 Army soldiers committed suicide--the highest total in the 26 years the military has kept track. Army officials blamed the strain of long tours of duty abroad, which can lead to broken marriages and relationships. ‘Very often a young soldier jets a “Dear John” or “Dear Jane” letter and shoots himself,’ an Army official said.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Consumers file more complaints about cell phones than about any other industry, according to the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The biggest gripe: Service contracts that require customers to pay up to $250 to switch to another carrier.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to Associated Press/MTV, “72% of whites between the ages of 13 and 24 say they are generally happy with life, compared with 56% of blacks and 51% of Hispanics.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Thefts of construction materials and large appliances cost the residential building industry $5 billion a year. Builders include a share of the cost in every new house they sell.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
Coal mining in China: “... 181 men died in a flooded mine last week. China loses more than a dozen miners each day in fires, explosions, and floods.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
According to The Washington Post, “Of the 4,000 musicians who fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, only a third have returned.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a shortage of bullets, affecting police departments across the nation, which are cutting back on live-fire training. U.S. soldiers are now firing 1 billion bullets per year.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Whither The People’s Republic of China?
“... the Achilles heel of China’s economic boom [is] corruption. Last year alone, some 100,000 members of te Communist Party were censured for graft, a number that still understates the extent of the problem. Almost no major business transaction gets done in China without a cash payment under the table, long term observers say.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, August 27, 2007)
*****
“Rights Group Accuses Hizbullah of War Crimes During Lebanon War” - (Human Rights Watch)
“During the 2006 war, Hizbullah fired thousands of rockets indiscriminately and at times deliberately at civilian areas in northern Israel, killing at least 39 civilians and inflicting moderate or serious injuries on 101 more, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Wednesday. The 128-page report presents more than 20 case studies based on extensive field research in northern Israel into rocket attacks that killed or injured civilians in Jewish, Arab and mixed towns and cities. It also draws evidence of Hizbullah's intent behind these rocket attacks from more than 100 Hizbullah communiques and declarations. Statements by leaders in the military chain of command indicating intent to fire indiscriminately toward civilian areas are evidence of war crimes.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 30, 2007)
*****
“15-Year-Old Palestinian Bomber Intercepted” - (IDF Spokesman/Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“On Tuesday night, IDF soldiers spotted a Palestinian youth approaching them and discovered that the 15-year-old was carrying two explosive devices, which he apparently intended to detonate in a suicide bombing attack against the troops. The IDF regrets that terrorist organizations make frequent use of children and youth in order to execute attacks against Israelis.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 30, 2007)
*****
“Tehran - Dissidents hanged: Iran has resumed public executions in downtown Tehran for the first time in five years. Two men were hanged from cranes above one of the city’s busiest streets for murdering a judge. Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, executions have risen sharply. At least 150 people have been put to death this year, including around 30 in the past month. Some of the executed were criminals, but others were political activists accused of participating in ‘U.S.-backed plots’ to topple the regime. Four Iranian-Americans are being held in Iran on such charges. One of them, scholar Haleh Esfandiari, was released from prison on bail this week, but cannot leave the country.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Michael Vick: Should he ever play again?”
[Source: The Week, August 31, 2007 (excerpted)]
“Since when did sports fans—or the NFL—care about morals? said Gregg Easterbrook in ESPN.com. The NFL has employed hundreds of convicted criminals, and continues to sell—and profit from—the jerseys of people-killing stars such as O.J. Simpson and Rae Carruth. The Baltimore Ravens continue to employ Ray Lewis, who was convicted of obstructing a murder investigation. In a league overflowing with convicted brawlers, wife-beaters, and sex-offenders, it would be a travesty of justice for Vick to lose his NFL career ‘for a first offense of cruelty to animals and gambling.’ Those other reprobates had the good sense not to rankle with the animal-rights brigade, said Rick Maese in the Baltimore Sun. Animal lovers are a ‘rabid sect’ with memories as long as those of elephants. If there’s a lesson in the Vick affair, it’s this: ‘Do not mess with animal people.’
“Vick fully deserves their wrath, said Jeff Schultz in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vick owned and operated his nightmarish Bad Newz Kennelz for six long years of blood, gore, and abuse.”
*****
“Bad week for The state of Virginia, whose ‘Live Passionately’ ad campaign inadvertently promoted one of America’s most violent street gangs. The campaign’s logo was a pair of human hands using thumbs and forefingers to form a heart shape, which happens to be the gang sign of Chicago’s notorious Gangster Disciples. ‘Obviously, this is disappointing,’ said Alisa Bailey of the state tourism office.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
According to Associated Press/Ipsos, “One in four American adults did not read any books last year. 41% read between one and five books, 31% read between six and 15, and 27% say they read more than 15 books.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
Department of Corrections
“A poll watch item in the Aug. 31 issue omitted a phrase, making the percentages in an Associated Press/Ipsos poll incorrect. The item should have read: One in four American adults did not read any books last year. Of those who did read books last year, 41% read between one and five books, 31% read between six and 15, and 27% say they read more than 15 books.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“What we don’t know about climate change - Jeff Jacoby - The Boston Globe -- If there’s anything climate-change crusaders are adamant about,’ said Jeff Jacoby, ‘it is that the science of the matter is settled.’ But it’s not. In fact, science’s view of how the climate will be affected by greenhouse-gas emissions ‘changes all the time,’ with some very reputable scientists questioning whether a man-made disaster is looming at all. NASA administrator Michael Griffin recently pointed out that the climate has been fluctuating for millennia, and that it’s arrogant to assume we now possess ‘the optimal climate.’ Scientists recently admitted that their understanding of future sea-level rises is ‘limited,’ and dropped estimates from the catastrophic 3 feet trumpeted by Al Gore to 17 inches. This month, climate scientists had to admit that 1998 was not the hottest year on record after all--1934 was. After an error was found in previous data, in fact, it turns out that five of the 10 hottest years in the U.S. occurred before 1940, with only three in the last decade. Do these mistakes mean global warming is entirely a myth? No, but it does mean that ‘the science of climate change is still young and unsettled,’ with years of trial and error ahead of us.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places, Business Section
According to The Washington Post, “C&D Distributors pleaded guilty last week to cheating the Pentagon out of $20.5 million by inflating shipping charges. In one case,C&D charged the government $998,798 to ship two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas.” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Israel Warned U.S. on Iraq” - Gareth Porter (Asia Times-Hong Kong)
“Israeli officials warned the Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilizing to the region and urged the U.S. instead to target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former Bush administration official Lawrence Wilkerson, a member of the State Department's policy planning staff and later chief of staff for secretary of state Colin Powell. After the Israeli government picked up the first signs that the Bush administration was thinking of war against Iraq, said Wilkerson, ‘The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy - Iran is the enemy.’
“Wilkerson describes the Israeli message to the Bush administration in early 2002 as being, ‘If you are going to destabilize the balance of power, do it against the main enemy.’ The warning against an invasion of Iraq was ‘pervasive’ in Israeli communications with the U.S. administration, Wilkerson recalled. It was conveyed to the administration by a wide range of Israeli sources, including political figures, intelligence, and private citizens. Wilkerson noted that the main point of their communications was not that the U.S. should immediately attack Iran, but that ‘it should not be distracted by Iraq and Saddam Hussein’ from a focus on the threat from Iran.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Israel’s New Highway” - Marty Peretz (New Republic)
“Steven Erlanger of the New York Times filed a report with the headline, ‘New West Bank Road Sets Arabs Apart’ and a second headline, ‘New Israeli Highway Has Palestinian Lanes.’ Once again, the specter of apartheid. For years the Palestinians have complained that there was no direct highway from Ramallah and further north (Nablus, Jenin) in the West Bank to Bethlehem, Hebron and further south. Now they will have it, and Israelis will not be able to use their road. It is preposterous to think of this highway as a demonic act against the Palestinians. It may, in fact, hasten an agreement. When and if there will be a negotiated peace there will also be two highways systems, however close.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
“Poisonously Biased” - Andrea Levin (Jerusalem Post)
“CNN's Christiane Amanpour has set a new standard - and not the kind a news network usually trumpets. ‘God's Jewish Warriors,’ her two-hour screed against Israeli settlers and American supporters of Israel, is the most poisonously biased and factually shoddy feature to air on mainstream American television in recent memory. To demonstrate the supposed threat of Jewish fundamentalism, the few cases of Jewish terrorism - a handful spanning decades, with each one overwhelmingly denounced by Israeli society and with those involved arrested, tried and jailed - are elaborated on at length and cast as a profound peril.
“Amanpour is similarly deceptive and manipulative in other depictions of nefarious Jewish power, respectfully interviewing both Jimmy Carter and John Mearsheimer, and giving not the slightest hint of the gross factual errors in the charges leveled by the two controversial figures whose recent, incendiary allegations against Israel have been extensively debunked.
“Amanpour declares bizarrely that ‘the 40-year tug of war over Jerusalem began when Israel bulldozed the Arab neighborhood next to the Western Wall and built a plaza where Jews now pray.’ Obviously, the modern battle over Jerusalem ‘began’ 60 years ago, when the Arabs attacked in 1948 to destroy the newborn State of Israel, seizing the eastern side of Jerusalem, including the Jewish quarter of the Old City. Every Jew was expelled or killed and all synagogues were destroyed. Thereafter, for 19 years, no Jew could pray at the Western Wall and Christians had limited access to their holy sites.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 31, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Wealthy New Yorkers have started sending their dogs to swimming lessons. The Dog Run pet spa in Manhattan has its own canine pool, complete with doggie steps, in which well-heeled dogs wearing life jackets are instructed by a trained ‘swim therapist.’ ‘We teach them how to swim, how to get in the pool,’ says owner Stacy Alldredge. ‘It’s about becoming socialized.’ The notion that all dogs are born knowing how to swim is, Alldredge says, ‘a myth.’ Some breeds are natural swimmers, but others ‘feel awkward’ in the water and can benefit from gentle instruction.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Good week for ‘Trouble,’ a white Maltese bitch who was awarded a $12 million trust fund in the will of her former owner, the late real-estate developer Leona Helmsley. The billionaire known as the ‘Queen of Mean’ left nothing to two of her grandchildren.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade
“Democrats punish Florida - The national Democratic Party stripped the Florida Democratic Party of its delegates to next year’s nominating convention, to punish it for scheduling its primary election for Jan. 29. National party rules prohibit primaries before Feb. 5. With 30 days to reschedule its contest, the Florida party is standing firm. Many analysts think the two sides will work out some kind of accommodation, but in the meantime, Democratic candidates must decide how hard to campaign in a ‘beauty contest’ that may not award delegates to the winner.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Berlin - Chinese hack attack: Dozens of German government computers have been infected with spyware made by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Der Spiegel reported this week. The sophisticated spy software was disguised as PowerPoint or Microword Word programs on computers belonging to the Foreign, Economics, and Research and Development ministries. Chinese hackers appeared to be using the programs mainly for industrial espionage. The reports of computer espionage surfaced just hours before Chancellor Angela Merkel left for Beijing, on a visit that was intended to focus on climate change and the 2008 Olympics. In his official remarks welcoming Merkel, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao promised to ‘crack down’ on hackers.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
“Kabul - Bumper poppy crop: Opium production has doubled in Afghanistan in the past two years, the U.N.’s anti-drug agency said this week. Afghanistan is now the source of 93 percent of the world’s heroin and morphine supplies. Except for China in the 19th century, ‘no country in the world has ever produced narcotics on such a deadly scale,’ the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in its annual report. When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, it banned poppy cultivation as anti-Islamic. Now, though, the taliban is running the opium business to fund its insurgency.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News / Department of “Stop Your Sobbing”
“The Rev. Ted Haggard asked his supporters for money to put him and his wife through graduate school for social work, so they can become therapists. ‘It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again,’ Haggard said, ‘so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years.’ Last year, Haggard resigned as head of the New Life mega-church and the National Association of Evangelicals after admitting he engaged in ‘sexual immorality’ with a male prostitute. That year, he received a salary of $200,000, plus a severance package of $138,000 and book royalties.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
Can the Bottles
.
[Source: The Week, September 7, 2007]
“The high price of bottled water
“America’s consumption of bottled water is beginning to border on a national obsession. But does it make any sense?
“How much bottled water do we drink?
“So much that you’d think our taps had run dry. Between 1976 and 2006, annual consumption of bottled water rose from an average of 1.6 gallons per person to 27.6 gallons—an increase of 1,625 percent. Last year, Americans chugged 8.25 billion gallons of the stuff, or 30 billion actual bottles worth. In 2006, the U.S. spent $15 billion on bottled water—more than on movie tickets. A recent Gallup poll found that one in five Americans drinks no tap water at all.
“Why the popularity?
“Whether taken to the park, the gym, or to our desk at work, bottled water is undeniably convenient. Thanks to clever marketing campaigns linking bottled water with purity, health, and self-improvement, it’s also chic. What self-respecting gym rat would work out without a bottle of designer water to swig? Finally, there’s a widespread perception that bottled water from ‘mountain springs,’ ‘glaciers,’ or the remote Fiji islands is cleaner and healthier than tap. ‘There’s nothing in it that’s not good for you,’ said Kim Jeffrey, CEO of Nestlé Waters North America, which sells Perrier, San Pellegrino, Poland Spring, and other well-known brands. ‘People just know that intuitively.’
“Is bottled water really better?
“No. Backed by scientific testing, experts say it’s not cleaner or healthier than the water you can get from the faucet in most communities. Nor, in general, does it taste any better. In one blind taste test, 75 percent of New Yorkers preferred city tap water (drawn from upstate reservoirs) to bottled varieties. As for safety and purity, water from springs is not immune to contaminants found in nature or introduced during bottling. In fact, because FDA standards for bottled water are looser than EPA standards for public water, bottled water can sometimes have more impurities. Most cities test their tap water for coliform bacteria 100 or more times a month, but the law requires bottled-water plants to do so only once a week. A recent Case Western Reserve University report found that 15 of 39 samples of bottled water had bacterial counts almost twice as high as Cleveland tap water. In a 1999 study, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) discovered that 18 of 103 bottled-water brands tested had more bacteria than allowable ‘under microbiological-purity guidelines.’ About a fifth of the samples also contained such chemicals as toluene, xylene, and adipate—albeit at levels permissible under federal and state standards.
“Does bottled water hurt the environment?
“Undeniably. Fewer than a quarter of empty water bottles are recycled. The rest—about 2 billion pounds annually—end up in landfills and incinerators, by the side of the road, or in the sea. The so-called Eastern Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean, described as the biggest trash dump in the world, is 90 percent plastic, much of it in the form of old water bottles.
“Is there a connection to global warming?
“Indeed there is. The bottled-water industry uses vast amounts of fossil fuels to bottle and transport its very commonplace cargo. It takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil to create the plastic in just one year’s worth of water bottles. Then there’s the matter of getting water from Fiji, France, and Maine to Los Angeles and Chicago. To distribute the bottled water that’s hauled to and fro within the U.S. every week requires the equivalent of 37,800 18-wheel trucks. To ship a single bottle of Perrier from France to a supermarket shelf in Chicago consumes roughly 2 ounces of oil. At every step of this process, greenhouse gases are released. ‘On some of the labels of the bottles you see snow-capped mountains and glaciers,’ said Allen Hershkowitz of the NRDC, ‘when in fact the production of the bottle is contributing to global warming, which is melting those snowcaps and glaciers.’
“Are there economic drawbacks?
“Plenty. On balance, bottled water is incredibly expensive—more expensive, in the case of high-end waters, than gasoline. Whereas its price generally ranges from 75 cents to $6 a gallon, tap water costs from about 80 cents to $6.40 per thousand gallons. In other words, a single 20-ounce bottle of water costing $1.50 would pay for about 1,000 gallons of municipal water—’enough to fill that same bottle every day for 13 years,’ says Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association. In Los Angeles, you could get 450 gallons of tap water for the price of one bottle of Evian. Assuming your tap water cost the same as even the cheapest bottled water, your average monthly water bill would be about $9,000.
“Will any of this affect bottled water’s popularity?
“It might. As awareness grows about the costs of bottled water, a backlash has begun. Last month, San Francisco barred city departments from buying bottled water with municipal funds. Salt Lake City has asked public employees to stop providing bottled water at official city events, while Ann Arbor, Mich., has formally banned its employees from doing so. New York has just launched a $1 million campaign to get residents to ditch their bottles and turn on the tap. Restaurants in cities as far apart as Quechee, Vt., and Sausalito, Calif., have banished bottled water from their tables. Consumers, though, are caught between their guilt and their preference for quaffing waters bottled under refreshing names and reassuring labels. ‘Water is so ubiquitous,’ said Dave Byers of Silver Spring, Md., as he contemplated his bottle of Poland Spring. ‘It seems a little dumb to walk around with a bottle of this.’”
“Selling tap in a bottle - Just say the words ‘bottled water’ and images come to mind of underground limestone caves, mountain streams, and other all-natural sources. But that pastoral picture isn’t entirely accurate. Between 25 percent and 40 percent of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is nothing more than purified tap water. This is the case with Aquafina and Dasani, purveyed respectively by Pepsi and Coke, and which account for 24 percent of this nation’s bottled-water sales. Many bottlers attempt to skirt this mundane fact with fancy advertising. Aquafina’s tag line, for instance, is ‘Pure Water, Perfect Taste,’ and it touts the treatment of its product with a ‘state-of-the-art HydRO-7 purification system.’ If you have your doubts, look at the label. If it reads ‘from a municipal source’ or ‘from a community water system,’ it’s plain old tap.”
[Source: The Week, September 7, 2007]
“The high price of bottled water
“America’s consumption of bottled water is beginning to border on a national obsession. But does it make any sense?
“How much bottled water do we drink?
“So much that you’d think our taps had run dry. Between 1976 and 2006, annual consumption of bottled water rose from an average of 1.6 gallons per person to 27.6 gallons—an increase of 1,625 percent. Last year, Americans chugged 8.25 billion gallons of the stuff, or 30 billion actual bottles worth. In 2006, the U.S. spent $15 billion on bottled water—more than on movie tickets. A recent Gallup poll found that one in five Americans drinks no tap water at all.
“Why the popularity?
“Whether taken to the park, the gym, or to our desk at work, bottled water is undeniably convenient. Thanks to clever marketing campaigns linking bottled water with purity, health, and self-improvement, it’s also chic. What self-respecting gym rat would work out without a bottle of designer water to swig? Finally, there’s a widespread perception that bottled water from ‘mountain springs,’ ‘glaciers,’ or the remote Fiji islands is cleaner and healthier than tap. ‘There’s nothing in it that’s not good for you,’ said Kim Jeffrey, CEO of Nestlé Waters North America, which sells Perrier, San Pellegrino, Poland Spring, and other well-known brands. ‘People just know that intuitively.’
“Is bottled water really better?
“No. Backed by scientific testing, experts say it’s not cleaner or healthier than the water you can get from the faucet in most communities. Nor, in general, does it taste any better. In one blind taste test, 75 percent of New Yorkers preferred city tap water (drawn from upstate reservoirs) to bottled varieties. As for safety and purity, water from springs is not immune to contaminants found in nature or introduced during bottling. In fact, because FDA standards for bottled water are looser than EPA standards for public water, bottled water can sometimes have more impurities. Most cities test their tap water for coliform bacteria 100 or more times a month, but the law requires bottled-water plants to do so only once a week. A recent Case Western Reserve University report found that 15 of 39 samples of bottled water had bacterial counts almost twice as high as Cleveland tap water. In a 1999 study, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) discovered that 18 of 103 bottled-water brands tested had more bacteria than allowable ‘under microbiological-purity guidelines.’ About a fifth of the samples also contained such chemicals as toluene, xylene, and adipate—albeit at levels permissible under federal and state standards.
“Does bottled water hurt the environment?
“Undeniably. Fewer than a quarter of empty water bottles are recycled. The rest—about 2 billion pounds annually—end up in landfills and incinerators, by the side of the road, or in the sea. The so-called Eastern Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean, described as the biggest trash dump in the world, is 90 percent plastic, much of it in the form of old water bottles.
“Is there a connection to global warming?
“Indeed there is. The bottled-water industry uses vast amounts of fossil fuels to bottle and transport its very commonplace cargo. It takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil to create the plastic in just one year’s worth of water bottles. Then there’s the matter of getting water from Fiji, France, and Maine to Los Angeles and Chicago. To distribute the bottled water that’s hauled to and fro within the U.S. every week requires the equivalent of 37,800 18-wheel trucks. To ship a single bottle of Perrier from France to a supermarket shelf in Chicago consumes roughly 2 ounces of oil. At every step of this process, greenhouse gases are released. ‘On some of the labels of the bottles you see snow-capped mountains and glaciers,’ said Allen Hershkowitz of the NRDC, ‘when in fact the production of the bottle is contributing to global warming, which is melting those snowcaps and glaciers.’
“Are there economic drawbacks?
“Plenty. On balance, bottled water is incredibly expensive—more expensive, in the case of high-end waters, than gasoline. Whereas its price generally ranges from 75 cents to $6 a gallon, tap water costs from about 80 cents to $6.40 per thousand gallons. In other words, a single 20-ounce bottle of water costing $1.50 would pay for about 1,000 gallons of municipal water—’enough to fill that same bottle every day for 13 years,’ says Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association. In Los Angeles, you could get 450 gallons of tap water for the price of one bottle of Evian. Assuming your tap water cost the same as even the cheapest bottled water, your average monthly water bill would be about $9,000.
“Will any of this affect bottled water’s popularity?
“It might. As awareness grows about the costs of bottled water, a backlash has begun. Last month, San Francisco barred city departments from buying bottled water with municipal funds. Salt Lake City has asked public employees to stop providing bottled water at official city events, while Ann Arbor, Mich., has formally banned its employees from doing so. New York has just launched a $1 million campaign to get residents to ditch their bottles and turn on the tap. Restaurants in cities as far apart as Quechee, Vt., and Sausalito, Calif., have banished bottled water from their tables. Consumers, though, are caught between their guilt and their preference for quaffing waters bottled under refreshing names and reassuring labels. ‘Water is so ubiquitous,’ said Dave Byers of Silver Spring, Md., as he contemplated his bottle of Poland Spring. ‘It seems a little dumb to walk around with a bottle of this.’”
“Selling tap in a bottle - Just say the words ‘bottled water’ and images come to mind of underground limestone caves, mountain streams, and other all-natural sources. But that pastoral picture isn’t entirely accurate. Between 25 percent and 40 percent of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is nothing more than purified tap water. This is the case with Aquafina and Dasani, purveyed respectively by Pepsi and Coke, and which account for 24 percent of this nation’s bottled-water sales. Many bottlers attempt to skirt this mundane fact with fancy advertising. Aquafina’s tag line, for instance, is ‘Pure Water, Perfect Taste,’ and it touts the treatment of its product with a ‘state-of-the-art HydRO-7 purification system.’ If you have your doubts, look at the label. If it reads ‘from a municipal source’ or ‘from a community water system,’ it’s plain old tap.”
Europeans on capital punishment in the U.S.
.
[Source: The Week, September 7, 2007]
“How they see us: The only Western democracy that still kills convicts
“When will the United States renounce the barbarism that goes by the name of capital punishment? asked David Charter Brussels in The Times of London. Not anytime soon, it appears. Last month, despite an unprecedented international outcry, President Bush’s home state of Texas carried out its 400th execution since the death penalty was reinstated, in 1976. The European Union had chosen this ‘macabre milestone’ to take a stand for international human rights. All 27 E.U. member states, plus more than a dozen other countries, issued an official plea to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to stay the execution of Johnny Ray Conner, a black, 32-year-old father of two convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk. Perry’s response was haughty. ‘Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination,’ he said in a prepared statement. ‘While we respect our friends in Europe, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas.’ Hours later, Conner was given a lethal injection.
“It was a grisly scene, said Germany’s Der Spiegel in an unsigned commentary. Conner faced the witnesses—only journalists and court officers were allowed to watch his death—and spoke clearly, saying, ‘What is happening to me is unjust.’ Then this Muslim began to pray. ‘I belong to Allah; I return to Allah,’ he said. ‘I love you.’ Eight minutes later, he was pronounced dead, and Europe mourned. Not that most Europeans thought Conner was innocent. For us, though, his guilt was not the point. Studies show that the death penalty does not deter criminals from violence. Its only purpose, then, is retribution. In Europe, international law has moved beyond petty vengeance. When will America catch up?
“The U.S. is not alone in killing convicts, said Spain’s Diario Vasco in an editorial, but it certainly is in rotten company. We expect nothing more of countries such as China and Iran, which execute prisoners almost daily. Saudi Arabia picks them off at a rate of two a week, sometimes by beheading or even stoning. Japan, the only other developed country in this club, executes two or three people a year. All those countries, though, are feeling intense pressure to change their ways. Human-rights groups such as Amnesty International and sundry U.N. organizations have been lobbying death-penalty governments, with some success. The United States is the most stubborn holdout. Rather than restricting executions, ‘Washington is actually trying to block a bill that would simplify the appeals process for death-row inmates.’ How bizarre that a country ‘with a high degree of political and cultural sophistication’ should preserve ‘penalties that shock the civilized world.’
“More shocking still, said Aline Leclerc in France’s Le Monde, is the Americans’ blasé attitude. U.S. newspapers ‘virtually ignored’ the 400th execution in Texas. Evidently, to Americans, another execution in Texas isn’t news. And why should it be? Most Americans ‘still support’ the death penalty. That makes the U.S. the ‘only Western democracy’ whose citizens clamor for blood. Still, there’s one encouraging sign: The pro-execution majority is slowly shrinking. Even in Texas, the state responsible for nearly two-thirds of all American executions, the percentage of citizens who support the death penalty has dropped from 80 percent in 2001 to 74 percent today. We can only hope that this evolution will persist.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
My editorial comments:
Note the language that is used in many of the quotations from these newspapers.
There is a complaint that capital punishment does not deter criminals, but is retribution and petty vengeance. But isn’t imprisonment itself retribution and vengeance?
There is a mention of a high degree of cultural sophistication. But wasn’t Germany noted for its high degree of cultural sophistication before World War II? What does cultural sophistication have to do with decency?
[Source: The Week, September 7, 2007]
“How they see us: The only Western democracy that still kills convicts
“When will the United States renounce the barbarism that goes by the name of capital punishment? asked David Charter Brussels in The Times of London. Not anytime soon, it appears. Last month, despite an unprecedented international outcry, President Bush’s home state of Texas carried out its 400th execution since the death penalty was reinstated, in 1976. The European Union had chosen this ‘macabre milestone’ to take a stand for international human rights. All 27 E.U. member states, plus more than a dozen other countries, issued an official plea to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to stay the execution of Johnny Ray Conner, a black, 32-year-old father of two convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk. Perry’s response was haughty. ‘Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination,’ he said in a prepared statement. ‘While we respect our friends in Europe, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas.’ Hours later, Conner was given a lethal injection.
“It was a grisly scene, said Germany’s Der Spiegel in an unsigned commentary. Conner faced the witnesses—only journalists and court officers were allowed to watch his death—and spoke clearly, saying, ‘What is happening to me is unjust.’ Then this Muslim began to pray. ‘I belong to Allah; I return to Allah,’ he said. ‘I love you.’ Eight minutes later, he was pronounced dead, and Europe mourned. Not that most Europeans thought Conner was innocent. For us, though, his guilt was not the point. Studies show that the death penalty does not deter criminals from violence. Its only purpose, then, is retribution. In Europe, international law has moved beyond petty vengeance. When will America catch up?
“The U.S. is not alone in killing convicts, said Spain’s Diario Vasco in an editorial, but it certainly is in rotten company. We expect nothing more of countries such as China and Iran, which execute prisoners almost daily. Saudi Arabia picks them off at a rate of two a week, sometimes by beheading or even stoning. Japan, the only other developed country in this club, executes two or three people a year. All those countries, though, are feeling intense pressure to change their ways. Human-rights groups such as Amnesty International and sundry U.N. organizations have been lobbying death-penalty governments, with some success. The United States is the most stubborn holdout. Rather than restricting executions, ‘Washington is actually trying to block a bill that would simplify the appeals process for death-row inmates.’ How bizarre that a country ‘with a high degree of political and cultural sophistication’ should preserve ‘penalties that shock the civilized world.’
“More shocking still, said Aline Leclerc in France’s Le Monde, is the Americans’ blasé attitude. U.S. newspapers ‘virtually ignored’ the 400th execution in Texas. Evidently, to Americans, another execution in Texas isn’t news. And why should it be? Most Americans ‘still support’ the death penalty. That makes the U.S. the ‘only Western democracy’ whose citizens clamor for blood. Still, there’s one encouraging sign: The pro-execution majority is slowly shrinking. Even in Texas, the state responsible for nearly two-thirds of all American executions, the percentage of citizens who support the death penalty has dropped from 80 percent in 2001 to 74 percent today. We can only hope that this evolution will persist.” (Source: The Week, September 7, 2007)
My editorial comments:
Note the language that is used in many of the quotations from these newspapers.
There is a complaint that capital punishment does not deter criminals, but is retribution and petty vengeance. But isn’t imprisonment itself retribution and vengeance?
There is a mention of a high degree of cultural sophistication. But wasn’t Germany noted for its high degree of cultural sophistication before World War II? What does cultural sophistication have to do with decency?
Hugo Chavez Watch
.
“Venezuela
“The rise of the ‘Boligarchs’
“CARACAS
“Under Hugo Chávez, the right political connections are a passport to wealth, whisky and a Hummer"
[Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007]
“‘PETROLEUM socialism’ is how Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, recently dubbed the blend of military populism and neo-Marxist statism to which he is subjecting his country. Its prime objective, he insists, is to improve the lot of the country's poor majority. Mr Chávez proclaims that ‘being rich is bad’. He frequently lashes out at what he calls ‘the oligarchy’. Strange, then, that the streets of Caracas are clogged with big new 4x4s (Hummers are especially favoured), it is hard to get a table at the best restaurants, and art dealers and whisky importers have never had it so good. A new oligarchy seems to be rising in Venezuela on the back of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’, named for the country's independence hero.
“‘Some of Chávez's speeches are for the gallery,’ says Alberto Muller Rojas, a retired army general who was until recently the president's chief of staff. ‘And I'll give you an example: the attack on the bourgeoisie.’ As evidence, General Muller singles out the banks: ‘the most extreme expression of the bourgeoisie’ but ‘the most favoured sector’ of the economy since Mr Chávez came to power in 1999.
“Their prosperity owes much to an oil windfall: the price of Venezuela's main export has increased almost eightfold since 1999 and the economy has been growing at 10% a year. But government policies, too, have favoured the bankers and other intermediaries: inflation is close to 20% and the official value of the currency is twice its black-market exchange rate. So the savvy investor looks for access to cheap dollars, import opportunities and government contracts, all of which are largely conditional on political obedience. By contrast, manufacturers and farmers face price controls and risk sporadic official harassment. The result has been the rise of what is known, in obeisance to Bolívar, as the ‘Boli-bourgeoisie’.
“Thanks to economic growth and social programmes, the government claims that only 30% of Venezuelan families now live in poverty, down from 55% at the peak in 2003. But according to a new report by the central bank, income inequality has widened slightly under Mr Chávez: the Gini coefficient—a statistical measure of inequality—has gone from 0.44 in 2000 to 0.48 in 2005.
“Typical of the new ‘Boligarchy’ is Wilmer Ruperti, a shipping broker who was once a merchant seaman. His ascent was helped by a two-month strike against Mr Chávez by workers at Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil company. Mr Ruperti chartered ships to help the government break the strike. Another is Arné Chacón, whose brother Jesse is the communications minister. Arné now owns half of Baninvest, a bank. He acquired it with loans for which his main apparent collateral was his official connections.
“Mr Chávez claims to be pursuing economic nationalism and ‘endogenous development’. But farmers and manufacturers struggle against cheap imports. Though local dairy products are often missing from the supermarket shelves, Gouda and Emmenthal cheeses nestle beside Irish butter. The frozen chickens at Mercal, a government chain of subsidised grocery shops, are Brazilian. The importers who supply Mercal have grown rich. But Venezuela's ranchers are becoming extinct, threatened by expropriations, land invasions and price controls, as well as by extortion and kidnappings by criminal gangs.
“Officials stress that two-thirds of the poor have benefited directly from government social policies. As well as Mercal, these include the ‘missions’, which offer education and health care. Up to 2m people get a small cash stipend. But despite hefty increases in the minimum wage and price controls on basic goods, inflation is eating away at the gains.
“For those with connections, however, the rewards are great. The World Bank recently ranked Venezuela as the second-worst country in the Americas for the control of corruption, above only Haiti. Others confirm this perception. ‘We usually ask for 10%,’ a foreign diplomat reports one government official admitting. ‘But some get greedy and want 15-20%.’
“Since his re-election in December, Mr Chávez has frequently suggested capping the salaries of the highest-paid public officials. He also called on those with ‘excess’ wealth to donate part of it to worthy causes. The response has been meagre. If he really tries to make socialism more than a slogan, some of the fiercest resistance may come from the new bourgeoisie his own policies have created.”
*****
“Good week for Making the trains run on time, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used a special, seven-hour-long edition of his weekly radio show, Alo, Presidente, to announce that he’s moving the nation’s clocks forward a half-hour. The change will make Venezuela more efficient, Chavez said. ‘It’s about the metabolic effect, where the human brain is conditioned by sunlight.’” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
“Venezuela
“The rise of the ‘Boligarchs’
“CARACAS
“Under Hugo Chávez, the right political connections are a passport to wealth, whisky and a Hummer"
[Source: The Economist, August 11, 2007]
“‘PETROLEUM socialism’ is how Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, recently dubbed the blend of military populism and neo-Marxist statism to which he is subjecting his country. Its prime objective, he insists, is to improve the lot of the country's poor majority. Mr Chávez proclaims that ‘being rich is bad’. He frequently lashes out at what he calls ‘the oligarchy’. Strange, then, that the streets of Caracas are clogged with big new 4x4s (Hummers are especially favoured), it is hard to get a table at the best restaurants, and art dealers and whisky importers have never had it so good. A new oligarchy seems to be rising in Venezuela on the back of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’, named for the country's independence hero.
“‘Some of Chávez's speeches are for the gallery,’ says Alberto Muller Rojas, a retired army general who was until recently the president's chief of staff. ‘And I'll give you an example: the attack on the bourgeoisie.’ As evidence, General Muller singles out the banks: ‘the most extreme expression of the bourgeoisie’ but ‘the most favoured sector’ of the economy since Mr Chávez came to power in 1999.
“Their prosperity owes much to an oil windfall: the price of Venezuela's main export has increased almost eightfold since 1999 and the economy has been growing at 10% a year. But government policies, too, have favoured the bankers and other intermediaries: inflation is close to 20% and the official value of the currency is twice its black-market exchange rate. So the savvy investor looks for access to cheap dollars, import opportunities and government contracts, all of which are largely conditional on political obedience. By contrast, manufacturers and farmers face price controls and risk sporadic official harassment. The result has been the rise of what is known, in obeisance to Bolívar, as the ‘Boli-bourgeoisie’.
“Thanks to economic growth and social programmes, the government claims that only 30% of Venezuelan families now live in poverty, down from 55% at the peak in 2003. But according to a new report by the central bank, income inequality has widened slightly under Mr Chávez: the Gini coefficient—a statistical measure of inequality—has gone from 0.44 in 2000 to 0.48 in 2005.
“Typical of the new ‘Boligarchy’ is Wilmer Ruperti, a shipping broker who was once a merchant seaman. His ascent was helped by a two-month strike against Mr Chávez by workers at Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil company. Mr Ruperti chartered ships to help the government break the strike. Another is Arné Chacón, whose brother Jesse is the communications minister. Arné now owns half of Baninvest, a bank. He acquired it with loans for which his main apparent collateral was his official connections.
“Mr Chávez claims to be pursuing economic nationalism and ‘endogenous development’. But farmers and manufacturers struggle against cheap imports. Though local dairy products are often missing from the supermarket shelves, Gouda and Emmenthal cheeses nestle beside Irish butter. The frozen chickens at Mercal, a government chain of subsidised grocery shops, are Brazilian. The importers who supply Mercal have grown rich. But Venezuela's ranchers are becoming extinct, threatened by expropriations, land invasions and price controls, as well as by extortion and kidnappings by criminal gangs.
“Officials stress that two-thirds of the poor have benefited directly from government social policies. As well as Mercal, these include the ‘missions’, which offer education and health care. Up to 2m people get a small cash stipend. But despite hefty increases in the minimum wage and price controls on basic goods, inflation is eating away at the gains.
“For those with connections, however, the rewards are great. The World Bank recently ranked Venezuela as the second-worst country in the Americas for the control of corruption, above only Haiti. Others confirm this perception. ‘We usually ask for 10%,’ a foreign diplomat reports one government official admitting. ‘But some get greedy and want 15-20%.’
“Since his re-election in December, Mr Chávez has frequently suggested capping the salaries of the highest-paid public officials. He also called on those with ‘excess’ wealth to donate part of it to worthy causes. The response has been meagre. If he really tries to make socialism more than a slogan, some of the fiercest resistance may come from the new bourgeoisie his own policies have created.”
*****
“Good week for Making the trains run on time, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used a special, seven-hour-long edition of his weekly radio show, Alo, Presidente, to announce that he’s moving the nation’s clocks forward a half-hour. The change will make Venezuela more efficient, Chavez said. ‘It’s about the metabolic effect, where the human brain is conditioned by sunlight.’” (Source: The Week, August 31, 2007)
August 26, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
August 26, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“According to one recent study, 1 in 4 employees in the United States doesn't get any pad vacation. Almost half don’t take even a week off every year. Economists estimate that the average American works one more month per year today than in 19776.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, August 13, 2007)
According to Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Average life expectancy in the U.S.--77.9 years--now ranks 42nd in the world, down from 11th 20 years ago, the federal government reported. Higher-ranking countries include Japan, most of Europe, Jordan, Guam, and the Cayman Islands.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to Salon.com, “Every year, Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags, most of which are made from petroleum. That’s the equivalent of dumping almost 12 million barrels of oil.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to USA Today/Gallup Poll, “More Americans say the ‘surge’ in Iraq is working. 31% now say sending additional troops to Iraq is ‘making the situation better,’ up from 22% who said the same a month ago. Also, fewer people say the invasion of Iraq was ‘a mistake’--down to 57% from last month’s 62%.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
“Breast augmentation is the most popular for of cosmetic surgery in the U.S., with 329,000 women opting for implants in 2006.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007) (In the December 4, 2006 edition, U.S. News & World Report reported that breast augmentation surgery was the third most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the US, with 291,000 women in the US having had breast augmentation in 2005. The first was liposuction and the second was rhinoplasty (a nose job).)
According to Los Angeles Times, “U.S. audio cassette sales hit about 700,000 last year, down from a peak of 442 million in 1990. But despite the near ubiquity of the CD and other forms of digital music, the audiocassette still has a strong following among the blind, religious groups, and court stenographers.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “The 1974 NBC broadcast of Henry Aaron’s 715th home run, which broke Babe Ruth’s lifetime record, drew 14.7 million viewers. ESPN’s telecast of Barry Bonds’ 756th home run, which broke Aaron’s lifetime record, pulled in just 1.3 million viewers.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah Buys Frontier Land to Attack Israel” - Charles Levinson (Sunday Telegraph-UK)
“Hizbullah is buying up large tracts of land owned by Christians and other non-Shias in southern Lebanon as the militant group rebuilds its defenses in preparation for a new war with Israel. The forested wadis, or valleys, north of the Litani River make ideal terrain for Hizbullah's brand of guerrilla warfare and, just 10 miles from the border, are within rocket range of Israeli cities. ‘Christians and Druze are selling land and moving out, while the Shia are moving in. There is an extraordinary demographic shift taking place,’ said Edmund Rizk, a former Christian MP for the area. Wealthy Shia businessman Ali Tajeddine, who made his fortune trading diamonds in Sierra Leone, is said to be using Iranian funds to buy land from destitute villagers at up to four times the going rate.
“Critics fear a grand scheme to create a strip of Shia-controlled land connecting southern Lebanon to Hizbullah's other power center in the Bekaa Valley. ‘It is part of Hizbullah's plan to create a state within a state,’ said Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader. He also pointed to the four-lane road being built to connect the Hizbullah stronghold of Nabatiye in the south to the western Bekaa. Banners openly proclaim the source of the road's funding: ‘510 km of new roads paid for by the Iranian Organization for Sharing in the Building of Lebanon.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“British Lawmakers Say Country Should Talk to Hamas, Hizbullah, Muslim Brotherhood” - Raphael G. Satter(AP/Washington Post)
“Britain should begin talking directly with three of the Middle East's most prominent radical Islamic groups - Hamas, Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood - a committee of lawmakers said in a report released Monday. British diplomats should speak with moderate elements from such groups and continue engaging Iran and Syria because their influence can no longer be discounted, Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said. ‘The Muslim Brotherhood is strong in Egypt, and Hamas and Hizbullah cannot be ignored,’ the report said. The lawmakers urged former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the new envoy for the Quartet, to negotiate directly with the militant Islamic organization Hamas.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“Over 10,000 Palestinians Attend West Bank Rally to Restore Islamic Caliphate” (AP/International Herald Tribune)
“A crowd of more than 10,000 Palestinians Saturday heard denunciations of the PA leadership in the West Bank as infidels at a Liberation Party rally on the sports field of the Quaker-run Friends School in Ramallah.
“The party calls for re-establishing the caliphate, or Islamic state, across the Muslim world.
“‘The caliphate is coming,’ read a large poster on the wall of the field.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“Indian Muslim Leader Visiting Israel: ‘Time to End Violence’” - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News)
“The time for violence has come to an end, and the era of peace and dialogue between Muslims and Jews has begun, says Maulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary-general of the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques, representing half a million imams who are the main religious leaders of India's 200 million Muslims. He also said the time had come for Pakistan to establish official relations with Israel.
“‘My impression was initially that the Israelis are certainly dominating Muslims out here. Once I came here, that impression completely changed,’ Ilaysi said. ‘I saw the reality on the ground, the mutual respect Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews have for each other. Constant conflict is not the reality here.’ In Jerusalem ‘I saw that Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side happily, not at each other's throat.’
“‘I was pleasantly surprised to know that the Sharia (Islamic law) code is being supported by the Israeli government, whereas in India only local Muslims implement it. That is unique,’ he said. ‘The Jews I have met here say that we are all children of Abraham, part of the same family. This is something I didn't hear in India. The Muslims in India should come and see things for themselves,’ Ilaysi said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 19, 2007)
*****
“Growing Muslim Movement Offers Alternative to Hamas” - Mark MacKinnon (Globe and Mail-Canada)
“Founded in 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir's goal is the establishment of a worldwide caliphate, a global Islamic empire. A newly assertive Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) has been showing its strength across the Muslim world, most impressively drawing 100,000 people to a soccer stadium in Indonesia earlier this month. They noisily called for a return to the time of the caliphs, a line of centuries of Islamic rulers that ended with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire more than 80 years ago.
“A recent rally in Ramallah in the West Bank drew tens of thousands of Palestinians. But Hizb ut-Tahrir won't try to capitalize on its new popularity in the next Palestinian elections. It teaches members that there should be no democracy, because democratic systems are a tool of Islam's chief enemy, the U.S. Nor does Hizb ut-Tahrir see value in Hamas' policy of using violence against Israel. Sending poorly armed Palestinians to fight the Israeli army is ‘fruitless,’ said Sheik Abu Abdullah. The Jewish state and its occupation of Palestinian lands will be dealt with later by the combined armies of Islam.
“The movement also shrugs off Hamas' takeover of Gaza, charging that Hamas is not Islamic enough because it pursues the goal of a Palestinian state instead of a borderless caliphate. While Hizb ut-Tahrir professes non-violence, many experts believe that it serves at least as a ‘conveyor belt’ for groups including al-Qaeda, radicalizing young Muslims who are later recruited by more violent groups.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Send Children to Retrieve Rocket Launchers After Attacks on Israel” - Yuval Azoulay, Yoav Stern and Mijal Grinberg (Ha'aretz/Jerusalem Post)
“Israeli forces combating Palestinian gunmen in Gaza killed Yehia Habib, a senior Hamas field commander in Gaza City, in an airstrike Wednesday on a group of armed men who had approached the border fence with Israel.
“On Tuesday two figures were seen moving in a field near Beit Hanun toward rocket launchers immediately after Kassam rockets had been fired on towns in Israel. The two were killed by a tank shell. Later it was learned that they were a 9-year-old and a 12-year-old sent to collect Kassam rocket launchers. ‘If these were children or youths, we regret the use that the terrorist groups are making of them,’ the IDF spokesman said Tuesday. An IDF source said: ‘Every Palestinian, including the militants, knows that anyone who hangs around these launchers is endangering themselves.’
“‘This is a cynical use of children but we are no longer surprised by anything we see. A 14-year-old child has already fired an RPG rocket against an IDF force, a grandmother aged close to 70 fired a light weapon against a Givati [Brigade] force recently in the Strip. What were these children doing there anyway? The militants fled immediately after the launch and then sent the children to collect the launchers,’ a source added.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rocket Hits Vacant Israeli Kindergarten” - Shmulik Hadad (Ynet News)
“Palestinians in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets toward Israel on Tuesday. One rocket struck a vacant Na'amat daycare center in Sderot. ‘The center is currently undergoing fortification works, and this is apparently why there were no kids inside. I don't want to imagine what would have happened had the center been open,’ said a local resident.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
Vocabulary Improvement
gephyrobiac - one that has a fear of crossing bridges
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Bad week for consumer outrage, after a Georgia woman called police to complain about some low-quality crack cocaine she had just purchased from a street vendor. Juanita Jones has been charged with possession.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Department of “Stop Your Sobbing”
“Heather Mills, estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney and a committed vegan, is upset that the farm next door to her new country home has cows on it, says Globe. The owners of the 160-acre farm in the English countryside say that representatives of Mills approached them offering to buy the property. ‘We were told that she didn’t like looking at cows on our land because she’s a vegetarian,’ said Barbara Smith, who owns the farm with her husband, John. The Smiths, so far, have declined the offer.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Caveat Emptor
“Wake up and smell the sales pitch
“Companies have long relied on research about smells, sounds, and colors to design their stores, said Kimberly Palmer in U.S. News & World Report. They carefully deploy sensory sales pitches to motivate consumers to buy more. Next time you’re shopping, be aware of some of the tricks of the trade retailers use to ‘get into your wallet.’ Shoppers looking for something specific, such as a car of computer, tend to spend more if surrounded by a pleasant scent, according to research by HEC-Montréal and Rutgers University. Impulse shoppers, on the other hand, plunk down more money when stimulated by music. But combining smells and sounds can backfire. ‘Scent and music together decreased spending across categories, possibly because customers found the mix overstimulating.’” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
According to USA Today, “Worker pay is projected to rise only slightly in 2008. Companies have budgeted a 3.9 percent raise in overall salaries, compared with an expected consumer inflation rate of 2.7 percent, according to WorldatWork, a nonprofit that studies compensation issues.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
According to CNNMoney.com, “Hong Kong’s Golden Dragon Group is selling an ‘electronic cigarette’--an atomizer that delivers hits of nicotine but without the carcinogenic byproducts of cigarettes. The $208 device is called the Ruyan, which translates as ‘like smoking.’” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“According to one recent study, 1 in 4 employees in the United States doesn't get any pad vacation. Almost half don’t take even a week off every year. Economists estimate that the average American works one more month per year today than in 19776.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, August 13, 2007)
According to Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Average life expectancy in the U.S.--77.9 years--now ranks 42nd in the world, down from 11th 20 years ago, the federal government reported. Higher-ranking countries include Japan, most of Europe, Jordan, Guam, and the Cayman Islands.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to Salon.com, “Every year, Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags, most of which are made from petroleum. That’s the equivalent of dumping almost 12 million barrels of oil.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to USA Today/Gallup Poll, “More Americans say the ‘surge’ in Iraq is working. 31% now say sending additional troops to Iraq is ‘making the situation better,’ up from 22% who said the same a month ago. Also, fewer people say the invasion of Iraq was ‘a mistake’--down to 57% from last month’s 62%.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
“Breast augmentation is the most popular for of cosmetic surgery in the U.S., with 329,000 women opting for implants in 2006.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007) (In the December 4, 2006 edition, U.S. News & World Report reported that breast augmentation surgery was the third most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the US, with 291,000 women in the US having had breast augmentation in 2005. The first was liposuction and the second was rhinoplasty (a nose job).)
According to Los Angeles Times, “U.S. audio cassette sales hit about 700,000 last year, down from a peak of 442 million in 1990. But despite the near ubiquity of the CD and other forms of digital music, the audiocassette still has a strong following among the blind, religious groups, and court stenographers.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “The 1974 NBC broadcast of Henry Aaron’s 715th home run, which broke Babe Ruth’s lifetime record, drew 14.7 million viewers. ESPN’s telecast of Barry Bonds’ 756th home run, which broke Aaron’s lifetime record, pulled in just 1.3 million viewers.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah Buys Frontier Land to Attack Israel” - Charles Levinson (Sunday Telegraph-UK)
“Hizbullah is buying up large tracts of land owned by Christians and other non-Shias in southern Lebanon as the militant group rebuilds its defenses in preparation for a new war with Israel. The forested wadis, or valleys, north of the Litani River make ideal terrain for Hizbullah's brand of guerrilla warfare and, just 10 miles from the border, are within rocket range of Israeli cities. ‘Christians and Druze are selling land and moving out, while the Shia are moving in. There is an extraordinary demographic shift taking place,’ said Edmund Rizk, a former Christian MP for the area. Wealthy Shia businessman Ali Tajeddine, who made his fortune trading diamonds in Sierra Leone, is said to be using Iranian funds to buy land from destitute villagers at up to four times the going rate.
“Critics fear a grand scheme to create a strip of Shia-controlled land connecting southern Lebanon to Hizbullah's other power center in the Bekaa Valley. ‘It is part of Hizbullah's plan to create a state within a state,’ said Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader. He also pointed to the four-lane road being built to connect the Hizbullah stronghold of Nabatiye in the south to the western Bekaa. Banners openly proclaim the source of the road's funding: ‘510 km of new roads paid for by the Iranian Organization for Sharing in the Building of Lebanon.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“British Lawmakers Say Country Should Talk to Hamas, Hizbullah, Muslim Brotherhood” - Raphael G. Satter(AP/Washington Post)
“Britain should begin talking directly with three of the Middle East's most prominent radical Islamic groups - Hamas, Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood - a committee of lawmakers said in a report released Monday. British diplomats should speak with moderate elements from such groups and continue engaging Iran and Syria because their influence can no longer be discounted, Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said. ‘The Muslim Brotherhood is strong in Egypt, and Hamas and Hizbullah cannot be ignored,’ the report said. The lawmakers urged former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the new envoy for the Quartet, to negotiate directly with the militant Islamic organization Hamas.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“Over 10,000 Palestinians Attend West Bank Rally to Restore Islamic Caliphate” (AP/International Herald Tribune)
“A crowd of more than 10,000 Palestinians Saturday heard denunciations of the PA leadership in the West Bank as infidels at a Liberation Party rally on the sports field of the Quaker-run Friends School in Ramallah.
“The party calls for re-establishing the caliphate, or Islamic state, across the Muslim world.
“‘The caliphate is coming,’ read a large poster on the wall of the field.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 13, 2007)
*****
“Indian Muslim Leader Visiting Israel: ‘Time to End Violence’” - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News)
“The time for violence has come to an end, and the era of peace and dialogue between Muslims and Jews has begun, says Maulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary-general of the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques, representing half a million imams who are the main religious leaders of India's 200 million Muslims. He also said the time had come for Pakistan to establish official relations with Israel.
“‘My impression was initially that the Israelis are certainly dominating Muslims out here. Once I came here, that impression completely changed,’ Ilaysi said. ‘I saw the reality on the ground, the mutual respect Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews have for each other. Constant conflict is not the reality here.’ In Jerusalem ‘I saw that Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side happily, not at each other's throat.’
“‘I was pleasantly surprised to know that the Sharia (Islamic law) code is being supported by the Israeli government, whereas in India only local Muslims implement it. That is unique,’ he said. ‘The Jews I have met here say that we are all children of Abraham, part of the same family. This is something I didn't hear in India. The Muslims in India should come and see things for themselves,’ Ilaysi said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 19, 2007)
*****
“Growing Muslim Movement Offers Alternative to Hamas” - Mark MacKinnon (Globe and Mail-Canada)
“Founded in 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir's goal is the establishment of a worldwide caliphate, a global Islamic empire. A newly assertive Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) has been showing its strength across the Muslim world, most impressively drawing 100,000 people to a soccer stadium in Indonesia earlier this month. They noisily called for a return to the time of the caliphs, a line of centuries of Islamic rulers that ended with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire more than 80 years ago.
“A recent rally in Ramallah in the West Bank drew tens of thousands of Palestinians. But Hizb ut-Tahrir won't try to capitalize on its new popularity in the next Palestinian elections. It teaches members that there should be no democracy, because democratic systems are a tool of Islam's chief enemy, the U.S. Nor does Hizb ut-Tahrir see value in Hamas' policy of using violence against Israel. Sending poorly armed Palestinians to fight the Israeli army is ‘fruitless,’ said Sheik Abu Abdullah. The Jewish state and its occupation of Palestinian lands will be dealt with later by the combined armies of Islam.
“The movement also shrugs off Hamas' takeover of Gaza, charging that Hamas is not Islamic enough because it pursues the goal of a Palestinian state instead of a borderless caliphate. While Hizb ut-Tahrir professes non-violence, many experts believe that it serves at least as a ‘conveyor belt’ for groups including al-Qaeda, radicalizing young Muslims who are later recruited by more violent groups.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Send Children to Retrieve Rocket Launchers After Attacks on Israel” - Yuval Azoulay, Yoav Stern and Mijal Grinberg (Ha'aretz/Jerusalem Post)
“Israeli forces combating Palestinian gunmen in Gaza killed Yehia Habib, a senior Hamas field commander in Gaza City, in an airstrike Wednesday on a group of armed men who had approached the border fence with Israel.
“On Tuesday two figures were seen moving in a field near Beit Hanun toward rocket launchers immediately after Kassam rockets had been fired on towns in Israel. The two were killed by a tank shell. Later it was learned that they were a 9-year-old and a 12-year-old sent to collect Kassam rocket launchers. ‘If these were children or youths, we regret the use that the terrorist groups are making of them,’ the IDF spokesman said Tuesday. An IDF source said: ‘Every Palestinian, including the militants, knows that anyone who hangs around these launchers is endangering themselves.’
“‘This is a cynical use of children but we are no longer surprised by anything we see. A 14-year-old child has already fired an RPG rocket against an IDF force, a grandmother aged close to 70 fired a light weapon against a Givati [Brigade] force recently in the Strip. What were these children doing there anyway? The militants fled immediately after the launch and then sent the children to collect the launchers,’ a source added.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rocket Hits Vacant Israeli Kindergarten” - Shmulik Hadad (Ynet News)
“Palestinians in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets toward Israel on Tuesday. One rocket struck a vacant Na'amat daycare center in Sderot. ‘The center is currently undergoing fortification works, and this is apparently why there were no kids inside. I don't want to imagine what would have happened had the center been open,’ said a local resident.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 22, 2007)
*****
Vocabulary Improvement
gephyrobiac - one that has a fear of crossing bridges
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Bad week for consumer outrage, after a Georgia woman called police to complain about some low-quality crack cocaine she had just purchased from a street vendor. Juanita Jones has been charged with possession.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Department of “Stop Your Sobbing”
“Heather Mills, estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney and a committed vegan, is upset that the farm next door to her new country home has cows on it, says Globe. The owners of the 160-acre farm in the English countryside say that representatives of Mills approached them offering to buy the property. ‘We were told that she didn’t like looking at cows on our land because she’s a vegetarian,’ said Barbara Smith, who owns the farm with her husband, John. The Smiths, so far, have declined the offer.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Caveat Emptor
“Wake up and smell the sales pitch
“Companies have long relied on research about smells, sounds, and colors to design their stores, said Kimberly Palmer in U.S. News & World Report. They carefully deploy sensory sales pitches to motivate consumers to buy more. Next time you’re shopping, be aware of some of the tricks of the trade retailers use to ‘get into your wallet.’ Shoppers looking for something specific, such as a car of computer, tend to spend more if surrounded by a pleasant scent, according to research by HEC-Montréal and Rutgers University. Impulse shoppers, on the other hand, plunk down more money when stimulated by music. But combining smells and sounds can backfire. ‘Scent and music together decreased spending across categories, possibly because customers found the mix overstimulating.’” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
According to USA Today, “Worker pay is projected to rise only slightly in 2008. Companies have budgeted a 3.9 percent raise in overall salaries, compared with an expected consumer inflation rate of 2.7 percent, according to WorldatWork, a nonprofit that studies compensation issues.” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
*****
According to CNNMoney.com, “Hong Kong’s Golden Dragon Group is selling an ‘electronic cigarette’--an atomizer that delivers hits of nicotine but without the carcinogenic byproducts of cigarettes. The $208 device is called the Ruyan, which translates as ‘like smoking.’” (Source: The Week, August 24, 2007)
August 12, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
August 12, 2007
Department of Corrections
The article referred to here was posted on July 29, 2007, as part of “Two Interesting Articles on ‘The Fairness Doctrine’”
“Correction: Sinclair Broadcast Group
“In our Lexington column of July 19th we said that Sinclair Broadcast Group used its ‘market dominance’ of the talk-radio business to push a right-wing agenda. Sinclair does not own a radio station, has not been in the radio business for almost seven years and pushes no agenda, right-wing or otherwise. We apologise.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“Between 2000 and 2006 the city of Rio [de Janiero] averaged one murder every 3 1/2 hours, according to police statistics.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
“Following the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the base of the corporate income tax was broadened but the top rate was slashed by 12 percentage points, from 46% to 34%, the biggest cut since the tax was introduced in 1909. Thus began a trend of reducing the tax rate on companies that has spread across the globe. However, whilst countries from Ireland (with a rate of 13%) to China—which recently passed a law cutting the rate to 25%—have continued to lower corporate taxes, American rates have edged back up, to 35%, in 1993. Adding state taxes to federal ones gives an overall rate of 39%. That is the second highest in the OECD, in which the average rate is 31%...” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
Whither Zimbabwe?
“The government of Zimbabwe began circulating a 200,000 Zimbabwean dollar note so that people will be able to cope better with the country's runaway inflation. The note will buy about 1kg (2.2lbs) of sugar—if there is any left in the shops after a recent wave of panic buying.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Race-hate” crimes in Los Angeles County
“Blacks ... comprise just 9% of the population of Los Angeles County but were the victims of 59% of all race-hate crimes. Seven times out of ten, their persecutors were Latino. Hispanics, who make up almost half the population, were victimised by blacks eight-tenths of the time.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Alms for Jihad” - Mark Steyn (Orange County Register)
“Last week, the Cambridge University Press agreed to recall all unsold copies of Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, by J. Millard Burr, a former USAID relief coordinator, and the scholar Robert O. Collins - and pulp them. In addition, it has asked hundreds of libraries around the world to remove the volume from their shelves. This highly unusual action was accompanied by a letter to Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, the personal banker to the Saudi royal family and head of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, until he sold it to the Saudi government.
“The Mahfouz bank was wiring money to the principal Mahfouz charity, the Muwafaq (or ‘Blessed Relief’) Foundation, which in turn transferred them to Osama bin Laden. In October 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department named Muwafaq as ‘an al-Qaeda front that receives funding from wealthy Saudi businessmen’ and its chairman as a ‘specially designated global terrorist.’ As the Treasury concluded, ‘Saudi businessmen have been transferring millions of dollars to bin Laden through Blessed Relief.’ Indeed, this ‘charity’ seems to have no other purpose than to fund jihad” (Source: Daily Alert, August 6, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rocket Lands in Sderot Kindergarten” - Shmulik Hadad (Ynet News)
“Palestinians in Gaza fired a rocket that landed in a kindergarten schoolyard in Sderot on Monday, damaging nearby buildings, including two other kindergartens and a public elementary school. The structures were empty due to summer vacation.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Terrorists Misfire, Kill Palestinian Children”
“Palestinian terrorists in Gaza on Tuesday fired a Qassam rocket toward the Israeli town of Sderot, but the rocket fell short and killed an eight-year-old Palestinian boy and his six-year-old sister, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported. Five other Palestinian children were wounded. The attack comes a day after a Qassam rocket landed in an Israeli kindergarten, damaging buildings. The children were away on summer vacation. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005, Hamas has overseen a massive arms buildup, turning the coastal strip into a base for launching attacks against the Jewish state.” (Source: AIPAC Update, August 7, 2007)
*****
“London Gathering Defends Vision of Radical Islam” - Jane Perlez (New York Times)
“Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international radical Islamic party that has been the focus of increasing concern in Britain, held a carefully stage-managed conference in London this weekend that attracted several thousand relatively well-heeled Muslims. The party calls for the return of the caliphate in Muslim countries, the end of Israel and the withdrawal of all Western interests in the Middle East. In the aftermath of the botched terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow, there were renewed calls in Parliament for barring the group, on the ground that though it officially advocates change by peaceful means, its pronouncements can encourage Muslims to turn toward terrorism.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
and for some background:
“UK Islamist Group Calls for ‘Islamic State’” - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News )
“Hizb ut-Tahrir - the Liberation Party - is active in dozens of countries, but has been banned in several Arab states, as well as in Germany, Sweden, Russia, and China.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“Israel Judged by Double Standard” - Ezra Levant (Calgary Sun)
“A Western ally in the Middle East, armed with U.S. weapons, attacked Muslim guerrillas in a Palestinian refugee camp last week, killing seven. No Western newspaper has run a banner headline about a ‘massacre’ and no emergency meetings of the UN have been convened. That's because the Western ally rooting out terrorists was Lebanon, not Israel. Since May 20, Lebanon has been engaged in a mini-war against Fatah al-Islam, a Muslim terrorist group holed up in Nahr el-Bared.
“Lebanon's military action has been less careful than Israel, which would never have used artillery to root out terrorists from populated areas as Lebanon has done. The Lebanese are not as concerned about the niceties of Western public opinion, and the yawning silence of the West in the face of 200 casualties shows the fickle nature of the media and the UN. Why are military strikes by Israel news, but not those by Lebanon? Why is an Arab killed by a Jew news, but not an Arab killed by an Arab?” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
The World of Art
Music - Gaza Style
“Hamas Sets Standards for Music in Gaza” (BBC News)
“Salaheddin, a musician from Gaza City in his 50s, said: ‘I lead a group of 26 musicians - we play traditional Palestinian music. But for the last two months we haven't been able to work.’
“‘This group, Hamas, believes they are the leaders of Islam. The violin, piano, flute, all these instruments are banned. Only the drum is allowed. They say any other instrument is not mentioned in the Koran.’
“‘Hamas has already beaten one of my singers for singing for Fatah. He was attacked at the wedding where he went to perform.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“’The Army of the Nation’ - Another Al-Qaeda Affiliate in the Gaza Strip” - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
“The declared policy of Hamas to provide sanctuary to any jihadi fighter invites additional terrorist groups associated with al-Qaeda to plant themselves in the Gaza Strip.
“According to Dr. Zakaria Zain al-Din, chairman of Hamas' largest charity organization, the extremist views of al-Qaeda are spreading among the senior leadership of Hamas. Expressions of this were evident in the adoption of the radical world view of al-Qaeda that accuses other Muslims of being ‘infidels’ and permits their being killed. Radical religious rulings permitted the killing of Fatah operatives.
“Abu Ashur, the right-hand man of Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) leader Mumtaz Durmush, confessed that their organization received funds and instructions from al-Qaeda outside of the Gaza Strip. Jaish al-Islam was responsible for the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston in March 2007. Leading the cell that abducted Johnston was Khattab al-Maqdasi, a Palestinian who in the past had fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“A video clip by another group, Jaish al-Umma (Army of the Nation), is dedicated to the Shiite and Iranian threat to Palestinian society; it argues that Iran has converted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) into a Shiite branch through which it intends to advance the spread of Shiism.
“Hamas is trying to improve its image in the eyes of the West, arguing that it is succeeding in restoring public order in Gaza. In the West - and even in Israel - there are voices calling for a dialogue with Hamas. Providing legitimacy to Hamas as an acceptable political partner - without any preconditions regarding its renunciation of terrorism - is essentially a ‘green light’ to Hamas to continue to provide sanctuary for al-Qaeda affiliates in Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“African Countries Support Israel More Than They Do the Palestinians” - Amnon Rubinstein(Jerusalem Post)
“What country in the world boasts the highest rate of support for Israel? The Ivory Coast, where 61% support Israel and only 16% support the Palestinians.
“This surprising finding is part of a global opinion survey conducted this year by the PEW Research Center in 47 countries. In Ethiopia, which is half Muslim, the rate is 37%, as opposed to 25% who support the Palestinians. Similar rates can be found in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Even the Muslim country of Mali has a perceptible support rate for Israel - 13% - higher than in Spain and Italy.
“None of the African countries polled, with the exception of Mali, demonstrated opposition to Israel of the kind we find in Britain, where 29% support the Palestinians, as opposed to only 16% percent who support Israel.
“The exception to this rule is Egypt, in which the opposition to Israel is all-embracing and support for Hamas especially high.
“Support for Israel in African countries is exceptionally striking in view of the fact that the global anti-Israel campaign consistently presents Israel as an ‘apartheid,’ colonialist and racist country.
“The writer, former president of the Interdisciplinary Center-Herzliya, has been minister of education.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 8, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians in Lebanon Expel Saudi Extremists” (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Today, the most immediate security threat to the lives of the Sunni Palestinian refugees in Lebanon comes not from Israel but from Arabs living within their own refugee camps. In the northern camp of Nahr al-Bared, lax security from the mainstream secular Palestinian faction Fatah provided a suitable environment for the rise of Fatah al-Islam. The Al-Qaeda-styled Sunni extremist group comprises some Lebanese and Palestinians, but is also made up of foreign Arabs, including veteran jihadis from Iraq, and fighters from Saudi Arabia who follow the Wahhabi ideology of takfiri, which condemns to death anyone who does not follow their austere form of Islam.
“In Ain al-Hilweh, several thousand armed militants vie for control in the tiny 1.5 square-kilometer cinder block camp. Sheikh Haj Maher Oweid, military commander of the Palestinian Islamist group Ansar Allah, said that dozens of Saudi extremists had been expelled from Ain al-Hilweh over the past year. ‘There were many Saudis expelled from here. They are connected to al-Qaeda and they want to spread chaos. Lebanon is now the new front for al-Qaeda,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Anti-Saudi Tide Rises in Iraq” - Sam Dagher (Christian Science Monitor)
“An unprecedented wave of anger toward Saudi Arabia is rising in Baghdad as government and religious leaders charge that the neighboring kingdom is doing little to stem the flow of its nationals to Iraq to wage ‘holy war’ on Shiites.
“The Saudi backlash is being fueled by Iraqi media reports and Shiite leaders' condemnations of apparent fatwas, religious rulings by Saudi muftis calling for the destruction of Shiite shrines in Iraq.
“‘So far, the Saudi attitude in particular, and the Arab one in general, has been negative toward the political process in Iraq,’ says Ridha Jawad Taqi, an Iraqi Shiite parliamentarian.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Don’t Relinquish the Road Map” - Dov Weisglass (Ynet News)
“For several years the international community widely maintained that Palestinian terror would cease with the establishment of a Palestinian state. Ariel Sharon's cabinet did not believe this would be the outcome. Israel demanded first the cessation of terror and its demise, and only later diplomatic progress.
“The Road Map plan for managing a reconciliation process between Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab world was prepared by the international Quartet and adopted in a UN General Assembly resolution.
“In its initial phase the Palestinians were required, among other things, to end terror: Disarm terror organizations, confiscate their weapons, establish efficient intelligence, security and policing apparatuses in order to prevent terror, enforce the law, develop appropriate government and administrative systems - namely, create a regime free of terror that functions properly and is fit to run a state.
“In the second phase - following the probation period - a Palestinian state would be established within the current borders of the Palestinian Authority, and only later - in the third phase and following an additional probation period, negotiations would commence with the aim of achieving an agreement pertaining to borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
“This is the Road Map: Advancement to a later stage subject to full implementation of the previous phase; the entire process is conditioned on the establishment of an efficient and functioning PA that prevents terror and enforces the law; judgment as to whether the phase was implemented in a manner that enables commencement of the next phase would be in the hands of the U.S.
“In recent weeks there have been indications of a change in Palestinian activity towards switching from gang rule to a functioning government; yet it still comes nowhere near the first phase of the road map. Skipping to talks on a final-status agreement in the current situation means that the conditions stipulated in the phased progress of the road map are being ignored and Israel's most important diplomatic achievement in recent years is being relinquished.
“The Road Map constitutes recognition on the part of the majority of the international community of Israel's right not to accept a Palestinian state as long as it cannot guarantee that it can prevent terror from within its territory. This premise must not be relinquished and should not be ruined.
“The writer was former Prime Minister Sharon's bureau chief and senior adviser.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Islamic Terrorists Teaming with Mexican Drug Cartels” - Sara A. Carter (Washington Times)
“Islamic extremists embedded in the U.S. - posing as Hispanic nationals - are partnering with violent Mexican drug gangs to finance terror networks in the Middle East, according to a DEA report. ‘Since drug traffickers and terrorists operate in a clandestine environment, both groups utilize similar methodologies to function,’ said the confidential 2005 report. It outlines an ongoing scheme in which multiple Middle Eastern drug-trafficking and terrorist cells operating in the U.S. fund terror networks overseas, aided by established Mexican cartels with highly sophisticated trafficking routes. An El Paso, Texas, law enforcement report documents the influx of ‘approximately 20 Arab persons a week utilizing the Travis County Court in Austin to change their names and driver's licenses from Arabic to Hispanic surnames.’ ” (Source: Daily Alert, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Oakland, Calif - Editor gunned down: A newspaper editor known for his anti-corruption crusades was killed by a masked gunman last week as he walked to work. Chauncey Bailey, a 57-year-old veteran journalist, was editor of The Oakland Post, a local African-American paper. Police quickly arrested a 19-year-old handyman, Devaughndre Broussard, who they said confessed. Bailey had been looking into the finances of a local business, Your Black Muslim Bakery, which police say is the headquarters of a gang linked to several violent crimes. Police say Broussard described himself as a ‘soldier’ dispatched to kill Bailey. Co-workers described Bailey as a tenacious journalist. ‘He would not let people off the hook,’ said one colleague, ‘whether he was reporting on corruption in city government, the entertainment business, or among rappers.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Hugo Chavez Watch
“Caracas - Chavez won’t go: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said this week he would push for a constitutional revision that would allow him to remain in office beyond his scheduled departure, in 2012. After the change’s near-certain approval by the parliament, it will face a national referendum. Critics said the reform would move Venezuela closer to a Cuban-style dictatorship. But Chavez, an outspoken socialist, insisted he merely wants to end term limits. ‘It will be the people who decide how long I stay,’ he said. Chavez already has virtual control over the judiciary, and his supporters control all seats in the national legislature.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Hebron, West Bank - Settlers dragged away: Hundreds of Israeli troops and riot police burst into homes in the West Bank town of Hebron this week and forcibly evicted two Jewish settler families that were living there illegally. It took hours to get into the houses because the families and nearly 200 of their ultranationalist supporters had barricaded themselves in and welded the doors shut. As the police closed in, the settlers hurled rocks and metal objects, wounding 11 officers. Evacuation of Jews from the territories is a deeply divisive issue in Israel. During this week’s eviction, 10 regular soldiers and two officers refused to take part and were arrested for disobeying orders.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Do-gooder is jailed: A Nigerian convert to Islam was jailed last week for helping his elderly female neighbor. Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a student of Islamic studies in Riyadh, found his neighbor ill and took her to a hospital. Soon he was picked up by officers from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who pronounced him guilty of being alone with a woman not of his family. The commission refused to say how long he would be detained. ‘I wanted to do a good thing for a woman who was sick,’ Mohammed told the Riyadh Arab News, ‘and here I am languishing in prison.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The New York City Council, which earlier this year outlawed the so-called N-word, is now considering a symbolic ban on the words ‘bitch’ and ‘ho.’ Supporters of the new bill admit that, like the N-word ban, the law would be hard to enforce, particularly as the word ‘bitch’ can refer inoffensively to a female dog. ‘We’d be grandfathered in, I would think,’ said David Frei, host of New York’s annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
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Department of “Your Tax Dollars At Play” - San Diego, California
“Four California firemen are suing the city of San Diego because their lesbian fire chief ordered them to drive a fire engine in an annual gay pride parade. The three-hour ordeal was allegedly punctuated by ribald catcalls from the crowd, among them: ‘you’re making me hot;’ ‘you can put out my fire;’ and, somewhat predictably, ‘show me your hose.’ This was yet ‘another example of how radical homosexual activists in positions of authority force their agenda on unwilling citizens,’ said Richard Thompson of the conservative Thomas More Law Center.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
My editorial comments: If female firefighters were subjected to similar comments in a situation where their fire chief ordered them to take place in a parade, wouldn’t there be ‘sexual harassment in the workplace’ concerns?
*****
The Beverage Abusers of America Salute NASA
“A space program that drives you to drink - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online -- No one else will do it, so ‘I rise in defense of drunken astronauts,’ said Charles Krauthammer. Everyone’s now acting shocked over the recent report that two NASA astronauts had alcohol in their systems before flights. but consider the circumstances. When they fly on the space shuttle, astronauts are locked into a 12-story tube bolted to a canister filled with 2 million liters of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. When what is in effect ‘the largest bomb on planet Earth’ gets lit, everyone else retreats to a safe distance of three miles. If you were sitting atop that eruption, with no real piloting to do, wouldn’t you need a good stiff one? These days, unfortunately, we give astronauts little respect or slack; the press and the public only pay attention when there’s some scandal to laugh at, such as the diapered female astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to eliminate a romantic rival. The blame for NASA’s humiliating comedown lies with ‘the idiot politicians who decided 30 years ago to abandon the moon and send us on a pointless journey into low Earth orbit.’ When we see astronauts building a colony on the moon, instead of endlessly circling the planet, ‘we won’t much care whether the extra bounce in their gait is the effect of the one-sixth gravity or a touch of moonshine.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Why Iran’s government sounds hysterical - Amir Taheri - The Wall Street Journal -- Iran’s mullahs are losing control of ‘an increasingly restive population,’ said Amir Taheri. In the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executing for angering the regime, and an other 150 are scheduled to be hung or stoned to death. More than 20,000 people are being held in prisons for violating the Islamic dress code, and 6,000 more are behind bars for ‘sexual proximity’ outside marriage. This wave of arrests is being accompanied by a hysterical campaign against Western ‘spies,’ which culminated last week when authorities announced the capture of four squirrels that infidel Americans had fitted with ‘espionage devices,’ None of this is playing well with Iranians, most of whom are far more worldly than their rulers would prefer. With trade unionists, academics, and students speaking out, President Ahmadinejad and the mullahs are ‘vulnerable and worried, very worried.’ The U.S. should keep that in mind as we escalate our high-stakes poler game with ‘the fascist regime in Tehran.’ Our ace in the hole just may be the Iranian people themselves.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Thai police officials are punishing misbehaving officers by making them wear Hello Kitty armbands. The winsome pink icon of a cat’s face, beloved by prepubescent girls around the world, will inflict feelings of ‘guilt and shame’ on rogue cops caught littering or parking illegal, said Col. Pongpat Chayaphan of the Crime Suppression Division. ‘It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps,’ he said.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to Los Angeles Times, “Aquafina water, bottled by Pepsi, will now say on its label that it comes from a ‘public water source’--that is, from a tap, rather than a mountain spring. The brand’s label used to say only ‘P.W.S.’ More than 25 percent of all bottled water comes from municipal sources.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
Notable Quotables
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” - P.T. Barnum
*****
According to ABCnews.com, “The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high of 10,942, almost double the number who moved there in 2000. The last time more than 10,000 Americans moved to Canada was in the early 1970s, at the height of the draft-dodging movement.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to Bloomberg.com, “For the first time ever, imported car brands have a bigger share of the U.S. market than Ford, general Motors, and Chrysler. Detroit’s Big Three carmakers accounted for 48.2 percent of U.S. car sales in July.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to BusinessWeek, “There are two drug-industry lobbyists for every member of Congress.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
Department of Corrections
The article referred to here was posted on July 29, 2007, as part of “Two Interesting Articles on ‘The Fairness Doctrine’”
“Correction: Sinclair Broadcast Group
“In our Lexington column of July 19th we said that Sinclair Broadcast Group used its ‘market dominance’ of the talk-radio business to push a right-wing agenda. Sinclair does not own a radio station, has not been in the radio business for almost seven years and pushes no agenda, right-wing or otherwise. We apologise.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“Between 2000 and 2006 the city of Rio [de Janiero] averaged one murder every 3 1/2 hours, according to police statistics.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
“Following the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the base of the corporate income tax was broadened but the top rate was slashed by 12 percentage points, from 46% to 34%, the biggest cut since the tax was introduced in 1909. Thus began a trend of reducing the tax rate on companies that has spread across the globe. However, whilst countries from Ireland (with a rate of 13%) to China—which recently passed a law cutting the rate to 25%—have continued to lower corporate taxes, American rates have edged back up, to 35%, in 1993. Adding state taxes to federal ones gives an overall rate of 39%. That is the second highest in the OECD, in which the average rate is 31%...” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
Whither Zimbabwe?
“The government of Zimbabwe began circulating a 200,000 Zimbabwean dollar note so that people will be able to cope better with the country's runaway inflation. The note will buy about 1kg (2.2lbs) of sugar—if there is any left in the shops after a recent wave of panic buying.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Race-hate” crimes in Los Angeles County
“Blacks ... comprise just 9% of the population of Los Angeles County but were the victims of 59% of all race-hate crimes. Seven times out of ten, their persecutors were Latino. Hispanics, who make up almost half the population, were victimised by blacks eight-tenths of the time.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Alms for Jihad” - Mark Steyn (Orange County Register)
“Last week, the Cambridge University Press agreed to recall all unsold copies of Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, by J. Millard Burr, a former USAID relief coordinator, and the scholar Robert O. Collins - and pulp them. In addition, it has asked hundreds of libraries around the world to remove the volume from their shelves. This highly unusual action was accompanied by a letter to Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, the personal banker to the Saudi royal family and head of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, until he sold it to the Saudi government.
“The Mahfouz bank was wiring money to the principal Mahfouz charity, the Muwafaq (or ‘Blessed Relief’) Foundation, which in turn transferred them to Osama bin Laden. In October 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department named Muwafaq as ‘an al-Qaeda front that receives funding from wealthy Saudi businessmen’ and its chairman as a ‘specially designated global terrorist.’ As the Treasury concluded, ‘Saudi businessmen have been transferring millions of dollars to bin Laden through Blessed Relief.’ Indeed, this ‘charity’ seems to have no other purpose than to fund jihad” (Source: Daily Alert, August 6, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Rocket Lands in Sderot Kindergarten” - Shmulik Hadad (Ynet News)
“Palestinians in Gaza fired a rocket that landed in a kindergarten schoolyard in Sderot on Monday, damaging nearby buildings, including two other kindergartens and a public elementary school. The structures were empty due to summer vacation.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Terrorists Misfire, Kill Palestinian Children”
“Palestinian terrorists in Gaza on Tuesday fired a Qassam rocket toward the Israeli town of Sderot, but the rocket fell short and killed an eight-year-old Palestinian boy and his six-year-old sister, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported. Five other Palestinian children were wounded. The attack comes a day after a Qassam rocket landed in an Israeli kindergarten, damaging buildings. The children were away on summer vacation. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005, Hamas has overseen a massive arms buildup, turning the coastal strip into a base for launching attacks against the Jewish state.” (Source: AIPAC Update, August 7, 2007)
*****
“London Gathering Defends Vision of Radical Islam” - Jane Perlez (New York Times)
“Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international radical Islamic party that has been the focus of increasing concern in Britain, held a carefully stage-managed conference in London this weekend that attracted several thousand relatively well-heeled Muslims. The party calls for the return of the caliphate in Muslim countries, the end of Israel and the withdrawal of all Western interests in the Middle East. In the aftermath of the botched terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow, there were renewed calls in Parliament for barring the group, on the ground that though it officially advocates change by peaceful means, its pronouncements can encourage Muslims to turn toward terrorism.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
and for some background:
“UK Islamist Group Calls for ‘Islamic State’” - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News )
“Hizb ut-Tahrir - the Liberation Party - is active in dozens of countries, but has been banned in several Arab states, as well as in Germany, Sweden, Russia, and China.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“Israel Judged by Double Standard” - Ezra Levant (Calgary Sun)
“A Western ally in the Middle East, armed with U.S. weapons, attacked Muslim guerrillas in a Palestinian refugee camp last week, killing seven. No Western newspaper has run a banner headline about a ‘massacre’ and no emergency meetings of the UN have been convened. That's because the Western ally rooting out terrorists was Lebanon, not Israel. Since May 20, Lebanon has been engaged in a mini-war against Fatah al-Islam, a Muslim terrorist group holed up in Nahr el-Bared.
“Lebanon's military action has been less careful than Israel, which would never have used artillery to root out terrorists from populated areas as Lebanon has done. The Lebanese are not as concerned about the niceties of Western public opinion, and the yawning silence of the West in the face of 200 casualties shows the fickle nature of the media and the UN. Why are military strikes by Israel news, but not those by Lebanon? Why is an Arab killed by a Jew news, but not an Arab killed by an Arab?” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
The World of Art
Music - Gaza Style
“Hamas Sets Standards for Music in Gaza” (BBC News)
“Salaheddin, a musician from Gaza City in his 50s, said: ‘I lead a group of 26 musicians - we play traditional Palestinian music. But for the last two months we haven't been able to work.’
“‘This group, Hamas, believes they are the leaders of Islam. The violin, piano, flute, all these instruments are banned. Only the drum is allowed. They say any other instrument is not mentioned in the Koran.’
“‘Hamas has already beaten one of my singers for singing for Fatah. He was attacked at the wedding where he went to perform.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“’The Army of the Nation’ - Another Al-Qaeda Affiliate in the Gaza Strip” - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
“The declared policy of Hamas to provide sanctuary to any jihadi fighter invites additional terrorist groups associated with al-Qaeda to plant themselves in the Gaza Strip.
“According to Dr. Zakaria Zain al-Din, chairman of Hamas' largest charity organization, the extremist views of al-Qaeda are spreading among the senior leadership of Hamas. Expressions of this were evident in the adoption of the radical world view of al-Qaeda that accuses other Muslims of being ‘infidels’ and permits their being killed. Radical religious rulings permitted the killing of Fatah operatives.
“Abu Ashur, the right-hand man of Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) leader Mumtaz Durmush, confessed that their organization received funds and instructions from al-Qaeda outside of the Gaza Strip. Jaish al-Islam was responsible for the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston in March 2007. Leading the cell that abducted Johnston was Khattab al-Maqdasi, a Palestinian who in the past had fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“A video clip by another group, Jaish al-Umma (Army of the Nation), is dedicated to the Shiite and Iranian threat to Palestinian society; it argues that Iran has converted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) into a Shiite branch through which it intends to advance the spread of Shiism.
“Hamas is trying to improve its image in the eyes of the West, arguing that it is succeeding in restoring public order in Gaza. In the West - and even in Israel - there are voices calling for a dialogue with Hamas. Providing legitimacy to Hamas as an acceptable political partner - without any preconditions regarding its renunciation of terrorism - is essentially a ‘green light’ to Hamas to continue to provide sanctuary for al-Qaeda affiliates in Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 7, 2007)
*****
“African Countries Support Israel More Than They Do the Palestinians” - Amnon Rubinstein(Jerusalem Post)
“What country in the world boasts the highest rate of support for Israel? The Ivory Coast, where 61% support Israel and only 16% support the Palestinians.
“This surprising finding is part of a global opinion survey conducted this year by the PEW Research Center in 47 countries. In Ethiopia, which is half Muslim, the rate is 37%, as opposed to 25% who support the Palestinians. Similar rates can be found in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Even the Muslim country of Mali has a perceptible support rate for Israel - 13% - higher than in Spain and Italy.
“None of the African countries polled, with the exception of Mali, demonstrated opposition to Israel of the kind we find in Britain, where 29% support the Palestinians, as opposed to only 16% percent who support Israel.
“The exception to this rule is Egypt, in which the opposition to Israel is all-embracing and support for Hamas especially high.
“Support for Israel in African countries is exceptionally striking in view of the fact that the global anti-Israel campaign consistently presents Israel as an ‘apartheid,’ colonialist and racist country.
“The writer, former president of the Interdisciplinary Center-Herzliya, has been minister of education.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 8, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians in Lebanon Expel Saudi Extremists” (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Today, the most immediate security threat to the lives of the Sunni Palestinian refugees in Lebanon comes not from Israel but from Arabs living within their own refugee camps. In the northern camp of Nahr al-Bared, lax security from the mainstream secular Palestinian faction Fatah provided a suitable environment for the rise of Fatah al-Islam. The Al-Qaeda-styled Sunni extremist group comprises some Lebanese and Palestinians, but is also made up of foreign Arabs, including veteran jihadis from Iraq, and fighters from Saudi Arabia who follow the Wahhabi ideology of takfiri, which condemns to death anyone who does not follow their austere form of Islam.
“In Ain al-Hilweh, several thousand armed militants vie for control in the tiny 1.5 square-kilometer cinder block camp. Sheikh Haj Maher Oweid, military commander of the Palestinian Islamist group Ansar Allah, said that dozens of Saudi extremists had been expelled from Ain al-Hilweh over the past year. ‘There were many Saudis expelled from here. They are connected to al-Qaeda and they want to spread chaos. Lebanon is now the new front for al-Qaeda,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Anti-Saudi Tide Rises in Iraq” - Sam Dagher (Christian Science Monitor)
“An unprecedented wave of anger toward Saudi Arabia is rising in Baghdad as government and religious leaders charge that the neighboring kingdom is doing little to stem the flow of its nationals to Iraq to wage ‘holy war’ on Shiites.
“The Saudi backlash is being fueled by Iraqi media reports and Shiite leaders' condemnations of apparent fatwas, religious rulings by Saudi muftis calling for the destruction of Shiite shrines in Iraq.
“‘So far, the Saudi attitude in particular, and the Arab one in general, has been negative toward the political process in Iraq,’ says Ridha Jawad Taqi, an Iraqi Shiite parliamentarian.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Don’t Relinquish the Road Map” - Dov Weisglass (Ynet News)
“For several years the international community widely maintained that Palestinian terror would cease with the establishment of a Palestinian state. Ariel Sharon's cabinet did not believe this would be the outcome. Israel demanded first the cessation of terror and its demise, and only later diplomatic progress.
“The Road Map plan for managing a reconciliation process between Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab world was prepared by the international Quartet and adopted in a UN General Assembly resolution.
“In its initial phase the Palestinians were required, among other things, to end terror: Disarm terror organizations, confiscate their weapons, establish efficient intelligence, security and policing apparatuses in order to prevent terror, enforce the law, develop appropriate government and administrative systems - namely, create a regime free of terror that functions properly and is fit to run a state.
“In the second phase - following the probation period - a Palestinian state would be established within the current borders of the Palestinian Authority, and only later - in the third phase and following an additional probation period, negotiations would commence with the aim of achieving an agreement pertaining to borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
“This is the Road Map: Advancement to a later stage subject to full implementation of the previous phase; the entire process is conditioned on the establishment of an efficient and functioning PA that prevents terror and enforces the law; judgment as to whether the phase was implemented in a manner that enables commencement of the next phase would be in the hands of the U.S.
“In recent weeks there have been indications of a change in Palestinian activity towards switching from gang rule to a functioning government; yet it still comes nowhere near the first phase of the road map. Skipping to talks on a final-status agreement in the current situation means that the conditions stipulated in the phased progress of the road map are being ignored and Israel's most important diplomatic achievement in recent years is being relinquished.
“The Road Map constitutes recognition on the part of the majority of the international community of Israel's right not to accept a Palestinian state as long as it cannot guarantee that it can prevent terror from within its territory. This premise must not be relinquished and should not be ruined.
“The writer was former Prime Minister Sharon's bureau chief and senior adviser.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 9, 2007)
*****
“Islamic Terrorists Teaming with Mexican Drug Cartels” - Sara A. Carter (Washington Times)
“Islamic extremists embedded in the U.S. - posing as Hispanic nationals - are partnering with violent Mexican drug gangs to finance terror networks in the Middle East, according to a DEA report. ‘Since drug traffickers and terrorists operate in a clandestine environment, both groups utilize similar methodologies to function,’ said the confidential 2005 report. It outlines an ongoing scheme in which multiple Middle Eastern drug-trafficking and terrorist cells operating in the U.S. fund terror networks overseas, aided by established Mexican cartels with highly sophisticated trafficking routes. An El Paso, Texas, law enforcement report documents the influx of ‘approximately 20 Arab persons a week utilizing the Travis County Court in Austin to change their names and driver's licenses from Arabic to Hispanic surnames.’ ” (Source: Daily Alert, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Oakland, Calif - Editor gunned down: A newspaper editor known for his anti-corruption crusades was killed by a masked gunman last week as he walked to work. Chauncey Bailey, a 57-year-old veteran journalist, was editor of The Oakland Post, a local African-American paper. Police quickly arrested a 19-year-old handyman, Devaughndre Broussard, who they said confessed. Bailey had been looking into the finances of a local business, Your Black Muslim Bakery, which police say is the headquarters of a gang linked to several violent crimes. Police say Broussard described himself as a ‘soldier’ dispatched to kill Bailey. Co-workers described Bailey as a tenacious journalist. ‘He would not let people off the hook,’ said one colleague, ‘whether he was reporting on corruption in city government, the entertainment business, or among rappers.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Hugo Chavez Watch
“Caracas - Chavez won’t go: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said this week he would push for a constitutional revision that would allow him to remain in office beyond his scheduled departure, in 2012. After the change’s near-certain approval by the parliament, it will face a national referendum. Critics said the reform would move Venezuela closer to a Cuban-style dictatorship. But Chavez, an outspoken socialist, insisted he merely wants to end term limits. ‘It will be the people who decide how long I stay,’ he said. Chavez already has virtual control over the judiciary, and his supporters control all seats in the national legislature.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Hebron, West Bank - Settlers dragged away: Hundreds of Israeli troops and riot police burst into homes in the West Bank town of Hebron this week and forcibly evicted two Jewish settler families that were living there illegally. It took hours to get into the houses because the families and nearly 200 of their ultranationalist supporters had barricaded themselves in and welded the doors shut. As the police closed in, the settlers hurled rocks and metal objects, wounding 11 officers. Evacuation of Jews from the territories is a deeply divisive issue in Israel. During this week’s eviction, 10 regular soldiers and two officers refused to take part and were arrested for disobeying orders.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Do-gooder is jailed: A Nigerian convert to Islam was jailed last week for helping his elderly female neighbor. Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a student of Islamic studies in Riyadh, found his neighbor ill and took her to a hospital. Soon he was picked up by officers from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who pronounced him guilty of being alone with a woman not of his family. The commission refused to say how long he would be detained. ‘I wanted to do a good thing for a woman who was sick,’ Mohammed told the Riyadh Arab News, ‘and here I am languishing in prison.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The New York City Council, which earlier this year outlawed the so-called N-word, is now considering a symbolic ban on the words ‘bitch’ and ‘ho.’ Supporters of the new bill admit that, like the N-word ban, the law would be hard to enforce, particularly as the word ‘bitch’ can refer inoffensively to a female dog. ‘We’d be grandfathered in, I would think,’ said David Frei, host of New York’s annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Department of “Your Tax Dollars At Play” - San Diego, California
“Four California firemen are suing the city of San Diego because their lesbian fire chief ordered them to drive a fire engine in an annual gay pride parade. The three-hour ordeal was allegedly punctuated by ribald catcalls from the crowd, among them: ‘you’re making me hot;’ ‘you can put out my fire;’ and, somewhat predictably, ‘show me your hose.’ This was yet ‘another example of how radical homosexual activists in positions of authority force their agenda on unwilling citizens,’ said Richard Thompson of the conservative Thomas More Law Center.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
My editorial comments: If female firefighters were subjected to similar comments in a situation where their fire chief ordered them to take place in a parade, wouldn’t there be ‘sexual harassment in the workplace’ concerns?
*****
The Beverage Abusers of America Salute NASA
“A space program that drives you to drink - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online -- No one else will do it, so ‘I rise in defense of drunken astronauts,’ said Charles Krauthammer. Everyone’s now acting shocked over the recent report that two NASA astronauts had alcohol in their systems before flights. but consider the circumstances. When they fly on the space shuttle, astronauts are locked into a 12-story tube bolted to a canister filled with 2 million liters of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. When what is in effect ‘the largest bomb on planet Earth’ gets lit, everyone else retreats to a safe distance of three miles. If you were sitting atop that eruption, with no real piloting to do, wouldn’t you need a good stiff one? These days, unfortunately, we give astronauts little respect or slack; the press and the public only pay attention when there’s some scandal to laugh at, such as the diapered female astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to eliminate a romantic rival. The blame for NASA’s humiliating comedown lies with ‘the idiot politicians who decided 30 years ago to abandon the moon and send us on a pointless journey into low Earth orbit.’ When we see astronauts building a colony on the moon, instead of endlessly circling the planet, ‘we won’t much care whether the extra bounce in their gait is the effect of the one-sixth gravity or a touch of moonshine.’” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
“Why Iran’s government sounds hysterical - Amir Taheri - The Wall Street Journal -- Iran’s mullahs are losing control of ‘an increasingly restive population,’ said Amir Taheri. In the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executing for angering the regime, and an other 150 are scheduled to be hung or stoned to death. More than 20,000 people are being held in prisons for violating the Islamic dress code, and 6,000 more are behind bars for ‘sexual proximity’ outside marriage. This wave of arrests is being accompanied by a hysterical campaign against Western ‘spies,’ which culminated last week when authorities announced the capture of four squirrels that infidel Americans had fitted with ‘espionage devices,’ None of this is playing well with Iranians, most of whom are far more worldly than their rulers would prefer. With trade unionists, academics, and students speaking out, President Ahmadinejad and the mullahs are ‘vulnerable and worried, very worried.’ The U.S. should keep that in mind as we escalate our high-stakes poler game with ‘the fascist regime in Tehran.’ Our ace in the hole just may be the Iranian people themselves.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Thai police officials are punishing misbehaving officers by making them wear Hello Kitty armbands. The winsome pink icon of a cat’s face, beloved by prepubescent girls around the world, will inflict feelings of ‘guilt and shame’ on rogue cops caught littering or parking illegal, said Col. Pongpat Chayaphan of the Crime Suppression Division. ‘It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps,’ he said.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to Los Angeles Times, “Aquafina water, bottled by Pepsi, will now say on its label that it comes from a ‘public water source’--that is, from a tap, rather than a mountain spring. The brand’s label used to say only ‘P.W.S.’ More than 25 percent of all bottled water comes from municipal sources.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
Notable Quotables
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” - P.T. Barnum
*****
According to ABCnews.com, “The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high of 10,942, almost double the number who moved there in 2000. The last time more than 10,000 Americans moved to Canada was in the early 1970s, at the height of the draft-dodging movement.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to Bloomberg.com, “For the first time ever, imported car brands have a bigger share of the U.S. market than Ford, general Motors, and Chrysler. Detroit’s Big Three carmakers accounted for 48.2 percent of U.S. car sales in July.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
*****
According to BusinessWeek, “There are two drug-industry lobbyists for every member of Congress.” (Source: The Week, August 17, 2007)
The Long Hand of Justice Reaches Out
.
[Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007]
“The Khmer Rouge trials
“Better late than never
“After years of frustrating delay, the first of Pol Pot's henchmen is charged
“DEATH allowed Pol Pot and his military chief, Ta Mok, to cheat earthly justice for the enormities of their Khmer Rouge regime. But at last there seems, after years of delay, a real prospect of bringing to trial ageing survivors from the ghastly regime's top ranks. On July 31st judges at a United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh brought the first charges, of crimes against humanity, against Kang Kek Ieu, alias Duch, who ran Tuol Sleng, the regime's interrogation and torture centre in Cambodia's capital.
“True to the stereotype of the coldly meticulous death-camp guard, Duch is said to have kept detailed notes of his work, which may now be used as evidence. Just as predictably, the defendant, now in his sixties and a born-again Christian, insists he was simply obeying orders. Prosecutors hope charges will also soon be brought against four other Khmer Rouge leaders.
“Some Khmer Rouge figures have been living in tranquil liberty since reaching an accord in the 1990s with Hun Sen, Cambodia's long-serving prime minister. He was himself a lesser figure in the Khmers Rouges. But there is not thought to be any evidence linking him to the crimes of their 1975-78 reign of terror, when perhaps a quarter of the country's people were either slaughtered or died of starvation or exhaustion. The prime minister rejects accusations of obstructing the tribunal, and insists he is keen for the trials to go ahead.
“Ten years have passed since Cambodia first asked the UN for help in creating a special court. In 2003, after years of haggling over how much control the UN would have over it, agreement was reached to create an unusual hybrid. Unlike previous tribunals, such as those for Sierra Leone and the former Yugoslavia, the ‘Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’ has a majority of local judges. The judges and prosecutors were sworn in last year, but there ensued months of arguing over such things as court procedures and the swingeing fees that Cambodia's Bar Association wanted to charge foreign lawyers taking part in the proceedings.
“The prosecutors have compiled thousands of pages of evidence including statements from hundreds of witnesses. They are expected to argue that the Khmers Rouges' mass slaughter amounted to genocide—and indeed the Cambodian government uses Tuol Sleng, now a grisly tourist attraction, as a ‘genocide museum’. But this will prove contentious, since the regime's fanatical Maoists mostly killed members of their own race. If nothing else goes wrong, trials could begin next year. But if they drag on or prove unexpectedly complex, the tribunal's $56m budget may prove insufficient, prompting further rows over money and perhaps yet more delays in bringing justice to the few senior members of the regime still alive.”
[Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007]
“The Khmer Rouge trials
“Better late than never
“After years of frustrating delay, the first of Pol Pot's henchmen is charged
“DEATH allowed Pol Pot and his military chief, Ta Mok, to cheat earthly justice for the enormities of their Khmer Rouge regime. But at last there seems, after years of delay, a real prospect of bringing to trial ageing survivors from the ghastly regime's top ranks. On July 31st judges at a United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh brought the first charges, of crimes against humanity, against Kang Kek Ieu, alias Duch, who ran Tuol Sleng, the regime's interrogation and torture centre in Cambodia's capital.
“True to the stereotype of the coldly meticulous death-camp guard, Duch is said to have kept detailed notes of his work, which may now be used as evidence. Just as predictably, the defendant, now in his sixties and a born-again Christian, insists he was simply obeying orders. Prosecutors hope charges will also soon be brought against four other Khmer Rouge leaders.
“Some Khmer Rouge figures have been living in tranquil liberty since reaching an accord in the 1990s with Hun Sen, Cambodia's long-serving prime minister. He was himself a lesser figure in the Khmers Rouges. But there is not thought to be any evidence linking him to the crimes of their 1975-78 reign of terror, when perhaps a quarter of the country's people were either slaughtered or died of starvation or exhaustion. The prime minister rejects accusations of obstructing the tribunal, and insists he is keen for the trials to go ahead.
“Ten years have passed since Cambodia first asked the UN for help in creating a special court. In 2003, after years of haggling over how much control the UN would have over it, agreement was reached to create an unusual hybrid. Unlike previous tribunals, such as those for Sierra Leone and the former Yugoslavia, the ‘Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’ has a majority of local judges. The judges and prosecutors were sworn in last year, but there ensued months of arguing over such things as court procedures and the swingeing fees that Cambodia's Bar Association wanted to charge foreign lawyers taking part in the proceedings.
“The prosecutors have compiled thousands of pages of evidence including statements from hundreds of witnesses. They are expected to argue that the Khmers Rouges' mass slaughter amounted to genocide—and indeed the Cambodian government uses Tuol Sleng, now a grisly tourist attraction, as a ‘genocide museum’. But this will prove contentious, since the regime's fanatical Maoists mostly killed members of their own race. If nothing else goes wrong, trials could begin next year. But if they drag on or prove unexpectedly complex, the tribunal's $56m budget may prove insufficient, prompting further rows over money and perhaps yet more delays in bringing justice to the few senior members of the regime still alive.”
August 05, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
August 5, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“One recent World Bank report found that 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities were in China; and a draft version of another puts the total economic cost of outdoor air and water pollution at around $100 billion a year, or 5.8% of China’s GDP. By some estimates, China has now overtaken America to become the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases” (Source: The Economist, July 21, 2007)
“Thanks largely to tougher sentencing, the number of prisoners in America exploded from 500,000 in 1980 to 2.3m in 2006. Although the rising ratio of prisoners to the general population has been levelling off since 2000, the absolute number is still growing steadily ...” (Source: The Economist, July 28, 2007)
According to The New Yorker, “In 2001, spam accounted for 5 percent of Internet traffic. Today, it’s often 90 percent--a total of 100 billion unsolicited commercial messages everyday” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
“In the next five years, 1.4 million Americans will see their mortgage payments more than double, said Amanda Gengler in Money, Already, half a million homeowners are 90 days behind on their payments.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007 [excerpted])
The Beverage Abusers of America Salute The People’s Republic of China - According to The Wall Street Journal, “China accounts for 73 percent of the world’s beer consumption.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Turns His Back on Jihad” Donna Abu-Nasr (AP/Washington Post)
“Ahmed al-Shayea suffered severe burns from the truck bomb he had driven into Baghdad on Christmas Day, 2004.
“Interviewed in Riyadh following his repatriation from Iraq, al-Shayea says he has changed his mind about waging jihad, or holy war, and wants other young Muslims to know it.
“He wants them to see his disfigured face and fingerless hands, and to hear how he was tricked into driving the truck on a fatal mission.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 30, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Aims to Capitalize on Intelligence Gains from Gaza Takeover” - Cam Simpson and Neil King Jr. (Wall Street Journal)
“When Hamas conquered Gaza in June, it seized an intelligence-and-military infrastructure created with U.S. help. According to Israeli and U.S. intelligence personnel and Palestinian officials, Hamas has increased its inventory of arms since the takeover of Gaza and picked up technical expertise - such as espionage techniques - that could assist the group in its fight against Israel or Fatah.
“Hamas leaders say they acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing intelligence information gathered by Fatah. For more than a decade, Fatah operated a vast intelligence network in Gaza established under the tutelage of the CIA.
“Former U.S. intelligence officials, including some who have worked closely with the Palestinians, said there was ample reason to worry that Hamas has acquired access to important spying technology as well as intelligence information that could be helpful to Hamas in countering Israeli and U.S. efforts against the group.
“Close ties between Hamas and Iran and Syria also mean that intelligence-and-spying techniques could be shared with those countries as well. As the White House prepares to lead an international effort to bolster Fatah's security apparatus in the West Bank, the losses in Gaza stand as an example of how efforts to help Fatah can backfire.
“Former intelligence officials confirmed that the U.S. gave Fatah-controlled services sophisticated intelligence-gathering equipment, including eavesdropping technology. This kind of technology can include devices used for intercepting radio, microwave and telephone communications and telemetry technology that allows the user to pinpoint the location of someone holding a cellphone.
“‘The United States invested a lot of effort in setting up this system in Gaza - construction, equipment, training...the logistics, the transportation. It was a big operation, and it's now in the hands of the other side,’ said Efraim Halevy, who formerly headed the Mossad, Israel's foreign-intelligence agency.
“Avi Dichter, Israel's public-security minister and the former head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence-and-counterterrorism agency, said Hamas gained roughly the same number of weapons during a few days that it would have taken the group nearly a year to amass from smuggling operations.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 30, 2007)
*****
“Arming the Arabs” Ron Ben-Yishai (Ynet News)
“It should be noted that the armies of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt will be completely dependent on American experts. The more sophisticated the weapons are, the more difficult it is to maintain and operate them. It would be enough for the Americans to have control over several critical electronic components in the homing mechanisms and fuses of satellite-guided ‘smart bombs’ and other items in order to neutralize a significant part of the danger they pose to Israel.”” (Source: Daily Alert, July 31, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah officer: ‘We would've given up’
“‘The cease-fire acted as a life jacket for the organization [at the end of the Second Lebanon War],’ a Hizbullah officer said in an interview aired by Channel 10 on Tuesday.
“In the interview, the unnamed officer said Hizbullah gunmen would have surrendered if the fighting last summer had continued for another 10 days.
“His statement sharply contrasted with those made by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on several occasions since the monthlong war.
“At the end of the war, Nasrallah said his organization had gained a ‘divine victory.’
“The officer shown on Channel 10 said the organization's gunmen had been running low on food and water and facing rapidly diminishing arms supplies.
“The officer also said that many Hizbullah commanders were ordered to hide before the war started, and that the gunmen who remained were forced to fire Katyusha rockets from inside urban populations because of the IDF's efficiency in destroying launchers minutes after a launch had been detected.
“He said that when the gunmen relocated to cities and villages, they knew innocent civilians would be hurt as a consequence.
“The quick arrival of IAF jets at rocket-launch sites, sometimes only four to five minutes after a Katyusha was fired, ‘surprised’ Hizbullah, the officer said.” (Source: Jerusalem Post, July 31, 2007)
*****
“Russia ‘Downgrades’ Relationship with Hamas” - Andrew E. Kramer (AP/International Herald Tribune)
“‘Recently, we have somewhat downgraded the level of contacts with Hamas,’ said Andrei Denisov, a first deputy foreign minister, after PA Chairman Abbas met with President Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.
“Russia is the only member of the Quartet of international mediators that recognizes Hamas.
“Denisov said future Russian contact with Hamas would be more ‘pragmatic’ and focused on pressuring the group to accept Abbas' authority.
“In his comments, Putin told Abbas, ‘we will support you as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people.’
“Russian officials said they would provide 50 armored personnel carriers to Abbas' government.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 1, 2007)
*****
“Academics Oppose Israel Boycott” (BBC News)
“More than 10,000 academics, including 32 Nobel prize winners, have signed a declaration saying they would not join any project which barred Israelis. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who drafted the statement for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), said that should the UK's University and College Union ‘go forward with a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions, the end result will be a self-inflicted wound on British academia.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 1, 2007)
*****
“Israeli Innovation to Bring Power to California”
“An Israeli company is doing its part to help Americans develop renewable, environmentally-friendly energy—and at the same time reduce dependence on oil, the website Israel21c.org reported. Beit Shemesh-based Solel has announced that it has signed a contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to build the world's largest solar plant in California's Mojave Desert. ‘Our proven solar technology means Solel can economically turn the energy of the warm California sun into clean power for the state's homes and businesses,’ said CEO Avi Brenmiller. The project will deliver 553 megawatts of solar power—enough to power 400,000 homes—to PG&E's customers in northern and central California.” (Source: AIPAC Update, August 1, 2007)
*****
“New England Methodists Weigh Divestment from Israel” - Michael Paulson (Boston Globe)
“The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church is advising congregations and individuals to divest their holdings from a wide variety of American corporations doing business with Israel. The action is giving new energy to the divestment movement, which had lost steam in other mainline Protestant denominations. In June, after two years of research, a committee released a list of 20 companies from which it recommends divestment, including Blockbuster, Boeing, General Electric, Raytheon and Volvo. Blockbuster was criticized for maintaining video rental kiosks in Israeli settlements.
“Leading Jewish organizations argue that divestment is not appropriate because Israel is unable to work with a Palestinian government that is associated with terrorism. Among the individuals who are not supporting the action is Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference. ‘I believe we ought to be continuing in conversation with the Israeli leadership, as well as the Palestinian leadership, and trying to be evenhanded in our call for justice,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Syria Plans War of Attrition in the Golan Heights” - Smadar Peri (Ynet News)
“Syria has threatened to begin a war of attrition in the Golan Heights if Israel continues to reject Damascus' overtures.
“In recent days Israel has received reports of increased Syrian presence on its side of the Golan Heights in preparation for a possible war.
“During the past year the Syrian government has encouraged settlement in the region, including many army officers who had lost their jobs following Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005. Should a military conflict erupt, these officers are expected to spearhead the acts of attrition against Israel.
“Such a confrontation would also divert global attention from the international tribunal investigating Damascus' responsibility for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
“On Wednesday Assad said Syria was ‘determined to retrieve every grain of land in the Golan Heights. We are stronger than we have been in the past.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad Clash in Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
“One Hamas man was killed and six Islamic Jihad members wounded Wednesday after the Hamas militia fired a rocket at a house in Gaza City and traded fire with Islamic Jihad militants inside for several hours. Hamas said in a statement that the Islamic Jihad militants were ordered to hand over their weapons but failed to do so. The incident is an indication of growing animosity between the two extremist Islamic groups, now that their common enemy, Fatah, has been vanquished.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“West Bank Scholars Push for Spiritual Reply to Hamas Extremism” - Joshua Mitnick (Christian Science Monitor)
“As Fatah struggles to contain the spread of Hamas in the West Bank, some Palestinians are pushing for an Islamic critique to compete with the militant brand of religion practiced by the new rulers of Gaza. Some advocate a liberal brand of Islamic politics that would support territorial compromise, while those with a strict interpretation of the Koran are attacking Hamas for straying too far by mixing religion and politics. But most agree that any challenge to Hamas must include a new spiritual formula.
“The recent dominance of Islamic politics in Palestinian life is part of a pan-Arab trend in which religious parties have become the main opposition to regimes perceived as corrupt and undemocratic, says Hanna Siniora, codirector of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information in Jerusalem. ‘Thirty or 40 years ago, it was fashionable to be leftist and socialist. Now it is becoming fashionable in the Arab world to be an Islamist,’ he said.
“Recognizing Palestinian society's traditionalist leanings, Mohammed Dajani, a political science professor at Al Quds University, argues that the only way to challenge Hamas is by setting up a separate religious party that will push interpretations of Islam that back non-violence and tolerance. Dajani named his party Wasatia - a term used in the Koran that means moderation. ‘What we want to do is change the culture of the people,’ he says. ‘Our goal is to teach youth that suicide bombing is not Islam.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Syrian Muslim: Why I Admire Israel” - Farid Ghadry (Reform Party of Syria)
“As a businessman and an advocate of the free economic system of governance, Israel to me represents an astounding economic success in the midst of so many Arab failures. Israel has, in less than 60 years, built an economy ten times that of Syria with one-fifth the population.
“I do not know of any Western investment company that has bought shares in Arab public companies except for the lucrative cellular business, which are unmanageable without Western know-how and equipment. It will certainly not happen to any of the countries surrounding Israel any time soon (with maybe the exception of Jordan) as long as self-empowerment is absent.
“The assertion made today by the likes of the ignorant Ahmadinejad, who aspires to wipe Israel off the map, and the violent Hamas, some members of which covet throwing the Jews into the sea, reminds me of the story of two factories built side-by-side. One is very successful and its employees take a good paycheck and the other is not so successful and its employees are economically deprived. The manager of the not-so-successful factory spends all his time striving to destroy the successful factory when he in fact should be spending his time learning and imitating the successful factory for his people to luxuriate in similar prosperity.
“If some of the Palestinians are not willing to learn, we Syrians want to learn and imitate.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Islamists Rocket Power Station in North Lebanon” (Reuters)
“Al-Qaeda-inspired militants battling the Lebanese army for more than 10 weeks hit a main power station in north Lebanon with Katyusha rockets on Thursday, disrupting electricity supplies to a wide area. Security sources said Fatah al-Islam militants, holed up in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, fired half a dozen rockets at the Deir Amar power station. At least two rockets hit the plant. In Beirut, military experts defused a Katyusha rocket wired to a timer near the Sabra Palestinian refugee camp. ” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
Department of Paranoia
“Powerful Political Blog Attracts Israel Hate Posts” - Robert Goldberg (Washington Times)
“Eyal Rosenberg resigned as a diarist for the powerful political blog DailyKos on May 9 after ‘all the Israel Hate spewing out of one too many diaries around here.’
“As he wrote in his last post: ‘Reading these past months on dkos has led me to believe that people here, under the 'progressive' banner, support views that end up in one place: Me dead.’
“Recently, a DailyKos diarist suggested ‘gassing Joe Lieberman like a dog.’
“Rosenberg notes that the anti-Semitic attacks are not ‘isolated.’ In his brief time as a diarist (several months), he counted 5,000 Israel or Jewish references in the DailyKos. That's about 23 posts on Jews or Israel a day, most negative.
“This past spring, one of the site's diarists posted an image that morphs the face of Israel's minister of strategic affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, with that of Adolf Hitler's shown holding a skull painted with a Star of David, under the caption ‘Zionism was and remains a racist ideology.’
“There are thousands of posts blaming Israel for all the terror and conflict in the Middle East.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“New Voices in the Arab World” - David Govrin (Ha'aretz)
“In the context of the spread of Islamic radicalism in the region, the Sunni regimes are seeing Israel more and more as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Nevertheless, there is a gap between the Arab rulers who are interested in advancing a regional initiative with Israel, even without formal recognition of it, and public opinion. The Islamic circles and the secular Arab nationalist elements alike are drawing encouragement from the Lebanon War, from what is perceived as the U.S.' failure in Iraq, and from the Iranian policy of challenging the West, and are acting to advance the strategy of ‘resistance’ to Israel.
“Yet it is precisely in these circumstances that voices in the Arab world are being heard against the ‘resistance’ school, the culture of death, and the cult of hatred. The liberal circles in the Arab countries understand very well that radical elements must not be allowed to dictate the agenda and the values of Arab society. It appears that these circles are expecting recognition and help from the Western countries and Israel, since only a joint struggle will enable the creation of conditions for dialogue, reconciliation, and stability in the Middle East.
“The writer is the director of the Islam department at the diplomatic planning division of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Arabs on the Fence” - Editorial (Jerusalem Post)
“The Arab states, not the Palestinians, we must remember, created the Arab-Israeli conflict. These states played a major role in tipping the scales toward radical Palestinians before Israel's establishment, invaded Israel in 1948, and created the PLO in 1964, when Gaza, Judea and Samaria were held by Egypt and Jordan. For the last 60 years, including during the heyday of the peace process in the mid-1990s, most Arab states have continued to wage diplomatic warfare against Israel, maintaining their trade and diplomatic boycotts.
“The Arab states cannot have it both ways. They cannot urge the U.S. to act while barely lifting a finger to remove impediments to action that are largely of their own making and certainly within their power to ameliorate. The Saudis and other Arab states can take serious steps to dismantle the monster they created and continue to feed: the Arab-Israeli conflict. Attending a conference would be nice, but it is substance that matters. The key substantive things they can do is to stop their diplomatic warfare against Israel, drop their illegal trade boycotts, combat the rampant anti-Semitism in their countries, and start openly breaking it to the Palestinians that their ‘right of return’ can only be to a future state of Palestine, not to Israel.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Why Are We So Scared of Offending Muslims?” - Christopher Hitchens (Slate)
“As one who has occasionally challenged Islamic propaganda in public and been told that I have thereby ‘insulted 1.5 billion Muslims,’ I can say what I suspect - which is that there is an unmistakable note of menace behind that claim. No, I do not think for a moment that Mohammed took a ‘night journey’ to Jerusalem on a winged horse. And I do not care if 10 billion people intone the contrary. Nor should I have to. But the plain fact is that the believable threat of violence undergirds the Muslim demand for ‘respect.’
“Islamists are the current leaders in the global book-burning competition. After the rumor of a Koran down the toilet in Guantanamo was irresponsibly spread, a mob in Afghanistan burned down an ancient library that (as President Hamid Karzai pointed out dryly) contained several ancient copies of the same book.
“The enemies of intolerance cannot be tolerant, or neutral, without inviting their own suicide. And the advocates and apologists of bigotry and censorship and suicide-assassination cannot be permitted to take shelter any longer under the umbrella of a pluralism that they openly seek to destroy.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Cebu, Philippines - Dancing prisoners: Convicted murderers, drug dealers, and rapists are keeping fit in a Philippine prison by dancing in formation to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ Security consultant Byron Garcia started teaching the dance routines last year as a way of encouraging the men to exercise. Now, hundreds of dancers in orange jumpsuits perform the ‘zombie dance’ twice a day. Other prisoners prefer to don nuns’ habits, which are provided by the authorities, and do a number from the Whoopi Goldberg film Sister Act. Footage of the prison-yard performances has become popular on Youtube.com. Garcia said the dancing has had a positive effect on morale and discipline. ‘Three years ago, these inmates were very unruly,’ he told Al Jazeera.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Murmansk, Russia - Sent to the madhouse: Russian authorities committed a prominent opposition activist to a psychiatric clinic this week, after she wrote an article alleging child abuse in a local hospital. Larisa Arap is a member of the United Civil Front, a pro-democracy group led by former chess champ Garry Kasparov. Friends and colleagues said she exhibited no signs of mental illness. They said police showed up at a doctor’s office where Arap was having a routine exam and shoved her into an ambulance. ‘This smacks of the Soviet-era practice of locking dissidents in psychiatric clinics,’ said fellow activist Marina Litvinovich. In the 1960s, Soviet authorities forced hundreds of dissidents to undergo ‘re-education’ in mental hospitals.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“We are the astrophysicists of the world ...” - Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, is on track to earn a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Imperial College London. May recently finished his thesis, Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, and will defend it after completing some final observations at an observatory in Spain. May, 60, had been a serious student in the 1970s, but abandoned his studies of astrophysics when Queen hit the big time. He returned to school after being awarded an honorary doctorate in 2002. ‘It was unfinished business,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want an honorary Ph.D. I wanted the real thing that I worked for.’” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News
According to BBC News, “Beginning in August, Wal-Mart will carry a full line of ‘faith-based toys.’ The ‘Tales of Glory’ line included a 12-inch Jesus action figure that quotes Scripture.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places, Business Section
“Telecom: Qwest CEO to do time - Former Qwest Communications International CEO Joseph Nacchio last seek was sentenced to six years in prison for insider trading, said David Voreacos in Bloomberg News. Nacchio was convicted of selling $52 million of Qwest stock after receiving advance word that the former telecommunications highflier would miss revenue targets. Nacchio, 58, ‘sold shares at the start of an accounting scandal that nearly bankrupted Denver-based Qwest.’ When imposing sentence, Judge Edward Nattingham said Nacchio was guilty of ‘crimes of overarching greed.’” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“One recent World Bank report found that 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities were in China; and a draft version of another puts the total economic cost of outdoor air and water pollution at around $100 billion a year, or 5.8% of China’s GDP. By some estimates, China has now overtaken America to become the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases” (Source: The Economist, July 21, 2007)
“Thanks largely to tougher sentencing, the number of prisoners in America exploded from 500,000 in 1980 to 2.3m in 2006. Although the rising ratio of prisoners to the general population has been levelling off since 2000, the absolute number is still growing steadily ...” (Source: The Economist, July 28, 2007)
According to The New Yorker, “In 2001, spam accounted for 5 percent of Internet traffic. Today, it’s often 90 percent--a total of 100 billion unsolicited commercial messages everyday” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
“In the next five years, 1.4 million Americans will see their mortgage payments more than double, said Amanda Gengler in Money, Already, half a million homeowners are 90 days behind on their payments.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007 [excerpted])
The Beverage Abusers of America Salute The People’s Republic of China - According to The Wall Street Journal, “China accounts for 73 percent of the world’s beer consumption.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Turns His Back on Jihad” Donna Abu-Nasr (AP/Washington Post)
“Ahmed al-Shayea suffered severe burns from the truck bomb he had driven into Baghdad on Christmas Day, 2004.
“Interviewed in Riyadh following his repatriation from Iraq, al-Shayea says he has changed his mind about waging jihad, or holy war, and wants other young Muslims to know it.
“He wants them to see his disfigured face and fingerless hands, and to hear how he was tricked into driving the truck on a fatal mission.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 30, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Aims to Capitalize on Intelligence Gains from Gaza Takeover” - Cam Simpson and Neil King Jr. (Wall Street Journal)
“When Hamas conquered Gaza in June, it seized an intelligence-and-military infrastructure created with U.S. help. According to Israeli and U.S. intelligence personnel and Palestinian officials, Hamas has increased its inventory of arms since the takeover of Gaza and picked up technical expertise - such as espionage techniques - that could assist the group in its fight against Israel or Fatah.
“Hamas leaders say they acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing intelligence information gathered by Fatah. For more than a decade, Fatah operated a vast intelligence network in Gaza established under the tutelage of the CIA.
“Former U.S. intelligence officials, including some who have worked closely with the Palestinians, said there was ample reason to worry that Hamas has acquired access to important spying technology as well as intelligence information that could be helpful to Hamas in countering Israeli and U.S. efforts against the group.
“Close ties between Hamas and Iran and Syria also mean that intelligence-and-spying techniques could be shared with those countries as well. As the White House prepares to lead an international effort to bolster Fatah's security apparatus in the West Bank, the losses in Gaza stand as an example of how efforts to help Fatah can backfire.
“Former intelligence officials confirmed that the U.S. gave Fatah-controlled services sophisticated intelligence-gathering equipment, including eavesdropping technology. This kind of technology can include devices used for intercepting radio, microwave and telephone communications and telemetry technology that allows the user to pinpoint the location of someone holding a cellphone.
“‘The United States invested a lot of effort in setting up this system in Gaza - construction, equipment, training...the logistics, the transportation. It was a big operation, and it's now in the hands of the other side,’ said Efraim Halevy, who formerly headed the Mossad, Israel's foreign-intelligence agency.
“Avi Dichter, Israel's public-security minister and the former head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence-and-counterterrorism agency, said Hamas gained roughly the same number of weapons during a few days that it would have taken the group nearly a year to amass from smuggling operations.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 30, 2007)
*****
“Arming the Arabs” Ron Ben-Yishai (Ynet News)
“It should be noted that the armies of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt will be completely dependent on American experts. The more sophisticated the weapons are, the more difficult it is to maintain and operate them. It would be enough for the Americans to have control over several critical electronic components in the homing mechanisms and fuses of satellite-guided ‘smart bombs’ and other items in order to neutralize a significant part of the danger they pose to Israel.”” (Source: Daily Alert, July 31, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah officer: ‘We would've given up’
“‘The cease-fire acted as a life jacket for the organization [at the end of the Second Lebanon War],’ a Hizbullah officer said in an interview aired by Channel 10 on Tuesday.
“In the interview, the unnamed officer said Hizbullah gunmen would have surrendered if the fighting last summer had continued for another 10 days.
“His statement sharply contrasted with those made by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on several occasions since the monthlong war.
“At the end of the war, Nasrallah said his organization had gained a ‘divine victory.’
“The officer shown on Channel 10 said the organization's gunmen had been running low on food and water and facing rapidly diminishing arms supplies.
“The officer also said that many Hizbullah commanders were ordered to hide before the war started, and that the gunmen who remained were forced to fire Katyusha rockets from inside urban populations because of the IDF's efficiency in destroying launchers minutes after a launch had been detected.
“He said that when the gunmen relocated to cities and villages, they knew innocent civilians would be hurt as a consequence.
“The quick arrival of IAF jets at rocket-launch sites, sometimes only four to five minutes after a Katyusha was fired, ‘surprised’ Hizbullah, the officer said.” (Source: Jerusalem Post, July 31, 2007)
*****
“Russia ‘Downgrades’ Relationship with Hamas” - Andrew E. Kramer (AP/International Herald Tribune)
“‘Recently, we have somewhat downgraded the level of contacts with Hamas,’ said Andrei Denisov, a first deputy foreign minister, after PA Chairman Abbas met with President Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.
“Russia is the only member of the Quartet of international mediators that recognizes Hamas.
“Denisov said future Russian contact with Hamas would be more ‘pragmatic’ and focused on pressuring the group to accept Abbas' authority.
“In his comments, Putin told Abbas, ‘we will support you as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people.’
“Russian officials said they would provide 50 armored personnel carriers to Abbas' government.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 1, 2007)
*****
“Academics Oppose Israel Boycott” (BBC News)
“More than 10,000 academics, including 32 Nobel prize winners, have signed a declaration saying they would not join any project which barred Israelis. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who drafted the statement for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), said that should the UK's University and College Union ‘go forward with a boycott of Israeli academics and institutions, the end result will be a self-inflicted wound on British academia.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 1, 2007)
*****
“Israeli Innovation to Bring Power to California”
“An Israeli company is doing its part to help Americans develop renewable, environmentally-friendly energy—and at the same time reduce dependence on oil, the website Israel21c.org reported. Beit Shemesh-based Solel has announced that it has signed a contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to build the world's largest solar plant in California's Mojave Desert. ‘Our proven solar technology means Solel can economically turn the energy of the warm California sun into clean power for the state's homes and businesses,’ said CEO Avi Brenmiller. The project will deliver 553 megawatts of solar power—enough to power 400,000 homes—to PG&E's customers in northern and central California.” (Source: AIPAC Update, August 1, 2007)
*****
“New England Methodists Weigh Divestment from Israel” - Michael Paulson (Boston Globe)
“The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church is advising congregations and individuals to divest their holdings from a wide variety of American corporations doing business with Israel. The action is giving new energy to the divestment movement, which had lost steam in other mainline Protestant denominations. In June, after two years of research, a committee released a list of 20 companies from which it recommends divestment, including Blockbuster, Boeing, General Electric, Raytheon and Volvo. Blockbuster was criticized for maintaining video rental kiosks in Israeli settlements.
“Leading Jewish organizations argue that divestment is not appropriate because Israel is unable to work with a Palestinian government that is associated with terrorism. Among the individuals who are not supporting the action is Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference. ‘I believe we ought to be continuing in conversation with the Israeli leadership, as well as the Palestinian leadership, and trying to be evenhanded in our call for justice,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Syria Plans War of Attrition in the Golan Heights” - Smadar Peri (Ynet News)
“Syria has threatened to begin a war of attrition in the Golan Heights if Israel continues to reject Damascus' overtures.
“In recent days Israel has received reports of increased Syrian presence on its side of the Golan Heights in preparation for a possible war.
“During the past year the Syrian government has encouraged settlement in the region, including many army officers who had lost their jobs following Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005. Should a military conflict erupt, these officers are expected to spearhead the acts of attrition against Israel.
“Such a confrontation would also divert global attention from the international tribunal investigating Damascus' responsibility for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
“On Wednesday Assad said Syria was ‘determined to retrieve every grain of land in the Golan Heights. We are stronger than we have been in the past.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad Clash in Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
“One Hamas man was killed and six Islamic Jihad members wounded Wednesday after the Hamas militia fired a rocket at a house in Gaza City and traded fire with Islamic Jihad militants inside for several hours. Hamas said in a statement that the Islamic Jihad militants were ordered to hand over their weapons but failed to do so. The incident is an indication of growing animosity between the two extremist Islamic groups, now that their common enemy, Fatah, has been vanquished.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“West Bank Scholars Push for Spiritual Reply to Hamas Extremism” - Joshua Mitnick (Christian Science Monitor)
“As Fatah struggles to contain the spread of Hamas in the West Bank, some Palestinians are pushing for an Islamic critique to compete with the militant brand of religion practiced by the new rulers of Gaza. Some advocate a liberal brand of Islamic politics that would support territorial compromise, while those with a strict interpretation of the Koran are attacking Hamas for straying too far by mixing religion and politics. But most agree that any challenge to Hamas must include a new spiritual formula.
“The recent dominance of Islamic politics in Palestinian life is part of a pan-Arab trend in which religious parties have become the main opposition to regimes perceived as corrupt and undemocratic, says Hanna Siniora, codirector of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information in Jerusalem. ‘Thirty or 40 years ago, it was fashionable to be leftist and socialist. Now it is becoming fashionable in the Arab world to be an Islamist,’ he said.
“Recognizing Palestinian society's traditionalist leanings, Mohammed Dajani, a political science professor at Al Quds University, argues that the only way to challenge Hamas is by setting up a separate religious party that will push interpretations of Islam that back non-violence and tolerance. Dajani named his party Wasatia - a term used in the Koran that means moderation. ‘What we want to do is change the culture of the people,’ he says. ‘Our goal is to teach youth that suicide bombing is not Islam.’” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Syrian Muslim: Why I Admire Israel” - Farid Ghadry (Reform Party of Syria)
“As a businessman and an advocate of the free economic system of governance, Israel to me represents an astounding economic success in the midst of so many Arab failures. Israel has, in less than 60 years, built an economy ten times that of Syria with one-fifth the population.
“I do not know of any Western investment company that has bought shares in Arab public companies except for the lucrative cellular business, which are unmanageable without Western know-how and equipment. It will certainly not happen to any of the countries surrounding Israel any time soon (with maybe the exception of Jordan) as long as self-empowerment is absent.
“The assertion made today by the likes of the ignorant Ahmadinejad, who aspires to wipe Israel off the map, and the violent Hamas, some members of which covet throwing the Jews into the sea, reminds me of the story of two factories built side-by-side. One is very successful and its employees take a good paycheck and the other is not so successful and its employees are economically deprived. The manager of the not-so-successful factory spends all his time striving to destroy the successful factory when he in fact should be spending his time learning and imitating the successful factory for his people to luxuriate in similar prosperity.
“If some of the Palestinians are not willing to learn, we Syrians want to learn and imitate.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 2, 2007)
*****
“Islamists Rocket Power Station in North Lebanon” (Reuters)
“Al-Qaeda-inspired militants battling the Lebanese army for more than 10 weeks hit a main power station in north Lebanon with Katyusha rockets on Thursday, disrupting electricity supplies to a wide area. Security sources said Fatah al-Islam militants, holed up in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, fired half a dozen rockets at the Deir Amar power station. At least two rockets hit the plant. In Beirut, military experts defused a Katyusha rocket wired to a timer near the Sabra Palestinian refugee camp. ” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
Department of Paranoia
“Powerful Political Blog Attracts Israel Hate Posts” - Robert Goldberg (Washington Times)
“Eyal Rosenberg resigned as a diarist for the powerful political blog DailyKos on May 9 after ‘all the Israel Hate spewing out of one too many diaries around here.’
“As he wrote in his last post: ‘Reading these past months on dkos has led me to believe that people here, under the 'progressive' banner, support views that end up in one place: Me dead.’
“Recently, a DailyKos diarist suggested ‘gassing Joe Lieberman like a dog.’
“Rosenberg notes that the anti-Semitic attacks are not ‘isolated.’ In his brief time as a diarist (several months), he counted 5,000 Israel or Jewish references in the DailyKos. That's about 23 posts on Jews or Israel a day, most negative.
“This past spring, one of the site's diarists posted an image that morphs the face of Israel's minister of strategic affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, with that of Adolf Hitler's shown holding a skull painted with a Star of David, under the caption ‘Zionism was and remains a racist ideology.’
“There are thousands of posts blaming Israel for all the terror and conflict in the Middle East.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“New Voices in the Arab World” - David Govrin (Ha'aretz)
“In the context of the spread of Islamic radicalism in the region, the Sunni regimes are seeing Israel more and more as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Nevertheless, there is a gap between the Arab rulers who are interested in advancing a regional initiative with Israel, even without formal recognition of it, and public opinion. The Islamic circles and the secular Arab nationalist elements alike are drawing encouragement from the Lebanon War, from what is perceived as the U.S.' failure in Iraq, and from the Iranian policy of challenging the West, and are acting to advance the strategy of ‘resistance’ to Israel.
“Yet it is precisely in these circumstances that voices in the Arab world are being heard against the ‘resistance’ school, the culture of death, and the cult of hatred. The liberal circles in the Arab countries understand very well that radical elements must not be allowed to dictate the agenda and the values of Arab society. It appears that these circles are expecting recognition and help from the Western countries and Israel, since only a joint struggle will enable the creation of conditions for dialogue, reconciliation, and stability in the Middle East.
“The writer is the director of the Islam department at the diplomatic planning division of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Arabs on the Fence” - Editorial (Jerusalem Post)
“The Arab states, not the Palestinians, we must remember, created the Arab-Israeli conflict. These states played a major role in tipping the scales toward radical Palestinians before Israel's establishment, invaded Israel in 1948, and created the PLO in 1964, when Gaza, Judea and Samaria were held by Egypt and Jordan. For the last 60 years, including during the heyday of the peace process in the mid-1990s, most Arab states have continued to wage diplomatic warfare against Israel, maintaining their trade and diplomatic boycotts.
“The Arab states cannot have it both ways. They cannot urge the U.S. to act while barely lifting a finger to remove impediments to action that are largely of their own making and certainly within their power to ameliorate. The Saudis and other Arab states can take serious steps to dismantle the monster they created and continue to feed: the Arab-Israeli conflict. Attending a conference would be nice, but it is substance that matters. The key substantive things they can do is to stop their diplomatic warfare against Israel, drop their illegal trade boycotts, combat the rampant anti-Semitism in their countries, and start openly breaking it to the Palestinians that their ‘right of return’ can only be to a future state of Palestine, not to Israel.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Why Are We So Scared of Offending Muslims?” - Christopher Hitchens (Slate)
“As one who has occasionally challenged Islamic propaganda in public and been told that I have thereby ‘insulted 1.5 billion Muslims,’ I can say what I suspect - which is that there is an unmistakable note of menace behind that claim. No, I do not think for a moment that Mohammed took a ‘night journey’ to Jerusalem on a winged horse. And I do not care if 10 billion people intone the contrary. Nor should I have to. But the plain fact is that the believable threat of violence undergirds the Muslim demand for ‘respect.’
“Islamists are the current leaders in the global book-burning competition. After the rumor of a Koran down the toilet in Guantanamo was irresponsibly spread, a mob in Afghanistan burned down an ancient library that (as President Hamid Karzai pointed out dryly) contained several ancient copies of the same book.
“The enemies of intolerance cannot be tolerant, or neutral, without inviting their own suicide. And the advocates and apologists of bigotry and censorship and suicide-assassination cannot be permitted to take shelter any longer under the umbrella of a pluralism that they openly seek to destroy.” (Source: Daily Alert, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Cebu, Philippines - Dancing prisoners: Convicted murderers, drug dealers, and rapists are keeping fit in a Philippine prison by dancing in formation to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ Security consultant Byron Garcia started teaching the dance routines last year as a way of encouraging the men to exercise. Now, hundreds of dancers in orange jumpsuits perform the ‘zombie dance’ twice a day. Other prisoners prefer to don nuns’ habits, which are provided by the authorities, and do a number from the Whoopi Goldberg film Sister Act. Footage of the prison-yard performances has become popular on Youtube.com. Garcia said the dancing has had a positive effect on morale and discipline. ‘Three years ago, these inmates were very unruly,’ he told Al Jazeera.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“Murmansk, Russia - Sent to the madhouse: Russian authorities committed a prominent opposition activist to a psychiatric clinic this week, after she wrote an article alleging child abuse in a local hospital. Larisa Arap is a member of the United Civil Front, a pro-democracy group led by former chess champ Garry Kasparov. Friends and colleagues said she exhibited no signs of mental illness. They said police showed up at a doctor’s office where Arap was having a routine exam and shoved her into an ambulance. ‘This smacks of the Soviet-era practice of locking dissidents in psychiatric clinics,’ said fellow activist Marina Litvinovich. In the 1960s, Soviet authorities forced hundreds of dissidents to undergo ‘re-education’ in mental hospitals.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
“We are the astrophysicists of the world ...” - Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, is on track to earn a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Imperial College London. May recently finished his thesis, Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, and will defend it after completing some final observations at an observatory in Spain. May, 60, had been a serious student in the 1970s, but abandoned his studies of astrophysics when Queen hit the big time. He returned to school after being awarded an honorary doctorate in 2002. ‘It was unfinished business,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want an honorary Ph.D. I wanted the real thing that I worked for.’” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News
According to BBC News, “Beginning in August, Wal-Mart will carry a full line of ‘faith-based toys.’ The ‘Tales of Glory’ line included a 12-inch Jesus action figure that quotes Scripture.” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
*****
Department of Corruption in High Places, Business Section
“Telecom: Qwest CEO to do time - Former Qwest Communications International CEO Joseph Nacchio last seek was sentenced to six years in prison for insider trading, said David Voreacos in Bloomberg News. Nacchio was convicted of selling $52 million of Qwest stock after receiving advance word that the former telecommunications highflier would miss revenue targets. Nacchio, 58, ‘sold shares at the start of an accounting scandal that nearly bankrupted Denver-based Qwest.’ When imposing sentence, Judge Edward Nattingham said Nacchio was guilty of ‘crimes of overarching greed.’” (Source: The Week, August 10, 2007)
July 29, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
July 29, 2007
Department of Statistical Information
“America now has some 40,000 [cinema] screens--a third more than a decade ago. Last year each was watched by just 100 pairs of eyes each day, on average. And most of those eyes turn up on Friday and Saturday nights.” (Source: The Economist, July 14, 2007)
According to The New York Times/CBS News/MTV, “Young Americans tend to lean more to the left. 52% of Americans between the ages of 17 and 29 say that Democrats come closer to sharing their values, compared with 36% who say Republicans do.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Of the 400 gallons of water the average family of four uses every day, about one-third go to irrigate lawns and gardens. Americans drench their yards with 7 billion gallons of water every day.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to New York Daily News, “By 2025, 25 percent of American drivers will be 5 or older, up from 14 percent in 2001.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale in the U.S., shattering the previous one-day sales record of 6.9 million copies, set by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Sales of dolls, action figures, and outdoor toys are down sharply, while electronics sales to children are up 16.6 percent in the past two years. So toymakers are combining conventional toys with electronics. Mattel’s newest Barbie doll, for instance, doubles as an MP3 player.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “One-third of the 150 U.S. oil refineries have experienced some kind of operational disruption this year, helping push gas prices up about 50 cents, to more than $3 per gallon.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade
Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia, has withdrawn from the race for nomination as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “In the first six months of 2007, Democratic candidates for the presidency, the House, and the Senate raised $388 million--$101 million more than the Republicans. It’s the first time since the government began keeping track 30 years ago that Democrats are raising more campaign cash than Republicans.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Muslim Rejection of Suicide Attacks on the Rise - Except Among Palestinians” - Harry Dunphy (Washington Times)
“Muslims around the world increasingly reject suicide bombings, according to a survey of international attitudes in 47 countries released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
“The percentage of Jordanian Muslims who have confidence in bin Laden as a world leader fell 36 points to 20% since 2003, while the proportion who say suicide bombing is sometimes or always justified dropped 20 points to 23%.
“Other countries where support for bin Laden declined are Lebanon, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait.
“But support for suicide bombings is widespread among Palestinians, the report said, with 41% asserting that such attacks are often justified while another 29% say they can sometimes be justified.
“Only 6% of Palestinians say such attacks are never justified - the smallest percentage in any Muslim public surveyed.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 25, 2007)
*****
“Israeli Arab Chosen to Manage State Hospital” - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post)
“Dr. Mas'ad Barhoom, 47, the director of the Italian Hospital in Nazareth for the last eight years, has been named the first Arab director of a state-owned hospital - Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya - one of eight state-owned hospitals in Israel.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 26, 2007)
*****
“Saudi in the Classroom” - Stanley Kurtz (National Review)
“It turns out that the system of federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East Studies (under Title VI of the Higher Education Act) has been serving as a kind of Trojan horse for Saudi influence over American K-12 education. Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies' outreach program delivers seminars that virtually promoted Islam as a religion, while sharply criticizing alleged American prejudice against the Muslim world - all at American taxpayer expense. Harvard's outreach training prompted K-12 teachers to design celebratory treatments of the life and teachings of Mohammad and the ‘revelation’ and spread of Islam, with exercises calling on students to ‘appoint imams,’ memorize Islamic principles, and act out prayer at a mosque.
“Saudi involvement with Title VI Middle East Studies centers has never been entirely secret. A volume published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Harvard's center lists funding from the Saudi-government-owned oil company Aramco among the sources of funding for the center's public outreach program.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 26, 2007)
*****
“Egyptian Author of ‘Jihadists’ Bible’ Now Says Violence Won’t Work” Ian Black (Guardian-UK)
“In a prison cell south of Cairo, a repentant Egyptian terrorist leader is putting the finishing touches to a remarkable recantation that undermines the Muslim theological basis for violent jihad. Sayid Imam al-Sharif, 57, was the founder and first emir (commander) of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, whose supporters assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. Sharif is famous as the author of the Salafi jihadists' ‘bible’ - Foundations of Preparation for Holy War. He worked with Ayman al-Zawahiri, now Bin Laden's deputy, before being kidnapped in Yemen after 9/11, interrogated by the CIA and extradited to Egypt where he has been serving a life sentence since 2004.
“Sharif recently gave an electrifying foretaste of his conversion by condemning killings on the basis of nationality and color of skin and the targeting of women and children. Egyptian and Western experts agree that Sharif's shift is both genuine and highly significant.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Senator: End UN Rights Group Funding” - Frederic J. Frommer (AP/Forbes)
“A congressional delegate to the UN is pushing for the U.S. to cut off funding for the UN Human Rights Council, saying the watchdog group's focus on Israel and failure to investigate other countries made it a ‘disaster.’
“Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said Wednesday the council ‘has essentially one issue on its agenda - Israel. You've got countries like North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe where you have state-sponsored brutality, and what we have is deafening silence.’
“The council, based in Geneva, was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission.
“Last month, the new body continued its scrutiny of Israel while halting investigations into Cuba and Belarus.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Gaza: Where Murder of Women Is Easy” - Kevin Peraino (Newsweek)
“At 10 p.m., Yehia Abu Moghaseb, a Gaza gravedigger, watched several men lift three large bundles wrapped in black plastic from the back of a car and carelessly dropped them into freshly dug pits lined with cinderblocks at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Wadi Salgah. They shoveled a few scoops of sand on top, before driving off. ‘There's no police,’ he recalled later, so Abu Moghaseb asked a neighbor to call the Hamas-controlled ‘Executive Force.’
“When a doctor tore open the black body bags, inside were three young women, two of them still in their teens. Two of the girls had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest; the third had her throat cut. Abu Moghaseb explained that the murders had been honor killings, which are becoming increasingly common in lawless Gaza. ‘There is a very clear increase in the killing of women,’ says Issam Younis, the director of Gaza City's Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
American Labor Fights Anti-Israeli Actions
[Source: The Jewish Daily Forward, July 27, 2007]
“Don’t Mourn, Organize
“As disheartening as it has been to watch the stain of anti-Israel boycott fever spreading through Great Britain’s trade union movement, the greater legacy of the episode may well be the angry rise of American labor in defense of the Jewish state.
“Two of Britain’s most influential unions, the public service union Unison and the venerable Transport and General Workers’ Union, have adopted resolutions in the past month calling for a complete boycott of Israeli goods and imports. The boycott calls come on the heels of less successful efforts in two other unions: the university teachers’ union UCU, which urged its members to ‘consider’ a boycott of Israeli academia, and the journalists’ union, which narrowly turned back a similar proposal.
“The boycott calls have aroused widespread revulsion and condemnation, from British and American Jewish agencies to the Royal Society and the European Union, not to mention Israel’s own labor movement and academic community. None of these protests, however, had much of an impact on the ideologically driven radicals who dominate British labor.
“Not so the American labor movement. When 29 top leaders of American unions issued a joint statement this week condemning the boycotts and ‘questioning the motives’ behind the singling out of Israel — ‘one country in one conflict’ out of a ‘diverse range of oppressive regimes around the world about which there is almost universal silence’ — American labor signaled that the British radicals had a real fight on their hands. It didn’t go unnoticed that the signers of the statement included the presidents of the AFL-CIO and some 25 major unions, including such giants as the steelworkers, autoworkers, teamsters, mineworkers and garment workers. It was important, too, that the signatories also included the heads of the two most important black labor organizations, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
“And it was noteworthy that the Jewish Labor Committee was able to line up such a top-tier list of union leaders on a week’s notice, a clear sign of the Jewish community’s continuing clout within the American labor movement.
“What’s most telling, though, is the fact that the labor leaders’ statement is not the end of the American counterattack against union boycotts, but the beginning. While the Jewish Labor Committee was releasing its joint statement in New York this week, leaders of the American public service unions were organizing internationally, labor leaders told the Forward, to block the campaign by the head of the British service union, one of the boycott leaders, to win the presidency of the world federation of public service unions. Meanwhile, leaders of the American Federation of Teachers were in Berlin at the fifth world congress of Education International, the world federation of teachers’ unions, derailing a plan by the British university union to promote its boycott efforts abroad. Working closely with the German unions, the American representatives appeared at press time to have stopped the British boycotters in their tracks.
“It’s been generations since Jewish community activists lost the habit of viewing organized labor as an ally, let alone an important one. Jews have grown more affluent. Unions have lost strength. Not least, Jewish leaders have gotten used to equating ‘left-wing’ with ‘anti-Israel.’
“We’ve lost sight of the fact that organized labor is not a fringe element or special interest group, but the heart of a healthy democracy. No one understands better than labor the importance of a democracy that respects the weak, downtrodden and misunderstood, that guarantees the general welfare and dispenses equal justice to all. For all those reasons, no segment of American democracy has been a more reliable friend to democratic Israel over the past six decades than the labor movement.
“It’s important to note, too, that unions are responsive to Jewish concerns at least partly because Jews continue to be an important part of the union movement. It’s little noted and rarely advertised, but even now, decades after the glory days of Jewish labor, close to 10% of the presidents of major national unions are Jewish. Some lead unions because of historical legacies of Jewish workers and of Jewish baby-boom activists. Others have risen through the ranks of unions whose members include the many thousands of American Jews who haven’t made their first million or bought their second country home: teachers, store clerks, postal workers, social workers, public servants and many, many more. These are the forgotten Jews who may not be able to afford membership on the boards of major Jewish organizations — perhaps not even to join a synagogue or Jewish community center — but who can vote in their unions and fight the good fight in their own ways.
“Most important, we forget that for all the losses American unions have suffered in strength and bargaining power over the past generation, their 13 million members remain a unique power in the world labor movement, and the single largest force for social justice and progressive values within American society.”
*****
Religion In The News
“Tehran - Saudi fatwas condemned: A group of extremist Saudi muftis this week issued fatwas calling for the destruction of the most important Shiite shrines and mosques in Iraq. Ayatollahs in Iran, a largely Shiite country, were outraged, and the Iranian government made a formal complaint to the Saudis. The fatwas could cause a ‘schism in the Islamic world,’ said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini. Iranian newspaper commentators said the muftis were playing into the hands of ‘the arrogant powers’—the U.S. and E.U.—by sowing discord among Muslims. The hard-line Iranian newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami even called for the Saudi government to ‘excise the malignant tumor of Wahhabism’ from Saudi society. The Saudi muftis who gave the fatwas belong to the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Girl talk is depressing
“Teen girls often form strong friendships by venting to one another for hours about their social problems, boys, and other anxieties. These ‘girl talk’ sessions are usually presumed to offer comfort and support. But a new study of girl talk has found that discussing problems over and over can actually make them worse. When she studied the venting sessions of 813 preteen and teenage girls, psychologist Amanda Rose found that the hours-long conversations were reinforcing their feelings, not eliminating them. ‘The more they talk about it, the more anxious and depressed they feel,’ Rose tells the Los Angeles Times. ‘Too much talk is too much of a good thing.’ In fact, by obsessing over normal problems, teens can actually drive themselves into depression, eating disorders, and other self-destructive ways of coping with their anxiety.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Department of “Leaping Into the Cesspool”
According to CNNmoney.com, “Chrysler has pulled a commercial for its Dodge Nitro SUV after protests from viewers. The ad, which carried the tag line ‘Charged with adrenaline,’ featured a dog bursting into flames after urinating on one of the Nitro’s tires.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
Since March, 2000, the Standard & Poor 500-stock index has risen 1.4%. Since 2000, the price of bread has risen 33 percent.
Department of Statistical Information
“America now has some 40,000 [cinema] screens--a third more than a decade ago. Last year each was watched by just 100 pairs of eyes each day, on average. And most of those eyes turn up on Friday and Saturday nights.” (Source: The Economist, July 14, 2007)
According to The New York Times/CBS News/MTV, “Young Americans tend to lean more to the left. 52% of Americans between the ages of 17 and 29 say that Democrats come closer to sharing their values, compared with 36% who say Republicans do.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Of the 400 gallons of water the average family of four uses every day, about one-third go to irrigate lawns and gardens. Americans drench their yards with 7 billion gallons of water every day.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to New York Daily News, “By 2025, 25 percent of American drivers will be 5 or older, up from 14 percent in 2001.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale in the U.S., shattering the previous one-day sales record of 6.9 million copies, set by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Sales of dolls, action figures, and outdoor toys are down sharply, while electronics sales to children are up 16.6 percent in the past two years. So toymakers are combining conventional toys with electronics. Mattel’s newest Barbie doll, for instance, doubles as an MP3 player.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “One-third of the 150 U.S. oil refineries have experienced some kind of operational disruption this year, helping push gas prices up about 50 cents, to more than $3 per gallon.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Politics On Parade
Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia, has withdrawn from the race for nomination as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “In the first six months of 2007, Democratic candidates for the presidency, the House, and the Senate raised $388 million--$101 million more than the Republicans. It’s the first time since the government began keeping track 30 years ago that Democrats are raising more campaign cash than Republicans.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Muslim Rejection of Suicide Attacks on the Rise - Except Among Palestinians” - Harry Dunphy (Washington Times)
“Muslims around the world increasingly reject suicide bombings, according to a survey of international attitudes in 47 countries released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
“The percentage of Jordanian Muslims who have confidence in bin Laden as a world leader fell 36 points to 20% since 2003, while the proportion who say suicide bombing is sometimes or always justified dropped 20 points to 23%.
“Other countries where support for bin Laden declined are Lebanon, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait.
“But support for suicide bombings is widespread among Palestinians, the report said, with 41% asserting that such attacks are often justified while another 29% say they can sometimes be justified.
“Only 6% of Palestinians say such attacks are never justified - the smallest percentage in any Muslim public surveyed.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 25, 2007)
*****
“Israeli Arab Chosen to Manage State Hospital” - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post)
“Dr. Mas'ad Barhoom, 47, the director of the Italian Hospital in Nazareth for the last eight years, has been named the first Arab director of a state-owned hospital - Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya - one of eight state-owned hospitals in Israel.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 26, 2007)
*****
“Saudi in the Classroom” - Stanley Kurtz (National Review)
“It turns out that the system of federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East Studies (under Title VI of the Higher Education Act) has been serving as a kind of Trojan horse for Saudi influence over American K-12 education. Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies' outreach program delivers seminars that virtually promoted Islam as a religion, while sharply criticizing alleged American prejudice against the Muslim world - all at American taxpayer expense. Harvard's outreach training prompted K-12 teachers to design celebratory treatments of the life and teachings of Mohammad and the ‘revelation’ and spread of Islam, with exercises calling on students to ‘appoint imams,’ memorize Islamic principles, and act out prayer at a mosque.
“Saudi involvement with Title VI Middle East Studies centers has never been entirely secret. A volume published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Harvard's center lists funding from the Saudi-government-owned oil company Aramco among the sources of funding for the center's public outreach program.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 26, 2007)
*****
“Egyptian Author of ‘Jihadists’ Bible’ Now Says Violence Won’t Work” Ian Black (Guardian-UK)
“In a prison cell south of Cairo, a repentant Egyptian terrorist leader is putting the finishing touches to a remarkable recantation that undermines the Muslim theological basis for violent jihad. Sayid Imam al-Sharif, 57, was the founder and first emir (commander) of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, whose supporters assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. Sharif is famous as the author of the Salafi jihadists' ‘bible’ - Foundations of Preparation for Holy War. He worked with Ayman al-Zawahiri, now Bin Laden's deputy, before being kidnapped in Yemen after 9/11, interrogated by the CIA and extradited to Egypt where he has been serving a life sentence since 2004.
“Sharif recently gave an electrifying foretaste of his conversion by condemning killings on the basis of nationality and color of skin and the targeting of women and children. Egyptian and Western experts agree that Sharif's shift is both genuine and highly significant.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Senator: End UN Rights Group Funding” - Frederic J. Frommer (AP/Forbes)
“A congressional delegate to the UN is pushing for the U.S. to cut off funding for the UN Human Rights Council, saying the watchdog group's focus on Israel and failure to investigate other countries made it a ‘disaster.’
“Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said Wednesday the council ‘has essentially one issue on its agenda - Israel. You've got countries like North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe where you have state-sponsored brutality, and what we have is deafening silence.’
“The council, based in Geneva, was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission.
“Last month, the new body continued its scrutiny of Israel while halting investigations into Cuba and Belarus.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Gaza: Where Murder of Women Is Easy” - Kevin Peraino (Newsweek)
“At 10 p.m., Yehia Abu Moghaseb, a Gaza gravedigger, watched several men lift three large bundles wrapped in black plastic from the back of a car and carelessly dropped them into freshly dug pits lined with cinderblocks at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Wadi Salgah. They shoveled a few scoops of sand on top, before driving off. ‘There's no police,’ he recalled later, so Abu Moghaseb asked a neighbor to call the Hamas-controlled ‘Executive Force.’
“When a doctor tore open the black body bags, inside were three young women, two of them still in their teens. Two of the girls had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest; the third had her throat cut. Abu Moghaseb explained that the murders had been honor killings, which are becoming increasingly common in lawless Gaza. ‘There is a very clear increase in the killing of women,’ says Issam Younis, the director of Gaza City's Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 27, 2007)
*****
American Labor Fights Anti-Israeli Actions
[Source: The Jewish Daily Forward, July 27, 2007]
“Don’t Mourn, Organize
“As disheartening as it has been to watch the stain of anti-Israel boycott fever spreading through Great Britain’s trade union movement, the greater legacy of the episode may well be the angry rise of American labor in defense of the Jewish state.
“Two of Britain’s most influential unions, the public service union Unison and the venerable Transport and General Workers’ Union, have adopted resolutions in the past month calling for a complete boycott of Israeli goods and imports. The boycott calls come on the heels of less successful efforts in two other unions: the university teachers’ union UCU, which urged its members to ‘consider’ a boycott of Israeli academia, and the journalists’ union, which narrowly turned back a similar proposal.
“The boycott calls have aroused widespread revulsion and condemnation, from British and American Jewish agencies to the Royal Society and the European Union, not to mention Israel’s own labor movement and academic community. None of these protests, however, had much of an impact on the ideologically driven radicals who dominate British labor.
“Not so the American labor movement. When 29 top leaders of American unions issued a joint statement this week condemning the boycotts and ‘questioning the motives’ behind the singling out of Israel — ‘one country in one conflict’ out of a ‘diverse range of oppressive regimes around the world about which there is almost universal silence’ — American labor signaled that the British radicals had a real fight on their hands. It didn’t go unnoticed that the signers of the statement included the presidents of the AFL-CIO and some 25 major unions, including such giants as the steelworkers, autoworkers, teamsters, mineworkers and garment workers. It was important, too, that the signatories also included the heads of the two most important black labor organizations, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
“And it was noteworthy that the Jewish Labor Committee was able to line up such a top-tier list of union leaders on a week’s notice, a clear sign of the Jewish community’s continuing clout within the American labor movement.
“What’s most telling, though, is the fact that the labor leaders’ statement is not the end of the American counterattack against union boycotts, but the beginning. While the Jewish Labor Committee was releasing its joint statement in New York this week, leaders of the American public service unions were organizing internationally, labor leaders told the Forward, to block the campaign by the head of the British service union, one of the boycott leaders, to win the presidency of the world federation of public service unions. Meanwhile, leaders of the American Federation of Teachers were in Berlin at the fifth world congress of Education International, the world federation of teachers’ unions, derailing a plan by the British university union to promote its boycott efforts abroad. Working closely with the German unions, the American representatives appeared at press time to have stopped the British boycotters in their tracks.
“It’s been generations since Jewish community activists lost the habit of viewing organized labor as an ally, let alone an important one. Jews have grown more affluent. Unions have lost strength. Not least, Jewish leaders have gotten used to equating ‘left-wing’ with ‘anti-Israel.’
“We’ve lost sight of the fact that organized labor is not a fringe element or special interest group, but the heart of a healthy democracy. No one understands better than labor the importance of a democracy that respects the weak, downtrodden and misunderstood, that guarantees the general welfare and dispenses equal justice to all. For all those reasons, no segment of American democracy has been a more reliable friend to democratic Israel over the past six decades than the labor movement.
“It’s important to note, too, that unions are responsive to Jewish concerns at least partly because Jews continue to be an important part of the union movement. It’s little noted and rarely advertised, but even now, decades after the glory days of Jewish labor, close to 10% of the presidents of major national unions are Jewish. Some lead unions because of historical legacies of Jewish workers and of Jewish baby-boom activists. Others have risen through the ranks of unions whose members include the many thousands of American Jews who haven’t made their first million or bought their second country home: teachers, store clerks, postal workers, social workers, public servants and many, many more. These are the forgotten Jews who may not be able to afford membership on the boards of major Jewish organizations — perhaps not even to join a synagogue or Jewish community center — but who can vote in their unions and fight the good fight in their own ways.
“Most important, we forget that for all the losses American unions have suffered in strength and bargaining power over the past generation, their 13 million members remain a unique power in the world labor movement, and the single largest force for social justice and progressive values within American society.”
*****
Religion In The News
“Tehran - Saudi fatwas condemned: A group of extremist Saudi muftis this week issued fatwas calling for the destruction of the most important Shiite shrines and mosques in Iraq. Ayatollahs in Iran, a largely Shiite country, were outraged, and the Iranian government made a formal complaint to the Saudis. The fatwas could cause a ‘schism in the Islamic world,’ said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini. Iranian newspaper commentators said the muftis were playing into the hands of ‘the arrogant powers’—the U.S. and E.U.—by sowing discord among Muslims. The hard-line Iranian newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami even called for the Saudi government to ‘excise the malignant tumor of Wahhabism’ from Saudi society. The Saudi muftis who gave the fatwas belong to the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
“Girl talk is depressing
“Teen girls often form strong friendships by venting to one another for hours about their social problems, boys, and other anxieties. These ‘girl talk’ sessions are usually presumed to offer comfort and support. But a new study of girl talk has found that discussing problems over and over can actually make them worse. When she studied the venting sessions of 813 preteen and teenage girls, psychologist Amanda Rose found that the hours-long conversations were reinforcing their feelings, not eliminating them. ‘The more they talk about it, the more anxious and depressed they feel,’ Rose tells the Los Angeles Times. ‘Too much talk is too much of a good thing.’ In fact, by obsessing over normal problems, teens can actually drive themselves into depression, eating disorders, and other self-destructive ways of coping with their anxiety.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Department of “Leaping Into the Cesspool”
According to CNNmoney.com, “Chrysler has pulled a commercial for its Dodge Nitro SUV after protests from viewers. The ad, which carried the tag line ‘Charged with adrenaline,’ featured a dog bursting into flames after urinating on one of the Nitro’s tires.” (Source: The Week, August 3, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
Since March, 2000, the Standard & Poor 500-stock index has risen 1.4%. Since 2000, the price of bread has risen 33 percent.
Two Interesting Articles on “The Fairness Doctrine”
.
“Let the blowhards blow
“by ‘Lexington’
“The case for keeping the airwaves unfair and unbalanced”
[Source: The Economist, July 21, 2007]
“RUSH LIMBAUGH makes an unusual martyr. He's a rich, white and often rather nasty celebrity. He has the look of a man who eats steak for breakfast. He likes to smoke huge cigars. But a martyr is exactly what he will become if some of America's most prominent politicians get their way.
“Richard Durbin, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, claims that it is time to ‘reinstitute the fairness doctrine’, referring to a federal rule, in place in 1949-87, that guaranteed ‘ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views’ on the airwaves. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee in 2004, says that the fairness doctrine ought to come back. ‘When conservatives got rid of the equal-time requirement...they've been able to squeeze down and squeeze out’ opposing views, he says. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, says that she is looking at reinstatement. Even Trent Lott, a leading Republican, is hinting at jumping on the bandwagon. ‘Talk radio is running America,’ he complained when the immigration bill went down in flames. ‘We have to deal with that problem.’
“This bandwagon needs to be stopped before it can build up any more speed. America's talk-radio hosts are a rough bunch. Mr Limbaugh is clearly a great broadcasting talent. He is also a caveman. Most of his allies and imitators are cavemen without the talent: try listening to Sean Hannity of an afternoon. And the talk-radio hosts were certainly at their xenophobic worst during the immigration debate. But none of that is a reason for formatting them out of existence. The ‘fairness doctrine’ is a hangover from a prehistoric technological era. It is an assault on free speech. And it embodies a trivial view of what makes for informative reporting. Serious politicians such as Mr Durbin and Ms Feinstein should be ashamed of themselves for digging it up.
“The fairness doctrine was introduced in a world when the airwaves were a scarce public commodity dominated by three networks. The doctrine always involved unattractive trade-offs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got into the unfortunate business of regulating political speech and constructing elaborate measures of ‘fairness’. Broadcasters were forced to accept limits on free speech that print journalists would have gagged on. Pressure groups and litigation fiends had a field day accusing radio stations of bias. Many radio stations avoided controversial subjects altogether in order to spare themselves a visit from FCC snoops.
“But these days there is no shortage of radio spectrum. America is buzzing with more than 14,000 radio stations. There is nothing to stop American liberals—or indeed communists, Trotskyites or Spartacists—from establishing their own stations. The reason why the leftist flagship Air America Radio almost ran aground last year was not because of lack of spectrum but because of lack of talent and good management.
“And radio spectrum is only the beginning of it. The years since the Reagan administration pronounced that the fairness doctrine was outdated have seen a media revolution. Not just the arrival of satellite radio and cable television—the average American TV viewer has access to 102 channels—but also the birth of blogs, podcasts, YouTube and God knows what else. Doesn't this new media world guarantee ‘ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views’? And doesn't it make the idea of regulating the airwaves in the name of a government-mandated idea of fairness seem a bit quixotic?
“The new apostles of ‘fairness’ advance two arguments in favour of going back to the past. The first is that the ownership structure of radio stations is unfair. A handful of mighty companies such as the Sinclair Broadcast Group use their market dominance to push a right-wing agenda. A report by the Centre for American Progress, a liberal think-tank, points out that the top five commercial station-owners overwhelmingly favour conservative talkers over their liberal rivals: 91% of the talk that they broadcast is conservative, compared with just 9% that is liberal.
“The NPR effect
“The problem with this argument is that talk radio represents only about 3-4% of the radio market. Mr Limbaugh, the biggest right-wing talker, draws 13.5m listeners a week. National Public Radio, which strives to be fair and balanced but leans to the left, draws 20m. The shock jocks who rule many urban markets are also vaguely leftish: Don Imus, who was dumped for his comment about ‘nappy-headed hos’ but who is reportedly planning a comeback, was almost as scathing about George Bush as he was about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The reason why the likes of Sinclair Broadcast Group have done so well out of talk radio is that they found a market niche of people who feel that their views are marginalised by mainstream radio. One reason why Air America found it hard to find talent and listeners is that most liberals are perfectly happy with NPR.
“The second argument is that people ought to be exposed to both sides of the debate. ‘I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they're in a better position to make a decision,’ says Mr Durbin. This is all very high-minded. But should the state really be in the business of regulating what political views people are exposed to? Nobody thinks that readers of the Nation should be forced to read the National Review as well.
“Whatever its problems, America does not suffer from a shortage of opinion or debate. The magazine racks of bookstores groan with political magazines. The radio waves buzz with comment from the left-wing Pacifica Radio to the far-right nutcases. Every man and his dog has a blog. The idea that the government should be hauled in to regulate a fraction of this exploding universe is absurd. No wonder Congress has an even lower approval rating than Mr Bush.”
Department of Corrections
“Correction: Sinclair Broadcast Group
“In our Lexington column of July 19th we said that Sinclair Broadcast Group used its ‘market dominance’ of the talk-radio business to push a right-wing agenda. Sinclair does not own a radio station, has not been in the radio business for almost seven years and pushes no agenda, right-wing or otherwise. We apologise.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Talk Radio
“A question of fairness
“The case for keeping the airwaves unfair and unbalanced”
[Source: The Week, August 3, 2007]
“It’s not easy to turn a mean, rich white guy like Rush Limbaugh into ‘a martyr,’ said The Economist in an editorial. But that’s just what some Democratic senators are now doing by threatening to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Back in a ‘prehistoric technological era,’ that rule required broadcasters enjoying the use of public airwaves to provide equal time for all points of view. It sounds like a laudable goal. But the Federal Communications Commission retired the doctrine in 1987, ruling that it was an unconstitutional infringement on speech. Now Democrats are pining for those good old days, when radio stations feared airing strong conservative opinions, said Kingsley Guy in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Sens. Richard Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, and John Kerry were furious that Limbaugh and other conservative radio hosts led the recent uprising against immigration ‘reform,’’ so they’re talking about requiring radio stations to be more balanced. In other words: ‘If you can’t beat ’em, shut ’em up.’
“Nobody actually expects the Fairness Doctrine to be resurrected, said Brad Kava in the San Jose Mercury News. But still, there is something fishy about the right’s domination of talk radio. A recent study by the Center for American Progress found that 91 percent of weekday talk radio shows are conservative. That’s 2,570 hours a day of ‘right-wing flapping on the airwaves,’ compared to 254 hours of liberal talk. Conservatives argue that this simply reflects audience choice, but talk radio isn’t truly a free market. A handful of conglomerates own most of the stations, and they save money by syndicating the same shows in hundreds of markets. Conveniently, the dominant voices happen to share the owners’ pro-Republican, free-market views.
“There’s a big hole in that theory, said National Review Online. Air America and several radio networks have tried liberal talk show hosts, and they bombed. The fact is that talk radio evolved as a conservative medium—a response to the dominant liberal bias found everywhere else. But since liberals ‘still largely have Hollywood, academia, The New York Times, PBS, NPR, and a network news division or two, they’ll survive.’ Isn’t it telling, said Rich Lowry, also in NRO, that the only way the left can respond to the popularity of Rush, Sean Hannity, et al., is to regulate them out of existence? The left sure has some funny ideas about the First Amendment. Apparently, it protects nude dancing, profanity, and smut on TV, but ‘doesn’t quite apply to people broadcasting conservative views.’”
“Let the blowhards blow
“by ‘Lexington’
“The case for keeping the airwaves unfair and unbalanced”
[Source: The Economist, July 21, 2007]
“RUSH LIMBAUGH makes an unusual martyr. He's a rich, white and often rather nasty celebrity. He has the look of a man who eats steak for breakfast. He likes to smoke huge cigars. But a martyr is exactly what he will become if some of America's most prominent politicians get their way.
“Richard Durbin, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, claims that it is time to ‘reinstitute the fairness doctrine’, referring to a federal rule, in place in 1949-87, that guaranteed ‘ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views’ on the airwaves. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee in 2004, says that the fairness doctrine ought to come back. ‘When conservatives got rid of the equal-time requirement...they've been able to squeeze down and squeeze out’ opposing views, he says. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, says that she is looking at reinstatement. Even Trent Lott, a leading Republican, is hinting at jumping on the bandwagon. ‘Talk radio is running America,’ he complained when the immigration bill went down in flames. ‘We have to deal with that problem.’
“This bandwagon needs to be stopped before it can build up any more speed. America's talk-radio hosts are a rough bunch. Mr Limbaugh is clearly a great broadcasting talent. He is also a caveman. Most of his allies and imitators are cavemen without the talent: try listening to Sean Hannity of an afternoon. And the talk-radio hosts were certainly at their xenophobic worst during the immigration debate. But none of that is a reason for formatting them out of existence. The ‘fairness doctrine’ is a hangover from a prehistoric technological era. It is an assault on free speech. And it embodies a trivial view of what makes for informative reporting. Serious politicians such as Mr Durbin and Ms Feinstein should be ashamed of themselves for digging it up.
“The fairness doctrine was introduced in a world when the airwaves were a scarce public commodity dominated by three networks. The doctrine always involved unattractive trade-offs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got into the unfortunate business of regulating political speech and constructing elaborate measures of ‘fairness’. Broadcasters were forced to accept limits on free speech that print journalists would have gagged on. Pressure groups and litigation fiends had a field day accusing radio stations of bias. Many radio stations avoided controversial subjects altogether in order to spare themselves a visit from FCC snoops.
“But these days there is no shortage of radio spectrum. America is buzzing with more than 14,000 radio stations. There is nothing to stop American liberals—or indeed communists, Trotskyites or Spartacists—from establishing their own stations. The reason why the leftist flagship Air America Radio almost ran aground last year was not because of lack of spectrum but because of lack of talent and good management.
“And radio spectrum is only the beginning of it. The years since the Reagan administration pronounced that the fairness doctrine was outdated have seen a media revolution. Not just the arrival of satellite radio and cable television—the average American TV viewer has access to 102 channels—but also the birth of blogs, podcasts, YouTube and God knows what else. Doesn't this new media world guarantee ‘ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views’? And doesn't it make the idea of regulating the airwaves in the name of a government-mandated idea of fairness seem a bit quixotic?
“The new apostles of ‘fairness’ advance two arguments in favour of going back to the past. The first is that the ownership structure of radio stations is unfair. A handful of mighty companies such as the Sinclair Broadcast Group use their market dominance to push a right-wing agenda. A report by the Centre for American Progress, a liberal think-tank, points out that the top five commercial station-owners overwhelmingly favour conservative talkers over their liberal rivals: 91% of the talk that they broadcast is conservative, compared with just 9% that is liberal.
“The NPR effect
“The problem with this argument is that talk radio represents only about 3-4% of the radio market. Mr Limbaugh, the biggest right-wing talker, draws 13.5m listeners a week. National Public Radio, which strives to be fair and balanced but leans to the left, draws 20m. The shock jocks who rule many urban markets are also vaguely leftish: Don Imus, who was dumped for his comment about ‘nappy-headed hos’ but who is reportedly planning a comeback, was almost as scathing about George Bush as he was about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The reason why the likes of Sinclair Broadcast Group have done so well out of talk radio is that they found a market niche of people who feel that their views are marginalised by mainstream radio. One reason why Air America found it hard to find talent and listeners is that most liberals are perfectly happy with NPR.
“The second argument is that people ought to be exposed to both sides of the debate. ‘I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they're in a better position to make a decision,’ says Mr Durbin. This is all very high-minded. But should the state really be in the business of regulating what political views people are exposed to? Nobody thinks that readers of the Nation should be forced to read the National Review as well.
“Whatever its problems, America does not suffer from a shortage of opinion or debate. The magazine racks of bookstores groan with political magazines. The radio waves buzz with comment from the left-wing Pacifica Radio to the far-right nutcases. Every man and his dog has a blog. The idea that the government should be hauled in to regulate a fraction of this exploding universe is absurd. No wonder Congress has an even lower approval rating than Mr Bush.”
Department of Corrections
“Correction: Sinclair Broadcast Group
“In our Lexington column of July 19th we said that Sinclair Broadcast Group used its ‘market dominance’ of the talk-radio business to push a right-wing agenda. Sinclair does not own a radio station, has not been in the radio business for almost seven years and pushes no agenda, right-wing or otherwise. We apologise.” (Source: The Economist, August 4, 2007)
*****
“Talk Radio
“A question of fairness
“The case for keeping the airwaves unfair and unbalanced”
[Source: The Week, August 3, 2007]
“It’s not easy to turn a mean, rich white guy like Rush Limbaugh into ‘a martyr,’ said The Economist in an editorial. But that’s just what some Democratic senators are now doing by threatening to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Back in a ‘prehistoric technological era,’ that rule required broadcasters enjoying the use of public airwaves to provide equal time for all points of view. It sounds like a laudable goal. But the Federal Communications Commission retired the doctrine in 1987, ruling that it was an unconstitutional infringement on speech. Now Democrats are pining for those good old days, when radio stations feared airing strong conservative opinions, said Kingsley Guy in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Sens. Richard Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, and John Kerry were furious that Limbaugh and other conservative radio hosts led the recent uprising against immigration ‘reform,’’ so they’re talking about requiring radio stations to be more balanced. In other words: ‘If you can’t beat ’em, shut ’em up.’
“Nobody actually expects the Fairness Doctrine to be resurrected, said Brad Kava in the San Jose Mercury News. But still, there is something fishy about the right’s domination of talk radio. A recent study by the Center for American Progress found that 91 percent of weekday talk radio shows are conservative. That’s 2,570 hours a day of ‘right-wing flapping on the airwaves,’ compared to 254 hours of liberal talk. Conservatives argue that this simply reflects audience choice, but talk radio isn’t truly a free market. A handful of conglomerates own most of the stations, and they save money by syndicating the same shows in hundreds of markets. Conveniently, the dominant voices happen to share the owners’ pro-Republican, free-market views.
“There’s a big hole in that theory, said National Review Online. Air America and several radio networks have tried liberal talk show hosts, and they bombed. The fact is that talk radio evolved as a conservative medium—a response to the dominant liberal bias found everywhere else. But since liberals ‘still largely have Hollywood, academia, The New York Times, PBS, NPR, and a network news division or two, they’ll survive.’ Isn’t it telling, said Rich Lowry, also in NRO, that the only way the left can respond to the popularity of Rush, Sean Hannity, et al., is to regulate them out of existence? The left sure has some funny ideas about the First Amendment. Apparently, it protects nude dancing, profanity, and smut on TV, but ‘doesn’t quite apply to people broadcasting conservative views.’”
July 22, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
July 22, 2007
Department of “What Are You Talking About? - Senator Barak Obama (Dem., Ill.
According to an Associated Press story by Philip Elliot that was published on July 21, “Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.” Under a 1948 international convention to prevent acts of genocide, the U.S. is obligated to take action to prevent genocide.
And in a related matter, remember this Golden Oldie that was posted on April 29?
Department of “What Are You Talking About? - Congressman John Murtha”
“... Democratic war critic Rep. John Murtha continued his push for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by labeling the violence there ‘genocide,’ apparently unaware that the United States is obligated by a 1948 international convention to prevent acts of genocide.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, April 9, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“Chrysler signed a partnership deal with Chery, a Chinese carmaker, which will produce Chinese-made cars (under the Chrysler brand) for export to the United States. American carmakers have a strong presence in China's domestic market.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Banks last year collected $17.5 billion in fees from customers who had overdrawn their bank accounts. The fees--charged when banks cover the overdraft rather than denying it--are up 70 percent from $10.3 billion in 2004.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
According to Fortune, “Wal-Mart, with $351 billion in 2006 revenue, edged past ExxonMobil in the Fortune 500 to reclaim the title of world’s biggest company. Exxon remains the most profitable, with earnings of $39.5 billion on $347 billion in revenue.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“Detroit's big three carmakers reported a steep drop in sales in the United States. General Motors fared the worst, losing more market share and recording a 24% fall in vehicle sales in June compared with the same month last year.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Out-of-wedlock births in the U.S. have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, the federal government reported. The increase occurred among all racial groups and was most dramatic among women in their 20s.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The U.S. last year imported $5.3 million worth of American flags manufactured in other countries.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research, “Only 35% of registered voters say America is ready to elect a Mormon as president. 48% say the country isn’t ready.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Fifty-seven percent of Toyota Prius owners said they bought the gas-saving hybrid because ‘it makes a statement about me.’ Only 36 percent cited higher fuel economy as a top reason for buying the car.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research, “64% of Americans say that President Bush’s ‘surge’ of additional troops in Iraq has failed. 22% call it a success.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Arabs Pile into Darfur to Take Land ‘Cleansed’ by Janjaweed” - Steve Bloomfield (Independent-UK)
“Up to 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger have crossed into Darfur in the past two months, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war-ravaged region. The Arabs, who arrived with all their belongings and large flocks, were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces. The arrivals have been issued official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship. Analysts say the Sudanese government is making it ‘virtually impossible’ for displaced people to return home.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“Iran Locked On to 600 Targets in Israel” (Israel Today)
“Iran has marked 600 targets for its long-range missiles inside Israel, the Qatari newspaper Al Watan reported on Sunday.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“Bee Replaces Mouse on Hamas TV to Teach Kids Martyrdon and Jihad” (New York Times)
“Hamas television, which was criticized for a Mickey Mouse-like character named Farfur who spouted anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish nostrums at children, has replaced the mouse with a bee named Nahoul, who says he is Farfur's cousin.
“Nahoul, the bee, says: ‘I want to continue on the path of Farfur, the path of 'Islam is the solution.' The path of heroism, the path of martyrdom, the path of jihad warriors.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
(Refer to “Obituary: Farfour Mouse”, posted on July 2, 2007. In case you don’t recall the sad death of Farfour Mouse aka Farfur Mouse, he was beaten to death by an Israeli official who was trying to buy his land. Also refer to “WHO’S THE LEADER OF THE CLUB THAT’S MADE FOR YOU AND ME? J-I-H -- A-D-I -- M-O-U-S-E!”, posted on May 13, 2007.
(Paraphrasing H.G. Wells (writing about Napoleon : This stuff “... would be purely comic if it were not caked over with human blood.”)
*****
“Hamas-Allied Fatah Forces in Gaza” - Steve Erlanger (New York Times)
“Palestinians never used to do these things to one another. Putting bullets in the back of the heads of men on their knees. Shooting up hospitals. Killing patients. Knee-capping doctors. Executing clerics. Throwing handcuffed prisoners to their deaths from Gaza's highest apartment buildings. Hamas claimed it was fighting infidels, with a holy sanction to kill. Poor young men, their heads filled with religious slogans and revolutionary cant, took off their black masks to pose in front of the gilded bathrooms of the once-powerful and rich men of Fatah. Then they stole the sinks, toilets, tiles and pipes.
“Khaled Abu Hilal, 39, is an ex-Fatah man now associated with Hamas in Gaza. Two weeks after Hamas pulled Fatah down in early June, Hilal announced he would lead a new Fatah movement and military force in Gaza, allied with Hamas, called Fatah al-Yasir. The major mistake of Arafat and Fatah was to accept the Oslo accords, Hilal says. Hilal brought with him, he told me, 1,000 members of the Fatah-affiliated Aksa and Abu Rish Brigades. (The Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, confirmed this information to me.) Israel is now confronted with a dilemma. There is a hostile entity on its southern border, run by an armed group that is committed to fighting Israel and is opposed to its existence. Should Israel now let a Gazan Hamastan grow?” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande” - Brian Ross (ABC News)
“The FBI is investigating a human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that has been bringing ‘Iraqis and other Middle Eastern’ individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico for more than a year.
“An FBI report issued last week says the smuggling organization ‘used to smuggle Mexicans, but decided to smuggle Iraqi or other Middle Eastern individuals because it was more lucrative.’ Each individual paid $20,000 to $25,000.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 18, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Lacking a Coherent Body Politic” - Shlomo Avineri (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Palestinians see their history as one of struggle against Zionism and Israel. But the reality is more complicated, and marked by repeated failures to create a coherent body politic, even when historical opportunities beckoned.
“In the 1920s, the British Mandatory government in Palestine encouraged the two national communities - Jewish and Arab - to establish communal institutions of self-government to look after education, welfare, housing, and local administration. The Jews set up a National Committee, based on an elected body, the Representative Assembly of Palestinian Jews. Regular elections took place, sometimes with more than a dozen parties competing.
“The Palestinians, however, never created similar embryonic state structures: an Arab Higher Committee was established, made up of regional and tribal notables, but no elections ever took place. It never succeeded in creating a generally accepted national leadership or in providing the Arab community the panoply of educational and welfare services offered to the Jewish community by its elected institutions.
“In 1947-1948, Palestinian Arabs rejected the UN partition plan, which envisaged separate Arab and Jewish states after the departure of the British. While Jews accepted this compromise, the Palestinian Arabs, supported by the Arab League countries, rejected it and went to war against the emerging state of Israel.
“What sometimes gets lost in this narrative is that the Palestinians were unable to devise coherent political institutions and a unified military command with which to confront the much smaller Jewish community. By contrast, the besieged Jewish community was able to mobilize the resources needed for a successful military campaign. Indeed, many Palestinian political leaders absconded to Beirut or Cairo once violence broke out.
“When the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization set up the autonomous Palestinian Authority under Arafat, instead of creating the infrastructure of the future Palestinian state, Arafat created a security state. He established a dozen competing security services - sometimes indistinguishable from clan-based militias - which consumed more than 60% of the PA budget, at the expense of education, housing, welfare, and refugee rehabilitation. Into this vacuum burst Hamas, with its network of schools, welfare services, community centers, and support organizations.
“The writer is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 18, 2007)
[Note that this appeared in a Lebanese newspaper.]
*****
Department of “Surprise, Surprise”
“French Foreign Miniser: Hamas Has Contacts with Al-Qaeda” (Reuters)
“The Palestinian militant group Hamas has contacts with al-Qaeda, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday, adding that this was not the result of Western pressure to isolate the movement. Kouchner was reacting to comments by Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema this week, who said the West's policy of isolating Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last month, could push it into the arms of al-Qaeda. ‘I think Hamas did not wait for this extreme situation - the current terrible situation in Gaza - to have contacts with al-Qaeda. And it would perhaps be too simple to think that we, the international community, are responsible,’ Kouchner said. ” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Europe, China Balk at Economic Sanctions Against Iran” - Gary Dorsch (Seeking Alpha-Stock Market Analysis)
“China has become Iran's biggest customer, buying 15% or 335,000 bpd of Iran's oil exports last year, and Beijing uses its UN veto to blunt Washington's drive to squeeze Iran's oil industry and economy. European companies that export machinery, industrial equipment and commodities to Iran get loans from European banks and then receive European government guarantees for the loans on the ground that such transactions are risky in nature. European loans for business with Iran amounted to $18 billion last year, and the largest providers of such credits in Europe in 2006 were Italy at $6.2 billion, Germany at $5.4 billion, France at $1.4 billion, and Spain and Austria, at $1 billion.
“Germany was the biggest European exporter to Iran last year with 4.4 billion euros, and much of this trade is bound up with the lucrative Iranian oil industry. Some of Germany's biggest companies - Siemens, BASF, Lind - are active in Iran, in addition to 124 other publicly listed German firms. Iran is bidding $1.5 billion for Germany's Transrapid high-speed magnetic train. International traders ship about 210,000 barrels of gasoline per day to Iran, mainly from India, the Netherlands, France and the United Arab Emirates.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah and Hamas Have Overplayed Their Hands” - Mark Helprin New York Times)
“Last summer Hizbullah overplayed its hand. Israel emerged shaken but with few casualties and an economy that actually grew during the hostilities. It took 4,000 of the vaunted Katyusha rockets to kill 39 Israelis, they did little material damage, and not one has been launched in the year since the war.
“Israel showed that upon provocation it could and would destroy anything in its path, thus creating a Lebanese awakening that has split the country and kept Hizbullah fully occupied. Though Hizbullah is rearming, it remains shy of Israel.
“Hamas, too, has overplayed its hand, which has provided the opening from which a Palestinian-Israeli peace may emerge. For the first time since 1948, a fundamental division among the Palestinians presents a condition in which the less absolutist view may find shelter and take hold.
“Mahmoud Abbas is weak in many ways, but he has decisively isolated the radicals. Hamas loyalists in the West Bank face a different demographic than they did in Gaza, and a different economy.
“Although Hamas leaders portray Abbas as a collaborator, it is they who may be held to account for keeping more than a million of their own people hostage to a gratuitous preference for struggle over success.
“The writer is a fellow at the Claremont Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Amnesty Reflects Fatah’s Lost Faith in Fighting” - Harvey Morris Author/Editorial (Financial Times-UK)
“For Amjad Khalami, the Palestinian uprising is over. The 35-year-old emerged from five years in hiding at the weekend and gave himself up at the Palestinian security headquarters in Bethlehem to take advantage of an Israeli amnesty for wanted men. Armed resistance was, in effect, broken in 2002 when Israel reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Since then, the gunmen have concentrated on avoiding capture.
“Soul-searching Fatah officials have begun to acknowledge that the armed intifada was a mistake and even to claim that Islamist extremists in Hamas pose a greater threat than the Israeli occupation. Muhammad Laham, a PA and PLO legislator who served 14 years of a 30-year sentence for his activities in the first intifada, says, ‘It was a mistake to militarize the intifada.’ ‘I am a secularist. I didn't spend 14 years in an Israeli jail to see the creation of a Taliban regime in Palestine,’ he added.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah Meet in Damascus” - Dudi Cohen (Ynet News)
“Iranian President Ahmadinejad met with Hizbullah leader Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday.
“Ahmadinejad congratulated Nasrallah for the anniversary of Hizbullah's ‘victory’ in the Second Lebanon War.
“In his meeting with Syrian President Assad, Ahmadinejad said that ‘Iran and Syria are allies and will remain allies.’
“Asked about the possibility of another war breaking out in the region, Ahmadinejad replied, ‘We hope the summer will bring victories to the region's nations and failures to their enemies.’
“He also met in Damascus with Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah and is expected to meet with other leaders of Palestinian organizations, including Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World? - Division of Military Tactics”
“Good week for A ‘Plan B’ for Iraq, after the Iraqi city of Basra, where rival militias are battling for control--was swept by rumors that desperate British forces had unleashed a breed of giant, man-eating badgers called Al-Girta to eat the population. ‘I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals,’ said Sattar Jabbar, a farmer. ‘It even ate a cow.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Dateline: The Vatican
“Bad week for Catholic-Protestant relations, after Pope Benedict XVI issued an official document that declared Roman Catholicism the only real Christian religion. Protestant churches, the pope said, ‘cannot be called “churches” in the proper sense.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
Police in New Hampshire have captured a man who robbed a bank disguised as a tree. James Coldewll, 49, entered the Manchester branch of Citizens Bank with leafy tree branches taped to his head and torso, demanded cash from a teller, and made off with an undisclosed sum. ‘He really went out on a limb,’ said police Sgt. Ernie Goodno. Despite his ingenious disguise, Coldwell was recognized in security-camera footage of the holdup and arrested.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“The world of paleontology is reeling from the news that residents of a village in central China have been digging up dinosaur bones and eating them for at least the past 20 years. The calcium-rich bones were apparently either ground up and added to food as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps or made into a paste and applied directly to a bone fracture. ‘They had believed that the “dragon bones” were from the dragons flying in the sky,’ said Dong Zhiming of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of Revisionist History
“Moscow - ‘Great Terror’ not so bad: A new government manual for history teachers whitewashes the Stalin era while extolling President Vladimir Putin’s reign. The teachers’ guide describes Stalin as ‘the most successful Soviet leader ever,’ because he industrialized the nation and led it to victory in World War II. It excuses Stalin’s purges, mass deportations, and gulags as regrettable side effects of building a strong Soviet state. As for Putin, it defends his strangling of human-rights organizations as a necessary blow against foreign meddling in Russian affairs. The authors of the manual said the revisionism was vital to restoring Russians’ sense of pride. ‘Imagine in the U.S. you were told that all your history was awful and nightmarish,’ said author Paved Danilin. ‘I’m sure you’d change the way history was taught, too.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Kabul - Taliban attacks schools: Taliban militants have mounted a concerted campaign of terror aimed at Afghanistan’s public schools, The New York Times reported this week. In recent weeks, snipers have shot dozens of young girls on their way to school, kidnappers have beheaded teachers, and militants have burned many of the tents that serve as makeshift classrooms. ‘By attacking schools, the terrorists want to make the point of their own existence,’ said Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar. With both teachers and infrastructure in short supply, only about half of Afghanistan;s school-age children are enrolled in school at all, and now parents are considering keeping them home for their own safety. ‘It’s better for my children to be alive,’ said Sayed Rasul, the father of two girls, ‘even if it means they must be illiterate.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Whither Zimbabwe?
“Harare, Zimbabwe - Out of gas: Zimbabwe's already failing economy entered free-fall this week, as gas stations ran dry and grocery shelves emptied. The crisis began last month, when President Robert Mugabe ordered a price freeze on all food and retail goods, a move he hoped would curb hyperinflation. More than ,300 shop owners, managers, and company executives were arrested for failing to cut prices, and stores began to run out of wares. Last week, Mugabe decreed a 60 percent cut in the price of gas. Rather than sell at a loss, most gas stations simply closed, and trade has all but stopped. Zimbabwean economist John Robertson is predicting widespread looting. ‘I think the government will finally unleash the impatience and the anger of our normally agreeable and passive population,’ he said.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of Education
“Nutrition classes don’t work - The American schoolkids who received $1 billion worth of nutrition education this year don’t eat any better than they used to, says a review of 57 such programs. In fact, kids in the programs now hate fruit and vegetables even more than they did before. ‘Any person looking at the published literature about these programs would have to conclude that they are generally not working,’ pediatrician Tom Baranowski tells the Associated Press. The theory behind the nutrition programs is that if kids are exposed to healthful foods, they will learn to like them and eat less candy, French fries, and potato chips. But in practice, kids given free fruit and veggies, a federal study found, were even more likely to turn to junk a year later. They simply didn’t like the taste of healthful foods. Other programs that offered prizes for eating broccoli, apples, and the like affected eating habits only temporarily. And when kids in these educational programs went home, they went right back to eating potato chips and Cheetos. ‘I haven’t figured out anything that’s going to work,’ said Dr. Philip Zeitler, who treats obese and diabetic children at Children’s Hospital in Denver. ‘I’m not aware of any medical model that is very successful in helping these kids.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Denver - Assault on governor’s office: An armed man proclaiming ‘I am the emperor’ was shot to death this week after attempting to storm the office of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. Aaron Snyder, 32, wearing a tuxedo and calling himself ‘the emperor of Colorado,’ attempted to barge past state troopers stationed outside Ritter’s office. When the guards tried to escort him away, he produced a gun and said he had come to take over the state government. After Snyder refused to surrender the gun, police said, troopers shot him. Snyder’s mother told police that her son had been diagnosed as delusional. Ritter, 50, was inside his office with about 10 people when the incident occurred.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Paris - Free bikes: Paris has installed more than 10,000 bicycles for public use across the city. The service is called Vélib, a word made up by blending vélo (bike) and liberté (liberty). Residents and tourists alike can purchase cheap passes that allow free use of a bicycle for a half-hour; consecutive half-hours cost 1 euro (about $1.35) each. The pay structure is intended to keep the bikes in rotation—you can pick one up at one station, ride across town, and drop it off at another station. The program is the latest effort by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to make Paris greener. Delanoe has angered some drivers by replacing car lanes with bike paths on major routes.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
Department of Selling Them the Rope
“The rich capitalists who vote Democratic - Steven Spruiell - National Review Online -- For a bunch of wealthy capitalists, hedge fund managers sure have a weak understanding of enlightened self-interest, said Steven Spruiell in National Review Online. The latest campaign-contribution reports reveal that hedge fund managers overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates. Those are the same Democrats, mind you, who want to raise taxes on hedge fund managers. ‘Typically, political parties crack down on the other party’s donors, not their own.’ Hedge fund managers generally pocket 20 percent of their fund’s gains, and are taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate. Democrats want to tax those gains at the considerably higher income tax rate. The question is, why are hedge fund managers so eager to help them? I think it’s because hedge fund managers ‘live near the top of cosmopolitan, culturally liberal societies.’ They regard the Republican positions on stem-cell research and gay marriage as ‘nothing short of primitive.’ And they think that there’s no problem that government spending can’t cure. Besides, ‘they can afford higher taxes. Unfortunately, the rest of America can’t.’” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
Department of “What Are You Talking About? - Senator Barak Obama (Dem., Ill.
According to an Associated Press story by Philip Elliot that was published on July 21, “Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.” Under a 1948 international convention to prevent acts of genocide, the U.S. is obligated to take action to prevent genocide.
And in a related matter, remember this Golden Oldie that was posted on April 29?
Department of “What Are You Talking About? - Congressman John Murtha”
“... Democratic war critic Rep. John Murtha continued his push for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by labeling the violence there ‘genocide,’ apparently unaware that the United States is obligated by a 1948 international convention to prevent acts of genocide.” (Source: U.S. News & World Report, April 9, 2007)
*****
Money Talks
“Chrysler signed a partnership deal with Chery, a Chinese carmaker, which will produce Chinese-made cars (under the Chrysler brand) for export to the United States. American carmakers have a strong presence in China's domestic market.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Banks last year collected $17.5 billion in fees from customers who had overdrawn their bank accounts. The fees--charged when banks cover the overdraft rather than denying it--are up 70 percent from $10.3 billion in 2004.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
According to Fortune, “Wal-Mart, with $351 billion in 2006 revenue, edged past ExxonMobil in the Fortune 500 to reclaim the title of world’s biggest company. Exxon remains the most profitable, with earnings of $39.5 billion on $347 billion in revenue.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
“Detroit's big three carmakers reported a steep drop in sales in the United States. General Motors fared the worst, losing more market share and recording a 24% fall in vehicle sales in June compared with the same month last year.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
According to USA Today, “Out-of-wedlock births in the U.S. have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, the federal government reported. The increase occurred among all racial groups and was most dramatic among women in their 20s.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The U.S. last year imported $5.3 million worth of American flags manufactured in other countries.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research, “Only 35% of registered voters say America is ready to elect a Mormon as president. 48% say the country isn’t ready.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Fifty-seven percent of Toyota Prius owners said they bought the gas-saving hybrid because ‘it makes a statement about me.’ Only 36 percent cited higher fuel economy as a top reason for buying the car.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
According to Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research, “64% of Americans say that President Bush’s ‘surge’ of additional troops in Iraq has failed. 22% call it a success.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Arabs Pile into Darfur to Take Land ‘Cleansed’ by Janjaweed” - Steve Bloomfield (Independent-UK)
“Up to 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger have crossed into Darfur in the past two months, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war-ravaged region. The Arabs, who arrived with all their belongings and large flocks, were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces. The arrivals have been issued official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship. Analysts say the Sudanese government is making it ‘virtually impossible’ for displaced people to return home.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“Iran Locked On to 600 Targets in Israel” (Israel Today)
“Iran has marked 600 targets for its long-range missiles inside Israel, the Qatari newspaper Al Watan reported on Sunday.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“Bee Replaces Mouse on Hamas TV to Teach Kids Martyrdon and Jihad” (New York Times)
“Hamas television, which was criticized for a Mickey Mouse-like character named Farfur who spouted anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish nostrums at children, has replaced the mouse with a bee named Nahoul, who says he is Farfur's cousin.
“Nahoul, the bee, says: ‘I want to continue on the path of Farfur, the path of 'Islam is the solution.' The path of heroism, the path of martyrdom, the path of jihad warriors.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
(Refer to “Obituary: Farfour Mouse”, posted on July 2, 2007. In case you don’t recall the sad death of Farfour Mouse aka Farfur Mouse, he was beaten to death by an Israeli official who was trying to buy his land. Also refer to “WHO’S THE LEADER OF THE CLUB THAT’S MADE FOR YOU AND ME? J-I-H -- A-D-I -- M-O-U-S-E!”, posted on May 13, 2007.
(Paraphrasing H.G. Wells (writing about Napoleon : This stuff “... would be purely comic if it were not caked over with human blood.”)
*****
“Hamas-Allied Fatah Forces in Gaza” - Steve Erlanger (New York Times)
“Palestinians never used to do these things to one another. Putting bullets in the back of the heads of men on their knees. Shooting up hospitals. Killing patients. Knee-capping doctors. Executing clerics. Throwing handcuffed prisoners to their deaths from Gaza's highest apartment buildings. Hamas claimed it was fighting infidels, with a holy sanction to kill. Poor young men, their heads filled with religious slogans and revolutionary cant, took off their black masks to pose in front of the gilded bathrooms of the once-powerful and rich men of Fatah. Then they stole the sinks, toilets, tiles and pipes.
“Khaled Abu Hilal, 39, is an ex-Fatah man now associated with Hamas in Gaza. Two weeks after Hamas pulled Fatah down in early June, Hilal announced he would lead a new Fatah movement and military force in Gaza, allied with Hamas, called Fatah al-Yasir. The major mistake of Arafat and Fatah was to accept the Oslo accords, Hilal says. Hilal brought with him, he told me, 1,000 members of the Fatah-affiliated Aksa and Abu Rish Brigades. (The Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, confirmed this information to me.) Israel is now confronted with a dilemma. There is a hostile entity on its southern border, run by an armed group that is committed to fighting Israel and is opposed to its existence. Should Israel now let a Gazan Hamastan grow?” (Source: Daily Alert, July 17, 2007)
*****
“FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande” - Brian Ross (ABC News)
“The FBI is investigating a human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that has been bringing ‘Iraqis and other Middle Eastern’ individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico for more than a year.
“An FBI report issued last week says the smuggling organization ‘used to smuggle Mexicans, but decided to smuggle Iraqi or other Middle Eastern individuals because it was more lucrative.’ Each individual paid $20,000 to $25,000.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 18, 2007)
*****
“Palestinians Lacking a Coherent Body Politic” - Shlomo Avineri (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Palestinians see their history as one of struggle against Zionism and Israel. But the reality is more complicated, and marked by repeated failures to create a coherent body politic, even when historical opportunities beckoned.
“In the 1920s, the British Mandatory government in Palestine encouraged the two national communities - Jewish and Arab - to establish communal institutions of self-government to look after education, welfare, housing, and local administration. The Jews set up a National Committee, based on an elected body, the Representative Assembly of Palestinian Jews. Regular elections took place, sometimes with more than a dozen parties competing.
“The Palestinians, however, never created similar embryonic state structures: an Arab Higher Committee was established, made up of regional and tribal notables, but no elections ever took place. It never succeeded in creating a generally accepted national leadership or in providing the Arab community the panoply of educational and welfare services offered to the Jewish community by its elected institutions.
“In 1947-1948, Palestinian Arabs rejected the UN partition plan, which envisaged separate Arab and Jewish states after the departure of the British. While Jews accepted this compromise, the Palestinian Arabs, supported by the Arab League countries, rejected it and went to war against the emerging state of Israel.
“What sometimes gets lost in this narrative is that the Palestinians were unable to devise coherent political institutions and a unified military command with which to confront the much smaller Jewish community. By contrast, the besieged Jewish community was able to mobilize the resources needed for a successful military campaign. Indeed, many Palestinian political leaders absconded to Beirut or Cairo once violence broke out.
“When the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization set up the autonomous Palestinian Authority under Arafat, instead of creating the infrastructure of the future Palestinian state, Arafat created a security state. He established a dozen competing security services - sometimes indistinguishable from clan-based militias - which consumed more than 60% of the PA budget, at the expense of education, housing, welfare, and refugee rehabilitation. Into this vacuum burst Hamas, with its network of schools, welfare services, community centers, and support organizations.
“The writer is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 18, 2007)
[Note that this appeared in a Lebanese newspaper.]
*****
Department of “Surprise, Surprise”
“French Foreign Miniser: Hamas Has Contacts with Al-Qaeda” (Reuters)
“The Palestinian militant group Hamas has contacts with al-Qaeda, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday, adding that this was not the result of Western pressure to isolate the movement. Kouchner was reacting to comments by Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema this week, who said the West's policy of isolating Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last month, could push it into the arms of al-Qaeda. ‘I think Hamas did not wait for this extreme situation - the current terrible situation in Gaza - to have contacts with al-Qaeda. And it would perhaps be too simple to think that we, the international community, are responsible,’ Kouchner said. ” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Europe, China Balk at Economic Sanctions Against Iran” - Gary Dorsch (Seeking Alpha-Stock Market Analysis)
“China has become Iran's biggest customer, buying 15% or 335,000 bpd of Iran's oil exports last year, and Beijing uses its UN veto to blunt Washington's drive to squeeze Iran's oil industry and economy. European companies that export machinery, industrial equipment and commodities to Iran get loans from European banks and then receive European government guarantees for the loans on the ground that such transactions are risky in nature. European loans for business with Iran amounted to $18 billion last year, and the largest providers of such credits in Europe in 2006 were Italy at $6.2 billion, Germany at $5.4 billion, France at $1.4 billion, and Spain and Austria, at $1 billion.
“Germany was the biggest European exporter to Iran last year with 4.4 billion euros, and much of this trade is bound up with the lucrative Iranian oil industry. Some of Germany's biggest companies - Siemens, BASF, Lind - are active in Iran, in addition to 124 other publicly listed German firms. Iran is bidding $1.5 billion for Germany's Transrapid high-speed magnetic train. International traders ship about 210,000 barrels of gasoline per day to Iran, mainly from India, the Netherlands, France and the United Arab Emirates.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Hizbullah and Hamas Have Overplayed Their Hands” - Mark Helprin New York Times)
“Last summer Hizbullah overplayed its hand. Israel emerged shaken but with few casualties and an economy that actually grew during the hostilities. It took 4,000 of the vaunted Katyusha rockets to kill 39 Israelis, they did little material damage, and not one has been launched in the year since the war.
“Israel showed that upon provocation it could and would destroy anything in its path, thus creating a Lebanese awakening that has split the country and kept Hizbullah fully occupied. Though Hizbullah is rearming, it remains shy of Israel.
“Hamas, too, has overplayed its hand, which has provided the opening from which a Palestinian-Israeli peace may emerge. For the first time since 1948, a fundamental division among the Palestinians presents a condition in which the less absolutist view may find shelter and take hold.
“Mahmoud Abbas is weak in many ways, but he has decisively isolated the radicals. Hamas loyalists in the West Bank face a different demographic than they did in Gaza, and a different economy.
“Although Hamas leaders portray Abbas as a collaborator, it is they who may be held to account for keeping more than a million of their own people hostage to a gratuitous preference for struggle over success.
“The writer is a fellow at the Claremont Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 19, 2007)
*****
“Amnesty Reflects Fatah’s Lost Faith in Fighting” - Harvey Morris Author/Editorial (Financial Times-UK)
“For Amjad Khalami, the Palestinian uprising is over. The 35-year-old emerged from five years in hiding at the weekend and gave himself up at the Palestinian security headquarters in Bethlehem to take advantage of an Israeli amnesty for wanted men. Armed resistance was, in effect, broken in 2002 when Israel reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield. Since then, the gunmen have concentrated on avoiding capture.
“Soul-searching Fatah officials have begun to acknowledge that the armed intifada was a mistake and even to claim that Islamist extremists in Hamas pose a greater threat than the Israeli occupation. Muhammad Laham, a PA and PLO legislator who served 14 years of a 30-year sentence for his activities in the first intifada, says, ‘It was a mistake to militarize the intifada.’ ‘I am a secularist. I didn't spend 14 years in an Israeli jail to see the creation of a Taliban regime in Palestine,’ he added.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah Meet in Damascus” - Dudi Cohen (Ynet News)
“Iranian President Ahmadinejad met with Hizbullah leader Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday.
“Ahmadinejad congratulated Nasrallah for the anniversary of Hizbullah's ‘victory’ in the Second Lebanon War.
“In his meeting with Syrian President Assad, Ahmadinejad said that ‘Iran and Syria are allies and will remain allies.’
“Asked about the possibility of another war breaking out in the region, Ahmadinejad replied, ‘We hope the summer will bring victories to the region's nations and failures to their enemies.’
“He also met in Damascus with Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah and is expected to meet with other leaders of Palestinian organizations, including Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of “ Ain’t It A Wacky World? - Division of Military Tactics”
“Good week for A ‘Plan B’ for Iraq, after the Iraqi city of Basra, where rival militias are battling for control--was swept by rumors that desperate British forces had unleashed a breed of giant, man-eating badgers called Al-Girta to eat the population. ‘I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals,’ said Sattar Jabbar, a farmer. ‘It even ate a cow.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Religion In The News - Dateline: The Vatican
“Bad week for Catholic-Protestant relations, after Pope Benedict XVI issued an official document that declared Roman Catholicism the only real Christian religion. Protestant churches, the pope said, ‘cannot be called “churches” in the proper sense.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
Police in New Hampshire have captured a man who robbed a bank disguised as a tree. James Coldewll, 49, entered the Manchester branch of Citizens Bank with leafy tree branches taped to his head and torso, demanded cash from a teller, and made off with an undisclosed sum. ‘He really went out on a limb,’ said police Sgt. Ernie Goodno. Despite his ingenious disguise, Coldwell was recognized in security-camera footage of the holdup and arrested.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“The world of paleontology is reeling from the news that residents of a village in central China have been digging up dinosaur bones and eating them for at least the past 20 years. The calcium-rich bones were apparently either ground up and added to food as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps or made into a paste and applied directly to a bone fracture. ‘They had believed that the “dragon bones” were from the dragons flying in the sky,’ said Dong Zhiming of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of Revisionist History
“Moscow - ‘Great Terror’ not so bad: A new government manual for history teachers whitewashes the Stalin era while extolling President Vladimir Putin’s reign. The teachers’ guide describes Stalin as ‘the most successful Soviet leader ever,’ because he industrialized the nation and led it to victory in World War II. It excuses Stalin’s purges, mass deportations, and gulags as regrettable side effects of building a strong Soviet state. As for Putin, it defends his strangling of human-rights organizations as a necessary blow against foreign meddling in Russian affairs. The authors of the manual said the revisionism was vital to restoring Russians’ sense of pride. ‘Imagine in the U.S. you were told that all your history was awful and nightmarish,’ said author Paved Danilin. ‘I’m sure you’d change the way history was taught, too.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Kabul - Taliban attacks schools: Taliban militants have mounted a concerted campaign of terror aimed at Afghanistan’s public schools, The New York Times reported this week. In recent weeks, snipers have shot dozens of young girls on their way to school, kidnappers have beheaded teachers, and militants have burned many of the tents that serve as makeshift classrooms. ‘By attacking schools, the terrorists want to make the point of their own existence,’ said Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar. With both teachers and infrastructure in short supply, only about half of Afghanistan;s school-age children are enrolled in school at all, and now parents are considering keeping them home for their own safety. ‘It’s better for my children to be alive,’ said Sayed Rasul, the father of two girls, ‘even if it means they must be illiterate.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Whither Zimbabwe?
“Harare, Zimbabwe - Out of gas: Zimbabwe's already failing economy entered free-fall this week, as gas stations ran dry and grocery shelves emptied. The crisis began last month, when President Robert Mugabe ordered a price freeze on all food and retail goods, a move he hoped would curb hyperinflation. More than ,300 shop owners, managers, and company executives were arrested for failing to cut prices, and stores began to run out of wares. Last week, Mugabe decreed a 60 percent cut in the price of gas. Rather than sell at a loss, most gas stations simply closed, and trade has all but stopped. Zimbabwean economist John Robertson is predicting widespread looting. ‘I think the government will finally unleash the impatience and the anger of our normally agreeable and passive population,’ he said.” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
Department of Education
“Nutrition classes don’t work - The American schoolkids who received $1 billion worth of nutrition education this year don’t eat any better than they used to, says a review of 57 such programs. In fact, kids in the programs now hate fruit and vegetables even more than they did before. ‘Any person looking at the published literature about these programs would have to conclude that they are generally not working,’ pediatrician Tom Baranowski tells the Associated Press. The theory behind the nutrition programs is that if kids are exposed to healthful foods, they will learn to like them and eat less candy, French fries, and potato chips. But in practice, kids given free fruit and veggies, a federal study found, were even more likely to turn to junk a year later. They simply didn’t like the taste of healthful foods. Other programs that offered prizes for eating broccoli, apples, and the like affected eating habits only temporarily. And when kids in these educational programs went home, they went right back to eating potato chips and Cheetos. ‘I haven’t figured out anything that’s going to work,’ said Dr. Philip Zeitler, who treats obese and diabetic children at Children’s Hospital in Denver. ‘I’m not aware of any medical model that is very successful in helping these kids.’” (Source: The Week, July 20, 2007)
*****
“Denver - Assault on governor’s office: An armed man proclaiming ‘I am the emperor’ was shot to death this week after attempting to storm the office of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. Aaron Snyder, 32, wearing a tuxedo and calling himself ‘the emperor of Colorado,’ attempted to barge past state troopers stationed outside Ritter’s office. When the guards tried to escort him away, he produced a gun and said he had come to take over the state government. After Snyder refused to surrender the gun, police said, troopers shot him. Snyder’s mother told police that her son had been diagnosed as delusional. Ritter, 50, was inside his office with about 10 people when the incident occurred.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
“Paris - Free bikes: Paris has installed more than 10,000 bicycles for public use across the city. The service is called Vélib, a word made up by blending vélo (bike) and liberté (liberty). Residents and tourists alike can purchase cheap passes that allow free use of a bicycle for a half-hour; consecutive half-hours cost 1 euro (about $1.35) each. The pay structure is intended to keep the bikes in rotation—you can pick one up at one station, ride across town, and drop it off at another station. The program is the latest effort by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to make Paris greener. Delanoe has angered some drivers by replacing car lanes with bike paths on major routes.” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
*****
Department of Selling Them the Rope
“The rich capitalists who vote Democratic - Steven Spruiell - National Review Online -- For a bunch of wealthy capitalists, hedge fund managers sure have a weak understanding of enlightened self-interest, said Steven Spruiell in National Review Online. The latest campaign-contribution reports reveal that hedge fund managers overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates. Those are the same Democrats, mind you, who want to raise taxes on hedge fund managers. ‘Typically, political parties crack down on the other party’s donors, not their own.’ Hedge fund managers generally pocket 20 percent of their fund’s gains, and are taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate. Democrats want to tax those gains at the considerably higher income tax rate. The question is, why are hedge fund managers so eager to help them? I think it’s because hedge fund managers ‘live near the top of cosmopolitan, culturally liberal societies.’ They regard the Republican positions on stem-cell research and gay marriage as ‘nothing short of primitive.’ And they think that there’s no problem that government spending can’t cure. Besides, ‘they can afford higher taxes. Unfortunately, the rest of America can’t.’” (Source: The Week, July 27, 2007)
Politics and the English language - terrorism
.
“Language and terrorism
“Don’t mention the GWOT
“A new vocabulary is needed to confront terrorism
[Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007]
“THE ‘global war on terror’ is what America calls its response to the September 11th attacks. Never mind the cliché, or the fact that ‘terrorism’ is a tactic and ‘terror’ a state of mind; George Bush's crisp slogan helped to rally a traumatised American public. His principal ally over the years, Tony Blair, shared the sentiment, if not always the same words. Now, dealing with his first terrorist plot as prime minister, Gordon Brown is changing the choice of language.
“And rightly so. To speak of a ‘global war on terror’ is over-simple. Shortened to the acronym GWOT, it conflated the military campaign against al-Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan in 2001 with the war two years later to overthrow Saddam Hussein, an old foe who almost certainly had nothing to do with September 11th. That Iraq is a magnet for al-Qaeda is the result of the invasion of Iraq, not its cause. GWOT also implies, wrongly, that there exists a military solution to a problem that for a few countries (eg, Afghanistan) requires a co-ordinated nation-building effort but for most demands patient police and intelligence work. ‘War’ should be the exception, not the focus of the effort against terrorists.
“The language of war (and the conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) has alienated much of the world, among them Muslims who believe incorrectly that the West has been waging a ‘war on Islam’ for decades, if not centuries. Such vocabulary reinforces the propaganda of al-Qaeda, which claims to be fighting a global jihad to defend Islam against ‘Crusaders and Jews’. Language matters, as Mr Bush discovered in 2001 when his one mention of a ‘crusade’ against terrorism seemed to confirm the fears of millions of Muslims.
“Some of Mr Bush's officials have tried and failed to stamp out the GWOT, preferring to talk of ‘global counter-insurgency’. Mr Brown has tried harder. His government chose its words carefully in response to this week's attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow. It talked about terrorists as criminals, avoided mention of ‘Islam’ and ‘Islamic’, and spoke about ‘communities’ rather than ‘Muslims’. Whereas Mr Blair portrayed Britain's military presence in Iraq as a battle against a global evil, Mr Brown has so far portrayed it as an obligation to the Iraqi government and the United Nations.
“This is a canny change. Treating terrorists as criminals rather than enemies strips them of their glamour. And decoupling the word ‘Islam’ from terrorism may make it easier to enlist the help of British Muslims who might otherwise feel queasy about ‘betraying’ co-religionists.
“Governments are entitled to avoid words that cause them trouble. But if emphasising ‘war’ is wrong, so would be an effort to purge the word ‘Islam’ from the general public discourse on terrorism. For the plain fact is that the terrorists themselves claim to be acting in Islam's name. Though the West knows Osama bin Laden's network as ‘al-Qaeda’, he first called it the ‘World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders’. His followers dream of reviving an Islamic caliphate, and invoke Islamic teaching to justify atrocities against non-Muslims and Muslims alike. Such claims may be misguided, but cannot be understood, much less challenged, by pretending that Islam has nothing at all to do with them.
“Jihadists claim to be fighting a war against the West. In truth, they are fighting a war within Islam. The world needs to choose its words with care—but must also have the courage to talk honestly about what is going on.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
Refer to “Britain’s War Against ... Well, You Know” (posted in “Briefly Noted” on July 15, 2007 - below)
“Language and terrorism
“Don’t mention the GWOT
“A new vocabulary is needed to confront terrorism
[Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007]
“THE ‘global war on terror’ is what America calls its response to the September 11th attacks. Never mind the cliché, or the fact that ‘terrorism’ is a tactic and ‘terror’ a state of mind; George Bush's crisp slogan helped to rally a traumatised American public. His principal ally over the years, Tony Blair, shared the sentiment, if not always the same words. Now, dealing with his first terrorist plot as prime minister, Gordon Brown is changing the choice of language.
“And rightly so. To speak of a ‘global war on terror’ is over-simple. Shortened to the acronym GWOT, it conflated the military campaign against al-Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan in 2001 with the war two years later to overthrow Saddam Hussein, an old foe who almost certainly had nothing to do with September 11th. That Iraq is a magnet for al-Qaeda is the result of the invasion of Iraq, not its cause. GWOT also implies, wrongly, that there exists a military solution to a problem that for a few countries (eg, Afghanistan) requires a co-ordinated nation-building effort but for most demands patient police and intelligence work. ‘War’ should be the exception, not the focus of the effort against terrorists.
“The language of war (and the conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) has alienated much of the world, among them Muslims who believe incorrectly that the West has been waging a ‘war on Islam’ for decades, if not centuries. Such vocabulary reinforces the propaganda of al-Qaeda, which claims to be fighting a global jihad to defend Islam against ‘Crusaders and Jews’. Language matters, as Mr Bush discovered in 2001 when his one mention of a ‘crusade’ against terrorism seemed to confirm the fears of millions of Muslims.
“Some of Mr Bush's officials have tried and failed to stamp out the GWOT, preferring to talk of ‘global counter-insurgency’. Mr Brown has tried harder. His government chose its words carefully in response to this week's attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow. It talked about terrorists as criminals, avoided mention of ‘Islam’ and ‘Islamic’, and spoke about ‘communities’ rather than ‘Muslims’. Whereas Mr Blair portrayed Britain's military presence in Iraq as a battle against a global evil, Mr Brown has so far portrayed it as an obligation to the Iraqi government and the United Nations.
“This is a canny change. Treating terrorists as criminals rather than enemies strips them of their glamour. And decoupling the word ‘Islam’ from terrorism may make it easier to enlist the help of British Muslims who might otherwise feel queasy about ‘betraying’ co-religionists.
“Governments are entitled to avoid words that cause them trouble. But if emphasising ‘war’ is wrong, so would be an effort to purge the word ‘Islam’ from the general public discourse on terrorism. For the plain fact is that the terrorists themselves claim to be acting in Islam's name. Though the West knows Osama bin Laden's network as ‘al-Qaeda’, he first called it the ‘World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders’. His followers dream of reviving an Islamic caliphate, and invoke Islamic teaching to justify atrocities against non-Muslims and Muslims alike. Such claims may be misguided, but cannot be understood, much less challenged, by pretending that Islam has nothing at all to do with them.
“Jihadists claim to be fighting a war against the West. In truth, they are fighting a war within Islam. The world needs to choose its words with care—but must also have the courage to talk honestly about what is going on.” (Source: The Economist, July 7, 2007)
Refer to “Britain’s War Against ... Well, You Know” (posted in “Briefly Noted” on July 15, 2007 - below)
July 15, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
July 15, 2007
What’s Up, Doc?
The latest (failed) terrorist outrages in England and Scotland involving doctors and other health care professionals were much more disturbing and surprising than similar incidents, precisely because of the professions of those involved. What do we expect? That the nice, grey-haired, neighborly gent that Norman Rockwell painted is an accurate representative of all doctors? Apparently, yes. A recent Harris poll (mentioned in The Week magazine) shows that 93 percent of those questioned said that they trusted their doctors. (One should hope so!)
But to believe that doctors are more moral than, say, trash collectors is class-ist nonsense. (Professions are neither moral nor immoral -- it is the particular members of the profession in question that are either moral or not.) Consider the following:
Joseph Mengele - he of medical “experiments” and “selections” (of would be immediately sent to the crematoria and who would live to die another day) at Auschwitz.
Harold Shipman - a British general practitioner who was responsible for over 200 “mercy killings” before he was apprehended in 1998, qualifying him for the title of the world’s most prolific serial killer in recent years.
Baruch Goldstein - the Israeli physician who, in 1994, went on a rampage in Hebron, in which 29 of the people that he shot died.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command (and star performer in many of their videotaped screeds) is a surgeon.
Doctors in the People’s Republic of China have been “involved” in “harvesting” organs from “political prisoners” in recent years.
*****
“The Middle East: Now Playing at a Theater Near You” - Thomas Friedman (New York Time)
“In the past few years, hundreds of Muslims have committed suicide amid innocent civilians - without making any concrete political demands and without generating any vigorous, sustained condemnation in the Muslim world. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But virtually all suicide terrorists today are Muslims. Angry Norwegians aren't doing this - nor are starving Africans or unemployed Mexicans. Muslims have got to understand that a death cult has taken root in the bosom of their religion.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“Islam’s ‘Death Cult’” - Michael Hirsh (Newsweek)
“There are many people, in many different societies and cultures, who are angry about many things. Would any other culture or religion produce a group of doctors and professionals who apparently deemed it morally correct to kill innocent people in large numbers? Muslims must find a way to remove this modern cancer - this fundamentalist death cult - that has infected their religion. None of us on the outside can do it for them.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“Make Human Rights a Central Part of Any Decision” - Natan Sharansky (Washington Post))
“In totalitarian regimes there are no human rights. Period. The media do not criticize the government. Parliaments do not check executive power. Courts do not uphold due process. And human rights groups don't file reports. For most people, life under totalitarianism is slavery with no possibility of escape. In a national poll of Iraqis conducted this spring by a British market-research firm, nearly 2 to 1 (49% to 26%) said they preferred life under their new government to life under the old tyranny. By consistently ignoring the fundamental moral divide that separates societies in which people are slaves from societies in which people are free, some human rights groups undermine the very cause they claim to champion.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“They Honor Us with Their Hate ” - Richard Cohen (Washington Post)
“A picture dated Sept. 12, 2001, made my heart stop. It showed Palestinians, most of them young, all of them male, cheering the deaths of about 3,000 innocent people in America the day before. This was before America's retaliatory invasion of Afghanistan or the war in Iraq. It was also before Guantanamo and before the outrage of Abu Ghraib. In other words, the demonstration by Palestinians in Shatila in Lebanon preceded most of the usual reasons given for why America today is held in contempt. One Islamic state (Iran) and a host of militant organizations - Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, and al-Qaeda - fervently wish for Israel's destruction. There is no way the U.S. could appease these groups and not, in the process, trample on its own moral values.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“Fatah Men Say Mistreated by Hamas in Gaza” - Nidal al-Mughrabi (Reuters)
“Palestinian policeman Tareq Asfour, 43, said the two blood-encrusted holes in his legs were made by nails hammered in by Hamas gunmen who tortured him.
“After handcuffing him and tying him up with wire, ‘they hit me with the wooden handle of a shovel and they used hammers to hit my joints. They put nails in my legs,’ he said.
“Asfour's allegations of mistreatment have been echoed in reports Fatah members have filed with human rights organizations since the fighting.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“The Thoughts of Ahmadinejad” - Arnaud de Borchgrave (UPI)
“A collection of Ahmadinejad's pronouncements makes edifying reading: ‘We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.’ ‘The wave of the Islamist revolution will soon reach the entire world.’ ‘Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi’ (a 5-year-old boy who vanished 1,100 years ago and who will lead the world into an era of peace and prosperity, but not before the planet is convulsed by death and destruction).
“‘Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy?’ ‘ Iran can recruit hundreds of suicide bombers a day. Suicide is an invincible weapon.’ ‘The will to commit suicide is one of the best ways of life.’ ‘By the grace of Allah we will be a nuclear power and Iran does not give a damn about (IAEA) demands’ (to freeze enrichment of nuclear fuel).” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“The Case for Mistrusting Muslims ” - Theodore Dalrymple (Los Angeles Times)
“One of the most sinister effects of the efforts of the UK bombers is that they have undermined trust completely between Muslims and non-Muslims. This is because those under investigation turn out not to be cranks or marginals but people well-integrated into society; they are not the ignorant and uneducated. The perpetrators do not bomb because of personal grievance but because they have allowed themselves to be gripped by a stupid, though apparently quite popular, ideology: radical Islam. Nor are they of one ethnic or national group only: We have had Somali, Pakistani, Arab, Jamaican, Algerian and British Muslim terrorists. This means, unfortunately, that no one can ever be quite sure whether a Muslim who appears polite and accommodating is not simultaneously contemplating mass murder.
“The fundamental problem is this: There is an asymmetry between the good that many moderate Muslims can do for Britain and the harm that a few fanatics can do to it. The 1-in-1,000 chance that a man is a murderous fanatic is more important to me than the 999-in-1,000 chance that he is not a murderous fanatic. The problem causes deep philosophical discomfort to everyone who believes in a tolerant society. On the one hand we believe that every individual should be judged on his merits, while, on the other, we know it would be absurd and dangerous to pretend that the threat of terrorism comes from sections of the population equally.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“What About Muslim Moderates” - R. James Woolsey and Nina Shea (Wall Street Journal)
“The Bush administration is building bridges to well-funded and self-publicized organizations that claim to speak for all Muslims, even though some of those groups espouse views inimical to American values and interests. After years of pursuing similar strategies - while seeing home-based terrorists proliferate - the British government is now more discerning about which Muslims it will partner with. Stating that ‘lip service for peace’ is no longer sufficient, the British are identifying and elevating those who are willing to take clear stands against terrorism and its supporting ideology.
“On the eve of his departure from office, Tony Blair gave a television interview taking on those he once courted - British Islamists who have been quick to level charges of Islamophobia and oppression against Britain and the U.S.: ‘The reason we are finding it hard to win this battle [against terror] is that we're not actually fighting it properly. We're not actually standing up to these people and saying, “It's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified.”’
“The Bush administration is now actively considering whether its public diplomacy should reach out to Muslim Brotherhood groups. By choosing those whose definition of terror does not include the murder of Jews, honor killings and lethal fatwas against Muslim dissidents and reformers, the U.S. government makes them look strong - particularly in the shame-and-honor culture of the Middle East - and strengthens their hand against the real moderates and reformers.”
“Mr. Woolsey, co-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger, was Director of Central Intelligence 1993-1995. Ms. Shea is the director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Terrorism Disrupts Israeli Humanitarian Efforts - Palestinian terrorists are targeting the border crossings through which Israel is trying to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, according to an official release from the Israel Defense Forces. On Tuesday, two mortar shells were fired at the Kerem Shalom crossing, with one hitting it directly. Israel has transferred thousands of tons of food, medicine and additional humanitarian supplies through Kerem Shalom and the Sufa crossings, seeking to prevent suffering in Gaza following the terrorist group Hamas' takeover of the strip.” (Source: AIPAC Update, July 10, 2007)
*****
Women’s Rights in Spain
From Reuters [July 9, 2007]
Women demand female Pamplona bull run, with cows
“Women in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious bull-running festival, are demanding their own version complete with cows instead of bulls.
“A student website, www.estudiln.net, set the ball rolling with its campaign ‘Cows want to run’ which asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are known, where only women are allowed to take part.
“Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin bull-running for some years but they still represent a tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course through the streets of Pamplona.
“The students say it's only logical that women should have their own bull-run.
“‘Cows, as well as bulls, have four legs and a natural instinct to run,’ says their manifesto. ‘An encierro for cows, would put Pamplona at the vanguard of traditional fiestas with equality for men and women.’
“Organizers of the festival, which runs from July 7-14, have not responded to the suggestion.
“And just what the late Ernest Hemingway, who made the bull-run in Pamplona internationally famous, would have thought will never be known.”
*****
“British Journalists Union Abandons Israel Boycott” - Stephen Brook
(Guardian-UK)
“The UK's National Union of Journalists will take ‘no further action’ on implementing the controversial resolution to boycott Israeli goods and services. The NUJ's national executive council took the decision and called for members to unite instead behind the union's ‘key workplace priorities.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“Britain’s War Against ... Well, You Know” - Melanie Phillips (USA Today)
“Britain is now fighting a war it dares not name. The new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has banned his ministers from using the word ‘Muslim’ - and presumably ‘Islamic’ or ‘Islamist’ - in connection with the terrorist crisis. He has also put an end to the phrase ‘war on terror.’ Accordingly, the new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, referred to them as ‘criminal’ acts rather than Islamic terrorism and talked about ‘communities’ that are involved rather than Muslims. How can Brown talk about winning a battle of ideas - when he is not even prepared to name the central idea that is driving the terrorism?
“Britain has never been in a more dangerous position - not just because of terrorism but because, faced with an enemy whose platform is the decadence and weakness of the West, it is going out of its way to prove the terrorists right.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“What Iranians Really Think” - Ken Ballen (-all Street Journal)
“Terror Free Tomorrow conducted the first uncensored public opinion survey of Iran since President Ahmadinejad took office. The survey was in Farsi by telephone from June 5 to June 18, 2007, with 1,000 interviews covering all 30 provinces of Iran. Discontent with the current system of government, the economy and isolation from the West is widespread throughout Iran, and nuclear weapons are the lowest priority for the Iranian people. The overwhelming popular will to live in a country open to the West and the U.S., with greater economic opportunity, is a powerful plea from every region and segment of society. Iranians also speak with one voice in rejecting the current autocratic rule of their supreme leader and in courageously asking for democracy instead.
“Close to 70% of Iranians favor normal relations and trade with the U.S. Indeed, in exchange for normal relations, a majority of Iranians even favor recognizing Israel and Palestine as independent states, ending Iranian support for any armed groups inside Iraq, and giving full transparency by Iran to the U.S. to ensure there are no Iranian endeavors to develop nuclear weapons. Some 61% of Iranians were willing to tell pollsters - over the phone no less - that they oppose the current Iranian system of government. Over 79% support a democratic system in which the supreme leader, along with all leaders, can be chosen and replaced by a free and direct vote of the people.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“How PA Gunmen Pass High School Exams” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post-)
“Earlier this week, some 150 Fatah gunmen stormed a number of schools in Nablus and demanded to take high school matriculation exams in special halls.
“One of the teachers said most of the gunmen cheated. ‘They opened books and copied the answers word by word,’ he said. ‘We were afraid to stop them because they were carrying M-16 rifles.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“As Mortar Shells, Fall, Goods Go to Gaza” - Isabel Kirshner (New York Times)
“Alongside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the gritty business of coexistence marches on. Since the Islamic militants of Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Israel has kept the main commercial crossing point at Karni shuttered. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction, making border crossing etiquette more precarious than elsewhere. On Wednesday, between mortar attacks by Hamas and other militants, about 20 truckloads of milk products, meat, medicines and eggs passed from Israel into Gaza, ordered by Palestinian merchants from Israeli suppliers, relying on contacts built up over years. At the fuel depot at Nahal Oz, Israeli tankers pour diesel, gasoline and cooking gas into Gaza through pipes that run beneath the border. At Karni, the Israelis have adapted a 650-foot-long conveyor belt, previously used for gravel, to send in grain.
“Col. Nir Press, head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration, the Israeli military agency that deals with the civilian aspects of the Gaza border, noted that in April 2006, a vehicle loaded with half a ton of explosives got through three of four checkpoints on the Palestinian side of Karni, and was stopped at the last security position by members of the American-backed Presidential Guard, loyal to Mahmoud Abbas. But the Presidential Guard is no longer there, having been routed by Hamas.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
Trade Unions in Iran
“Government Abducts ‘Iran’s Lech Walesa’” - Amir Taheri (New York Post))
“Mansour Osanloo, 48, president of the Union of Bus Drivers, was abducted in Tehran on Tuesday.
“In 2004, Osanloo helped create one of the first independent trade unions in Iran, and has led two successful transit-worker strikes.
“Osanloo, regarded by some as ‘Iran's Lech Walesa,’ has been imprisoned twice before.
“He has been careful not to give Iran's emerging labor movement a political coloring, but Ahmadinejad regards the union leader and the growth of an independent labor movement as a threat.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Opens Fire at Fatah Protestors in Gaza” (IMEMC-PA)
“Fatah media spokesperson Fahmi Za'areer said Thursday that Hamas gunmen opened fire at protestors in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, as hundreds of residents marched in support of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Hamas gunmen arrested dozens of protesters. Za'areer also charged that Hamas gunmen abducted 15 members of the al-Kafarna, Hamad and Abu Aisha families, and that Hamas was trying to take over a mosque in Khan Yunis.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Kowtowing to Hizbullah” - Zvi Bar'el (Ha'aretz)
“The dilemma of whether Hizbullah emerged from the Second Lebanon War strengthened or weakened has been resolved by France. This weekend, Hizbullah figures will arrive in France to conduct a ‘national Lebanese dialog’ under French supervision. This is the first time Hizbullah has been invited to France as a political entity equal to the other factions, for a meeting intended to find a solution to Lebanon's political future.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Next War with Hizbullah Inevitable” - Majdi Halabi (Ynet News)
“Nothing has changed in south Lebanon. The entire region still belongs to Hizbullah and nothing happens there without its approval. The money available to Hizbullah there is doing its job, and the southern villages show absolute loyalty to Hizbullah and to Nasrallah. Even weddings are coordinated with Hizbullah so that no ‘undesirable songs’ are played that praise another leader except for Nasrallah. Recently, many Hizbullah flags were hung on 10-meter high flagpoles under the open eyes of UNIFIL and Lebanese troops. There is no doubt Hizbullah is preparing for another war against Israel, with direct Syrian and Iranian military backing.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“What to Do Now About the Palestinian Authority?” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
“Within a few months after Abbas came to power, Palestinians started realizing that he was not delivering. Instead of fighting corruption, he surrounded himself with the same Arafat cronies. There was a decrease of perhaps 30-40 percent in the level of corruption but an upsurge in internal violence.
“The January 2006 election that brought Hamas to power was mostly about: ‘Let's punish these Fatah thieves.’ Hamas was building schools and kindergartens and clinics, while the PLO was building a casino and villas for its leaders. I believe some 30-35 percent of the Palestinians who voted for Hamas did so as a vote of protest because they were unhappy with the way the Palestinian Authority was running the show.
“Let Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO and Fatah start rebuilding their institutions, reform themselves, get rid of the corruption, and come up with a new list of candidates. Then run in another free and democratic election and offer the Palestinians a better alternative to Hamas.
“The Palestinians do not need more guns and military training. If the U.S. has $86 million and wants to help the Palestinians, then help them build civil institutions, help them build freedom, educate them about good things. What's the point in taking 200 Presidential Guards to Jericho to train them? Who are they going to fight at the end of the day? In Gaza they were defeated.
“What should Israel do at this stage? Nothing. There is no one to deal with on a serious basis on the Palestinian side. Abbas doesn't even have control over his own Fatah militias. Israel should just sit and wait. Don't repeat the mistake of unilateralism, when Israel left Gaza to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.
“It is ironic that the West is supporting the guys who are suppressing the moderates and people who want democracy. The West is actually undermining its own goals.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Wookiee Sought in Marilyn Monroe Sex Incident”
“Police were searching Sunday for a Chewbacca impersonator who had reportedly sexually assaulted a Marilyn Monroe look-alike in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood a month ago.
“The Chewbacca impersonator was wanted on suspicion of grabbing the Monroe impersonator's hand and placing it on his groin about four weeks ago, said Sgt. David Torres, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.
“The Monroe look-alike called police on Sunday after complaining of a separate incident that day between the two impersonators, Torres said. The brown, hairy Wookiee fled just as police arrived at about 12:30 p.m. on Hollywood and Highland boulevards.
“‘The area is very active with summer tourists, traffic, the premiere of `Harry Potter' and the impersonators,’ Torres said. ‘This is not a typical incident, but the impersonators do compete for tourists, and there have been other conflicts.’
“The investigation is ongoing.
“A Chewbacca impersonator was arrested in February in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre after allegedly head-butting a tour guide operator who said the outfitted Wookiee was upsetting tourists.” (Source: City Police, July 14, 2007)
What’s Up, Doc?
The latest (failed) terrorist outrages in England and Scotland involving doctors and other health care professionals were much more disturbing and surprising than similar incidents, precisely because of the professions of those involved. What do we expect? That the nice, grey-haired, neighborly gent that Norman Rockwell painted is an accurate representative of all doctors? Apparently, yes. A recent Harris poll (mentioned in The Week magazine) shows that 93 percent of those questioned said that they trusted their doctors. (One should hope so!)
But to believe that doctors are more moral than, say, trash collectors is class-ist nonsense. (Professions are neither moral nor immoral -- it is the particular members of the profession in question that are either moral or not.) Consider the following:
Joseph Mengele - he of medical “experiments” and “selections” (of would be immediately sent to the crematoria and who would live to die another day) at Auschwitz.
Harold Shipman - a British general practitioner who was responsible for over 200 “mercy killings” before he was apprehended in 1998, qualifying him for the title of the world’s most prolific serial killer in recent years.
Baruch Goldstein - the Israeli physician who, in 1994, went on a rampage in Hebron, in which 29 of the people that he shot died.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command (and star performer in many of their videotaped screeds) is a surgeon.
Doctors in the People’s Republic of China have been “involved” in “harvesting” organs from “political prisoners” in recent years.
*****
“The Middle East: Now Playing at a Theater Near You” - Thomas Friedman (New York Time)
“In the past few years, hundreds of Muslims have committed suicide amid innocent civilians - without making any concrete political demands and without generating any vigorous, sustained condemnation in the Muslim world. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But virtually all suicide terrorists today are Muslims. Angry Norwegians aren't doing this - nor are starving Africans or unemployed Mexicans. Muslims have got to understand that a death cult has taken root in the bosom of their religion.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“Islam’s ‘Death Cult’” - Michael Hirsh (Newsweek)
“There are many people, in many different societies and cultures, who are angry about many things. Would any other culture or religion produce a group of doctors and professionals who apparently deemed it morally correct to kill innocent people in large numbers? Muslims must find a way to remove this modern cancer - this fundamentalist death cult - that has infected their religion. None of us on the outside can do it for them.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“Make Human Rights a Central Part of Any Decision” - Natan Sharansky (Washington Post))
“In totalitarian regimes there are no human rights. Period. The media do not criticize the government. Parliaments do not check executive power. Courts do not uphold due process. And human rights groups don't file reports. For most people, life under totalitarianism is slavery with no possibility of escape. In a national poll of Iraqis conducted this spring by a British market-research firm, nearly 2 to 1 (49% to 26%) said they preferred life under their new government to life under the old tyranny. By consistently ignoring the fundamental moral divide that separates societies in which people are slaves from societies in which people are free, some human rights groups undermine the very cause they claim to champion.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 9, 2007)
*****
“They Honor Us with Their Hate ” - Richard Cohen (Washington Post)
“A picture dated Sept. 12, 2001, made my heart stop. It showed Palestinians, most of them young, all of them male, cheering the deaths of about 3,000 innocent people in America the day before. This was before America's retaliatory invasion of Afghanistan or the war in Iraq. It was also before Guantanamo and before the outrage of Abu Ghraib. In other words, the demonstration by Palestinians in Shatila in Lebanon preceded most of the usual reasons given for why America today is held in contempt. One Islamic state (Iran) and a host of militant organizations - Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, and al-Qaeda - fervently wish for Israel's destruction. There is no way the U.S. could appease these groups and not, in the process, trample on its own moral values.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“Fatah Men Say Mistreated by Hamas in Gaza” - Nidal al-Mughrabi (Reuters)
“Palestinian policeman Tareq Asfour, 43, said the two blood-encrusted holes in his legs were made by nails hammered in by Hamas gunmen who tortured him.
“After handcuffing him and tying him up with wire, ‘they hit me with the wooden handle of a shovel and they used hammers to hit my joints. They put nails in my legs,’ he said.
“Asfour's allegations of mistreatment have been echoed in reports Fatah members have filed with human rights organizations since the fighting.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“The Thoughts of Ahmadinejad” - Arnaud de Borchgrave (UPI)
“A collection of Ahmadinejad's pronouncements makes edifying reading: ‘We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.’ ‘The wave of the Islamist revolution will soon reach the entire world.’ ‘Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi’ (a 5-year-old boy who vanished 1,100 years ago and who will lead the world into an era of peace and prosperity, but not before the planet is convulsed by death and destruction).
“‘Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy?’ ‘ Iran can recruit hundreds of suicide bombers a day. Suicide is an invincible weapon.’ ‘The will to commit suicide is one of the best ways of life.’ ‘By the grace of Allah we will be a nuclear power and Iran does not give a damn about (IAEA) demands’ (to freeze enrichment of nuclear fuel).” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“The Case for Mistrusting Muslims ” - Theodore Dalrymple (Los Angeles Times)
“One of the most sinister effects of the efforts of the UK bombers is that they have undermined trust completely between Muslims and non-Muslims. This is because those under investigation turn out not to be cranks or marginals but people well-integrated into society; they are not the ignorant and uneducated. The perpetrators do not bomb because of personal grievance but because they have allowed themselves to be gripped by a stupid, though apparently quite popular, ideology: radical Islam. Nor are they of one ethnic or national group only: We have had Somali, Pakistani, Arab, Jamaican, Algerian and British Muslim terrorists. This means, unfortunately, that no one can ever be quite sure whether a Muslim who appears polite and accommodating is not simultaneously contemplating mass murder.
“The fundamental problem is this: There is an asymmetry between the good that many moderate Muslims can do for Britain and the harm that a few fanatics can do to it. The 1-in-1,000 chance that a man is a murderous fanatic is more important to me than the 999-in-1,000 chance that he is not a murderous fanatic. The problem causes deep philosophical discomfort to everyone who believes in a tolerant society. On the one hand we believe that every individual should be judged on his merits, while, on the other, we know it would be absurd and dangerous to pretend that the threat of terrorism comes from sections of the population equally.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“What About Muslim Moderates” - R. James Woolsey and Nina Shea (Wall Street Journal)
“The Bush administration is building bridges to well-funded and self-publicized organizations that claim to speak for all Muslims, even though some of those groups espouse views inimical to American values and interests. After years of pursuing similar strategies - while seeing home-based terrorists proliferate - the British government is now more discerning about which Muslims it will partner with. Stating that ‘lip service for peace’ is no longer sufficient, the British are identifying and elevating those who are willing to take clear stands against terrorism and its supporting ideology.
“On the eve of his departure from office, Tony Blair gave a television interview taking on those he once courted - British Islamists who have been quick to level charges of Islamophobia and oppression against Britain and the U.S.: ‘The reason we are finding it hard to win this battle [against terror] is that we're not actually fighting it properly. We're not actually standing up to these people and saying, “It's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified.”’
“The Bush administration is now actively considering whether its public diplomacy should reach out to Muslim Brotherhood groups. By choosing those whose definition of terror does not include the murder of Jews, honor killings and lethal fatwas against Muslim dissidents and reformers, the U.S. government makes them look strong - particularly in the shame-and-honor culture of the Middle East - and strengthens their hand against the real moderates and reformers.”
“Mr. Woolsey, co-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger, was Director of Central Intelligence 1993-1995. Ms. Shea is the director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 10, 2007)
*****
“Palestinian Terrorism Disrupts Israeli Humanitarian Efforts - Palestinian terrorists are targeting the border crossings through which Israel is trying to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, according to an official release from the Israel Defense Forces. On Tuesday, two mortar shells were fired at the Kerem Shalom crossing, with one hitting it directly. Israel has transferred thousands of tons of food, medicine and additional humanitarian supplies through Kerem Shalom and the Sufa crossings, seeking to prevent suffering in Gaza following the terrorist group Hamas' takeover of the strip.” (Source: AIPAC Update, July 10, 2007)
*****
Women’s Rights in Spain
From Reuters [July 9, 2007]
Women demand female Pamplona bull run, with cows
“Women in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious bull-running festival, are demanding their own version complete with cows instead of bulls.
“A student website, www.estudiln.net, set the ball rolling with its campaign ‘Cows want to run’ which asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are known, where only women are allowed to take part.
“Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin bull-running for some years but they still represent a tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course through the streets of Pamplona.
“The students say it's only logical that women should have their own bull-run.
“‘Cows, as well as bulls, have four legs and a natural instinct to run,’ says their manifesto. ‘An encierro for cows, would put Pamplona at the vanguard of traditional fiestas with equality for men and women.’
“Organizers of the festival, which runs from July 7-14, have not responded to the suggestion.
“And just what the late Ernest Hemingway, who made the bull-run in Pamplona internationally famous, would have thought will never be known.”
*****
“British Journalists Union Abandons Israel Boycott” - Stephen Brook
(Guardian-UK)
“The UK's National Union of Journalists will take ‘no further action’ on implementing the controversial resolution to boycott Israeli goods and services. The NUJ's national executive council took the decision and called for members to unite instead behind the union's ‘key workplace priorities.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“Britain’s War Against ... Well, You Know” - Melanie Phillips (USA Today)
“Britain is now fighting a war it dares not name. The new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has banned his ministers from using the word ‘Muslim’ - and presumably ‘Islamic’ or ‘Islamist’ - in connection with the terrorist crisis. He has also put an end to the phrase ‘war on terror.’ Accordingly, the new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, referred to them as ‘criminal’ acts rather than Islamic terrorism and talked about ‘communities’ that are involved rather than Muslims. How can Brown talk about winning a battle of ideas - when he is not even prepared to name the central idea that is driving the terrorism?
“Britain has never been in a more dangerous position - not just because of terrorism but because, faced with an enemy whose platform is the decadence and weakness of the West, it is going out of its way to prove the terrorists right.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“What Iranians Really Think” - Ken Ballen (-all Street Journal)
“Terror Free Tomorrow conducted the first uncensored public opinion survey of Iran since President Ahmadinejad took office. The survey was in Farsi by telephone from June 5 to June 18, 2007, with 1,000 interviews covering all 30 provinces of Iran. Discontent with the current system of government, the economy and isolation from the West is widespread throughout Iran, and nuclear weapons are the lowest priority for the Iranian people. The overwhelming popular will to live in a country open to the West and the U.S., with greater economic opportunity, is a powerful plea from every region and segment of society. Iranians also speak with one voice in rejecting the current autocratic rule of their supreme leader and in courageously asking for democracy instead.
“Close to 70% of Iranians favor normal relations and trade with the U.S. Indeed, in exchange for normal relations, a majority of Iranians even favor recognizing Israel and Palestine as independent states, ending Iranian support for any armed groups inside Iraq, and giving full transparency by Iran to the U.S. to ensure there are no Iranian endeavors to develop nuclear weapons. Some 61% of Iranians were willing to tell pollsters - over the phone no less - that they oppose the current Iranian system of government. Over 79% support a democratic system in which the supreme leader, along with all leaders, can be chosen and replaced by a free and direct vote of the people.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“How PA Gunmen Pass High School Exams” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post-)
“Earlier this week, some 150 Fatah gunmen stormed a number of schools in Nablus and demanded to take high school matriculation exams in special halls.
“One of the teachers said most of the gunmen cheated. ‘They opened books and copied the answers word by word,’ he said. ‘We were afraid to stop them because they were carrying M-16 rifles.’” (Source: Daily Alert, July 11, 2007)
*****
“As Mortar Shells, Fall, Goods Go to Gaza” - Isabel Kirshner (New York Times)
“Alongside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the gritty business of coexistence marches on. Since the Islamic militants of Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Israel has kept the main commercial crossing point at Karni shuttered. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction, making border crossing etiquette more precarious than elsewhere. On Wednesday, between mortar attacks by Hamas and other militants, about 20 truckloads of milk products, meat, medicines and eggs passed from Israel into Gaza, ordered by Palestinian merchants from Israeli suppliers, relying on contacts built up over years. At the fuel depot at Nahal Oz, Israeli tankers pour diesel, gasoline and cooking gas into Gaza through pipes that run beneath the border. At Karni, the Israelis have adapted a 650-foot-long conveyor belt, previously used for gravel, to send in grain.
“Col. Nir Press, head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration, the Israeli military agency that deals with the civilian aspects of the Gaza border, noted that in April 2006, a vehicle loaded with half a ton of explosives got through three of four checkpoints on the Palestinian side of Karni, and was stopped at the last security position by members of the American-backed Presidential Guard, loyal to Mahmoud Abbas. But the Presidential Guard is no longer there, having been routed by Hamas.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
Trade Unions in Iran
“Government Abducts ‘Iran’s Lech Walesa’” - Amir Taheri (New York Post))
“Mansour Osanloo, 48, president of the Union of Bus Drivers, was abducted in Tehran on Tuesday.
“In 2004, Osanloo helped create one of the first independent trade unions in Iran, and has led two successful transit-worker strikes.
“Osanloo, regarded by some as ‘Iran's Lech Walesa,’ has been imprisoned twice before.
“He has been careful not to give Iran's emerging labor movement a political coloring, but Ahmadinejad regards the union leader and the growth of an independent labor movement as a threat.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Opens Fire at Fatah Protestors in Gaza” (IMEMC-PA)
“Fatah media spokesperson Fahmi Za'areer said Thursday that Hamas gunmen opened fire at protestors in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, as hundreds of residents marched in support of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Hamas gunmen arrested dozens of protesters. Za'areer also charged that Hamas gunmen abducted 15 members of the al-Kafarna, Hamad and Abu Aisha families, and that Hamas was trying to take over a mosque in Khan Yunis.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Kowtowing to Hizbullah” - Zvi Bar'el (Ha'aretz)
“The dilemma of whether Hizbullah emerged from the Second Lebanon War strengthened or weakened has been resolved by France. This weekend, Hizbullah figures will arrive in France to conduct a ‘national Lebanese dialog’ under French supervision. This is the first time Hizbullah has been invited to France as a political entity equal to the other factions, for a meeting intended to find a solution to Lebanon's political future.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Next War with Hizbullah Inevitable” - Majdi Halabi (Ynet News)
“Nothing has changed in south Lebanon. The entire region still belongs to Hizbullah and nothing happens there without its approval. The money available to Hizbullah there is doing its job, and the southern villages show absolute loyalty to Hizbullah and to Nasrallah. Even weddings are coordinated with Hizbullah so that no ‘undesirable songs’ are played that praise another leader except for Nasrallah. Recently, many Hizbullah flags were hung on 10-meter high flagpoles under the open eyes of UNIFIL and Lebanese troops. There is no doubt Hizbullah is preparing for another war against Israel, with direct Syrian and Iranian military backing.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
“What to Do Now About the Palestinian Authority?” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
“Within a few months after Abbas came to power, Palestinians started realizing that he was not delivering. Instead of fighting corruption, he surrounded himself with the same Arafat cronies. There was a decrease of perhaps 30-40 percent in the level of corruption but an upsurge in internal violence.
“The January 2006 election that brought Hamas to power was mostly about: ‘Let's punish these Fatah thieves.’ Hamas was building schools and kindergartens and clinics, while the PLO was building a casino and villas for its leaders. I believe some 30-35 percent of the Palestinians who voted for Hamas did so as a vote of protest because they were unhappy with the way the Palestinian Authority was running the show.
“Let Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO and Fatah start rebuilding their institutions, reform themselves, get rid of the corruption, and come up with a new list of candidates. Then run in another free and democratic election and offer the Palestinians a better alternative to Hamas.
“The Palestinians do not need more guns and military training. If the U.S. has $86 million and wants to help the Palestinians, then help them build civil institutions, help them build freedom, educate them about good things. What's the point in taking 200 Presidential Guards to Jericho to train them? Who are they going to fight at the end of the day? In Gaza they were defeated.
“What should Israel do at this stage? Nothing. There is no one to deal with on a serious basis on the Palestinian side. Abbas doesn't even have control over his own Fatah militias. Israel should just sit and wait. Don't repeat the mistake of unilateralism, when Israel left Gaza to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.
“It is ironic that the West is supporting the guys who are suppressing the moderates and people who want democracy. The West is actually undermining its own goals.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 13, 2007)
*****
Crimestoppers Notebook
“Wookiee Sought in Marilyn Monroe Sex Incident”
“Police were searching Sunday for a Chewbacca impersonator who had reportedly sexually assaulted a Marilyn Monroe look-alike in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood a month ago.
“The Chewbacca impersonator was wanted on suspicion of grabbing the Monroe impersonator's hand and placing it on his groin about four weeks ago, said Sgt. David Torres, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.
“The Monroe look-alike called police on Sunday after complaining of a separate incident that day between the two impersonators, Torres said. The brown, hairy Wookiee fled just as police arrived at about 12:30 p.m. on Hollywood and Highland boulevards.
“‘The area is very active with summer tourists, traffic, the premiere of `Harry Potter' and the impersonators,’ Torres said. ‘This is not a typical incident, but the impersonators do compete for tourists, and there have been other conflicts.’
“The investigation is ongoing.
“A Chewbacca impersonator was arrested in February in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre after allegedly head-butting a tour guide operator who said the outfitted Wookiee was upsetting tourists.” (Source: City Police, July 14, 2007)
July 08, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
July 8, 2007
“The United Nations Environment Programme reported that investment in renewable energy leapt to $100 billion in 2006, higher than most previous forecasts had suggested. Most of the capital went to America and Europe, but China accounted for 9% of the total. The UN said the figures proved that renewables had shed their ‘fringe image’.” (Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007)
*****
Department of “What Are You Talking About?” - The Honorable Richard Cheney, Vice-President of the United States
Six years ago, Mr. Cheney spurned a congressional probe into his energy task-force, stating that it “would unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch.” But that was then, and this is now: Mr. Cheney claims that his office is not subject to rules concerning the preservation of secret documents, because it is not “an entity within the executive branch.” And who says you can’t have it both ways?
*****
“A Road Map for Mr. Blair” - Shlomo Avineri (Jerusalem Post))
“One aspect of Tony Blair's mission statement which is new is to help the Palestinians build up coherent institutions. The failure at Palestinian nation-building through the lack of effective institutions is one of the worst enemies of the Palestinian quest for statehood. If they continue to fail in this, their dream of a state is doomed to be swallowed up - as in Gaza - in internecine bloodshed.
“The Arab region has been the only area of the world which has not witnessed the emergence of a democratic movement in the last two decades, during which Eastern Europe, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia have been swept by democratic transformations. That this is not rooted in Islam, but is a specific Arab predicament, is testified by such disparate examples as Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh - even Iran, whose theocracy is accompanied by contested elections and a vibrant civil society.
“Both in Iraq and among the Palestinians, elections spawned militia-based parties, and ultimately power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Anyone who believes that in either Iraq or Palestine there will soon be an orderly transfer of power from militias and armed gangs to a legitimate government sorely misunderstands the subtext of Arab politics.
“In both Iraq and among the Palestinians, neither winners nor losers behave according to the rules of the game: Winners don't respect the rights of the losers, and losers just bristle against the winning majority and don't respect election results.”
“The writer, professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has been involved in democracy-enhancement projects in post-communist Eastern Europe.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 2, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Clerics Urge Palestinians to Maintain Jihad Against Israel” (Reuters)
“Several key Saudi clerics this week urged Palestinians not to give up jihad against Israel.
“‘Maintain the way of jihad and preaching which has spread among the Muslim Palestinian people. Support it and beware of it easing up,’ said a June 30 statement published on Islamist websites signed by 16 leading clerics including Abdel-Rahman al-Barrak and Nasser al-Omar.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 3, 2007)
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
“Iran's president rejects biopic, saying Stone part of 'Great Satan'”
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has turned down a chance to be the subject of a documentary by Oliver Stone — because he thinks the Oscar-winning director is just a cog in the machine of the ‘Great Satan.’
“Even though the director has been an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and various administrations, an Ahmadinejad spokesman said the president considers Stone to be part of the cultural establishment in the ‘Great Satan’ — the epithet often used by Iranian hardliners to refer to the United States.
“‘It is true that [Stone] is known as a dissident in the U.S., but opposition in the U.S. is a part of the Great Satan,’ Mehdi Kalhor, the president's media adviser, said according to the Iranian news agency Fars.
“The term Great Satan was first given to the U.S. by Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the country's American-backed Shah.
“The Los Angeles Times reports another Ahmadinejad adviser said the president would allow Stone to make a documentary about him only if the White House allowed an Iranian filmmaker to make one about President George W. Bush.
“Kalhor said the 60-year-old director — who has won Oscars for Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon — sent his proposal more than a year ago.
“Kalhor went on to further criticize American culture: ‘We believe that the American cinema industry lacks culture and art.’
“‘I have been called a lot of things, but never a Great Satan,’ Stone responded in a statement.
“‘I wish the Iranian people well, and only hope their experience with an inept, rigid ideologue president goes better than ours.’
“The writer and director has made biopics about former U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and a documentary about Cuban President Fidel Castro.
“Last year in Spain, he said he was ‘ashamed’ of his country over the war in Iraq and U.S. policies in response to the al-Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Stone recently made a commercial urging the U.S. to bring American troops back from Iraq.” (Source: CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation], July 3, 2007 (“With files from the Associated Press”)
*****
Religion In The News - And you thought your religion was odd
“U.S. trip costs girl living goddess title
“KATHMANDU, Nepal, July 3 (UPI) -- Ten-year-old Sajani Shakya's visit to the United States apparently tainted her purity, forcing her to give up her the title of Nepal's ‘Living Goddess.’
“Sajani had been worshipped as one of the Himalayan kingdom's three highest ranking living goddesses, an ancient tradition among the Hindus and Buddhists which selects such qualified Kumaris who haven't reached puberty, for worship.
“Sajani allegedly upset temple elders by visiting the United States to promote a documentary, the BBC reported Tuesday. The tradition forbids Kumaris of her rank from leaving Nepal so they can continue to bless devotees and attend festivals.
“The BBC report said temple elders felt her U.S. trip had tarnished her purity. They will now look for another Kumari to fill Sajani's place.
“Living Goddesses are picked after a rigorous search. A Kumari must be between the ages of 2 and 4 at the time of selection and must belong to the same Buddhist clan, the report said.
“A girl must have 32 attributes to become a Kumari, among them she must have thighs like those of a deer and a conch shell-like neck, the report said. She leads a secluded life in her palace until reaching puberty.”
*****
“Report: Attack on German UNIFIL Naval Vessel Foiled” (Jerusalem Post)
“The Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL arrested a group of terrorists planning a naval attack on a German vessel, As-Safir, a Lebanese daily, reported Tuesday.
“The detainees were training in northern Lebanon, across from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 4, 2007)
*****
“‘Islamophobia’ Idiotic” - Amir Taheri (New York Post)
“Ken Livingstone, London's quixotic mayor, has shifted the blame from the terrorists to the British at large, who are supposedly tempted by ‘Islamophobia.’ Thus, Livingstone works his way into a logical impasse: Do we dislike them because they want to kill us, or do they want to kill us because we dislike them? He implies that the main blame must lie with the British government and its U.S. allies, especially President Bush, who has declared war on terror rather than seeking to cuddle it.
“Britain and a few other Western democracies are the only places on earth where Muslims of all persuasions can practice their faith in full freedom. Hamas and Hizbullah are strongly present in Britain; the Islamic Liberation Party, banned in all Muslim countries, has its headquarters in London. Pro-Hamas and pro-Hizbullah militants are featured on British TV almost every evening. The Islamic Republic of Iran's ‘Supreme Guide,’ Ali Khamenei, maintains a ‘personal office’ in London with twice as many personnel as Iran's official embassy.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 4, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Succeeded Where Abbas Failed in Winning Reporter’s Release” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“The release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston is undoubtedly a severe blow to the credibility of Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, who have yet to explain why they had failed where Hamas succeeded. Many powerful clans have handed over their weapons to Hamas and Palestinian journalists say they no longer see armed gangs on the streets. By contrast, Abbas' decision to outlaw armed militias in the West Bank has fallen on deaf ears as many Fatah gunmen continue to patrol the streets and to intimidate the public.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Bringing ‘the Calm of the Cemetery’ to Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff ( Ha'aretz)
“Only six months ago, Hamas was still collaborating with the Army of Islam, the name taken on by the bandit Dughmush clan. Hamas used Dughmush gunmen as contract killers against Fatah (in the murder of Mousa Arafat), for the launching of Kassam rockets against Israel while declaring it was adhering to a cease-fire, and for the abduction of Gilad Shalit. The leader of the Army of Islam, Mumtaz Dughmush, used to spend time with the heads of the Hamas military wing.
“After it took over Gaza, Hamas needed proof for the international community that its intentions are serious about restoring calm, so on Wednesday Hamas delivered kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston. Gaza is becoming increasingly calm, stemming from the scare tactics and the force utilized by Hamas. For some Gaza residents, the quiet reminds them of the calm of a cemetery.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Army of Islam: Hamas Is Holding Captured Israeli Soldier” - ( Ha'aretz)
“Army of Islam deputy commander Abu Mutha'ana told Israel's Channel 10 television Wednesday that it had transferred IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the full control of Hamas. ‘We kidnapped Gilad Shalit and handed him over to Hamas,’ he said. A high-level security source said Shalit was handed over in exchange for large sums of money and weapons. Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Olmert, called on Hamas to free Shalit immediately. ‘The Hamas that brought about Alan Johnston's release is the same Hamas that abducted Gilad Shalit,’ she said.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Arabs Should Accept the Truth of Our Own Defeats” - Khairi Abaza (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Last month, the Arab world remembered one of its greatest defeats of the 20th century: the June 1967 war, which marked the end of the hope to wipe out Israel. Arabs will not progress before they face the truth about their own history. The Arab media failed to remind us that because of Nasser's bluff and provocation, in June 1967 Israel was able to win a devastating war. They failed to remind us how Nasser encouraged King Hussein of Jordan to take part in the war only hours after he knew that Egypt had been defeated.
“What was Hizbullah's ‘victory’ against Israel in summer 2006? A victory that left around 1,200 Lebanese dead, led to billions of dollars in damages and losses in tourism income, and the entry of UN troops in southern Lebanon? With such a balance sheet, how could Hizbullah and its Arab supporters mislead the Arab public and claim victory? Yes, Nasrallah was left standing, just as Nasser was. But is that enough when their nations and people were left battered?”
“The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for Liberty in the Middle East.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“IRAN'S NETWORK SPEWS
“24-HR. TV NEWS HAS NO SEX, BUT LIES & VIDEO”
By Andrea Peyser
[Source: New York Post, July 5, 2007]
“ALL that's missing is the animal act.
“The government of Iran is not only dangerously volatile, the nuke-loving regime has developed a twisted sense of humor.
“For the last two days, I've been watching PressTV, Iran's brand-new, state-run foray into 24-hour broadcast news. As if the world needed any more anti-Western propaganda than what's already generated by CNN and the BBC.
“Since it started beaming itself - in English - to the world via satellite on Monday, PressTV has been the news freak's antidote to reality, streaming a nonstop flow of news abuse, Arab-world victimhood, sports and the weather report in Tehran and New York.
“‘America Planning a Coup on Saudi Arabia!’ warned one of the interchangeable, and humorless, women concealed by a lifeless gray or brown Arabic headscarf.
“‘Israeli Tank Kills Family!’ declares a man with a distinct American accent.
“Accessing the station on the Internet, I was assaulted by PressTV's far-flung correspondents and purely accidental acquaintance with the truth.
“People recognizable on the other side of the pond for conspiracy theories - such as journalist Kevin Cahill, who believes the British government and CIA teamed up to assassinate a Conservative member of Parliament in 1979 - give the broadcast an air of pseudo-authority.
“When it was launched Monday by Iran prez Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the station presented itself as an alternative to Western-biased news. But all it does is promote the insanity of Iran: Hamas is good, Fatah bad. Hezbollah good. And America might as well cease to exist.
“I watched a feature story titled ‘Iran, Land of Religion,’ promoting the country as being good to its Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, as the camera stopped, for a long time, on a picture of yarmulke-wearing, praying Jews. See, we won't kill you!
“During the many times I was knocked off the channel - this is one busy network - I read PressTV's Web site. In case you missed the message on the TV channel, the site tells you who the bad guys are.
“About the terror plots in Britain, ‘Is it really the al Qaeda who launched this attack or is it another interested party framing the Muslim nation by pointing the finger of blame at a terrorist group shunned by the Muslims?’ read an unsigned report.
“Another article blames the United States and Israel for stirring up violence between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza.
“‘Washington's fingerprints are all over the chaos that has hit Palestinians and the last thing they need now is an envoy called Blair.’
“Wait a minute. That piece came out of The Guardian newspaper - in Britain.
“PressTV is in good company.”
*****
“Terrorism’s Hook into Your Inbox” - Brian Krebs (Washington Post)
“The global jihad landed in Linda Spence's e-mail inbox during the summer of 2003, in the form of a message urging her to verify her eBay account information. The 35-year-old New Jersey resident clicked on the link included in the message, which took her to a counterfeit eBay site where she unwittingly entered in personal financial information.
“Ultimately, Spence's information wound up in the hands of a young man in the UK who investigators said was the brains behind a terrorist cell that sought to facilitate deadly bombing attacks against targets in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
“Spence's stolen data made its way via the Internet black market for stolen identities to biochemistry student Tariq al-Daour, 21, one of three UK residents who pleaded guilty this week to a terrorism charge of using the Internet to incite murder.
“The trio used computer viruses and stolen credit card accounts to set up a network of communication forums and Web sites that hosted everything from tutorials on computer hacking and bomb-making to videos of beheadings and suicide bombing attacks in Iraq.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 6, 2007)
*****
“Covering Gaza” - Kevin Peraino(Newsweek)
“While Alan Johnston's release may let foreign correspondents breathe a little easier in Gaza, hundreds of local Palestinian reporters are still wary.
“According to a new report by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (PCDMF), more than 30 Palestinian journalists were attacked in Gaza and the West Bank last month, the highest in the territories' history.
“Already three reporters have been killed this year, compared with only one fatality in the preceding three years.
“The only newspaper currently available in Gaza is the Hamas-run Fallastin.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 6, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The small town of Delcambre, La., has passed a new law banning the wearing of extremely baggy pants. The ordinance sets maximum penalties of $500 and six months in jail for anyone found wearing the extravagantly oversize, underwear-revealing pants that have long been popular in the hip-hop community. Mayor Carol Broussard denies the law is aimed at any racial group in particular. ‘White people wear sagging pants, too,’ said Broussard. ‘Anyone who wears these pants should be held responsible.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
My editorial comments: Do we really want police to enforce dress codes?
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
Competitive U.S. parents are spending unprecedented levels of money and anxiety on the selection of names for their children, says The Wall Street Journal. Many are even hiring professional baby-name consultants, who use statistical data, phonetic analysis, and market-research techniques to suggest names that align well with the parents’ tastes and ambitions for the child. ‘We live in a marketing-oriented society,’ said baby-name expert Bruce Lansky. ‘When you pick the right name, you’re giving your child a head start.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Good week for Moving tributes, after President Bush, in saying farewell to outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, spoke enviously of Blair’s communication skills. ‘This guy can really [pause] ... and he can talk,’ said Bush. ‘He’s much more kind of lofty and eloquent than I am.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Bad week for Sticking to the rules, after the manager of a Miami Wendy’s refused to five a customer more than 10 packets of chili sauce, and was then shot several times in the arm. Wendy’s company policy, the manager tried to explain before his angry assailant fled, limits customers to only three packets of chili sauce.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Will anyone stand up to the Islamists? - Tim Rutten - Los Angeles Times -- Once again, author Salman Rushdie is laboring under a death sentence imposed by Islamic fanatics. So why, asked Tim Rutten, hasn’t an outraged American media risen to his defense? The latest jihad was sparked when Queen Elizabeth knighted Rushdie for his services to literature. Islamic radicals have viewed Rushdie as a blasphemous heretic ever since he dared write about the Prophet Mohammed in the novel The Satanic Verses. When word of Sir Salman’s knighthood reached the Islamic world, an Iranian radical group offered $150,000 to anyone who would murder him, and Pakistan's religious affairs minister said Muslims would be justified in detonating suicide bombs in Britain. In response to ‘all this homicidal nonsense,’ the great editorial writers and columnists in the U.S. said ... [sic] virtually nothing. That’s because Western editors and writers have succumbed to a ‘soft bigotry,’ in which it’s assumed it’s perfectly natural in Islamic culture to kill infidel writers, independent women, and other apostates. To express disapproval of such practices is to be ‘somehow intolerant or insensitive.’ This is not merely a moral disgrace. If people do not speak up against Islamic oppression, a terrible silence will fall over much of the world--‘a silence in which the only permissible sounds are the prayers of the killers and the cries of their victims.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
According to Peter Brookes, writing in the New York Post about pollution in China, “If you think this is all someone else’s problem, think again: ‘Thanks to prevailing wind patters,’ up to 40 percent of the air pollution on the West Coast originates in China. In California, Oregon, and Washington, sulfur from China alone accounts for up to 15 percent of the EPA’s allowable levels. And it’s only going to get worse, since China has shown little interest in curbing emissions. China is the world’s largest exporter, and China’s largest export, it turns out, is pollution.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“The city of Patna, in eastern India, is under assault from an army of drunken rats. The rats have discovered the warehouses where police store illegal beer and whiskey seized from unlicensed distributors, and have been gnawing through the containers and slurping up the contents. With their inhibitions gone, the rats then attack the toes of pedestrians. ‘We are fed up with these drunk rats,’ said Kundan Krishnan of the state police, ‘and cannot explain why they have suddenly turned to consumption of alcohol.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
More on those greedy Americans: According to Financial Times, “Despite the absence of major natural disasters in 2006, charitable giving in the U.S. hit a record $295 billion last year. The previous record of $283 billion, set in 2005, included $7.4 billion in donations related to tsunami relief and Hurricane Katrina.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to Foreign Policy, “Global gasoline prices vary so widely that it costs just $1.45 to fill a 2007 Honda Civic in Venezuela, $31.42 in the U.S., $81.44 in Britain, and $93.98 in Turkey.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to the Houston Chronicle, “U.S. retailers lost $41.6 billion to theft last year, led by Wal-Mart, which lost $3 billion.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “New casinos and upgrades to existing ones will push global gambling revenue from $101.6 billion in 2006 to $144 billion in 2011, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers [sic] report .” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
The Immigration reform discussion continues
“The immigrants who invigorate our economy - Hope M. Frye and Martin J. Lawler - The Wall Street Journal -- Here’s one immigration reform that’s practically a no-brainer, said in The Wall Street Journal: Let in more highly-skilled immigrants. Without skilled immigrants, the high-tech revolution that has made our economy the envy of the world would never have happened. in fact, more than half of the technology start-ups in Silicon Valley were founded by at least one immigrant. These companies desperately need foreign workers because the U.S. is ‘simply not graduating enough’ engineers, programmers, and other techies to fill all the jobs the firms are creating. Yet under a proposed law, only 115,000 visas will be issued each year to skilled immigrants, which means many thousands more are turned away. How self-defeating can you get? ‘The impact of start-up technology companies is felt throughout the economy.’ Not only do they create product ‘from lifesaving medical devices to entertainment,’ they spend good money in their communities and employ thousands. Denying entry to the people who start new companies, create jobs, and ‘help us grow our technology-based economy’ simply makes no sense.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“The United Nations Environment Programme reported that investment in renewable energy leapt to $100 billion in 2006, higher than most previous forecasts had suggested. Most of the capital went to America and Europe, but China accounted for 9% of the total. The UN said the figures proved that renewables had shed their ‘fringe image’.” (Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007)
*****
Department of “What Are You Talking About?” - The Honorable Richard Cheney, Vice-President of the United States
Six years ago, Mr. Cheney spurned a congressional probe into his energy task-force, stating that it “would unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch.” But that was then, and this is now: Mr. Cheney claims that his office is not subject to rules concerning the preservation of secret documents, because it is not “an entity within the executive branch.” And who says you can’t have it both ways?
*****
“A Road Map for Mr. Blair” - Shlomo Avineri (Jerusalem Post))
“One aspect of Tony Blair's mission statement which is new is to help the Palestinians build up coherent institutions. The failure at Palestinian nation-building through the lack of effective institutions is one of the worst enemies of the Palestinian quest for statehood. If they continue to fail in this, their dream of a state is doomed to be swallowed up - as in Gaza - in internecine bloodshed.
“The Arab region has been the only area of the world which has not witnessed the emergence of a democratic movement in the last two decades, during which Eastern Europe, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia have been swept by democratic transformations. That this is not rooted in Islam, but is a specific Arab predicament, is testified by such disparate examples as Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh - even Iran, whose theocracy is accompanied by contested elections and a vibrant civil society.
“Both in Iraq and among the Palestinians, elections spawned militia-based parties, and ultimately power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Anyone who believes that in either Iraq or Palestine there will soon be an orderly transfer of power from militias and armed gangs to a legitimate government sorely misunderstands the subtext of Arab politics.
“In both Iraq and among the Palestinians, neither winners nor losers behave according to the rules of the game: Winners don't respect the rights of the losers, and losers just bristle against the winning majority and don't respect election results.”
“The writer, professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has been involved in democracy-enhancement projects in post-communist Eastern Europe.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 2, 2007)
*****
“Saudi Clerics Urge Palestinians to Maintain Jihad Against Israel” (Reuters)
“Several key Saudi clerics this week urged Palestinians not to give up jihad against Israel.
“‘Maintain the way of jihad and preaching which has spread among the Muslim Palestinian people. Support it and beware of it easing up,’ said a June 30 statement published on Islamist websites signed by 16 leading clerics including Abdel-Rahman al-Barrak and Nasser al-Omar.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 3, 2007)
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
“Iran's president rejects biopic, saying Stone part of 'Great Satan'”
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has turned down a chance to be the subject of a documentary by Oliver Stone — because he thinks the Oscar-winning director is just a cog in the machine of the ‘Great Satan.’
“Even though the director has been an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and various administrations, an Ahmadinejad spokesman said the president considers Stone to be part of the cultural establishment in the ‘Great Satan’ — the epithet often used by Iranian hardliners to refer to the United States.
“‘It is true that [Stone] is known as a dissident in the U.S., but opposition in the U.S. is a part of the Great Satan,’ Mehdi Kalhor, the president's media adviser, said according to the Iranian news agency Fars.
“The term Great Satan was first given to the U.S. by Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the country's American-backed Shah.
“The Los Angeles Times reports another Ahmadinejad adviser said the president would allow Stone to make a documentary about him only if the White House allowed an Iranian filmmaker to make one about President George W. Bush.
“Kalhor said the 60-year-old director — who has won Oscars for Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon — sent his proposal more than a year ago.
“Kalhor went on to further criticize American culture: ‘We believe that the American cinema industry lacks culture and art.’
“‘I have been called a lot of things, but never a Great Satan,’ Stone responded in a statement.
“‘I wish the Iranian people well, and only hope their experience with an inept, rigid ideologue president goes better than ours.’
“The writer and director has made biopics about former U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and a documentary about Cuban President Fidel Castro.
“Last year in Spain, he said he was ‘ashamed’ of his country over the war in Iraq and U.S. policies in response to the al-Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Stone recently made a commercial urging the U.S. to bring American troops back from Iraq.” (Source: CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation], July 3, 2007 (“With files from the Associated Press”)
*****
Religion In The News - And you thought your religion was odd
“U.S. trip costs girl living goddess title
“KATHMANDU, Nepal, July 3 (UPI) -- Ten-year-old Sajani Shakya's visit to the United States apparently tainted her purity, forcing her to give up her the title of Nepal's ‘Living Goddess.’
“Sajani had been worshipped as one of the Himalayan kingdom's three highest ranking living goddesses, an ancient tradition among the Hindus and Buddhists which selects such qualified Kumaris who haven't reached puberty, for worship.
“Sajani allegedly upset temple elders by visiting the United States to promote a documentary, the BBC reported Tuesday. The tradition forbids Kumaris of her rank from leaving Nepal so they can continue to bless devotees and attend festivals.
“The BBC report said temple elders felt her U.S. trip had tarnished her purity. They will now look for another Kumari to fill Sajani's place.
“Living Goddesses are picked after a rigorous search. A Kumari must be between the ages of 2 and 4 at the time of selection and must belong to the same Buddhist clan, the report said.
“A girl must have 32 attributes to become a Kumari, among them she must have thighs like those of a deer and a conch shell-like neck, the report said. She leads a secluded life in her palace until reaching puberty.”
*****
“Report: Attack on German UNIFIL Naval Vessel Foiled” (Jerusalem Post)
“The Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL arrested a group of terrorists planning a naval attack on a German vessel, As-Safir, a Lebanese daily, reported Tuesday.
“The detainees were training in northern Lebanon, across from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 4, 2007)
*****
“‘Islamophobia’ Idiotic” - Amir Taheri (New York Post)
“Ken Livingstone, London's quixotic mayor, has shifted the blame from the terrorists to the British at large, who are supposedly tempted by ‘Islamophobia.’ Thus, Livingstone works his way into a logical impasse: Do we dislike them because they want to kill us, or do they want to kill us because we dislike them? He implies that the main blame must lie with the British government and its U.S. allies, especially President Bush, who has declared war on terror rather than seeking to cuddle it.
“Britain and a few other Western democracies are the only places on earth where Muslims of all persuasions can practice their faith in full freedom. Hamas and Hizbullah are strongly present in Britain; the Islamic Liberation Party, banned in all Muslim countries, has its headquarters in London. Pro-Hamas and pro-Hizbullah militants are featured on British TV almost every evening. The Islamic Republic of Iran's ‘Supreme Guide,’ Ali Khamenei, maintains a ‘personal office’ in London with twice as many personnel as Iran's official embassy.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 4, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Succeeded Where Abbas Failed in Winning Reporter’s Release” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“The release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston is undoubtedly a severe blow to the credibility of Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, who have yet to explain why they had failed where Hamas succeeded. Many powerful clans have handed over their weapons to Hamas and Palestinian journalists say they no longer see armed gangs on the streets. By contrast, Abbas' decision to outlaw armed militias in the West Bank has fallen on deaf ears as many Fatah gunmen continue to patrol the streets and to intimidate the public.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Hamas Bringing ‘the Calm of the Cemetery’ to Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff ( Ha'aretz)
“Only six months ago, Hamas was still collaborating with the Army of Islam, the name taken on by the bandit Dughmush clan. Hamas used Dughmush gunmen as contract killers against Fatah (in the murder of Mousa Arafat), for the launching of Kassam rockets against Israel while declaring it was adhering to a cease-fire, and for the abduction of Gilad Shalit. The leader of the Army of Islam, Mumtaz Dughmush, used to spend time with the heads of the Hamas military wing.
“After it took over Gaza, Hamas needed proof for the international community that its intentions are serious about restoring calm, so on Wednesday Hamas delivered kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston. Gaza is becoming increasingly calm, stemming from the scare tactics and the force utilized by Hamas. For some Gaza residents, the quiet reminds them of the calm of a cemetery.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Army of Islam: Hamas Is Holding Captured Israeli Soldier” - ( Ha'aretz)
“Army of Islam deputy commander Abu Mutha'ana told Israel's Channel 10 television Wednesday that it had transferred IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the full control of Hamas. ‘We kidnapped Gilad Shalit and handed him over to Hamas,’ he said. A high-level security source said Shalit was handed over in exchange for large sums of money and weapons. Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Olmert, called on Hamas to free Shalit immediately. ‘The Hamas that brought about Alan Johnston's release is the same Hamas that abducted Gilad Shalit,’ she said.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“Arabs Should Accept the Truth of Our Own Defeats” - Khairi Abaza (Daily Star-Lebanon)
“Last month, the Arab world remembered one of its greatest defeats of the 20th century: the June 1967 war, which marked the end of the hope to wipe out Israel. Arabs will not progress before they face the truth about their own history. The Arab media failed to remind us that because of Nasser's bluff and provocation, in June 1967 Israel was able to win a devastating war. They failed to remind us how Nasser encouraged King Hussein of Jordan to take part in the war only hours after he knew that Egypt had been defeated.
“What was Hizbullah's ‘victory’ against Israel in summer 2006? A victory that left around 1,200 Lebanese dead, led to billions of dollars in damages and losses in tourism income, and the entry of UN troops in southern Lebanon? With such a balance sheet, how could Hizbullah and its Arab supporters mislead the Arab public and claim victory? Yes, Nasrallah was left standing, just as Nasser was. But is that enough when their nations and people were left battered?”
“The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for Liberty in the Middle East.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 5, 2007)
*****
“IRAN'S NETWORK SPEWS
“24-HR. TV NEWS HAS NO SEX, BUT LIES & VIDEO”
By Andrea Peyser
[Source: New York Post, July 5, 2007]
“ALL that's missing is the animal act.
“The government of Iran is not only dangerously volatile, the nuke-loving regime has developed a twisted sense of humor.
“For the last two days, I've been watching PressTV, Iran's brand-new, state-run foray into 24-hour broadcast news. As if the world needed any more anti-Western propaganda than what's already generated by CNN and the BBC.
“Since it started beaming itself - in English - to the world via satellite on Monday, PressTV has been the news freak's antidote to reality, streaming a nonstop flow of news abuse, Arab-world victimhood, sports and the weather report in Tehran and New York.
“‘America Planning a Coup on Saudi Arabia!’ warned one of the interchangeable, and humorless, women concealed by a lifeless gray or brown Arabic headscarf.
“‘Israeli Tank Kills Family!’ declares a man with a distinct American accent.
“Accessing the station on the Internet, I was assaulted by PressTV's far-flung correspondents and purely accidental acquaintance with the truth.
“People recognizable on the other side of the pond for conspiracy theories - such as journalist Kevin Cahill, who believes the British government and CIA teamed up to assassinate a Conservative member of Parliament in 1979 - give the broadcast an air of pseudo-authority.
“When it was launched Monday by Iran prez Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the station presented itself as an alternative to Western-biased news. But all it does is promote the insanity of Iran: Hamas is good, Fatah bad. Hezbollah good. And America might as well cease to exist.
“I watched a feature story titled ‘Iran, Land of Religion,’ promoting the country as being good to its Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, as the camera stopped, for a long time, on a picture of yarmulke-wearing, praying Jews. See, we won't kill you!
“During the many times I was knocked off the channel - this is one busy network - I read PressTV's Web site. In case you missed the message on the TV channel, the site tells you who the bad guys are.
“About the terror plots in Britain, ‘Is it really the al Qaeda who launched this attack or is it another interested party framing the Muslim nation by pointing the finger of blame at a terrorist group shunned by the Muslims?’ read an unsigned report.
“Another article blames the United States and Israel for stirring up violence between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza.
“‘Washington's fingerprints are all over the chaos that has hit Palestinians and the last thing they need now is an envoy called Blair.’
“Wait a minute. That piece came out of The Guardian newspaper - in Britain.
“PressTV is in good company.”
*****
“Terrorism’s Hook into Your Inbox” - Brian Krebs (Washington Post)
“The global jihad landed in Linda Spence's e-mail inbox during the summer of 2003, in the form of a message urging her to verify her eBay account information. The 35-year-old New Jersey resident clicked on the link included in the message, which took her to a counterfeit eBay site where she unwittingly entered in personal financial information.
“Ultimately, Spence's information wound up in the hands of a young man in the UK who investigators said was the brains behind a terrorist cell that sought to facilitate deadly bombing attacks against targets in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
“Spence's stolen data made its way via the Internet black market for stolen identities to biochemistry student Tariq al-Daour, 21, one of three UK residents who pleaded guilty this week to a terrorism charge of using the Internet to incite murder.
“The trio used computer viruses and stolen credit card accounts to set up a network of communication forums and Web sites that hosted everything from tutorials on computer hacking and bomb-making to videos of beheadings and suicide bombing attacks in Iraq.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 6, 2007)
*****
“Covering Gaza” - Kevin Peraino(Newsweek)
“While Alan Johnston's release may let foreign correspondents breathe a little easier in Gaza, hundreds of local Palestinian reporters are still wary.
“According to a new report by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (PCDMF), more than 30 Palestinian journalists were attacked in Gaza and the West Bank last month, the highest in the territories' history.
“Already three reporters have been killed this year, compared with only one fatality in the preceding three years.
“The only newspaper currently available in Gaza is the Hamas-run Fallastin.” (Source: Daily Alert, July 6, 2007)
*****
Nanny Watch
“The small town of Delcambre, La., has passed a new law banning the wearing of extremely baggy pants. The ordinance sets maximum penalties of $500 and six months in jail for anyone found wearing the extravagantly oversize, underwear-revealing pants that have long been popular in the hip-hop community. Mayor Carol Broussard denies the law is aimed at any racial group in particular. ‘White people wear sagging pants, too,’ said Broussard. ‘Anyone who wears these pants should be held responsible.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
My editorial comments: Do we really want police to enforce dress codes?
*****
Department of “Dumbness On Parade”
Competitive U.S. parents are spending unprecedented levels of money and anxiety on the selection of names for their children, says The Wall Street Journal. Many are even hiring professional baby-name consultants, who use statistical data, phonetic analysis, and market-research techniques to suggest names that align well with the parents’ tastes and ambitions for the child. ‘We live in a marketing-oriented society,’ said baby-name expert Bruce Lansky. ‘When you pick the right name, you’re giving your child a head start.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Good week for Moving tributes, after President Bush, in saying farewell to outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, spoke enviously of Blair’s communication skills. ‘This guy can really [pause] ... and he can talk,’ said Bush. ‘He’s much more kind of lofty and eloquent than I am.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Bad week for Sticking to the rules, after the manager of a Miami Wendy’s refused to five a customer more than 10 packets of chili sauce, and was then shot several times in the arm. Wendy’s company policy, the manager tried to explain before his angry assailant fled, limits customers to only three packets of chili sauce.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
“Will anyone stand up to the Islamists? - Tim Rutten - Los Angeles Times -- Once again, author Salman Rushdie is laboring under a death sentence imposed by Islamic fanatics. So why, asked Tim Rutten, hasn’t an outraged American media risen to his defense? The latest jihad was sparked when Queen Elizabeth knighted Rushdie for his services to literature. Islamic radicals have viewed Rushdie as a blasphemous heretic ever since he dared write about the Prophet Mohammed in the novel The Satanic Verses. When word of Sir Salman’s knighthood reached the Islamic world, an Iranian radical group offered $150,000 to anyone who would murder him, and Pakistan's religious affairs minister said Muslims would be justified in detonating suicide bombs in Britain. In response to ‘all this homicidal nonsense,’ the great editorial writers and columnists in the U.S. said ... [sic] virtually nothing. That’s because Western editors and writers have succumbed to a ‘soft bigotry,’ in which it’s assumed it’s perfectly natural in Islamic culture to kill infidel writers, independent women, and other apostates. To express disapproval of such practices is to be ‘somehow intolerant or insensitive.’ This is not merely a moral disgrace. If people do not speak up against Islamic oppression, a terrible silence will fall over much of the world--‘a silence in which the only permissible sounds are the prayers of the killers and the cries of their victims.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
According to Peter Brookes, writing in the New York Post about pollution in China, “If you think this is all someone else’s problem, think again: ‘Thanks to prevailing wind patters,’ up to 40 percent of the air pollution on the West Coast originates in China. In California, Oregon, and Washington, sulfur from China alone accounts for up to 15 percent of the EPA’s allowable levels. And it’s only going to get worse, since China has shown little interest in curbing emissions. China is the world’s largest exporter, and China’s largest export, it turns out, is pollution.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“The city of Patna, in eastern India, is under assault from an army of drunken rats. The rats have discovered the warehouses where police store illegal beer and whiskey seized from unlicensed distributors, and have been gnawing through the containers and slurping up the contents. With their inhibitions gone, the rats then attack the toes of pedestrians. ‘We are fed up with these drunk rats,’ said Kundan Krishnan of the state police, ‘and cannot explain why they have suddenly turned to consumption of alcohol.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
Department of Statistical Information
More on those greedy Americans: According to Financial Times, “Despite the absence of major natural disasters in 2006, charitable giving in the U.S. hit a record $295 billion last year. The previous record of $283 billion, set in 2005, included $7.4 billion in donations related to tsunami relief and Hurricane Katrina.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to Foreign Policy, “Global gasoline prices vary so widely that it costs just $1.45 to fill a 2007 Honda Civic in Venezuela, $31.42 in the U.S., $81.44 in Britain, and $93.98 in Turkey.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to the Houston Chronicle, “U.S. retailers lost $41.6 billion to theft last year, led by Wal-Mart, which lost $3 billion.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “New casinos and upgrades to existing ones will push global gambling revenue from $101.6 billion in 2006 to $144 billion in 2011, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers [sic] report .” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
*****
The Immigration reform discussion continues
“The immigrants who invigorate our economy - Hope M. Frye and Martin J. Lawler - The Wall Street Journal -- Here’s one immigration reform that’s practically a no-brainer, said in The Wall Street Journal: Let in more highly-skilled immigrants. Without skilled immigrants, the high-tech revolution that has made our economy the envy of the world would never have happened. in fact, more than half of the technology start-ups in Silicon Valley were founded by at least one immigrant. These companies desperately need foreign workers because the U.S. is ‘simply not graduating enough’ engineers, programmers, and other techies to fill all the jobs the firms are creating. Yet under a proposed law, only 115,000 visas will be issued each year to skilled immigrants, which means many thousands more are turned away. How self-defeating can you get? ‘The impact of start-up technology companies is felt throughout the economy.’ Not only do they create product ‘from lifesaving medical devices to entertainment,’ they spend good money in their communities and employ thousands. Denying entry to the people who start new companies, create jobs, and ‘help us grow our technology-based economy’ simply makes no sense.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
Two Interesting Articles from The Economist on Biofuel
.
“Agricultural commodities
“Biofuelled
“Grain prices go the way of the oil price
[Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007]
“EVERY morning millions of Americans confront the latest trend in commodities markets at their kitchen table. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rising prices for crops—dubbed ‘agflation’—has begun to drive up the cost of breakfast. The price of orange juice has risen by a quarter over the past year, eggs by a fifth and milk by roughly 5%.
“Breakfast-cereal makers, such as Kellogg's and General Mills, have also raised their prices. Underpinning these rises is a sharp increase in the prices of grains such as corn (maize) and wheat, both of which recently hit ten-year highs. Analysts are beginning to ask, as they have of oil and metals, whether higher prices are here to stay.
“On the face of it, that is an odd question. After all, if the world runs short of corn or wheat, farmers can simply grow more, weather permitting. That is exactly what they have been doing. In the coming year, the International Grains Council, an industry group, estimates that global production of grains will reach a record of 1,660m tonnes, well above last year's figure of 1,569m. But demand for grain is growing even faster. The council reckons it will reach 1,680m tonnes this year. In three of the past four years, demand has exceeded supply.
“The culprit is the growing use of grains to make biofuels, such as ethanol. Most grains are used as food either for people or for livestock. But the increase in human consumption has been slowing for decades as population growth moderates. Demand for animal feed, meanwhile, has grown steadily, as more people in booming countries such as China grow rich enough to afford meat.
“Demand for biofuel feedstocks, by contrast, is soaring. The amount of corn used to make ethanol in America has tripled since 2000; ethanol distilleries now consume a fifth of the country's corn crop. And America is only one of 41 countries where governments are encouraging the use of biofuels to reduce oil consumption.
“As a result, demand for grains has accelerated. During the 1990s, when oil was cheap and biofuels unheard of, demand grew by 1.2% a year, according to Goldman Sachs. But in recent years, it has increased by 1.4%, and over the next decade, Goldman projects, it will rise by 1.9% annually.
“Farmers are struggling to keep up. The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, projects that demand for corn, at least, will continue to exceed supply until at least 2009. Moreover, even to produce as much corn as they are now, farmers are growing less soya and wheat, and so pushing up the prices of those crops too. With all the main grains to feed poultry and livestock becoming more expensive, the cost of meat and eggs is rising, and so it goes on.
“When demand was growing more slowly, farmers could meet it through gradual improvements in their yields. But to cope with today's boom, yields will have to rise much faster, or farmers will have to bring more land into production.
“Both are possible. Greater adoption of genetically modified strains of corn and wheat, for example, could improve yields. But they are expensive and politically controversial. There is also quite a bit of fallow land to be sowed, especially in developing agricultural powers such as Brazil and Ukraine. But those countries are far from the biggest markets and their idle land tends to be found in areas with poor transport links. A strong price signal will be needed to overcome such obstacles and induce extra supplies.
“But even if new land is planted, argues Jeffrey Currie of Goldman Sachs, it will not necessarily reduce the cost of grains. Since high oil prices and generous government subsidies ensure that biofuels are profitable, any extra grain will be used to make more of the stuff. That will not dent the oil price, since the volumes remain tiny compared with global oil consumption. Instead, the price of biofuels has risen to that of petrol, and the price of corn and crude oil, the main feedstocks for the two, have converged.... For grain prices to fall, Mr Currie argues, either governments must pull the plug on biofuels programmes, or the oil price must fall.
“Neither seems very likely in the near future. This week America's Congress is debating whether to double its targets for biofuel production. At the same time, the oil price rose to its highest level in ten months, thanks to a strike and other disruptions in Nigeria. The chaos in the Niger delta, it turns out, has a surprising amount to do with the price of eggs.”
*****
“Chemical and biological engineering
“One for the road
“A new biofuel made from fruit sugars promises more oomph than traditional ethanol
[Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007]
“REPLACING carbon-rich fossil fuels with more environmentally friendly alternatives should slow global warming. As part of that drive, both America and Europe have embraced biofuels—liquids derived from plants that can be used to power cars and other vehicles. By their very nature, biofuels cannot be carbon-free because carbon is essential to life on Earth. Burning biofuels does indeed release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The attraction is that the volume of gas released exactly matches that taken up by the plant when it was growing. So overall (and with the huge proviso that you do not count the fossil fuel used to farm the stuff) biofuels are carbon-neutral.
“In America the Department of Energy has set a target for 30% of the 2004 gasoline demand for vehicles to be met by biofuels by 2030. The European Union wants 25% of transport fuels to be derived from biofuels by the same date. At present, the most widely used substance is ethanol, which can be made from sugar cane, sugar beet and maize (or corn, as it is called in America). But ethanol does not pack a particularly powerful punch. It is also susceptible to absorbing water, further diluting its oomph. It takes days to ferment the stuff. A biofuel that did not suffer from these limitations would be welcome.
“That is what a team led by James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison claims to have developed. The researchers think they have devised a biofuel that has a 40% higher energy density than ethanol, that repels water and that can be made relatively speedily.
“One of the most frustrating aspects of biofuels is the stark contrast between what exists in nature and what you can put in the tank. Plants are rich in carbohydrates, a group of organic compounds based on carbon and water, itself a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. These carbohydrates take the form of chains of thousands of sugar units; each unit contains six carbon atoms and a similar number of oxygen atoms. An ideal fuel, on the other hand, should lack oxygen. Its molecules should also be small, that is, they should contain few carbon atoms. Creating an efficient fuel from plants thus presents a headache.
“To date, scientists have approached the problem by taking one of two routes. The chemists have tinkered with heat and metal catalysts to refine their materials. Biologists, meanwhile, have recruited enzymes and microbes to do the job.
“The team led by Dr Dumesic combined the two methods. It was thus able to break down long carbohydrate chains to form small, useable molecules while simultaneously removing the oxygen and maintaining the energy content of the biofuel. The researchers began by using enzymes to snip the carbohydrates into fragments that were then rearranged to form a sugar called fructose, which is found in fruits.
“They doused the fructose in acid, which catalysed a chemical reaction expelling oxygen atoms as water molecules. The researchers immediately added a second catalyst and some hydrogen, which eliminated more oxygen. The result was a fuel called ‘2,5-dimethylfuran’. The process is written up in this week's issue of Nature.
“The new biofuel can be made directly from fructose, which is present in fruits such as apples, pears, berries and melons as well as some root vegetables. It can also be manufactured from the large polymer chains found in cereals, grasses and trees. Perhaps the most promising method, from a biochemical point of view, would be to use glucose, a sugar common in food.
“The resulting biofuel is not only energy-rich and water repellent but it also has a higher boiling point than ethanol. Keeping it liquid in a vehicle's fuel tank should therefore be straightforward.
“But this biofuel shares a disadvantage with ethanol: its raw material is food. Ideally, biofuels would be made from waste farm products rather than crops. That way, the chaff could be used to produce biofuel for transport and the wheat could be used for people.
“Unfortunately for science, nature conspires against this. Plants have evolved chemical and structural properties that make it difficult to them break down. One possibility would be to use genetic modification to create plants that are more amenable to such manipulation. Another is to use existing chemical or biological techniques, or to combine the approaches, rather as Dr Dumesic and his colleagues have done. Whichever works best, the second generation of biofuels is coming down the pipeline.”
“Agricultural commodities
“Biofuelled
“Grain prices go the way of the oil price
[Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007]
“EVERY morning millions of Americans confront the latest trend in commodities markets at their kitchen table. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rising prices for crops—dubbed ‘agflation’—has begun to drive up the cost of breakfast. The price of orange juice has risen by a quarter over the past year, eggs by a fifth and milk by roughly 5%.
“Breakfast-cereal makers, such as Kellogg's and General Mills, have also raised their prices. Underpinning these rises is a sharp increase in the prices of grains such as corn (maize) and wheat, both of which recently hit ten-year highs. Analysts are beginning to ask, as they have of oil and metals, whether higher prices are here to stay.
“On the face of it, that is an odd question. After all, if the world runs short of corn or wheat, farmers can simply grow more, weather permitting. That is exactly what they have been doing. In the coming year, the International Grains Council, an industry group, estimates that global production of grains will reach a record of 1,660m tonnes, well above last year's figure of 1,569m. But demand for grain is growing even faster. The council reckons it will reach 1,680m tonnes this year. In three of the past four years, demand has exceeded supply.
“The culprit is the growing use of grains to make biofuels, such as ethanol. Most grains are used as food either for people or for livestock. But the increase in human consumption has been slowing for decades as population growth moderates. Demand for animal feed, meanwhile, has grown steadily, as more people in booming countries such as China grow rich enough to afford meat.
“Demand for biofuel feedstocks, by contrast, is soaring. The amount of corn used to make ethanol in America has tripled since 2000; ethanol distilleries now consume a fifth of the country's corn crop. And America is only one of 41 countries where governments are encouraging the use of biofuels to reduce oil consumption.
“As a result, demand for grains has accelerated. During the 1990s, when oil was cheap and biofuels unheard of, demand grew by 1.2% a year, according to Goldman Sachs. But in recent years, it has increased by 1.4%, and over the next decade, Goldman projects, it will rise by 1.9% annually.
“Farmers are struggling to keep up. The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, projects that demand for corn, at least, will continue to exceed supply until at least 2009. Moreover, even to produce as much corn as they are now, farmers are growing less soya and wheat, and so pushing up the prices of those crops too. With all the main grains to feed poultry and livestock becoming more expensive, the cost of meat and eggs is rising, and so it goes on.
“When demand was growing more slowly, farmers could meet it through gradual improvements in their yields. But to cope with today's boom, yields will have to rise much faster, or farmers will have to bring more land into production.
“Both are possible. Greater adoption of genetically modified strains of corn and wheat, for example, could improve yields. But they are expensive and politically controversial. There is also quite a bit of fallow land to be sowed, especially in developing agricultural powers such as Brazil and Ukraine. But those countries are far from the biggest markets and their idle land tends to be found in areas with poor transport links. A strong price signal will be needed to overcome such obstacles and induce extra supplies.
“But even if new land is planted, argues Jeffrey Currie of Goldman Sachs, it will not necessarily reduce the cost of grains. Since high oil prices and generous government subsidies ensure that biofuels are profitable, any extra grain will be used to make more of the stuff. That will not dent the oil price, since the volumes remain tiny compared with global oil consumption. Instead, the price of biofuels has risen to that of petrol, and the price of corn and crude oil, the main feedstocks for the two, have converged.... For grain prices to fall, Mr Currie argues, either governments must pull the plug on biofuels programmes, or the oil price must fall.
“Neither seems very likely in the near future. This week America's Congress is debating whether to double its targets for biofuel production. At the same time, the oil price rose to its highest level in ten months, thanks to a strike and other disruptions in Nigeria. The chaos in the Niger delta, it turns out, has a surprising amount to do with the price of eggs.”
*****
“Chemical and biological engineering
“One for the road
“A new biofuel made from fruit sugars promises more oomph than traditional ethanol
[Source: The Economist, June 23, 2007]
“REPLACING carbon-rich fossil fuels with more environmentally friendly alternatives should slow global warming. As part of that drive, both America and Europe have embraced biofuels—liquids derived from plants that can be used to power cars and other vehicles. By their very nature, biofuels cannot be carbon-free because carbon is essential to life on Earth. Burning biofuels does indeed release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The attraction is that the volume of gas released exactly matches that taken up by the plant when it was growing. So overall (and with the huge proviso that you do not count the fossil fuel used to farm the stuff) biofuels are carbon-neutral.
“In America the Department of Energy has set a target for 30% of the 2004 gasoline demand for vehicles to be met by biofuels by 2030. The European Union wants 25% of transport fuels to be derived from biofuels by the same date. At present, the most widely used substance is ethanol, which can be made from sugar cane, sugar beet and maize (or corn, as it is called in America). But ethanol does not pack a particularly powerful punch. It is also susceptible to absorbing water, further diluting its oomph. It takes days to ferment the stuff. A biofuel that did not suffer from these limitations would be welcome.
“That is what a team led by James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison claims to have developed. The researchers think they have devised a biofuel that has a 40% higher energy density than ethanol, that repels water and that can be made relatively speedily.
“One of the most frustrating aspects of biofuels is the stark contrast between what exists in nature and what you can put in the tank. Plants are rich in carbohydrates, a group of organic compounds based on carbon and water, itself a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. These carbohydrates take the form of chains of thousands of sugar units; each unit contains six carbon atoms and a similar number of oxygen atoms. An ideal fuel, on the other hand, should lack oxygen. Its molecules should also be small, that is, they should contain few carbon atoms. Creating an efficient fuel from plants thus presents a headache.
“To date, scientists have approached the problem by taking one of two routes. The chemists have tinkered with heat and metal catalysts to refine their materials. Biologists, meanwhile, have recruited enzymes and microbes to do the job.
“The team led by Dr Dumesic combined the two methods. It was thus able to break down long carbohydrate chains to form small, useable molecules while simultaneously removing the oxygen and maintaining the energy content of the biofuel. The researchers began by using enzymes to snip the carbohydrates into fragments that were then rearranged to form a sugar called fructose, which is found in fruits.
“They doused the fructose in acid, which catalysed a chemical reaction expelling oxygen atoms as water molecules. The researchers immediately added a second catalyst and some hydrogen, which eliminated more oxygen. The result was a fuel called ‘2,5-dimethylfuran’. The process is written up in this week's issue of Nature.
“The new biofuel can be made directly from fructose, which is present in fruits such as apples, pears, berries and melons as well as some root vegetables. It can also be manufactured from the large polymer chains found in cereals, grasses and trees. Perhaps the most promising method, from a biochemical point of view, would be to use glucose, a sugar common in food.
“The resulting biofuel is not only energy-rich and water repellent but it also has a higher boiling point than ethanol. Keeping it liquid in a vehicle's fuel tank should therefore be straightforward.
“But this biofuel shares a disadvantage with ethanol: its raw material is food. Ideally, biofuels would be made from waste farm products rather than crops. That way, the chaff could be used to produce biofuel for transport and the wheat could be used for people.
“Unfortunately for science, nature conspires against this. Plants have evolved chemical and structural properties that make it difficult to them break down. One possibility would be to use genetic modification to create plants that are more amenable to such manipulation. Another is to use existing chemical or biological techniques, or to combine the approaches, rather as Dr Dumesic and his colleagues have done. Whichever works best, the second generation of biofuels is coming down the pipeline.”
Judicial Misconduct
.
“Judiciary
“Judges behaving badly
“Low pay and partisan elections are threatening judicial integrity
[Source: The Economist, June 30, 2007]
“A $54m lawsuit over a pair of pinstriped trousers that went missing from a Washington, DC, cleaners was thrown out by a judge this week. It had attracted worldwide ridicule. The fact that the case was brought, not by a random loony, but by a former judge has added to the sense that something is wrong not just with America's litigation laws, but with the kind of men and women Americans choose to sit in judgment over them.
“A whole series of judicial misdemeanours, ranging from the titillating to the outrageous, has emerged over the past year. Take the Florida state judge, John Sloop, who was ousted after complaints about his ‘rude and abusive’ behaviour. This included an order to strip-search and jail 11 defendants for arriving late in traffic court after being misdirected. Or the Californian judge, José Velasquez, sacked in April for a plethora of misconduct, including extending the sentences of defendants who dared question his rulings.
“Then there was the Albany city judge, William Carter, in New York, censored for his ‘utterly inexcusable’ conduct after jumping down from the bench during a trial, shedding his robes and apparently challenging a defendant to a fist-fight. Another time, he suggested that the police ‘thump the shit out’ of an allegedly disrespectful defendant. Mr Carter wasn't carrying a gun; many judges now do. In Florida, Charles Greene, chief criminal judge in Broward County, had to step down after describing a trial for attempted murder involving minority defendants and witnesses as ‘NHI’ (No Humans Involved). Then there are the sexual peccadilloes. In Colorado, a (male) judge resigned after admitting having sex with a (female) prosecutor in his chambers. In California, a former judge was jailed for 27 months for downloading child pornography. And in Oklahoma Donald Thompson, a judge for more than 20 years, was jailed for four years for indecent exposure and using a ‘penis pump’ to masturbate during trials.
“More serious are the cases of corruption. On June 5th Gerald Garson, a former judge in Brooklyn, New York, was jailed for taking bribes to rig divorce cases. Another judge was convicted of accepting money to refer clients to a particular lawyer. Rumours of buying and selling of judgeships in the district abound. At one time, one in ten Brooklyn judges were said to be under investigation for sleaze.
“‘To distrust the judiciary,’ said Honoré de Balzac, ‘marks the beginning of the end of society.’ In Britain, judges are one of the most respected groups. But in America they tend to be held in low esteem, particularly at state level. For this many people blame low pay and the fact that judges are elected. In 39 states, some or all judges are elected for fixed terms. Federal judges, usually held in much higher esteem, are appointed on merit for life—as in Britain.
“Most states allow judicial candidates to raise campaign funds. Huge sums are often involved, leading to inevitable suspicions that, once on the bench, judges will pass judgments that favour their benefactors. In 2004 the two candidates in one Illinois district (with a population of just 1.3m) raised a staggering $9.4m between them. Some of the states with the highest levels of campaign spending—Texas, Louisiana and Alabama—are also those whose judges are most criticised.
“In the past, judicial candidates were banned from discussing controversial legal or political issues on the campaign trail. But in 2002 the Supreme Court ruled such bans to be unconstitutional, leading candidates to advertise freely their views on abortion and suchlike. Personal attacks have also become more common. Indeed, Sandra Day O'Connor, a former Supreme Court justice, fears that judicial elections have turned into ‘political prize-fights, where partisans and special interests seek to install judges who will answer to them instead of the law and the constitution.’
“The meagre salaries of judges, whether at state or federal level, do not help raise standards either. Federal judges have not had a real pay rise for 17 years; a district court judge earns $165,000 a year, about the same as a first-year associate in a top law firm. John Roberts, chief justice of the Supreme Court, earns just $212,000—half the salary of England's top judge and one-fifth of the average income of a partner in the majority of America's 100 top-grossing law firms. Around 40 judges have left the federal bench over the past five years.
“In his annual report to Congress in January, Mr Roberts said that the issue of judges' pay had reached ‘the level of a constitutional crisis’. It was threatening the judiciary's strength and independence. In February, Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised legislation to fix it within the current session. The judges are still waiting. Meanwhile, state judges in New York are preparing to sue the state for their first pay rise since 1999. The battle is joined.”
“Judiciary
“Judges behaving badly
“Low pay and partisan elections are threatening judicial integrity
[Source: The Economist, June 30, 2007]
“A $54m lawsuit over a pair of pinstriped trousers that went missing from a Washington, DC, cleaners was thrown out by a judge this week. It had attracted worldwide ridicule. The fact that the case was brought, not by a random loony, but by a former judge has added to the sense that something is wrong not just with America's litigation laws, but with the kind of men and women Americans choose to sit in judgment over them.
“A whole series of judicial misdemeanours, ranging from the titillating to the outrageous, has emerged over the past year. Take the Florida state judge, John Sloop, who was ousted after complaints about his ‘rude and abusive’ behaviour. This included an order to strip-search and jail 11 defendants for arriving late in traffic court after being misdirected. Or the Californian judge, José Velasquez, sacked in April for a plethora of misconduct, including extending the sentences of defendants who dared question his rulings.
“Then there was the Albany city judge, William Carter, in New York, censored for his ‘utterly inexcusable’ conduct after jumping down from the bench during a trial, shedding his robes and apparently challenging a defendant to a fist-fight. Another time, he suggested that the police ‘thump the shit out’ of an allegedly disrespectful defendant. Mr Carter wasn't carrying a gun; many judges now do. In Florida, Charles Greene, chief criminal judge in Broward County, had to step down after describing a trial for attempted murder involving minority defendants and witnesses as ‘NHI’ (No Humans Involved). Then there are the sexual peccadilloes. In Colorado, a (male) judge resigned after admitting having sex with a (female) prosecutor in his chambers. In California, a former judge was jailed for 27 months for downloading child pornography. And in Oklahoma Donald Thompson, a judge for more than 20 years, was jailed for four years for indecent exposure and using a ‘penis pump’ to masturbate during trials.
“More serious are the cases of corruption. On June 5th Gerald Garson, a former judge in Brooklyn, New York, was jailed for taking bribes to rig divorce cases. Another judge was convicted of accepting money to refer clients to a particular lawyer. Rumours of buying and selling of judgeships in the district abound. At one time, one in ten Brooklyn judges were said to be under investigation for sleaze.
“‘To distrust the judiciary,’ said Honoré de Balzac, ‘marks the beginning of the end of society.’ In Britain, judges are one of the most respected groups. But in America they tend to be held in low esteem, particularly at state level. For this many people blame low pay and the fact that judges are elected. In 39 states, some or all judges are elected for fixed terms. Federal judges, usually held in much higher esteem, are appointed on merit for life—as in Britain.
“Most states allow judicial candidates to raise campaign funds. Huge sums are often involved, leading to inevitable suspicions that, once on the bench, judges will pass judgments that favour their benefactors. In 2004 the two candidates in one Illinois district (with a population of just 1.3m) raised a staggering $9.4m between them. Some of the states with the highest levels of campaign spending—Texas, Louisiana and Alabama—are also those whose judges are most criticised.
“In the past, judicial candidates were banned from discussing controversial legal or political issues on the campaign trail. But in 2002 the Supreme Court ruled such bans to be unconstitutional, leading candidates to advertise freely their views on abortion and suchlike. Personal attacks have also become more common. Indeed, Sandra Day O'Connor, a former Supreme Court justice, fears that judicial elections have turned into ‘political prize-fights, where partisans and special interests seek to install judges who will answer to them instead of the law and the constitution.’
“The meagre salaries of judges, whether at state or federal level, do not help raise standards either. Federal judges have not had a real pay rise for 17 years; a district court judge earns $165,000 a year, about the same as a first-year associate in a top law firm. John Roberts, chief justice of the Supreme Court, earns just $212,000—half the salary of England's top judge and one-fifth of the average income of a partner in the majority of America's 100 top-grossing law firms. Around 40 judges have left the federal bench over the past five years.
“In his annual report to Congress in January, Mr Roberts said that the issue of judges' pay had reached ‘the level of a constitutional crisis’. It was threatening the judiciary's strength and independence. In February, Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised legislation to fix it within the current session. The judges are still waiting. Meanwhile, state judges in New York are preparing to sue the state for their first pay rise since 1999. The battle is joined.”
Raging Homophobia in America (or Not)
.
“Out and proud parents
“by ‘Lexington’
“As tolerance spreads, gay life is becoming more suburban, contented and even dull
[Source: The Economist, June 30, 2007]
“A FEW years ago, a Gay Pride parade passed The Simpsons' house in Springfield. ‘We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!’ chanted the marchers. Little Lisa Simpson replied: ‘You do this every year. We are used to it.’ As usual, the cartoon was a few steps ahead of real life. But only a few. The New York Observer recently published an article about gays who think Gay Pride marches are pointless, since the big battles for gay rights have already been won. (The title: ‘Goodbye, Mr Chaps’.) One non-marcher remarked: ‘I live in New York, and it's sort of like every day is Gay Pride Parade. I don't need this special day where I'm out of the closet.’
“Perhaps it is no surprise that gays find a hip city like New York hospitable. But two sets of data suggest that America as a whole is becoming steadily more tolerant. First, opinion polls show that homophobia has receded almost as far as Homer Simpson's hairline. As recently as 1982, only 34% of Americans thought homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle. Now, 57% do. Since young Americans are far more relaxed about homosexuality than their elders—three-quarters of 18-34-year-olds think it is OK to be gay, whereas half of those over 55 think it is not—this trend is likely to continue. This year was also the first since Gallup started asking the question that a majority of Americans have not said that homosexual relations are morally wrong. And a hefty 89% think that gays should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. If that strikes you as no big deal, recall that a total ban on gays working for the federal government was repealed only in 1975.
“Second, and more subtly, one can look at demography. Gary Gates, a Californian academic, has been mining census data to determine where gays live in America. He observes several trends. First, the number of openly gay households is growing five times faster than the population as a whole. The last full census, in 2000, counted nearly 600,000 same-sex couples. Five years later, the American Community Survey (in which the Census Bureau quizzes a statistically representative sample of 1.4m households) estimated that that number had increased by 30%, to 777,000. Mr Gates reckons the bulk of the increase is because as tolerance spreads, more gay couples are willing to be counted.
“The increase was most pronounced in the Midwest, with Wisconsin showing an 81% jump in the number of same-sex couples and Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana also among the ten fastest-growing states in this respect. What this means, perhaps, is that gay America is becoming more like Middle America. ‘Much of the stereotype around gays is a stereotype of urban white gay men,’ says Mr Gates. ‘The gay community is becoming less like that, and more like the population in general.’ Gay couples are still more likely than straight ones to live in cities, but the gap is smaller than popularly believed, and closing. In 1990, 92% of gay couples but only 77% of American households were in what the Census Bureau calls ‘urban clusters’. By 2000, the gay figure had fallen to 84% while the proportion for households in general had risen to 80%, a striking convergence.
“Virtually normal
“San Francisco is great if you are young, single and looking for a party. But if you want to settle down with a partner, the suburbs and the heartland beckon. Gays who have children—and a quarter of gay couples do—gravitate towards them for the same reasons that straight parents do: better schools, bigger gardens, peace and quiet. Mark Strasser, for example, lives with his male partner and their two children in Columbus, Ohio. He says they encounter no hostility eating out as a gay couple or picking up the children from their private school. He has to rack his memory for the last time anyone called him anything nasty for being gay. ‘That would have been in the late 1980s, I think,’ he says. His employer, a private university, offers the same health insurance to employees' gay partners as to spouses (as did most Fortune 500 companies, for the first time, last year).
“Mr Strasser has worries, of course. Ohio is one of 26 states with a recent constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. Mr Strasser wonders whether a public school would recognise that his children have two fathers, or if a hospital would allow both of them to visit if one of their children fell ill. This is a serious matter. Only Massachusetts allows same-sex marriage, although six other states have allowed civil unions that are marriages in all but name, and a law allowing full marriage rights passed through the lower house of New York's state legislature on June 19th. Most Americans are still uncomfortable about letting gays tie the knot, but support for the idea has risen from 27% in 1996 to 46% this year.
“Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution argues that the campaign for same-sex marriage was spurred in part by AIDS. For gay Americans, the epidemic put a damper on exuberant promiscuity and highlighted the benefits of loving partnership. Although the last state anti-sodomy laws were struck down only in 2003, sexual liberation is now taken for granted, argues Paul Varnell, a writer. ‘Far from being radicals of any sort, most of us are just plain ol' bourgeois,’ writes Mr Varnell. ‘How much more bourgeois can you be than wanting to marry the person you love and wanting to serve in the military?’
“The kind of gay activists who think you can't be authentically gay unless you are permanently in opposition to the mainstream find the prospect of gay assimilation appalling. So does the religious right. A black preacher named Wellington Boone, for example, has circulated a pamphlet entitled ‘The Rape of the Civil Rights Movement: How Sodomites Are Using Civil Rights Rhetoric to Advance Their Preference for Sexual Perversion’. But he is howling at the incoming tide.”
“Out and proud parents
“by ‘Lexington’
“As tolerance spreads, gay life is becoming more suburban, contented and even dull
[Source: The Economist, June 30, 2007]
“A FEW years ago, a Gay Pride parade passed The Simpsons' house in Springfield. ‘We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!’ chanted the marchers. Little Lisa Simpson replied: ‘You do this every year. We are used to it.’ As usual, the cartoon was a few steps ahead of real life. But only a few. The New York Observer recently published an article about gays who think Gay Pride marches are pointless, since the big battles for gay rights have already been won. (The title: ‘Goodbye, Mr Chaps’.) One non-marcher remarked: ‘I live in New York, and it's sort of like every day is Gay Pride Parade. I don't need this special day where I'm out of the closet.’
“Perhaps it is no surprise that gays find a hip city like New York hospitable. But two sets of data suggest that America as a whole is becoming steadily more tolerant. First, opinion polls show that homophobia has receded almost as far as Homer Simpson's hairline. As recently as 1982, only 34% of Americans thought homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle. Now, 57% do. Since young Americans are far more relaxed about homosexuality than their elders—three-quarters of 18-34-year-olds think it is OK to be gay, whereas half of those over 55 think it is not—this trend is likely to continue. This year was also the first since Gallup started asking the question that a majority of Americans have not said that homosexual relations are morally wrong. And a hefty 89% think that gays should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. If that strikes you as no big deal, recall that a total ban on gays working for the federal government was repealed only in 1975.
“Second, and more subtly, one can look at demography. Gary Gates, a Californian academic, has been mining census data to determine where gays live in America. He observes several trends. First, the number of openly gay households is growing five times faster than the population as a whole. The last full census, in 2000, counted nearly 600,000 same-sex couples. Five years later, the American Community Survey (in which the Census Bureau quizzes a statistically representative sample of 1.4m households) estimated that that number had increased by 30%, to 777,000. Mr Gates reckons the bulk of the increase is because as tolerance spreads, more gay couples are willing to be counted.
“The increase was most pronounced in the Midwest, with Wisconsin showing an 81% jump in the number of same-sex couples and Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana also among the ten fastest-growing states in this respect. What this means, perhaps, is that gay America is becoming more like Middle America. ‘Much of the stereotype around gays is a stereotype of urban white gay men,’ says Mr Gates. ‘The gay community is becoming less like that, and more like the population in general.’ Gay couples are still more likely than straight ones to live in cities, but the gap is smaller than popularly believed, and closing. In 1990, 92% of gay couples but only 77% of American households were in what the Census Bureau calls ‘urban clusters’. By 2000, the gay figure had fallen to 84% while the proportion for households in general had risen to 80%, a striking convergence.
“Virtually normal
“San Francisco is great if you are young, single and looking for a party. But if you want to settle down with a partner, the suburbs and the heartland beckon. Gays who have children—and a quarter of gay couples do—gravitate towards them for the same reasons that straight parents do: better schools, bigger gardens, peace and quiet. Mark Strasser, for example, lives with his male partner and their two children in Columbus, Ohio. He says they encounter no hostility eating out as a gay couple or picking up the children from their private school. He has to rack his memory for the last time anyone called him anything nasty for being gay. ‘That would have been in the late 1980s, I think,’ he says. His employer, a private university, offers the same health insurance to employees' gay partners as to spouses (as did most Fortune 500 companies, for the first time, last year).
“Mr Strasser has worries, of course. Ohio is one of 26 states with a recent constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. Mr Strasser wonders whether a public school would recognise that his children have two fathers, or if a hospital would allow both of them to visit if one of their children fell ill. This is a serious matter. Only Massachusetts allows same-sex marriage, although six other states have allowed civil unions that are marriages in all but name, and a law allowing full marriage rights passed through the lower house of New York's state legislature on June 19th. Most Americans are still uncomfortable about letting gays tie the knot, but support for the idea has risen from 27% in 1996 to 46% this year.
“Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution argues that the campaign for same-sex marriage was spurred in part by AIDS. For gay Americans, the epidemic put a damper on exuberant promiscuity and highlighted the benefits of loving partnership. Although the last state anti-sodomy laws were struck down only in 2003, sexual liberation is now taken for granted, argues Paul Varnell, a writer. ‘Far from being radicals of any sort, most of us are just plain ol' bourgeois,’ writes Mr Varnell. ‘How much more bourgeois can you be than wanting to marry the person you love and wanting to serve in the military?’
“The kind of gay activists who think you can't be authentically gay unless you are permanently in opposition to the mainstream find the prospect of gay assimilation appalling. So does the religious right. A black preacher named Wellington Boone, for example, has circulated a pamphlet entitled ‘The Rape of the Civil Rights Movement: How Sodomites Are Using Civil Rights Rhetoric to Advance Their Preference for Sexual Perversion’. But he is howling at the incoming tide.”
July 02, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
July 2, 2007
“Zakia Zaki, the owner of a radio station in Afghanistan, was shot dead at her home. Ms Zaki's murder followed that of a female newsreader. The journalists' association said the killings showed how difficult the working climate had become for journalists, especially women.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
To recycle or not? - “A study by the Technical University of Denmark looked at 55 products and compared the effects of burying, burning or recycling them. More than 80% of the time, the researchers found, recycling was the most efficient thing to do with household rubbish. ... Recycling aluminium requires 95% less energy that making it from scratch; the figure is 70% for plastics and 40% for paper ...” (Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007)
“The great penis survey - To women, size doesn’t matter--much. But don’t tell that to men; more than half think their penises are too small. An analysis of 50 penis studies from around the world has determined that the average erect penis measures 5.5 to 6.2 inches long and has a circumference of 4.7 to 5.1 inches. (Contrary to myth, there was no difference among the races.) The average is just fine for women, 85 percent of whom say they’re satisfied with their partner’s penis size. Women say they don’t care much about length, though they appreciate a little extra girth. ‘The issue of attractiveness for women is complex, but most data suggest that penile size is much lower down the list of priorities for women than such issues as a man’s personality and external grooming, researchers tell LiveScience. But for 55 percent of men, penis length is a major worry--one that keeps purveyors of penis pumps, pills, and surgeries in business. That insecurity, known as ‘locker room syndrome,’ often begins at an early age, when men covertly compare their penises to Dad’s or other men’s. But only 0.6 percent really need to worry--they’re the men affected by the syndrome known as ‘micropenis,’ clinically defined as a male member measuring less than 2.7 inches.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
According to BusinessWeek, “The annual salary for a telemarketing call center agent in India averages $2,667. the U.S. average is $29,000.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
The Geneva Conventions - Who is a “combatant” entitled to “prisoner-of-war” status?
“Under the Geneva Conventions, a combatant is deemed lawful and therefore entitled to prisoner-of-war status and protections if he is a member of either a regular government force or an organised militia, wearing a distinctive sign, carrying arms openly, and abiding by the rules of war. As such, he may refuse to give his captors any information save his name, rank and serial number, and, if charged, would be entitled to a trial by a normal court-martial.” (Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007)
“Arms Flowing into Lebanon, UN Finds” - Warren Hoge (New York Times)
“The present state of border control is inadequate for preventing the smuggling of arms from Syria into Lebanon, according to a report by a UN assessment team submitted to the Security Council on Tuesday. The team was unable to document a single instance of a seizure of arms at or near the border. The Security Council resolution that ended the war between Israel and Hizbullah last August called on Lebanon to secure its borders and prevent the entry of unauthorized arms. The team's findings bolster a warning to the Security Council on June 11 by Terje Roed-Larsen, a special UN envoy, who reported ‘a steady flow of weapons and armed elements across the border from Syria.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Palestinians Are Looking for Alternative Leadership” - Khalil Al Assali (Gulf News-Dubai)
“A majority of Palestinians do not trust their current leadership, according to various public as well as confidential opinion poll results. Ramallah-based political analyst Hani al-Masri notes a ‘deep gap between the Palestinian parties and the Palestinian people.’ Dr. Khalil al-Shakaki of the Palestinian Center for Political and Survey Research reported a poll showing 41% supporting the idea of dismantling the Palestinian Authority, while 42% support a confederation with Jordan.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Who Lost Gaza?” - Editorial (New Republic)
“Who lost Gaza? Increasingly, one hears that the disaster is the consequence of Israeli policies or American indifference. It is necessary to insist, therefore, that the primary responsibility for Palestinian actions falls on Palestinians. The internal factors are more decisive than the external factors. The political theology of Hamas is not, as outraged commentators like to say, an expression of nihilism; it is an expression of a grandiose radical worldview. If Hamas were not so genuinely indigenous, it would not be so genuinely terrifying.
“The more violent Hamas gets, the more one hears that it is time for diplomacy. About what, exactly? The only Palestinian state that Hamas will discuss is the one that will erase Israel from the map. For many decades, the world has clamored for Palestinian self-determination. Well, Palestinian self-determination is here for all the world to see.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Iran: The Last Executioner of Children” - Nora Boustany (Washington Post)
“In a troubling report on the execution of minors in Iran, Amnesty International said Tuesday that at least 71 child offenders are on death row and more than 24 have been executed since 1990, more than in any other country.
“The report, ‘Iran: The Last Executioner of Children,’ said 11 of the child offenders executed were younger than 18 at the time of their deaths.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Winds of War” - Joshua Muravchik (Wall Street Journal)
“Consider the pell-mell events of recent weeks. Iran's Revolutionary Guard is caught delivering weapons to the Taliban and explosives to Iraqi terrorists. At the same time, Fatah al-Islam, a shady group linked to Syria, launches an attack on the Lebanese army from within a Palestinian refugee area, beheading several soldiers. Tehran trumpets further progress on nuclear enrichment as President Ahmadinejad repeats his call for annihilating Israel, crowing that ‘the countdown to the destruction of this regime has begun.’ Hamas seizes control militarily in Gaza.
“The apparent meaning of all of this is that the axis of radicals - Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah - is feeling its oats. It believes that its side has defeated America in Iraq, and Israel in Gaza and Lebanon. Ahmadinejad recently claimed that the West has already begun to ‘surrender,’ and he gloated that ‘final victory...is near.’ It is this bravado that bodes war.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Terror Threat in Germany” - ( Der Spiegel-Germany)
“A combination of intelligence ‘chatter,’ a suspicious video, and arrests along the Pakistani border have led authorities to warn that the threat of terrorist attacks in Germany is real.
“Germany faced an elevated threat of terrorism because of its involvement in Afghanistan, according to officials who said the risk of an attack is as high as it has ever been.
“‘We are alarmed,’ the normally mild-mannered August Hanning, Deputy Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, said Thursday.
“German as well as foreign intelligence agencies have received hints about plans, groups, and individual extremists who may be planning an attack in Germany.
“‘We have moved fully into the target range of Islamist terror,’ said Hanning.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Bad week for Humanity, after an exhibition of Sir Isaac Newton’s private papers opened at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. Among other writings by the father of modern science that the exhibit features is a 1704 letter from Newton predicting the end of the world in 2060, based on a close study of biblical texts.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Politics On Parade: Follow the Money
“Chappaqua, N.Y. - Clintons liquidate: Bill and Hillary Clinton last week sold millions of dollars worth of stock held for them in a blind trust, out of concern that their financial affairs could become a political liability for Hillary. The stocks included shares of pharmaceutical, oil, and defense contractors, as well as Wal-Mart. Many of the companies involved are frequent targets of Democratic activists. Advisors to Hillary Clinton, a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, say that no federal regulations required the to liquidate the trust, valued at $5 million to $5 million, but that Mrs. Clinton wanted to avoid any suggestion that her Senate votes could favorable affect her stock portfolio. Financial experts say the couple will now likely take a big hit in capital gains taxes.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Fayyad Warns Islamic Preachers” - Mohammed Daraghmeh (AP/Washington Post)
“New Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad delivered a stern warning Thursday to some 800 Muslim clergy, including Hamas supporters: He won't tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits and plans to collect militants' weapons. ‘We will collect weapons and replace them with pens and books,’ he told the crowd. ‘We won't allow them (mosques) to be turned into places of incitement and intimidation,’ he added. ‘It's the responsibility of men of religion to...present religion as a way of tolerance, not as a cover for bloodshed.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“London - Death to Sir Salman?: Novelist Salman Rushdie was knighted last week, touching off fury in the Muslim world. Rushdie,an Indian-born British citizen, first drew Muslim protests with the 1988 publication of his book The Satanic Verses, which many found blasphemous. Several Pakistanis died that year during protests against the book, and Iran issued a fatwa sentencing Rushdie to death. This week, Pakistan was again prominent in protesting Rushdie’s new honor, as the government appeared to call for suicide bombings. ‘If someone exploded a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the ‘Sir’ title,’ said Pakistani Religion Minister Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq. A British diplomat expressed ‘deep concern’ at the comment.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Languedoc, France - Vintners threaten violence: ‘Blood will flow’ unless President Nicolas Sarkozy does something to raise the price of wine, a group a vigilante winemakers has warned. The threat, issued by the shadowy Union for Viticultural Action, or CRAV, came on a video sent to Sarkozy’s office showing seven masked winemakers reading out their ultimatum. CRAV has already bombed several Languedoc grocery stores that sell foreign wine. Languedoc winemakers, none of whom will admit to being in CRAV, say that they are operating at a loss because of falling wine prices. Exactly 100 years ago this week, a price revolt by vintners ended when the French army shot six demonstrators dead.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Moscow - Deadly moonshine: Nearly half of Russian men who die between age 25 and 54 are killed by alcohol, a new study shows. Those most likely to die of alcohol poisoning or cirrhosis of the liver are the poor, who can’t afford vodka and often drink home-brewed liquor or antiseptic, perfume, and other products containing alcohol. Russians drink more than any other people in the world, and they have a culture of binge drinking. The national alcoholism problem is also fueling crime: Nearly three-fourths of murders are alcohol-re;lated. ‘Men and women drink in Russia because they don’t have any spiritual goals,’ Saviley Vlasov, a recovering alcoholic, tole the London Guardian. ‘They have nothing to live for.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“The messy divorce between former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his estranged wife is getting uglier. Dina Matos McGreevey blames McGreevey--who resigned after announcing, ‘I am a gay American’--for the poor sales of her tell-all book. She says he hurt her image when he called her homophobic, and is suing the ex-governor for libel and defamation. McGreevey responded that what really killed her book was ‘her awful appearance on the Oprah show, where she appeared in an inappropriate and ill-fitting ball gown’ and ‘the fact that her book is poorly written and dull.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Tamil Nadu, India - Teenage surgeon: Indian officials are investigating reports that a doctor couple let their 15-year-old son perform a Caesarean section in order to get into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s youngest surgeon. The investigation began after several doctors said the parents had shown them a video of 15-year-old Dileepan Raj surgically opening the abdomen of a 20-year-old pregnant woman. Family members say the boy was only ‘helping out.’ Even so, said a leader of the local medical association, his participation was ‘shocking and extremely unethical.’ The parents, who run a clinic in southern India, could lose their medical licenses.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Gurgaon, India - Girls aborted: Indian police last week arrested a man posing as a doctor and charged him with illegally aborting female fetuses and then flushing them down the toilet. A.K. Singh ran an illegal clinic in a Delhi suburb, offering sex-determination tests and abortions. Abortion is legal in India,but abortion based on the sex of the fetus was outlawed in 1994. Police said they found tiny skulls and bones in the clinic’s septic tank, as well as a pile of partly burned fetuses in the clinic building. Many regions of India, including Gurgaon, report only 800 girls born for every 1,000 boys. Indian parents tend to prefer sons because daughters are expensive to marry off.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Department of “Leaping Into the Cesspool”
“When the media is full of $%*! - Daniel Henninger - The Wall Street Journal -- If you turn on the TV and hear the word ‘f---’ or ‘s---,’ said Daniel Henninger, don’t b e surprised. A federal appeals court recently ruled that the FCC could not punish TV networks for broadcasting profanity blurted out during awards shows and other ‘live’ programming. After the ruling, left-leaning editorialists and columnists applauded the court’s modern sensibility, and mocked the ‘moralists’ and ‘language police’ at the FCC. But something was missing from these commentaRies: None actually used the four-letter words in question, resorting, instead, to ‘f---’ and ‘s---’ or various euphemisms. I found this omission quite curious--and telling. Could it be that ‘deep in the primeval corner of the editorial soul sits the sense that somehow there really is something not quite right with promoting verbal f’ing and s’ing in public?’ Vulgarities debase language, and express nothing but the speaker’s lack of imagination and self-control. They offend. They’re in bad taste. That’s why the FCC sought to hold networks accountable for airing ‘f---’ and its crude brethren, and that’s why the gleeful hypocrites in the print media still won’t print them.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Spotlight on North Korea
“JAPAN - Kidnapping for a breeding program - Editorial - Yomiuri Shimbun -- We now know why the North Koreans kidnapped so many Japanese nationals in past decades, said the Tokyo Yomiuri Shimbun in an editorial. As crazy as it sounds, they were trying to breed anti-Japanese saboteurs. In 1971, members of the leftist terrorist group Japanese Red Army defected to North Korea. Delighted with this nest of Japanese supporters, then-dictator Kim Il Sung instructed them to ‘continue the revolution by giving birth to the next generation.’ Red Army members were to kidnap young Japanese people in Europe, force them into marriage in North Korea, and produce offspring to be raised as saboteurs who would one day foment communist revolution. ‘The ideal is incredible and ridiculous,’ but it was in fact carried out. Last week, police gathered enough evidence to charge two Red Army women who still live in North Korea with the kidnappings of two young Japanese men in Spain, in 1980. North Korea insists that both men are now dead, but says it will hand over any surviving Red Army members if Japan pardons them. No deal. We know North Korea is eager to get rid of the terrorists it harbors so that the U.S. will stop listing it as a terrorist sponsor. Fine. Hand them over--and they will be prosecuted.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Fatah, in Disarray, Torn by Mutual Recriminations” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“A top Fatah leader and adviser to PA Chairman Abbas was fired on Thursday for criticizing senior Fatah officials who were responsible for the defeat of their faction in Gaza. The dismissal of Hani al-Hassan, a former PA interior minister, is yet another sign of the growing tensions inside Fatah in the wake of Hamas' takeover of Gaza. ‘Fatah is facing a very dangerous crisis,’ said a senior Fatah official in Ramallah. ‘Many Fatah leaders and activists are unhappy with the way Abbas and the Fatah leadership have been handling the current crisis. If we don't get our act together, we will lose the West Bank.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“Fatah-Affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades Refueses to Disband, Disarm” - Author/Editorial (Maan News-PA)
“The Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades has announced that it has rejected Mahmoud Abbas' decree to disband the militia, spokesman Abu Oday announced following consultations with the brigades' leaders in the West Bank. He added that the brigades will not disarm and will not be committed to a truce with the Israelis.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“An Alternative Reading of the Muslim World” - David Pryce-Jones (National Review)
“As Hamas took over in Gaza, hundreds of local Palestinians sought refuge in Israel. Among them were Fatah members now being hunted down. A few who had been wounded were admitted to Israeli hospitals. In Gaza hospitals, they knew, they would be murdered, but in Israel they would be treated. Covering the civil war in Jordan in 1970, I had seen this phenomenon before, when the terrified residents of Baqaa refuge camp outside Amman had set off for Israel. Hundreds of Arafat's gunmen fled to Israel from King Hussein's army, as now they flee Hamas.
“Thousands of refugees from genocide have been fleeing Sudan. Many went to Cairo, where the police have scandalously harassed, beaten and scattered them. A thousand have found safety in Israel. These people, it is clear, are well able to reject a lifetime of hate propaganda, and recognize the reality that Israel will be more humane than any Muslim country. In my view, the huge majority of Muslims know that the U.S. and Israel could offer them freedom, peace and prosperity, but for the sake of keeping power their own Muslim leaders stand in the way of it, and whip up a hate which the mob doesn't really feel but to which in these police states it is obliged to pay lip service.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“Saudi King Snubs Abbas” (Al Jazeera-Qatar)
“Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah skipped a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Jordan.
“It was reported to be a deliberate and undiplomatic snub, with Abbas waiting at a palace room for a telephone call that never came.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
Crimestoppers Notebook
According to Los Angeles Times, “Paris Hilton will actually spend more time behind bars than most people in her circumstances, an analysis of five years of jail records shows. Her sentence of 23 days will exceed time served for 80 percent of the 1,500 defendants caught driving with a suspended license after a drunken-driving arrest.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
The Peoples’ Republic of China “executes more prisoners every year than the rest of the world combined ...” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Congress: Even less popular than Bush
“And you thought President Bush was unpopular? said John Podhoretz in the New York Post. The public, new polls show, is even more disgusted with the Democratic-controlled Congress. Just 27 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. (Bush’s approval rating has been stuck at about 30 percent.) A Rasmussen poll pegs Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid’s approval rating an an abysmal 19 percent--lower even than the much-maligned Vice President Dick Cheney. House Speaker nancy Pelosi scores a 36 percent rating, not exactly a ringing endorsement. Overall, more than 70 percent of Americans now think the country ‘is on the wrong track,and they’re not merely blaming Bush. They’re blaming everyone.’ That spells big trouble for Democrats, said Byron York in The Hill. Just six months ago, Democrats swept into Congress promising a new era of clean, competent government. So far, they’ve produced nothing, and the voters have already ‘had it with the new management.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007 [excerpted])
“ Don’t Worry, Be Happy” - Bobby McFerrin / “Get Happy!” - Elvis Costello:
“You’ll worry yourself senile - Chronic worrying may harm the brain, leading to early dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease, says a new study. Chicago researchers who tracked the mental health of more than 1,200 older people found that those who were constantly anxious and worried were 40 times more likely to develop cognitive impairment,the precursor to dementia. Though not all of the worriers went on to develop Alzheimer's disease, 10 percent to 15 percent of them did, indicating that the extra stress they put on their brains physically had damaged neurons that store memories. ‘This isn’t a measure of stress, but of the response to stress,’ Dr. Robert Wilson tells the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ‘We now see that chronic distress is related to the first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Money Talks (with a cross-reference to Hugo Chavez Watch)
According to BusinessWeek, “Despite political tensions between the two nations, U.S.-Venezuela trade has never been brisker. Venezuela exported $42 billion of goods to the U.S. last year, including 1 million barrels of oil daily. U.S. exports to Venezuela totaled $9 billion last year, up 41 percent from the year before.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Follow-Up Department
(The continuing saga aof Judge Roy Pearson - Refer to “Judge now wants just $54M from cleaner” in “Briefly Noted” for June 17, 2007 and to “In the Hall of Justice, the Only Justice Is in the Hall” in “Briefly Noted” for May 6, 2007)
“Washington, D.C. - Pants plaintiff rebuffed: The case of the $54 million pants was decided this week, and the plaintiff won’t collect a penny. In June 2005, Roy Pearson, a District of Columbia administrative law judge, sued Custom Cleaners, claiming the proprietors owed him $54 million for losing his gray suit pants and violating their guarantee of ‘customer satisfaction.’ But the judge ruled that Pearson hadn’t proved that the guarantee was misleading, or even that his pants had been lost. ‘We are very, very pleased with the results today,’ said Soo Chung, co-owner, with her husband and son, of Custom Cleaners. ‘It has been such a hard past two years.’ Pearson was ordered to pay the Chungs’ court costs, and he may be liable for their legal fees, which top $100,000. Pearson says he will appeal.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Warsaw - Jews as relics: Polish authorities broke ground this week for a ‘Museum of the History of Polish Jews.’ The site, in the former Warsaw Ghetto, is next to a monument to the 1943 Ghetto Uprising and near the railroad station from which hundreds of thousands of Jews were sent to death camps. Until World War II, Poland was home to 3.3 million Jews, Europe’s largest Jewish community. Today, the Jewish population is less than 30,000. The $65 million multimedia museum is intended to document the 1,000-year history of Jews in Poland. ‘This will not be another Holocaust museum,’ said Marian Turski, one of the founders. ‘It will be a museum of life.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Cairo - Shunning female cutting: The grand mufti of Egypt this week declared that female genital cutting was forbidden under Islamic law—the strongest official condemnation ever of a practice that is illegal yet commonplace in Egypt. The statement by Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the country’s highest-ranking Islamic authority, came after an 11-year-old girl died while undergoing the procedure at a medical clinic. The ancient practice involves cutting off part or all of the clitoris and other female genitalia, and it can lead to hemorrhaging, shock, and sexual dysfunction. ‘The harmful tradition of circumcision that is practiced in Egypt in our era is forbidden,’ Gomaa declared. The cutting is performed on both Muslim and Christian girls in Egypt and parts of Africa, but is extremely rare in most of the Arab world.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
A Double-Dose of Double-Talk
“Salman Rushdie: A knighthood sparks Muslim protests.”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“What a ‘depressingly predictable fuss,’ said India Knight in the London Sunday Times. The Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie has been a whipping boy for Muslims since 1988, when his book The Satanic Verses promptly earned him a fatwa of death. So it was no surprise that last week, when Rushdie became Sir Salman, Pakistanis burned effigies of the queen, and Iran condemned Britain’s ‘insult to Islamic values.’ Less inevitable was the British reaction. The Lord Privy Seal, Jack Straw, said he ‘sympathized’ with the ‘hurt feelings’ of the ‘Muslim community.’ Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett gave a blanket apology for any offense caused. Apparently, for many politicians, ‘pandering to the tiny proportion of the Muslim vote that is both extremist and fundamentalist’ is more important than defending literature.
“It should be easy to pacify the outraged Muslims, said Dominic Lawson in the London Independent. Just point out that two years ago, Iqbal Sacranie, former head of the Muslim Council of Britain, was himself knighted. ‘This is the same Iqbal Sacranie,’ by the way, whose only comment on the fatwa against Rushdie was that ‘death, perhaps, is a bit too easy for him.’ Where were the protests against Sir Iqbal? But perhaps it’s unfair to single out Sacranie—he isn’t the worst creature Britain has knighted. The late Romanian dictator Ceausescu was Sir Nicolae, and Zimbabwean dictator Mugabe is Sir Robert. Rushdie is hardly in the best of company.
“That’s little consolation, said Anjum Niaz in Islamabad’s The News. It’s not just that Rushdie’s ‘vomit of profanity’ is an insult to Islam, it’s also that Rushdie is a jerk. The ‘baldy, satyr-faced’ fellow dumped the wife who stood by him during the 12 years he was in hiding before Iran lifted the fatwa. As soon as he got back out into the world, he took a new wife, ‘half his age and twice as attractive.’ That he is a great writer is no excuse, said the Karachi Dawn in an editorial. Rushdie ‘used his pen to create hatred’ between Muslims and Westerners. Why must Britain honor him, of all people, especially in these tense, post-9/11 times. ‘Common sense requires that both sides do nothing that could aggravate the sense of mutual alienation.’
“Sorry chaps, said Nick Cohen in the London Observer, but we’ve already tried the appeasement route. The more we coddled the Muslim Council of Britain, the more jihadist literature was sold in British mosques. Government policy is now ‘to support British Muslims who uphold liberal values and oppose those who do not.’ Knighting Rushdie was a welcome sign ‘of the changing mood.’ Thankfully, we no longer ‘allow British policy to be decided by dictatorial bigots, who want to inflame religious passion to divert attention from their own corruption.’ ” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Iraq: What we’re not being told.”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“You probably don’t know this, said Jack Kelly in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but U.S. troops are currently fighting the biggest and most important battle of the Iraq war so far. Several thousand ‘hard-core al Qaida fighters’ have been chased out of Baghdad and have fled to Iraq’s Diyala province, and 10,000 coalition troops are closing in to finish them off. If the operation—Arrowhead Ripper—succeeds, it could prove decisive in the war to stabilize Iraq, which may explain why the mainstream media is hardly mentioning it. Most editors and pundits are now so committed to the narrative of Iraq as an epic, bungled disaster that they ‘treat good news from Iraq as no news.’
“Can you really still be wearing those rose-colored glasses? said Frank Rich in The New York Times. For four years, the Bush administration has insisted that victory was just around the corner. The latest installment in that fairy tale is ‘the surge’ of 30,000 additional troops, which the new commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, promised would show results by September. Already, the White House is furiously backing away from that target month, and the Pentagon has launched a new ‘propaganda offensive,’ withholding statistics on the sharp increase of attacks in Baghdad’s supposedly secure Green Zone. The White House’s real battle plan for Iraq is to disguise the true scale of this catastrophe, ‘no matter what the cost,’ and keep stalling until Bush leaves office and it becomes the next president’s problem.
“Too bad we’re still trapped in this ‘pseudo-debate,’ said Kurt Andersen in New York. Bush’s ‘irreducible hard core of supporters’ is still pretending that a military victory can be won, if only the critics of the war would shut up. The anti-war left and most Democratic presidential candidates prefer to sell the illusion that everything will get better the day we pull out our 160,000 troops. What ‘wishful naïveté.’ U.S. withdrawal will not ‘end the war,’ as the Democrats suggest. It may, in fact, lead to full-scale ethnic cleansing, the collapse of the government, and thousands of Iraqi casualties every day. Americans can’t just can’t walk away from that ‘horror show,’ even those who voted against Bush. ‘We’re a nation, and we’re all responsible for all of our national liabilities.’ Unless we’re willing to abandon Iraq to chaos and genocide, tens of thousands of U.S. troops will remain there for years. When is someone going to admit that?”
Politics On Parade: The Bloomberg Moment
“Bloomberg: The next Ross Perot?”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims he’s not running for president, said Michael Goodwin in the New York Daily News. Too bad he doesn’t mean it. The popular billionaire mayor last week made a big show of switching his party affiliation from Republican to independent, and is now obviously considering running for president as a third-party candidate. He shouldn’t bother. Bloomberg and his supporters may enjoy imagining that the masses will tell both major parties to stuff it, but it’s pure fantasy. In the last 100 years, only Teddy Roosevelt, running under the Progressive Party banner in 1912, pulled more votes than either a Democrat or a Republican, and he came in second. Bloomberg hardly seems the one to break that streak, said Joe Conason in Salon.com. ‘A divorced Jewish businessman,’ he’s a dull speaker with a high-pitched, whiny voice who heartily endorsed Bush/Cheney in 2004. ‘There is almost nothing plausible about a Bloomberg bid—except that he is able, and might be willing, to spend an obscene amount of money.’
“But thanks to that money, said Froma Harrop in the Providence Journal, Bloomberg can get his message out. And it’s an appealing one, especially when a growing number of Americans ‘think that both the Democratic and Republican parties stink.’ As a media entrepreneur and mayor of the nation’s biggest city, Bloomberg has proved he’s an innovator. He has improved public education, balanced the budget, reduced crime, and been a national leader in efforts to curb guns. If the zany Ross Perot could garner nearly 20 percent of the vote, said The San Diego Union-Tribune in an editorial, Bloomberg can’t be counted out. ‘As a pro-business fiscal conservative with moderate to liberal social views, Bloomberg would be in sync with a huge, underappreciated chunk of the electorate.’
“The trouble is, said Jonathan Chait in The New Republic, Bloomberg’s reputation as a feisty ‘independent’ is a myth. He was, in fact, a lifelong Democrat who became a Republican only because he didn’t have a shot at winning the Democratic mayoral nomination in 2001. But to suggest now that he does not have a place in a major party is a self-serving pretense. On almost all major issues—abortion, health care, the environment—Bloomberg is a mainstream Democrat. If he were to switch parties to run as a Democrat, of course, ‘he’d be condemned as a transparent opportunist.’ Instead, he pretends to renounce partisan politics altogether, ‘and is praised as a visionary.’ It’s a neat trick, but it won’t fool people for long.”
Stem cell research and George Bush - According to Yuval Levin in National Review Online, Since 2001, when Bush limited federal funding to research on stem-cell lines that had already been created, scientists have discovered several stem-cell sources that don’t require the destruction of a human life. Indeed, Bush accompanied last week’s veto with an executive order to increase support for research on these new ‘ethically uncontroversial’ techniques, which create stem cells out of cells harvested from placentas and adults. In the long run, science may be able to steer around the great moral dilemma of the past few years and still pursue the promise of stem-cell therapies.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Zakia Zaki, the owner of a radio station in Afghanistan, was shot dead at her home. Ms Zaki's murder followed that of a female newsreader. The journalists' association said the killings showed how difficult the working climate had become for journalists, especially women.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
To recycle or not? - “A study by the Technical University of Denmark looked at 55 products and compared the effects of burying, burning or recycling them. More than 80% of the time, the researchers found, recycling was the most efficient thing to do with household rubbish. ... Recycling aluminium requires 95% less energy that making it from scratch; the figure is 70% for plastics and 40% for paper ...” (Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007)
“The great penis survey - To women, size doesn’t matter--much. But don’t tell that to men; more than half think their penises are too small. An analysis of 50 penis studies from around the world has determined that the average erect penis measures 5.5 to 6.2 inches long and has a circumference of 4.7 to 5.1 inches. (Contrary to myth, there was no difference among the races.) The average is just fine for women, 85 percent of whom say they’re satisfied with their partner’s penis size. Women say they don’t care much about length, though they appreciate a little extra girth. ‘The issue of attractiveness for women is complex, but most data suggest that penile size is much lower down the list of priorities for women than such issues as a man’s personality and external grooming, researchers tell LiveScience. But for 55 percent of men, penis length is a major worry--one that keeps purveyors of penis pumps, pills, and surgeries in business. That insecurity, known as ‘locker room syndrome,’ often begins at an early age, when men covertly compare their penises to Dad’s or other men’s. But only 0.6 percent really need to worry--they’re the men affected by the syndrome known as ‘micropenis,’ clinically defined as a male member measuring less than 2.7 inches.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
According to BusinessWeek, “The annual salary for a telemarketing call center agent in India averages $2,667. the U.S. average is $29,000.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
The Geneva Conventions - Who is a “combatant” entitled to “prisoner-of-war” status?
“Under the Geneva Conventions, a combatant is deemed lawful and therefore entitled to prisoner-of-war status and protections if he is a member of either a regular government force or an organised militia, wearing a distinctive sign, carrying arms openly, and abiding by the rules of war. As such, he may refuse to give his captors any information save his name, rank and serial number, and, if charged, would be entitled to a trial by a normal court-martial.” (Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007)
“Arms Flowing into Lebanon, UN Finds” - Warren Hoge (New York Times)
“The present state of border control is inadequate for preventing the smuggling of arms from Syria into Lebanon, according to a report by a UN assessment team submitted to the Security Council on Tuesday. The team was unable to document a single instance of a seizure of arms at or near the border. The Security Council resolution that ended the war between Israel and Hizbullah last August called on Lebanon to secure its borders and prevent the entry of unauthorized arms. The team's findings bolster a warning to the Security Council on June 11 by Terje Roed-Larsen, a special UN envoy, who reported ‘a steady flow of weapons and armed elements across the border from Syria.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Palestinians Are Looking for Alternative Leadership” - Khalil Al Assali (Gulf News-Dubai)
“A majority of Palestinians do not trust their current leadership, according to various public as well as confidential opinion poll results. Ramallah-based political analyst Hani al-Masri notes a ‘deep gap between the Palestinian parties and the Palestinian people.’ Dr. Khalil al-Shakaki of the Palestinian Center for Political and Survey Research reported a poll showing 41% supporting the idea of dismantling the Palestinian Authority, while 42% support a confederation with Jordan.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Who Lost Gaza?” - Editorial (New Republic)
“Who lost Gaza? Increasingly, one hears that the disaster is the consequence of Israeli policies or American indifference. It is necessary to insist, therefore, that the primary responsibility for Palestinian actions falls on Palestinians. The internal factors are more decisive than the external factors. The political theology of Hamas is not, as outraged commentators like to say, an expression of nihilism; it is an expression of a grandiose radical worldview. If Hamas were not so genuinely indigenous, it would not be so genuinely terrifying.
“The more violent Hamas gets, the more one hears that it is time for diplomacy. About what, exactly? The only Palestinian state that Hamas will discuss is the one that will erase Israel from the map. For many decades, the world has clamored for Palestinian self-determination. Well, Palestinian self-determination is here for all the world to see.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Iran: The Last Executioner of Children” - Nora Boustany (Washington Post)
“In a troubling report on the execution of minors in Iran, Amnesty International said Tuesday that at least 71 child offenders are on death row and more than 24 have been executed since 1990, more than in any other country.
“The report, ‘Iran: The Last Executioner of Children,’ said 11 of the child offenders executed were younger than 18 at the time of their deaths.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Winds of War” - Joshua Muravchik (Wall Street Journal)
“Consider the pell-mell events of recent weeks. Iran's Revolutionary Guard is caught delivering weapons to the Taliban and explosives to Iraqi terrorists. At the same time, Fatah al-Islam, a shady group linked to Syria, launches an attack on the Lebanese army from within a Palestinian refugee area, beheading several soldiers. Tehran trumpets further progress on nuclear enrichment as President Ahmadinejad repeats his call for annihilating Israel, crowing that ‘the countdown to the destruction of this regime has begun.’ Hamas seizes control militarily in Gaza.
“The apparent meaning of all of this is that the axis of radicals - Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah - is feeling its oats. It believes that its side has defeated America in Iraq, and Israel in Gaza and Lebanon. Ahmadinejad recently claimed that the West has already begun to ‘surrender,’ and he gloated that ‘final victory...is near.’ It is this bravado that bodes war.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Terror Threat in Germany” - ( Der Spiegel-Germany)
“A combination of intelligence ‘chatter,’ a suspicious video, and arrests along the Pakistani border have led authorities to warn that the threat of terrorist attacks in Germany is real.
“Germany faced an elevated threat of terrorism because of its involvement in Afghanistan, according to officials who said the risk of an attack is as high as it has ever been.
“‘We are alarmed,’ the normally mild-mannered August Hanning, Deputy Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, said Thursday.
“German as well as foreign intelligence agencies have received hints about plans, groups, and individual extremists who may be planning an attack in Germany.
“‘We have moved fully into the target range of Islamist terror,’ said Hanning.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 27, 2007)
“Bad week for Humanity, after an exhibition of Sir Isaac Newton’s private papers opened at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. Among other writings by the father of modern science that the exhibit features is a 1704 letter from Newton predicting the end of the world in 2060, based on a close study of biblical texts.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Politics On Parade: Follow the Money
“Chappaqua, N.Y. - Clintons liquidate: Bill and Hillary Clinton last week sold millions of dollars worth of stock held for them in a blind trust, out of concern that their financial affairs could become a political liability for Hillary. The stocks included shares of pharmaceutical, oil, and defense contractors, as well as Wal-Mart. Many of the companies involved are frequent targets of Democratic activists. Advisors to Hillary Clinton, a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, say that no federal regulations required the to liquidate the trust, valued at $5 million to $5 million, but that Mrs. Clinton wanted to avoid any suggestion that her Senate votes could favorable affect her stock portfolio. Financial experts say the couple will now likely take a big hit in capital gains taxes.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Fayyad Warns Islamic Preachers” - Mohammed Daraghmeh (AP/Washington Post)
“New Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad delivered a stern warning Thursday to some 800 Muslim clergy, including Hamas supporters: He won't tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits and plans to collect militants' weapons. ‘We will collect weapons and replace them with pens and books,’ he told the crowd. ‘We won't allow them (mosques) to be turned into places of incitement and intimidation,’ he added. ‘It's the responsibility of men of religion to...present religion as a way of tolerance, not as a cover for bloodshed.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“London - Death to Sir Salman?: Novelist Salman Rushdie was knighted last week, touching off fury in the Muslim world. Rushdie,an Indian-born British citizen, first drew Muslim protests with the 1988 publication of his book The Satanic Verses, which many found blasphemous. Several Pakistanis died that year during protests against the book, and Iran issued a fatwa sentencing Rushdie to death. This week, Pakistan was again prominent in protesting Rushdie’s new honor, as the government appeared to call for suicide bombings. ‘If someone exploded a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the ‘Sir’ title,’ said Pakistani Religion Minister Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq. A British diplomat expressed ‘deep concern’ at the comment.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Languedoc, France - Vintners threaten violence: ‘Blood will flow’ unless President Nicolas Sarkozy does something to raise the price of wine, a group a vigilante winemakers has warned. The threat, issued by the shadowy Union for Viticultural Action, or CRAV, came on a video sent to Sarkozy’s office showing seven masked winemakers reading out their ultimatum. CRAV has already bombed several Languedoc grocery stores that sell foreign wine. Languedoc winemakers, none of whom will admit to being in CRAV, say that they are operating at a loss because of falling wine prices. Exactly 100 years ago this week, a price revolt by vintners ended when the French army shot six demonstrators dead.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Moscow - Deadly moonshine: Nearly half of Russian men who die between age 25 and 54 are killed by alcohol, a new study shows. Those most likely to die of alcohol poisoning or cirrhosis of the liver are the poor, who can’t afford vodka and often drink home-brewed liquor or antiseptic, perfume, and other products containing alcohol. Russians drink more than any other people in the world, and they have a culture of binge drinking. The national alcoholism problem is also fueling crime: Nearly three-fourths of murders are alcohol-re;lated. ‘Men and women drink in Russia because they don’t have any spiritual goals,’ Saviley Vlasov, a recovering alcoholic, tole the London Guardian. ‘They have nothing to live for.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“The messy divorce between former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his estranged wife is getting uglier. Dina Matos McGreevey blames McGreevey--who resigned after announcing, ‘I am a gay American’--for the poor sales of her tell-all book. She says he hurt her image when he called her homophobic, and is suing the ex-governor for libel and defamation. McGreevey responded that what really killed her book was ‘her awful appearance on the Oprah show, where she appeared in an inappropriate and ill-fitting ball gown’ and ‘the fact that her book is poorly written and dull.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Tamil Nadu, India - Teenage surgeon: Indian officials are investigating reports that a doctor couple let their 15-year-old son perform a Caesarean section in order to get into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s youngest surgeon. The investigation began after several doctors said the parents had shown them a video of 15-year-old Dileepan Raj surgically opening the abdomen of a 20-year-old pregnant woman. Family members say the boy was only ‘helping out.’ Even so, said a leader of the local medical association, his participation was ‘shocking and extremely unethical.’ The parents, who run a clinic in southern India, could lose their medical licenses.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Gurgaon, India - Girls aborted: Indian police last week arrested a man posing as a doctor and charged him with illegally aborting female fetuses and then flushing them down the toilet. A.K. Singh ran an illegal clinic in a Delhi suburb, offering sex-determination tests and abortions. Abortion is legal in India,but abortion based on the sex of the fetus was outlawed in 1994. Police said they found tiny skulls and bones in the clinic’s septic tank, as well as a pile of partly burned fetuses in the clinic building. Many regions of India, including Gurgaon, report only 800 girls born for every 1,000 boys. Indian parents tend to prefer sons because daughters are expensive to marry off.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Department of “Leaping Into the Cesspool”
“When the media is full of $%*! - Daniel Henninger - The Wall Street Journal -- If you turn on the TV and hear the word ‘f---’ or ‘s---,’ said Daniel Henninger, don’t b e surprised. A federal appeals court recently ruled that the FCC could not punish TV networks for broadcasting profanity blurted out during awards shows and other ‘live’ programming. After the ruling, left-leaning editorialists and columnists applauded the court’s modern sensibility, and mocked the ‘moralists’ and ‘language police’ at the FCC. But something was missing from these commentaRies: None actually used the four-letter words in question, resorting, instead, to ‘f---’ and ‘s---’ or various euphemisms. I found this omission quite curious--and telling. Could it be that ‘deep in the primeval corner of the editorial soul sits the sense that somehow there really is something not quite right with promoting verbal f’ing and s’ing in public?’ Vulgarities debase language, and express nothing but the speaker’s lack of imagination and self-control. They offend. They’re in bad taste. That’s why the FCC sought to hold networks accountable for airing ‘f---’ and its crude brethren, and that’s why the gleeful hypocrites in the print media still won’t print them.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Spotlight on North Korea
“JAPAN - Kidnapping for a breeding program - Editorial - Yomiuri Shimbun -- We now know why the North Koreans kidnapped so many Japanese nationals in past decades, said the Tokyo Yomiuri Shimbun in an editorial. As crazy as it sounds, they were trying to breed anti-Japanese saboteurs. In 1971, members of the leftist terrorist group Japanese Red Army defected to North Korea. Delighted with this nest of Japanese supporters, then-dictator Kim Il Sung instructed them to ‘continue the revolution by giving birth to the next generation.’ Red Army members were to kidnap young Japanese people in Europe, force them into marriage in North Korea, and produce offspring to be raised as saboteurs who would one day foment communist revolution. ‘The ideal is incredible and ridiculous,’ but it was in fact carried out. Last week, police gathered enough evidence to charge two Red Army women who still live in North Korea with the kidnappings of two young Japanese men in Spain, in 1980. North Korea insists that both men are now dead, but says it will hand over any surviving Red Army members if Japan pardons them. No deal. We know North Korea is eager to get rid of the terrorists it harbors so that the U.S. will stop listing it as a terrorist sponsor. Fine. Hand them over--and they will be prosecuted.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Fatah, in Disarray, Torn by Mutual Recriminations” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“A top Fatah leader and adviser to PA Chairman Abbas was fired on Thursday for criticizing senior Fatah officials who were responsible for the defeat of their faction in Gaza. The dismissal of Hani al-Hassan, a former PA interior minister, is yet another sign of the growing tensions inside Fatah in the wake of Hamas' takeover of Gaza. ‘Fatah is facing a very dangerous crisis,’ said a senior Fatah official in Ramallah. ‘Many Fatah leaders and activists are unhappy with the way Abbas and the Fatah leadership have been handling the current crisis. If we don't get our act together, we will lose the West Bank.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“Fatah-Affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades Refueses to Disband, Disarm” - Author/Editorial (Maan News-PA)
“The Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades has announced that it has rejected Mahmoud Abbas' decree to disband the militia, spokesman Abu Oday announced following consultations with the brigades' leaders in the West Bank. He added that the brigades will not disarm and will not be committed to a truce with the Israelis.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“An Alternative Reading of the Muslim World” - David Pryce-Jones (National Review)
“As Hamas took over in Gaza, hundreds of local Palestinians sought refuge in Israel. Among them were Fatah members now being hunted down. A few who had been wounded were admitted to Israeli hospitals. In Gaza hospitals, they knew, they would be murdered, but in Israel they would be treated. Covering the civil war in Jordan in 1970, I had seen this phenomenon before, when the terrified residents of Baqaa refuge camp outside Amman had set off for Israel. Hundreds of Arafat's gunmen fled to Israel from King Hussein's army, as now they flee Hamas.
“Thousands of refugees from genocide have been fleeing Sudan. Many went to Cairo, where the police have scandalously harassed, beaten and scattered them. A thousand have found safety in Israel. These people, it is clear, are well able to reject a lifetime of hate propaganda, and recognize the reality that Israel will be more humane than any Muslim country. In my view, the huge majority of Muslims know that the U.S. and Israel could offer them freedom, peace and prosperity, but for the sake of keeping power their own Muslim leaders stand in the way of it, and whip up a hate which the mob doesn't really feel but to which in these police states it is obliged to pay lip service.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
“Saudi King Snubs Abbas” (Al Jazeera-Qatar)
“Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah skipped a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Jordan.
“It was reported to be a deliberate and undiplomatic snub, with Abbas waiting at a palace room for a telephone call that never came.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 29, 2007)
Crimestoppers Notebook
According to Los Angeles Times, “Paris Hilton will actually spend more time behind bars than most people in her circumstances, an analysis of five years of jail records shows. Her sentence of 23 days will exceed time served for 80 percent of the 1,500 defendants caught driving with a suspended license after a drunken-driving arrest.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
The Peoples’ Republic of China “executes more prisoners every year than the rest of the world combined ...” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
“Congress: Even less popular than Bush
“And you thought President Bush was unpopular? said John Podhoretz in the New York Post. The public, new polls show, is even more disgusted with the Democratic-controlled Congress. Just 27 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. (Bush’s approval rating has been stuck at about 30 percent.) A Rasmussen poll pegs Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid’s approval rating an an abysmal 19 percent--lower even than the much-maligned Vice President Dick Cheney. House Speaker nancy Pelosi scores a 36 percent rating, not exactly a ringing endorsement. Overall, more than 70 percent of Americans now think the country ‘is on the wrong track,and they’re not merely blaming Bush. They’re blaming everyone.’ That spells big trouble for Democrats, said Byron York in The Hill. Just six months ago, Democrats swept into Congress promising a new era of clean, competent government. So far, they’ve produced nothing, and the voters have already ‘had it with the new management.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007 [excerpted])
“ Don’t Worry, Be Happy” - Bobby McFerrin / “Get Happy!” - Elvis Costello:
“You’ll worry yourself senile - Chronic worrying may harm the brain, leading to early dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease, says a new study. Chicago researchers who tracked the mental health of more than 1,200 older people found that those who were constantly anxious and worried were 40 times more likely to develop cognitive impairment,the precursor to dementia. Though not all of the worriers went on to develop Alzheimer's disease, 10 percent to 15 percent of them did, indicating that the extra stress they put on their brains physically had damaged neurons that store memories. ‘This isn’t a measure of stress, but of the response to stress,’ Dr. Robert Wilson tells the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ‘We now see that chronic distress is related to the first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease.’” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Money Talks (with a cross-reference to Hugo Chavez Watch)
According to BusinessWeek, “Despite political tensions between the two nations, U.S.-Venezuela trade has never been brisker. Venezuela exported $42 billion of goods to the U.S. last year, including 1 million barrels of oil daily. U.S. exports to Venezuela totaled $9 billion last year, up 41 percent from the year before.” (Source: The Week, June 29, 2007)
Follow-Up Department
(The continuing saga aof Judge Roy Pearson - Refer to “Judge now wants just $54M from cleaner” in “Briefly Noted” for June 17, 2007 and to “In the Hall of Justice, the Only Justice Is in the Hall” in “Briefly Noted” for May 6, 2007)
“Washington, D.C. - Pants plaintiff rebuffed: The case of the $54 million pants was decided this week, and the plaintiff won’t collect a penny. In June 2005, Roy Pearson, a District of Columbia administrative law judge, sued Custom Cleaners, claiming the proprietors owed him $54 million for losing his gray suit pants and violating their guarantee of ‘customer satisfaction.’ But the judge ruled that Pearson hadn’t proved that the guarantee was misleading, or even that his pants had been lost. ‘We are very, very pleased with the results today,’ said Soo Chung, co-owner, with her husband and son, of Custom Cleaners. ‘It has been such a hard past two years.’ Pearson was ordered to pay the Chungs’ court costs, and he may be liable for their legal fees, which top $100,000. Pearson says he will appeal.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Warsaw - Jews as relics: Polish authorities broke ground this week for a ‘Museum of the History of Polish Jews.’ The site, in the former Warsaw Ghetto, is next to a monument to the 1943 Ghetto Uprising and near the railroad station from which hundreds of thousands of Jews were sent to death camps. Until World War II, Poland was home to 3.3 million Jews, Europe’s largest Jewish community. Today, the Jewish population is less than 30,000. The $65 million multimedia museum is intended to document the 1,000-year history of Jews in Poland. ‘This will not be another Holocaust museum,’ said Marian Turski, one of the founders. ‘It will be a museum of life.’” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Cairo - Shunning female cutting: The grand mufti of Egypt this week declared that female genital cutting was forbidden under Islamic law—the strongest official condemnation ever of a practice that is illegal yet commonplace in Egypt. The statement by Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the country’s highest-ranking Islamic authority, came after an 11-year-old girl died while undergoing the procedure at a medical clinic. The ancient practice involves cutting off part or all of the clitoris and other female genitalia, and it can lead to hemorrhaging, shock, and sexual dysfunction. ‘The harmful tradition of circumcision that is practiced in Egypt in our era is forbidden,’ Gomaa declared. The cutting is performed on both Muslim and Christian girls in Egypt and parts of Africa, but is extremely rare in most of the Arab world.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
A Double-Dose of Double-Talk
“Salman Rushdie: A knighthood sparks Muslim protests.”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“What a ‘depressingly predictable fuss,’ said India Knight in the London Sunday Times. The Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie has been a whipping boy for Muslims since 1988, when his book The Satanic Verses promptly earned him a fatwa of death. So it was no surprise that last week, when Rushdie became Sir Salman, Pakistanis burned effigies of the queen, and Iran condemned Britain’s ‘insult to Islamic values.’ Less inevitable was the British reaction. The Lord Privy Seal, Jack Straw, said he ‘sympathized’ with the ‘hurt feelings’ of the ‘Muslim community.’ Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett gave a blanket apology for any offense caused. Apparently, for many politicians, ‘pandering to the tiny proportion of the Muslim vote that is both extremist and fundamentalist’ is more important than defending literature.
“It should be easy to pacify the outraged Muslims, said Dominic Lawson in the London Independent. Just point out that two years ago, Iqbal Sacranie, former head of the Muslim Council of Britain, was himself knighted. ‘This is the same Iqbal Sacranie,’ by the way, whose only comment on the fatwa against Rushdie was that ‘death, perhaps, is a bit too easy for him.’ Where were the protests against Sir Iqbal? But perhaps it’s unfair to single out Sacranie—he isn’t the worst creature Britain has knighted. The late Romanian dictator Ceausescu was Sir Nicolae, and Zimbabwean dictator Mugabe is Sir Robert. Rushdie is hardly in the best of company.
“That’s little consolation, said Anjum Niaz in Islamabad’s The News. It’s not just that Rushdie’s ‘vomit of profanity’ is an insult to Islam, it’s also that Rushdie is a jerk. The ‘baldy, satyr-faced’ fellow dumped the wife who stood by him during the 12 years he was in hiding before Iran lifted the fatwa. As soon as he got back out into the world, he took a new wife, ‘half his age and twice as attractive.’ That he is a great writer is no excuse, said the Karachi Dawn in an editorial. Rushdie ‘used his pen to create hatred’ between Muslims and Westerners. Why must Britain honor him, of all people, especially in these tense, post-9/11 times. ‘Common sense requires that both sides do nothing that could aggravate the sense of mutual alienation.’
“Sorry chaps, said Nick Cohen in the London Observer, but we’ve already tried the appeasement route. The more we coddled the Muslim Council of Britain, the more jihadist literature was sold in British mosques. Government policy is now ‘to support British Muslims who uphold liberal values and oppose those who do not.’ Knighting Rushdie was a welcome sign ‘of the changing mood.’ Thankfully, we no longer ‘allow British policy to be decided by dictatorial bigots, who want to inflame religious passion to divert attention from their own corruption.’ ” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
“Iraq: What we’re not being told.”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“You probably don’t know this, said Jack Kelly in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but U.S. troops are currently fighting the biggest and most important battle of the Iraq war so far. Several thousand ‘hard-core al Qaida fighters’ have been chased out of Baghdad and have fled to Iraq’s Diyala province, and 10,000 coalition troops are closing in to finish them off. If the operation—Arrowhead Ripper—succeeds, it could prove decisive in the war to stabilize Iraq, which may explain why the mainstream media is hardly mentioning it. Most editors and pundits are now so committed to the narrative of Iraq as an epic, bungled disaster that they ‘treat good news from Iraq as no news.’
“Can you really still be wearing those rose-colored glasses? said Frank Rich in The New York Times. For four years, the Bush administration has insisted that victory was just around the corner. The latest installment in that fairy tale is ‘the surge’ of 30,000 additional troops, which the new commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, promised would show results by September. Already, the White House is furiously backing away from that target month, and the Pentagon has launched a new ‘propaganda offensive,’ withholding statistics on the sharp increase of attacks in Baghdad’s supposedly secure Green Zone. The White House’s real battle plan for Iraq is to disguise the true scale of this catastrophe, ‘no matter what the cost,’ and keep stalling until Bush leaves office and it becomes the next president’s problem.
“Too bad we’re still trapped in this ‘pseudo-debate,’ said Kurt Andersen in New York. Bush’s ‘irreducible hard core of supporters’ is still pretending that a military victory can be won, if only the critics of the war would shut up. The anti-war left and most Democratic presidential candidates prefer to sell the illusion that everything will get better the day we pull out our 160,000 troops. What ‘wishful naïveté.’ U.S. withdrawal will not ‘end the war,’ as the Democrats suggest. It may, in fact, lead to full-scale ethnic cleansing, the collapse of the government, and thousands of Iraqi casualties every day. Americans can’t just can’t walk away from that ‘horror show,’ even those who voted against Bush. ‘We’re a nation, and we’re all responsible for all of our national liabilities.’ Unless we’re willing to abandon Iraq to chaos and genocide, tens of thousands of U.S. troops will remain there for years. When is someone going to admit that?”
Politics On Parade: The Bloomberg Moment
“Bloomberg: The next Ross Perot?”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims he’s not running for president, said Michael Goodwin in the New York Daily News. Too bad he doesn’t mean it. The popular billionaire mayor last week made a big show of switching his party affiliation from Republican to independent, and is now obviously considering running for president as a third-party candidate. He shouldn’t bother. Bloomberg and his supporters may enjoy imagining that the masses will tell both major parties to stuff it, but it’s pure fantasy. In the last 100 years, only Teddy Roosevelt, running under the Progressive Party banner in 1912, pulled more votes than either a Democrat or a Republican, and he came in second. Bloomberg hardly seems the one to break that streak, said Joe Conason in Salon.com. ‘A divorced Jewish businessman,’ he’s a dull speaker with a high-pitched, whiny voice who heartily endorsed Bush/Cheney in 2004. ‘There is almost nothing plausible about a Bloomberg bid—except that he is able, and might be willing, to spend an obscene amount of money.’
“But thanks to that money, said Froma Harrop in the Providence Journal, Bloomberg can get his message out. And it’s an appealing one, especially when a growing number of Americans ‘think that both the Democratic and Republican parties stink.’ As a media entrepreneur and mayor of the nation’s biggest city, Bloomberg has proved he’s an innovator. He has improved public education, balanced the budget, reduced crime, and been a national leader in efforts to curb guns. If the zany Ross Perot could garner nearly 20 percent of the vote, said The San Diego Union-Tribune in an editorial, Bloomberg can’t be counted out. ‘As a pro-business fiscal conservative with moderate to liberal social views, Bloomberg would be in sync with a huge, underappreciated chunk of the electorate.’
“The trouble is, said Jonathan Chait in The New Republic, Bloomberg’s reputation as a feisty ‘independent’ is a myth. He was, in fact, a lifelong Democrat who became a Republican only because he didn’t have a shot at winning the Democratic mayoral nomination in 2001. But to suggest now that he does not have a place in a major party is a self-serving pretense. On almost all major issues—abortion, health care, the environment—Bloomberg is a mainstream Democrat. If he were to switch parties to run as a Democrat, of course, ‘he’d be condemned as a transparent opportunist.’ Instead, he pretends to renounce partisan politics altogether, ‘and is praised as a visionary.’ It’s a neat trick, but it won’t fool people for long.”
Stem cell research and George Bush - According to Yuval Levin in National Review Online, Since 2001, when Bush limited federal funding to research on stem-cell lines that had already been created, scientists have discovered several stem-cell sources that don’t require the destruction of a human life. Indeed, Bush accompanied last week’s veto with an executive order to increase support for research on these new ‘ethically uncontroversial’ techniques, which create stem cells out of cells harvested from placentas and adults. In the long run, science may be able to steer around the great moral dilemma of the past few years and still pursue the promise of stem-cell therapies.” (Source: The Week, July 13, 2007)
OBITUARY - Farfour Mouse
.
[Source: Associated Press, June 29, 2007]
“Farfour Mouse dies in last episode
“(GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip)
“Hamas TV on Friday broadcast what it said was the last episode of a weekly children's show featuring ‘Farfour,’ a Mickey Mouse look-alike who had made worldwide headlines for preaching Islamic domination and armed struggle to youngsters.
“In the final skit, Farfour was beaten to death by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, Farfour called the Israeli a ‘terrorist.’
“‘Farfour was martyred while defending his land,’ said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed ‘by the killers of children,’ she added.
“The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV.
“Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs.
“Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he didn't know yet what would be shown instead.
“Israeli officials have denounced the program, ‘Tomorrow's Pioneers,’ as incendiary and outrageous. The program was also opposed by the state-run Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which is controlled by Fatah.” (June 29, 2007)
[Source: Associated Press, June 29, 2007]
“Farfour Mouse dies in last episode
“(GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip)
“Hamas TV on Friday broadcast what it said was the last episode of a weekly children's show featuring ‘Farfour,’ a Mickey Mouse look-alike who had made worldwide headlines for preaching Islamic domination and armed struggle to youngsters.
“In the final skit, Farfour was beaten to death by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, Farfour called the Israeli a ‘terrorist.’
“‘Farfour was martyred while defending his land,’ said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed ‘by the killers of children,’ she added.
“The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV.
“Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs.
“Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he didn't know yet what would be shown instead.
“Israeli officials have denounced the program, ‘Tomorrow's Pioneers,’ as incendiary and outrageous. The program was also opposed by the state-run Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which is controlled by Fatah.” (June 29, 2007)
OBITUARY - Kurt Waldheim: “The U.N. secretary-general who had been a Nazi” (1918-2007)
.
[Source: The Week, June 29, 2007]
“Kurt Waldheim was an erudite diplomat who served both as secretary-general of the United Nations and, later, as president of Austria. But he left the world stage a pariah after his Nazi past, which he had long hidden or downplayed, was laid bare.
“Waldheim was born just after World War I; his father was a school superintendent who ‘was briefly jailed because of his anti-Nazi views,’ said the Los Angeles Times. For decades Waldheim publicly insisted he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, the German army, and that he sat out most of the war because of a shrapnel wound he suffered on the Eastern Front in 1941. The truth was much darker. It later emerged that in 1937, Waldheim had joined a Nazi youth group and later was active in the so-called brownshirts, the Nazi paramilitary organization. Though he was in fact wounded, he returned to duty as an intelligence officer in the 714th Infantry Division in the Balkans, which slaughtered more than 60,000 Yugoslav partisans and their families at Kozara, in Bosnia, and ‘dispatched some 40,000 Greek Jews to Auschwitz.’
“In 1948, the U.N. War Crimes Commission, in a secret finding, decided there was enough evidence to charge Waldheim with ‘murder’ and ‘putting hostages to death,’ said The Washington Post. But because the Allies treated postwar Austria as a victim of Germany, not as a collaborator, he escaped prosecution. Joining the Foreign Ministry in 1951, Waldheim served in a number of diplomatic posts, including as Austria’s U.N. ambassador, before becoming U.N. secretary-general, in 1972. For the next 10 years, he attempted to mediate numerous crises in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, But he earned a reputation for showing ‘more interest in the trappings of his job than its responsibilities.’ Compelled to resign when China pushed for a Third World successor, he began campaigning for Austria’s presidency ‘under the slogan “A man the world trusts.”’
“But then, critics began unearthing his past, said The New York Times. His Balkan wartime service was disclosed early in 1986, but Waldheim insisted he’d never been near the Kozara slaughter site. ‘When documents proved the contrary, he played down any involvement in the massacre.’ He finally admitted to some knowledge of the atrocities, but denied he could have helped prevent them. Amid the revelations, the presidential campaign took an ugly turn. ‘Socialists tried to convince voters that a Waldheim victory would stain Austria’s reputation.’ Conservatives responded that foreigners were meddling in the country’s internal affairs. ‘Hate mail threatened violence against Austrian Jews if Waldheim lost.’
“Waldheim won the election, but it was a hollow victory, said the London Times. In 1987, the U.S. Justice Department barred him from entering the United States. The next year, an Austrian-appointed panel from six nations found that although there was no hard evidence that Waldheim had committed war crimes, ‘it rejected some of his claims of ignorance of Nazi treatment of partisans.’ Waldheim soon ‘found himself ostracized by much of the world community.’ In 1995, he was refused permission to attend ceremonies marking the U.N.’s 50th anniversary.
“Waldheim never apologized or atoned for his record. But after his death last week at 88, his family released a statement in which he said he ‘deeply regretted’ that he had ‘much too late’ taken a stand against Nazi atrocities, even though they had ‘nothing to do with my life and my thoughts.’”
[Source: The Week, June 29, 2007]
“Kurt Waldheim was an erudite diplomat who served both as secretary-general of the United Nations and, later, as president of Austria. But he left the world stage a pariah after his Nazi past, which he had long hidden or downplayed, was laid bare.
“Waldheim was born just after World War I; his father was a school superintendent who ‘was briefly jailed because of his anti-Nazi views,’ said the Los Angeles Times. For decades Waldheim publicly insisted he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, the German army, and that he sat out most of the war because of a shrapnel wound he suffered on the Eastern Front in 1941. The truth was much darker. It later emerged that in 1937, Waldheim had joined a Nazi youth group and later was active in the so-called brownshirts, the Nazi paramilitary organization. Though he was in fact wounded, he returned to duty as an intelligence officer in the 714th Infantry Division in the Balkans, which slaughtered more than 60,000 Yugoslav partisans and their families at Kozara, in Bosnia, and ‘dispatched some 40,000 Greek Jews to Auschwitz.’
“In 1948, the U.N. War Crimes Commission, in a secret finding, decided there was enough evidence to charge Waldheim with ‘murder’ and ‘putting hostages to death,’ said The Washington Post. But because the Allies treated postwar Austria as a victim of Germany, not as a collaborator, he escaped prosecution. Joining the Foreign Ministry in 1951, Waldheim served in a number of diplomatic posts, including as Austria’s U.N. ambassador, before becoming U.N. secretary-general, in 1972. For the next 10 years, he attempted to mediate numerous crises in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, But he earned a reputation for showing ‘more interest in the trappings of his job than its responsibilities.’ Compelled to resign when China pushed for a Third World successor, he began campaigning for Austria’s presidency ‘under the slogan “A man the world trusts.”’
“But then, critics began unearthing his past, said The New York Times. His Balkan wartime service was disclosed early in 1986, but Waldheim insisted he’d never been near the Kozara slaughter site. ‘When documents proved the contrary, he played down any involvement in the massacre.’ He finally admitted to some knowledge of the atrocities, but denied he could have helped prevent them. Amid the revelations, the presidential campaign took an ugly turn. ‘Socialists tried to convince voters that a Waldheim victory would stain Austria’s reputation.’ Conservatives responded that foreigners were meddling in the country’s internal affairs. ‘Hate mail threatened violence against Austrian Jews if Waldheim lost.’
“Waldheim won the election, but it was a hollow victory, said the London Times. In 1987, the U.S. Justice Department barred him from entering the United States. The next year, an Austrian-appointed panel from six nations found that although there was no hard evidence that Waldheim had committed war crimes, ‘it rejected some of his claims of ignorance of Nazi treatment of partisans.’ Waldheim soon ‘found himself ostracized by much of the world community.’ In 1995, he was refused permission to attend ceremonies marking the U.N.’s 50th anniversary.
“Waldheim never apologized or atoned for his record. But after his death last week at 88, his family released a statement in which he said he ‘deeply regretted’ that he had ‘much too late’ taken a stand against Nazi atrocities, even though they had ‘nothing to do with my life and my thoughts.’”
At the Library: Hillary Clinton
“Hillary Clinton
“The potential to change the world, at least a little
“Two new books on Hillary Clinton tell us quite a lot that is interesting but not much that is surprising
“Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton. By Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta. Little Brown; 448 pages; $29.99. John Murray £20
“A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. By Carl Bernstein. Knopf; 628 pages; $27.95; Hutchinson; £25”
[Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007]
“‘HATE. Fear. Wonder. Even the occasional odd pang of lust (you know who you are).Yes, everybody seems to feel strongly about Hillary Clinton. But is anybody actually doing anything about her?’ That is the preamble to the ‘Hillary Clinton Voodoo Kit’, a book that comes with a doll and pins so you can use black magic to stop her from returning to the White House. When so much that is published about Mrs Clinton is either nasty or unhinged, it is refreshing to find two books that are serious, well-researched and fair.
“Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta's ‘Her Way’ is a competent bundle of investigative reporting by two journalistic heavyweights. Mr Gerth, an ex-New York Times man, was the butterfly who started the hurricane of Bill Clinton's impeachment. In 1992 he broke the story of the conflicts of interest surrounding the Clintons' (loss-making) investment in some land in Arkansas. The scandal, known as Whitewater, led to the appointment of a special prosecutor with the power to investigate anything—who then discovered that Mr Clinton had perjured himself about oral sex with an intern. Mr Van Natta is currently an investigative reporter for the New York Times (and author of an amusing book on presidents who play golf).
“The problem for these two diligent diggers is there is not much left to unearth about Hillary, and nothing that will change many minds about her. We learn, for example, that she and her husband made a ‘secret pact of ambition’: a plan that he would be president for eight years and she would be president for another eight. Whether this is true or not—and one source denies having said what Messrs Gerth and Van Natta say he said—it fails the test of a truly sensational scoop by not being even slightly surprising.
“This book is not unremittingly hostile, but the picture that emerges is not flattering. The authors re-examine old scandals and turn up some new details. Readers are reminded of Hillary's suspiciously colossal profits from trading cattle futures and the way her law practice in Arkansas benefited from her marriage to the governor. Concerning Whitewater, the authors conclude that ‘[h]er likely indiscretions were altogether modest’ but the cover-up nearly derailed her husband's presidency. Her conflict of interest in representing a dodgy financial firm whose regulators were appointed by her husband was more apparent than real, they argue. But this was partly for the ignoble reason that she padded her bills and charged the client for work she had not in fact done.
“‘A Woman in Charge’ by Carl Bernstein is the better book: painstaking, sensitive and elegantly written. It is also more sympathetic. Mr Bernstein, one of the two Washington Post reporters who toppled Richard Nixon, tries to psychoanalyse Hillary, starting with her childhood. Life with her father ‘resembled a kind of boot camp, presided over by a belittling, impossible-to-satisfy drill instructor’. This helped make her tough enough to cope with the rough-and-tumble of national politics and marriage to a rogue.
“Mr Bernstein reveals that Bill fell in love with another woman in the late 1980s and asked Hillary for a divorce. She said no. He quotes a ream of conflicting views on the Clintons' marriage. Some who know them well think it a functional arrangement, with him providing the brilliance and her the discipline to pursue their shared political goals. Dick Morris, an estranged adviser, quips that: ‘She loves Bill and Bill loves Bill, so they have something in common.’ Mr Bernstein believes that Hillary, at least, married for love. And he observes that when Bill has publicly humiliated her, she has gained influence, as he has been unable to say no to her.
“Would she be a good president? Neither book can answer this question. That is perhaps unsurprising. It is easy to forget, given her fame, that Mrs Clinton has had relatively little experience actually running things. When Bill was governor of Arkansas, he asked her to fix up the state's woeful schools. She did a good job. As president, he asked her to fix America's woeful health-care system. She failed spectacularly, with a pig-headed refusal to listen to advice that alienated a large chunk of her own party.
“Mr Bernstein notes that Hillary is better than Bill at learning from experience. As a senator—a period of her life to which neither book devotes enough attention—she has proven deft at forging alliances with Democrats and Republicans alike. She has sought out and befriended even those who tried most energetically to impeach her husband, prompting one publicly to apologise for having hated her.
“But her bipartisanship has made her new enemies, too. Her stance on Iraq has made her something of a hate figure for left-wing bloggers. Messrs Gerth and Van Natta aggressively deconstruct her words and votes on the subject. Though she campaigns to end the war, she refuses to say sorry for voting to authorise it in the first place. She says she based her decision on the best intelligence available to her. But Messrs Gerth and Van Natta contend that she did not read a classified National Intelligence Estimate she had been given before that vote.
“Probably Mrs Clinton's most troubling quality is what Mr Bernstein tactfully calls her ‘difficult relationship with the truth’. Both books provide countless examples of omission, obfuscation and outright lying. But still, Mr Bernstein thinks that with her drive, passion and good intentions Hillary ‘may have the potential to change the world, if only a little.’”
“The potential to change the world, at least a little
“Two new books on Hillary Clinton tell us quite a lot that is interesting but not much that is surprising
“Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton. By Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta. Little Brown; 448 pages; $29.99. John Murray £20
“A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. By Carl Bernstein. Knopf; 628 pages; $27.95; Hutchinson; £25”
[Source: The Economist, June 9, 2007]
“‘HATE. Fear. Wonder. Even the occasional odd pang of lust (you know who you are).Yes, everybody seems to feel strongly about Hillary Clinton. But is anybody actually doing anything about her?’ That is the preamble to the ‘Hillary Clinton Voodoo Kit’, a book that comes with a doll and pins so you can use black magic to stop her from returning to the White House. When so much that is published about Mrs Clinton is either nasty or unhinged, it is refreshing to find two books that are serious, well-researched and fair.
“Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta's ‘Her Way’ is a competent bundle of investigative reporting by two journalistic heavyweights. Mr Gerth, an ex-New York Times man, was the butterfly who started the hurricane of Bill Clinton's impeachment. In 1992 he broke the story of the conflicts of interest surrounding the Clintons' (loss-making) investment in some land in Arkansas. The scandal, known as Whitewater, led to the appointment of a special prosecutor with the power to investigate anything—who then discovered that Mr Clinton had perjured himself about oral sex with an intern. Mr Van Natta is currently an investigative reporter for the New York Times (and author of an amusing book on presidents who play golf).
“The problem for these two diligent diggers is there is not much left to unearth about Hillary, and nothing that will change many minds about her. We learn, for example, that she and her husband made a ‘secret pact of ambition’: a plan that he would be president for eight years and she would be president for another eight. Whether this is true or not—and one source denies having said what Messrs Gerth and Van Natta say he said—it fails the test of a truly sensational scoop by not being even slightly surprising.
“This book is not unremittingly hostile, but the picture that emerges is not flattering. The authors re-examine old scandals and turn up some new details. Readers are reminded of Hillary's suspiciously colossal profits from trading cattle futures and the way her law practice in Arkansas benefited from her marriage to the governor. Concerning Whitewater, the authors conclude that ‘[h]er likely indiscretions were altogether modest’ but the cover-up nearly derailed her husband's presidency. Her conflict of interest in representing a dodgy financial firm whose regulators were appointed by her husband was more apparent than real, they argue. But this was partly for the ignoble reason that she padded her bills and charged the client for work she had not in fact done.
“‘A Woman in Charge’ by Carl Bernstein is the better book: painstaking, sensitive and elegantly written. It is also more sympathetic. Mr Bernstein, one of the two Washington Post reporters who toppled Richard Nixon, tries to psychoanalyse Hillary, starting with her childhood. Life with her father ‘resembled a kind of boot camp, presided over by a belittling, impossible-to-satisfy drill instructor’. This helped make her tough enough to cope with the rough-and-tumble of national politics and marriage to a rogue.
“Mr Bernstein reveals that Bill fell in love with another woman in the late 1980s and asked Hillary for a divorce. She said no. He quotes a ream of conflicting views on the Clintons' marriage. Some who know them well think it a functional arrangement, with him providing the brilliance and her the discipline to pursue their shared political goals. Dick Morris, an estranged adviser, quips that: ‘She loves Bill and Bill loves Bill, so they have something in common.’ Mr Bernstein believes that Hillary, at least, married for love. And he observes that when Bill has publicly humiliated her, she has gained influence, as he has been unable to say no to her.
“Would she be a good president? Neither book can answer this question. That is perhaps unsurprising. It is easy to forget, given her fame, that Mrs Clinton has had relatively little experience actually running things. When Bill was governor of Arkansas, he asked her to fix up the state's woeful schools. She did a good job. As president, he asked her to fix America's woeful health-care system. She failed spectacularly, with a pig-headed refusal to listen to advice that alienated a large chunk of her own party.
“Mr Bernstein notes that Hillary is better than Bill at learning from experience. As a senator—a period of her life to which neither book devotes enough attention—she has proven deft at forging alliances with Democrats and Republicans alike. She has sought out and befriended even those who tried most energetically to impeach her husband, prompting one publicly to apologise for having hated her.
“But her bipartisanship has made her new enemies, too. Her stance on Iraq has made her something of a hate figure for left-wing bloggers. Messrs Gerth and Van Natta aggressively deconstruct her words and votes on the subject. Though she campaigns to end the war, she refuses to say sorry for voting to authorise it in the first place. She says she based her decision on the best intelligence available to her. But Messrs Gerth and Van Natta contend that she did not read a classified National Intelligence Estimate she had been given before that vote.
“Probably Mrs Clinton's most troubling quality is what Mr Bernstein tactfully calls her ‘difficult relationship with the truth’. Both books provide countless examples of omission, obfuscation and outright lying. But still, Mr Bernstein thinks that with her drive, passion and good intentions Hillary ‘may have the potential to change the world, if only a little.’”
Whither Palestine?
.
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“How they see us: Who Is to Blame for the Rise of Hamas?
“Chalk up another bloody failure for the Bush administration, said Leon Hadar in Singapore’s Business Times. The ‘current mess in Palestine/Israel’ could have been predicted by looking at other places where President Bush claimed to be promoting democracy. Elections in Iraq—which Bush forced—brought to power ‘Islamist Shiite leadership with ties to Iran.’ Elections in Lebanon—again, forced by Bush—strengthened Hezbollah, another Iran proxy. So it’s hardly a shock that last year’s Palestinian elections—which Bush pushed despite Israeli skepticism—gave a firm victory to Hamas, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood funded by, you guessed it, Iran.
“The recurring theme here isn’t Bush, said Ahmad al-Jarallah in Kuwait’s Al-Siyassa, it’s Iran. ‘The Iran-Syria axis’ struck its biggest blow yet with the Hamas takeover of Gaza a few weeks ago. Iran managed in one move both ‘to destroy the Mecca Agreement’ that divided power between the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, and ‘to sabotage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.’ Just like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas has adopted Iran’s agenda as its own. As we watch Hamas impose Islamic law throughout the Gaza region, we see the influence of the mullahs.
“Don’t let the real villains off so easily, said Abd-al-Rahman in the pan-Arab Al-Sharq al-Awsat. Hamas, and Hamas alone, ‘has buried the Palestinian cause.’ Hamas militants are the ones who picked up guns and turned them on their Fatah brothers. ‘Is it reasonable that Hamas would choose fighting the Palestinians of Fatah while the Israelis are a stone’s throw from them?’ Clearly, Hamas has lost sight of the goal of the Palestinian struggle.
“Egypt must also be held accountable, said The Jerusalem Post in an editorial. Egypt promised but failed to police its border with Gaza and halt the flow of weapons to Hamas. Now Hamas, an offshoot of the same Muslim Brotherhood that threatens Hosni Mubarak’s rule, controls a mini-state on Egypt’s border. The Americans, at least, know whom to blame. A move is under way in the U.S. Congress to reduce the overly generous foreign aid to Egypt ‘and thereby make it pay’ for its neglect.
“All this finger-pointing is unhelpful, said Egyptian commentator Ma’moun Fandy, also in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. Every Muslim country is at risk. ‘The Hamas emirate is a model that the Islamists aim to implant in all Muslim lands.’ The Arab countries are ‘riding two horses at once, one leg on the nationalist horse and one on the Islamist.’ When, inevitably, they reach a crossroads and the horses go in different directions, ‘the Arab country will split apart,’ just as Gaza has split from the West Bank. Each Arab country will have to renounce Islamism now—before it destroys the entire region.”
[Source: The Week, July 13, 2007]
“How they see us: Who Is to Blame for the Rise of Hamas?
“Chalk up another bloody failure for the Bush administration, said Leon Hadar in Singapore’s Business Times. The ‘current mess in Palestine/Israel’ could have been predicted by looking at other places where President Bush claimed to be promoting democracy. Elections in Iraq—which Bush forced—brought to power ‘Islamist Shiite leadership with ties to Iran.’ Elections in Lebanon—again, forced by Bush—strengthened Hezbollah, another Iran proxy. So it’s hardly a shock that last year’s Palestinian elections—which Bush pushed despite Israeli skepticism—gave a firm victory to Hamas, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood funded by, you guessed it, Iran.
“The recurring theme here isn’t Bush, said Ahmad al-Jarallah in Kuwait’s Al-Siyassa, it’s Iran. ‘The Iran-Syria axis’ struck its biggest blow yet with the Hamas takeover of Gaza a few weeks ago. Iran managed in one move both ‘to destroy the Mecca Agreement’ that divided power between the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, and ‘to sabotage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.’ Just like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas has adopted Iran’s agenda as its own. As we watch Hamas impose Islamic law throughout the Gaza region, we see the influence of the mullahs.
“Don’t let the real villains off so easily, said Abd-al-Rahman in the pan-Arab Al-Sharq al-Awsat. Hamas, and Hamas alone, ‘has buried the Palestinian cause.’ Hamas militants are the ones who picked up guns and turned them on their Fatah brothers. ‘Is it reasonable that Hamas would choose fighting the Palestinians of Fatah while the Israelis are a stone’s throw from them?’ Clearly, Hamas has lost sight of the goal of the Palestinian struggle.
“Egypt must also be held accountable, said The Jerusalem Post in an editorial. Egypt promised but failed to police its border with Gaza and halt the flow of weapons to Hamas. Now Hamas, an offshoot of the same Muslim Brotherhood that threatens Hosni Mubarak’s rule, controls a mini-state on Egypt’s border. The Americans, at least, know whom to blame. A move is under way in the U.S. Congress to reduce the overly generous foreign aid to Egypt ‘and thereby make it pay’ for its neglect.
“All this finger-pointing is unhelpful, said Egyptian commentator Ma’moun Fandy, also in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. Every Muslim country is at risk. ‘The Hamas emirate is a model that the Islamists aim to implant in all Muslim lands.’ The Arab countries are ‘riding two horses at once, one leg on the nationalist horse and one on the Islamist.’ When, inevitably, they reach a crossroads and the horses go in different directions, ‘the Arab country will split apart,’ just as Gaza has split from the West Bank. Each Arab country will have to renounce Islamism now—before it destroys the entire region.”
INFORMATION ABOUT MY SOURCES
.
The Week
The Week is an excellent weekly news magazine. Its banner proclaims “All you need to know about everything that matters” and “The best of the U.S. and International media.” It very well just might be. It is like a personal news briefing by someone that has read about one hundred news magazines each week. This publication is on the B.N.S. “Required Reading List” and well worth subscribing to.
THE ECONOMIST
The Economist is a British weekly news magazine (they call it a "newspaper") published since 1843. It seems to be intended for international financiers, investors and bankers, and since their audience is mainly concerned with making money, the reportage is very truthful, because their audience wants truthful information upon which to base their decisions, rather than on ideological axe-grinding. Its main battle cry appears to be ‘Free Trade!’ A one year subscription is $129 for 51 issues that are jam-packed with information, charts, and other things of importance to the international business community. (The cost is the only reason why this publication is not on the B.N.S. “Required Reading List”). If you are a news junkie, this is the magazine for you -- subscribe to it, or pick up a copy every now and then. At least pressure your local library to subscribe.
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
U.S. News & World Report is a very good weekly news magazine, which actually deals with news, instead of “current events” and celebrity pseudo-events. It is much better than Time or Newsweek. It is worth picking up occasionally or subscribing to.
THE JERUSALEM POST
The Jerusalem Post is an excellent newspaper with a well-balanced presentation of news of the Middle East, as well as world news, and very insightful analysis. (Prior to 1948, it was known as The Palestine Post, and was, I believe, the only newspaper in that area with ‘Palestine’ in its name. [CNN’s Wolf Blitzer used to be its military affairs correspondent.])
www.jpost.com/
DAILY ALERT
Daily Alert is a daily (Monday-Friday) news briefing prepared by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, intended for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. However, even if you are not a president of a major American Jewish organizations, you can subscribe to have it sent to a computer via e-mail for free. Through hyperlinks, one can view the actual article that has been summarized. www.dailyalert.org/
DANIEL PIPES
Daniel Pipes (described by the Wall Street Journal as “an authoritative commentator on the Middle East”) is director of the Middle East Forum and a prize-winning columnist and the author of twelve books. He appears regularly in the New York Sun and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin as well as several foreign newspapers. His website is the single most accessed internet source of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. It offers an archive of his work and an opportunity to sign-up to receive e-mails of his writings as they appear.
www.danielpipes.org
AIPAC UPDATE
AIPAC, the American Israel Political Action Committee, is an organization with 100,000 members, and calls itself “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby”. Its website is loaded with articles and analysis about the Middle East.
www.aipac.org
WHAT WE NOW KNOW
What We Now Know is a free bi-weekly newsletter that is published by Casey Research, LLC, with contributions from a wide-ranging and well-connected network of researchers, authors, scientists, political analysts, investment experts, and technologists known to Doug Casey and his team to be reliable sources with something interesting to share.
www.caseyresearch.com/publications.php
The Week
The Week is an excellent weekly news magazine. Its banner proclaims “All you need to know about everything that matters” and “The best of the U.S. and International media.” It very well just might be. It is like a personal news briefing by someone that has read about one hundred news magazines each week. This publication is on the B.N.S. “Required Reading List” and well worth subscribing to.
THE ECONOMIST
The Economist is a British weekly news magazine (they call it a "newspaper") published since 1843. It seems to be intended for international financiers, investors and bankers, and since their audience is mainly concerned with making money, the reportage is very truthful, because their audience wants truthful information upon which to base their decisions, rather than on ideological axe-grinding. Its main battle cry appears to be ‘Free Trade!’ A one year subscription is $129 for 51 issues that are jam-packed with information, charts, and other things of importance to the international business community. (The cost is the only reason why this publication is not on the B.N.S. “Required Reading List”). If you are a news junkie, this is the magazine for you -- subscribe to it, or pick up a copy every now and then. At least pressure your local library to subscribe.
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
U.S. News & World Report is a very good weekly news magazine, which actually deals with news, instead of “current events” and celebrity pseudo-events. It is much better than Time or Newsweek. It is worth picking up occasionally or subscribing to.
THE JERUSALEM POST
The Jerusalem Post is an excellent newspaper with a well-balanced presentation of news of the Middle East, as well as world news, and very insightful analysis. (Prior to 1948, it was known as The Palestine Post, and was, I believe, the only newspaper in that area with ‘Palestine’ in its name. [CNN’s Wolf Blitzer used to be its military affairs correspondent.])
www.jpost.com/
DAILY ALERT
Daily Alert is a daily (Monday-Friday) news briefing prepared by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, intended for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. However, even if you are not a president of a major American Jewish organizations, you can subscribe to have it sent to a computer via e-mail for free. Through hyperlinks, one can view the actual article that has been summarized. www.dailyalert.org/
DANIEL PIPES
Daniel Pipes (described by the Wall Street Journal as “an authoritative commentator on the Middle East”) is director of the Middle East Forum and a prize-winning columnist and the author of twelve books. He appears regularly in the New York Sun and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin as well as several foreign newspapers. His website is the single most accessed internet source of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. It offers an archive of his work and an opportunity to sign-up to receive e-mails of his writings as they appear.
www.danielpipes.org
AIPAC UPDATE
AIPAC, the American Israel Political Action Committee, is an organization with 100,000 members, and calls itself “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby”. Its website is loaded with articles and analysis about the Middle East.
www.aipac.org
WHAT WE NOW KNOW
What We Now Know is a free bi-weekly newsletter that is published by Casey Research, LLC, with contributions from a wide-ranging and well-connected network of researchers, authors, scientists, political analysts, investment experts, and technologists known to Doug Casey and his team to be reliable sources with something interesting to share.
www.caseyresearch.com/publications.php
June 24, 2007
BRIEFLY NOTED:
June 24, 2007
Attention European environmentalists - “Venture-capital investment in clean-tech in North America more than doubled in the past two years to $3.9 billion, according to the Cleantech Network, an industry research body.... That makes it the third-largest recipient of venture money after biotech and computing. Despite European perceptions that Americans are behind in environmental matters, investment is now four times higher than in Europe.” (Source: The Economist, May 26, 2007)
According to Investor’s Business Daily, “Last year, the U.S. reduced carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 4.5 percent. By contrast, emissions by some European countries have risen 10 percent since 1993. Yet the Europeans have tried to ‘shame’ the Bush administration into accepting mandatory restrictions ...”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“Tourism in Greenland
“Global boom town
“ILULISSAT
“A town in Greenland attracts rich green globetrotters
“ILULISSAT, a town of 5,000 people in the chilly north of Greenland, is hot. Majestic blue icebergs the size of small islands float outside its harbour; its ice fjord drains 7% of the area of the Greenland ice sheet. It is the place to go to see global warming in action. And getting there has just become much easier. This week Air Greenland began commercial flights between Kangerlussuaq, a former military airstrip to the south, and Baltimore in Maryland. American eco-tourists can now fly straight to the Danish territory without going via Copenhagen.
Those who do so will be following a long line of political celebrities, many of whom are keen to be seen on a melting ice sheet after a successful election. Nancy Pelosi, America's House speaker, is due to arrive next week. A helicopter will take her to Swiss Camp, a research station on the ice sheet with its own sauna. Ms Pelosi's visit will follow those of John McCain, a senator and presidential candidate, and Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister. Germany's Angela Merkel is due in August; José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, is also making plans.
“All of these visitors will, of course, help to accelerate the very global-warming process they have come to witness. But the residents of Ilulissat do not mind, because warming is good for business. Unemployment in the town is zero. A glacier next to a nearby zinc and lead mine has retreated since the site closed in 1990, exposing an outcrop of metal-rich ore, where drilling will start again soon. Ships supplying the only factory in town, which processes the local catch for Royal Greenland, a huge state-owned prawn supplier, can now use the harbour throughout the winter (it was previously inaccessible for three months of the year). The warmer water seems to be bringing back the cod fishery as well.
“But the tourist industry is warming fastest. Around 15,000 tourists visited last year and twice as many are expected this summer. Hotels are booming and additional tourist guides are being trained. There is talk of setting up an ice museum, says Klaus Berg of Destination Disko, an outfit charged with co-ordinating tourism in the area. All that is needed now is a slogan. How about ‘Do your bit for global warming’?” (Source: The Economist, May 26, 2007)
“Despite Malaysia's constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, its Supreme Court ruled, in an important test case, that Lina Joy, a 43-year-old woman who wants to convert officially from Islam to Christianity, cannot do so without the approval of Islamic sharia courts.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007) [See “Religious Freedom in Malaysia” below]
Do you know where your teenager is?
“Bad week for The thrill of getting your driver’s license, after Safeco Insurance introduced an onboard automobile device that notifies parents if teens exceed the speed limit. At any time, parents can log onto the Internet and find the precise location of the teen’s car.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Iran Watch
“Sex and ‘temporary marriage’ - Iran’s Islamic Republic has a serious sexual dilemma. It frowns on unmarried couples who so much as go on a date. et t knows that with unemployment soaring, huge numbers of young people can’t afford do marry. So as a safety valve for mass sexual repression, leading figures from imams to feminists have advocated sigheh--or temporary marriage. Sigheh is most often resorted to in Iran when men leave home on pilgrimage or business. The couple agree how long the union will last--anything from an hour to 90 years--and the man gives a dowry. (Limited to four permanent wives, he can have as many temporary ones as he likes.) The practice, banned under Sunni Islam, is highly controversial: Many Shiites regard it as no better than prostitution. But it also has strong advocates. ‘The Prophet brought in this law of “temporary marriage,”’ said Islamic scholar Sayyid Busavi Lari, ‘to canalize the sex instinct in sound channels.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
* * *
Notable Quotables
And speaking of canalizing the sex instinct in sound channels - “When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and their Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?” George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
“The word that sums up Iraq’s chaos - Edward Wong - The New York Times - To understand why Iraq is such a bloody mess, said Edward Wong, you need only consider the word ‘sahel.’ It’s a word unique to Iraq, and it means ‘to utterly defeat and humiliate someone by dragging his corpse through the streets.’ For centuries, when a new faction in Iraq gained power, it would kill the leadership of the previous rulers and display their mutilated bodies as a demonstration of its dominance. In 1958, the body of a former prime minister, Nuri al-Said, was hacked apart and the bits publicly displayed. Later, Saddam Hussein practiced the same kind of brutality. When Saddam’s regime was toppled, the U.S. made a critical mistake in not establishing ‘total control, as Iraqi history says a conqueror must.’ That opened the door for the Shiites and Sunnis to hope they could emerge as the dominant power, if they just waited out the U.S. occupation. ‘Listen to Iraqis engaged in the fight, and you realize they are far from exhausted by the war. Many say this is only the beginning.’ The U.S. fights for stability and democracy, but for both Sunnis and Shiites, these lofty ideals can wait. They hunger for sahel--and are willing to endure years of horrific carnage in order to taste it.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered a pop star to rewrite his hit song ‘Parveen to Bari Namkeen’ (‘Parveen, You Are So Cute’) after an Urdu newspaper published an anguished letter from a college student named Parveen. She says that she had to abandon her studies because ‘whenever I would pass b the college canteen, the boys would start singing the song and laugh at me.’ Singer Abrar ul-Haq has agreed to present a reworked version of the song within two weeks, despite his contentions in court that the letter was a hoax and, besides, that he was actually singing the name ‘Parmeem.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“The roof of a Serbian nightclub collapsed after women at a bachelorette part climbed the club’s load-bearing pillars to get a better view of a particularly well-built male stripper. The crowd of some 200 women at the event in Novi Sad included several female bank directors, lawyers, and even a local member of Parliament. Not only did the collapse of the roof fail to quiet the crowed of shrieking women, said a club spokesman, ‘they demanded the show go on to the end.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“The price of a watt of solar photovoltaic capacity dropped from around $20 in the 1970s to $2.70 in 2004 (though a silicon shortage, caused by rocketing demand as a result of madly generous German subsidies, has pushed it up since). The price of wind power has fallen from $2 per kilowatt hour in the 1970s to 5-8 cents now, compared with 2-4 cents for coal-fired power.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “Thirty-two percent of Americans who died in 2005 were cremated--up from just 21 percent in 1996”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Only 26 percent of adult Americans get eight hours of sleep a night, down from 38 percent in 2001.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to Inc.com, “Some 30 percent of American workers plan to fake sick days this summer, according to a Harris Interactive survey. Most said they planned to go to the beach or go shopping.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The Boston Globe, “One in three corporate IT professionals admits to snooping at wok by using administrative passwords to gain access to wage information, personal e-mails, and human resource files.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Free pornographic photos and videos are now so easy to find on the Internet that it’s hurting the X-rated film industry. Sales and rentals of pornographic videos dropped from $4.28 billion in 2005 to $3.62 billion last year--the first decline in decades. ‘People are making movies in their houses’ and uploading them to free Web sites, complained former professional pornographer Harvey Kaplan. ‘It’s killing the marketplace.’”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“Torture: Playing by al Qaida’s rules”
“The discovery of a torture manual at an al Qaida safe house in Iraq last week was hardly a surprise, said Don Surber in the Charleston, W.Va., Daily Mail, and neither was the way the U.S. media underplayed the story. This grisly document, complete with diagrams, instructs jihadists on how to use ‘drills, irons, vises, and other devices to mutilate their captives.’ Given the recent media outrage over the U.S. military’s allegedly insensitive treatment of detainees, you might logically think that such dramatic evidence of ‘true torture’ would warrant front-page coverage. Guess again. Neither The Washington Post nor The New York Times--which ran 29 stories on the allegation that a guard at Guantanamo Ba flushed an inmate’s Koran down the toilet--even mentioned the torture manual. The message is clear: It’s no big thing if the enemy engages in ‘eye removal, blowtorching skin, and horrors I won’t go into.’ But if the U.S. is even accused of abusing prisoners, it’s an international outrage.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007) [excerpted]
“Palestinians Loot Arafat’s Gaza Home, Steal His Nobel Prize” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“A Palestinian crowd on Friday looted Yasser Arafat's home in Gaza.
“‘They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal,’ said Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman.
“‘They stole many of Arafat's documents and files, gifts he had received from world leaders, and even his military uniforms.’
“Eyewitnesses said most of the looters were ordinary citizens. ‘They stole almost everything, including furniture, tiles, closets and beds.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 18, 2007)
“Arafat’s Children: Gaza’s Mayhem Is the Bitter Fruit of Terror as Statecraft” - Editorial (Wall Street Journal)
“The cult of violence that has typified the Palestinian movement for much of its history has been tolerated and often celebrated by the international community. If Palestinians now think they can advance their domestic interests by violence, nobody should be surprised: The way of the gun has been paying dividends for 40 years.
“In 1972 Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Yet only two years later Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly - the first non-government official so honored. In 1970 Arafat attempted to overthrow Jordan's King Hussein and tried to do the same a few years later in Lebanon. Yet in 1980, the European Community, in its Venice Declaration, recognized Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization as a legitimate negotiating partner.
“In 1993, Arafat was welcomed in the White House for the signing of the Oslo Accords with Israel. That same year, the British National Criminal Intelligence Service reported that the PLO made its money from ‘extortion, payoffs, illegal arms-dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud.’
“In 2000, Arafat rejected an Israeli offer of statehood midwifed by President Clinton and instead initiated the bloody intifada that left 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians dead.
“Pressure will surely mount on Israel and the U.S. to accept Hamas' ascendancy and begin negotiations with its leaders. But is it wise to negotiate with a group that kills its fellow Palestinians almost as freely as it does Israelis? And what would there be to negotiate about? A suspension of hostilities in exchange for renewed international funding would simply give Hamas time and money to consolidate its rule and rebuild an arsenal for future terror assaults.
“A society that has spent the last decade celebrating suicide bombing has inevitably become a victim of its own nihilistic impulses. It is the bitter fruit of the decades of dictatorship and terrorism as statecraft that Yasser Arafat instilled among Palestinians.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 18, 2007)
“Gaza’s Christians Fear for Their Lives: Latin Church Torched” - Khaled Abu Toamah (Jerusalem Post)
“Christians living in Gaza City on Monday appealed to the international community to protect them against increased attacks by Muslim extremists. Many Christians said they were prepared to leave Gaza as soon as the border crossings are reopened.
“The appeal came following a series of attacks on a Christian school and church in Gaza City over the past few days. Father Manuel Musalam, leader of the small Latin community in Gaza, said masked gunmen torched and looted the Rosary Sisters School and the Latin Church.
“‘The masked gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to storm the main entrances of the school and church,’ he said. ‘Then they destroyed almost everything inside, including the Cross, the Holy Book, computers and other equipment.’
“Musalam expressed outrage over the burning of copies of the Bible, noting that the gunmen destroyed all the Crosses inside the church and school. ‘Those who did these awful things have no respect for Christian-Muslim relations,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“‘Christians Must Accept Islamic Rule’” - Aaron Klein (World Net/Yent News)
“Christians can only continue living safely in Gaza if they accept Islamic law, including a ban on alcohol and on women roaming publicly without proper head coverings, an Islamist militant leader in Gaza said in an interview.
“Christians in Gaza who engage in ‘missionary activity’ will be ‘dealt with harshly,’ he said.
“The threats come two days after a church and Christian school in Gaza were attacked following the seizure of power by the Hamas terror group.
“‘I expect our Christian neighbors to understand the new Hamas rule means real changes. They must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza,’ said Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, an Islamic outreach movement that recently announced the opening of a ‘military wing’ to enforce Muslim law in Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“As UN Aid Efforts Are Restored in Gaza, UN Warehouse Is Looted in West Bank” (UN News Center)
“The UN agency tasked with helping Palestinians says its operations in Gaza have returned to normal, but a warehouse in Nablus in the West Bank containing several tons of food as well as office equipment was looted by armed men on Saturday.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“Hamas and the Second Six-Day War: Implications, Challenges, and Opportunities” - Robert Satloff (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
“The same Palestinians who reportedly tell pollsters they support a two-state solution with Israel gave their vote to the party that opposes any peace with Israel in January 2006. Mahmoud Abbas, who has repeatedly said he rejects violence and endorses the two-state solution, legitimized Hamas' rejectionist alternative by entering into a power-sharing agreement with the group in the February 2007 Mecca accord.
“For Arab states - whose definition of courage is to endorse a vague offer of eventual peace with Israel that is fifteen years out of date, and then do virtually nothing to implement it - the Hamas victory should awaken them to the danger within.
“How did Hamas acquire the weapons it used to defeat Fatah? Through Egypt. How did Hamas acquire the funds it used to pay its foot soldiers? Through Arab donors (and Iranians, too). How did Hamas acquire the legitimacy to lay claim to leadership of the Palestinian people? Through Arab diplomacy (the Mecca accord).
“The U.S. should urge Israel to complete the process of disengagement that it began in 2005. Israel is alone in the world as being the only country responsible for providing food, water, and electricity to a political entity that daily lobs missiles against its citizens. This is madness. Israel should leave Egypt as Gaza's outlet to the world, with food, water, electricity, and other humanitarian goods flowing over the Gaza-Egypt border. Unless Israel takes such a step, Hamas will continue taking advantage of Israeli humanitarianism while lobbing missiles at Israel.
“We should not believe the simplistic logic that says the West Bank is totally controlled by Fatah while Gaza is totally supportive of Hamas; indeed, there is quite a lot of Hamas support in the West Bank, too. But Hamas has not succeeded in penetrating nearly as far in the West Bank primarily due to the active presence of the Israeli army. Ironically, the political horizon that some in the administration would like to talk about would raise premature hopes about the removal of precisely that factor that is the most important barrier to the spread of Hamas in the West Bank today.
“One of the most serious flaws in the original Oslo Accords was Israel's formal decision to consider the West Bank and Gaza a ‘single territory unit.’ These were, of course, territories that Israel occupied from two different countries, territories with no contiguity between them, territories with very different historical roots as well as populations with very different economies and socioeconomic characteristics. The de facto situation is that this situation has now ended.
“The writer is executive director of the Washington Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
This News Just In: Jimmy Carter May Have Lost His Mind!!!!!
“Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas” - By Associated Press (DUBLIN, Ireland)
“The United States, Israel and the European Union must end their policy of favoring Fatah over Hamas, or they will doom the Palestinian people to deepening conflict between the rival movements, former US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday.
“Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was addressing a conference of Irish human rights officials, said the Bush administration's refusal to accept the 2006 election victory of Hamas was ‘criminal.’
“Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
“Hamas fighters routed Fatah in their violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. The split prompted Abbas to dissolve the power-sharing government with his rivals in Hamas and set up a Fatah-led administration to govern the West Bank.
“Carter said the American-Israeli-European consensus to reopen direct aid to the new government in the West Bank, but to deny the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, represented an ‘effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples.’
“While seeking to boycott the Hamas leadership because of its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, Europe and the US have continued to send humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations.
“During his speech to Ireland's eighth annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center observed the 2006 election in which Hamas won 42 percent of the popular vote and a majority of parliamentary seats.
“Carter said that election was ‘orderly and fair’ and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was ‘shrewd in selecting candidates,’ whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.
“Far from encouraging Hamas's move into parliamentary politics, Carter said the US and Israel, with European Union acquiescence, has sought to subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the reins of political and military power.
“‘That action was criminal,’ he said in a news conference after his speech.
“‘The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah,’ he said.
“Carter said the United States and others supplied the Fatah-controlled security forces in Gaza with vastly superior weaponry in hopes they would ‘conquer Hamas in Gaza’ - but Hamas this month routed Fatah because of its ‘superior skills and discipline.’
“He said plans to reopen international aid to the West Bank, but clamp down on aid to Gaza, would imprison 1.4 million Gazans. He called for both territories to be treated equally.
“‘This effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples now is a step in the wrong direction,’ he said. ‘All efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two together.’
“Carter was pessimistic this would happen soon. ‘I don't see at this point any possibility that public officials in the United States, or in Israel, or the European Union are going to take action to bring about reconciliation,’ he said.” (Source: The Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2007)
We Repeat: Jimmy Carter May Have Lost His Mind!!!!!
Father of the Iranian revolution” - Michael D. Evans
[Source: The Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2007]
[My editorial comments: I don’t agree with all of this, but it certainly is something to think about, and there are many valid points made here.]
“We just don't get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called ‘dim-witted cowboy,’ has created the entire mess.
“The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.
“Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said ‘Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint.’ Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, ‘Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure.’ Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of ‘impeccable integrity and honesty.’
“The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, ‘Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?’
“Let's look at the results of Carter's misguided liberal policies: the Islamic Revolution in Iran; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Carter's response was to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics); the birth of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization; the Iran-Iraq War, which cost the lives of millions dead and wounded; and yes, the present war on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“WHEN CARTER entered the political fray in 1976, America was still riding the liberal wave of anti-Vietnam War emotion. Carter asked for an in-depth report on Iran even before he assumed the reins of government and was persuaded that the shah was not fit to rule Iran. 1976 was a banner year for pacifism: Carter was elected president, Bill Clinton became attorney-general of Arkansas, and Albert Gore won a place in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
“In his anti-war pacifism, Carter never got it that Khomeini, a cleric exiled to Najaf in Iraq from 1965-1978, was preparing Iran for revolution. Proclaiming ‘the West killed God and wants us to bury him,’ Khomeini's weapon of choice was not the sword but the media. Using tape cassettes smuggled by Iranian pilgrims returning from the holy city of Najaf, he fueled disdain for what he called gharbzadegi (’the plague of Western culture’).
“Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship. Khomeini could never have succeeded without Carter. The Islamic Revolution would have been stillborn.
“Gen. Robert Huyser, Carter's military liaison to Iran, once told me in tears: ‘The president could have publicly condemned Khomeini and even kidnapped him and then bartered for an exchange with the [American Embassy] hostages, but the president was indignant. 'One cannot do that to a holy man,' he said.’
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has donned the mantle of Ayatollah Khomeini, taken up bin Laden's call, and is fostering an Islamic apocalyptic revolution in Iraq with the intent of taking over the Middle East and the world.
“Jimmy Carter became the poster boy for the ideological revolution of the 1960s in the West, hell bent on killing the soul of America. The bottom line: Carter believed then and still does now is that evil really does not exist; people are basically good; America should embrace the perpetrators and castigate the victims.
“IN THE '60S it was mass rebellion after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When humanity confronts eternity, the response is always rebellion or repentance. The same ideologues who fought to destroy the soul of America with the ‘God is dead’ movement in the 1960s are now running the arts, the universities, the media, the State Department, Congress, and Senate, determined more then ever to kill the soul of America while the East attempts to kill the body. Carter's world view defines the core ideology of the Democratic Party.
“What is going on in Iraq is no mystery to those of us who have had our fingers on the pulse of both Iran and Iraq for decades. The Iran-Iraq war was a war of ideologies. Saddam Hussein saw himself as an Arab leader who would defeat the non-Arab Persians. Khomeini saw it as an opportunity to export his Islamic Revolution across the borders to the Shi'ites in Iraq and then beyond to the Arab countries.
“Throughout the war both leaders did everything possible to incite the inhabitants of each country to rebel - precisely what Iran is doing in Iraq today. Khomeini encouraged the Shi'ites across the border to remove Saddam from power and establish an Islamic republic like in Iran.
“Carter's belief that every crisis can be resolved with diplomacy - and nothing but diplomacy - now permeates the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, Carter is wrong.
There are times when evil must be openly confronted and defeated.
“KHOMEINI HAD the help of the PLO in Iran. They supplied weapons and terrorists to murder Iranians and incite mobs in the streets. No wonder Yasser Arafat was hailed as a friend of Khomeini after he seized control of Iran and was given the Israeli Embassy in Teheran with the PLO flag flying overhead.
“The Carter administration scrambled to assure the new regime that the United States would maintain diplomatic ties with Iran. But on April 1, 1979 the greatest April Fools' joke of all time was played, as Khomeini proclaimed it the first day of the government of God.
“In February 1979 Khomeini had boarded an Air France flight to return to Teheran with the blessing of Jimmy Carter. The moment he arrived, he proclaimed: ‘I will kick his teeth in’ - referring to then prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar, who was left in power with a US pledge of support. He was assassinated in Paris by Iranian agents in 1991.
“I sat in the home of Gen. Huyser, who told me the shah feared he would lose the country if he implemented Carter's polices. Carter had no desire to see the shah remain in power. He really believed that a cleric - whose Islamist fanaticism he did not understand in the least - would be better for human rights and Iran.
“He could have changed history by condemning Khomeini and getting the support of our allies to keep him out of Iran.”
“The writer is a New York Times best-selling author. His newest book is The Final Move Beyond Iraq. www.beyondiraq.com”
“Fatah Isn’t the Answer” - Michael Oren (Wall Street Journal)
“The green flags of Hamas are unfurling over Gaza and the Fatah forces trained and financed by the U.S. have ignominiously fled. Fears are rife that Iranian-backed and Syrian-hosted terror will next achieve dominance over the West Bank and proceed to undermine the pro-Western governments of Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf. To avert this catastrophe, the U.S. has joined with the Israelis and the Europeans in resuming the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid to the PA under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, and accelerating talks for the establishment of a West Bank Palestinian state.
“But the policy ignores every lesson of the abortive peace process to date as well as Fatah's monumental corruption, jihadism and militancy. Indeed, the unbridled corruption of the PA and its Fatah headmen served as a principal cause of Hamas' electoral victory in 2006, as well as its takeover of Gaza.
“Though Fatah originally aspired to replace Israel with a secular state, it refashioned itself in the 1990s as an Islamic movement, embracing the lexicon of jihad. Hundreds of mosques were built with public funds, and imams were hired to spread the message of martyrdom and the hatred of Christians and Jews. These themes became the staple of the official PA media, inciting the suicide bombings that began in 2000 and poisoning an entire generation of Palestinian youth.
“Fatah has never fulfilled its pledges to crack down on terror. Though Mahmoud Abbas routinely criticizes Palestinian terrorist attacks as ‘contrary to the Palestinian national interest’ - not an affront to morality and international law - he has never disavowed the al-Aqsa Brigades, a Fatah affiliate responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks against Israeli civilians.
“In view of its performance over the past 14 years, the Palestinian Authority under Fatah can be counted on to squander most or all of the vast sums now being given to it by the U.S. and the international community. More gunmen will be hired and better weapons procured, but in the absence of a unified command and a leadership worth fighting for, PA soldiers will perform no more credibly than they did in Gaza. Abbas will continue to denounce terror while ignoring the terrorist units within his own organization, while PA imams will persist in preaching their jihadist sermons.
“Clearly no progress toward Palestinian statehood can be made before Fatah has reformed itself financially, ideologically and structurally. This process is certain to take many years - longer if economic aid and political support are provided to the PA unconditionally.
“The U.S., together with its Quartet partners, can work to establish areas of extensive Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank. Security, however, will be jointly administered by Israel and Jordan. The Jordanian involvement is crucial to convincing Palestinians that the status quo of occupation has ended and they may in the future assume full responsibility for their internal defense. Such an arrangement will benefit Jordan as well, by facilitating its efforts to fight radicalism and stem the flight of Palestinians over its borders.
“The writer is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center and the author of Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present (Norton, 2007).” (Source: Daily Alert, June 20, 2007)
“UN’s Ban Faults Rights Council Over Israel” - Patrick Worsnip (Reuters/Washington Post)
“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined Western nations on Wednesday in criticizing the UN Human Rights Council for picking on Israel. A UN statement said: ‘The Secretary-General is disappointed at the council's decision to single out only one specific regional item, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world.’ The EU, Canada, and the U.S. had already attacked the singling-out of Israel for continued special investigation by the council. Alejandro Wolff, deputy U.S. permanent representative at the UN, accused the council on Wednesday of ‘a pathological obsession with Israel.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 21, 2007)
“Fears in Arab World Following Gaza Coup: Hamas Is Threatening Entire Arab World” ( MEMRI) [MEMRI is the official news agency of Egypt]
“The Arab world as a whole has not yet formulated a clear position on the events in Gaza. While the Arab countries fully backed Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against Hamas, spokesmen and senior officials have refrained from burning bridges with Hamas.
“The same trend is evident in the Arab media. Most articles avoided siding clearly with either Fatah or Hamas, calling on both sides to reach an understanding through negotiations. However, some op-eds have harshly condemned Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza, saying it has dealt a death blow to the Palestinian cause and has destroyed any hope of resolving the Palestinian problem.
“Talal Salman, owner of the Lebanese daily Al-Safir, wrote: ‘Palestine has collapsed in a pool of its own blood, and the only ones to blame are those who promised to liberate it.’
“In an op-ed titled ‘The Gaza Earthquake,’ Asharq Al-Awsat editor Tariq Al-Humayd wrote: ‘The preparedness of the Hamas fighters...proves that while Hamas and its leaders were crying out about lack of funds, Hamas was amassing arms and ammunition. Someone is providing it with regular funding, and as a result it appeared to be better prepared than the legitimate authorities. The source of the funds is obviously Iran.’
“Ahmad Al-Jarallah, editor of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, wrote: ‘By means of Hamas' takeover in Gaza, the Iran-Syria axis has managed to destroy the Mecca agreement, to sabotage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and to block the role of Saudi Arabia.’
“Jordanian journalist Raja Talib wrote in the Jordanian government daily Al-Rai: ‘Reality has shown that even if Hamas was originally a Palestinian [movement], it is now completely [committed] to the ideological agenda of Tehran.’
“Egyptian intellectual Ma'moun Fandy likened Hamas to a computer virus that threatens to destroy the Arab world. He wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat: ‘The Muslims must understand that the Hamas emirate is a model that the Islamists aim to implant in all their countries....We are now faced with a dangerous virus, in the form of the Hamas Emirate. A symptom of this infection was Hizbullah in Lebanon, and we see some signs of it in Egypt and Algeria as well - especially since the mother virus, the Muslim Brotherhood, has existed in Egypt for ages, in all its potency.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 21, 2007)
“Shock, Awe and Dread in Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
“Quiet returned to the streets of Gaza all at once this week. Gunmen (not members of Hamas) have disappeared from the streets, apparently due to a fear of the Hamas Executive Force. And now that Hamas has banned people from masking their faces, that phenomenon has also ceased. Hamas traffic cops dressed in civilian clothes now stand guard at intersections. At the same time, Iz a-Din al-Kassam, the Hamas military wing, is constantly searching the homes of suspects, collecting weapons of members of the Palestinian security services, and responding to the actions of the armed clans. The Durmush clan, which is holding BBC journalist Alan Johnston, is the last bastion of opposition to Hamas in Gaza.
“The quiet can be attributed, at least in part, to the fear Hamas struck into residents' hearts last week. Testimony collected from the days of fighting indicates that Hamas imposed a methodical system of terror and scare tactics intended to deter, shock and frighten Fatah operatives and Gaza residents in general. Every Hamas patrol carried with it a laptop containing a list of Fatah operatives in Gaza, and an identity number and a star appeared next to each name. A red star meant the operative was to be executed and a blue one meant he was to be shot in the legs - a special, cruel tactic developed by Hamas, in which the shot is fired from the back of the knee so that the kneecap is shattered when the bullet exits the other side. A black star signaled arrest, and no star meant that the Fatah member was to be beaten and released.
“Hamas also killed innocent Palestinians, with the intention of deterring the large clans. To overpower the Bakr clan from Shati, Hamas removed all the family members from their compound and lined them up against a wall. Militants selected a 14-year-old girl, two women aged 19 and 75, and two elderly men, and shot them to death in cold blood.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“Congratulations Hamas” - Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed (Asharq Alawsat-UK)
“Hamas has buried the Palestinian cause and thrown the world's respect for the rights of Palestinians down the drain.
“Furthermore, it has polished Israel's image and thwarted any hopes for an independent Palestinian state.
“The Arab world will not accept the deposed prime minister [a reference to Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh] announcing his support of the killing, lawlessness, looting, burning and pursuing of fellow Palestinians from Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“The Golan Is Israeli” - Nadav Shragai (Ha’Aretz)
“It is almost politically incorrect, practically heresy, to claim today that the Golan is not Syrian in the least nor a deposit or bargaining chip for negotiations. The Golan is a lot more ‘Israeli’ than ‘Syrian.’ It has been Israeli for 40 years, double the time it was in Syria's hands. It has been under Israeli sovereignty for 26 years. It has neither a foreign people nor a demographic problem. The Golan has become a part of Israeli life. It is the most frequently visited part of the country, dotted with dozens of Jewish communities, agricultural fields, industrial areas and tourist resorts, nature reserves and wild landscape.
“Whoever talks about ‘returning’ the Golan to Syria is being misleading. The Golan was placed under a French mandate in the colonialist agreement that divided the region; Syria won independence only in 1946. In the brief period it was in the Golan - 0.5 percent of its territory - Syria turned the region into a launching pad for its attempt to conquer and decimate Israel. The Syrian army shelled the Israeli communities along the border, attacked the Lake Kinneret fishermen, tried to divert the course of its waters and made life ‘down below’ a Sderot-style hell. The Golan was conquered in a justified defensive war. We paid for it with blood. The Syrians lost it fair and square.
“In previous eras as well, the Golan was not considered a part of Syria, and it is replete with findings of Jewish heroism and sovereignty, starting with the reign of Solomon, through the Second Temple period, the heroic battle of the city of Gamla and the Talmudic period. It was no foreign land that we conquered. The results of the Second Lebanon War greatly increased the Syrian appetite and led it to threaten a war against Israel unless the Golan is handed over. This is exactly the time to tell the Israeli story of the Golan Heights.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“Arabs Losing Faith in ‘the Cause’” - Youssef Ibrahim (New York Sun)
“Why is America trying to pour new money and more weapons into Palestinian Arab hands barely days after the Gaza debacle? It is an ill-considered policy, both premature and useless. The only sure result will be that warring gangs in the West Bank will use every new weapon to continue the mayhem and that the money will end up in the pockets and bank accounts of the same crooks who lost Gaza.
“America and Israel may want to wait for what may turn out to be a changing of the guard: Arab voices, both expert and popular, are rising in vociferous denunciations of the once sacrosanct Palestinian Arabs. A widely read opinion commentator for the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Mamoun Fandy, thundered on Monday. ‘We need to tell the [Palestinians] the only thing they have proven over 50 years is that they are adolescents who cannot and should not be trusted to run institutions of state or any other important matters.’
“While it could be argued that the outrage in Saudi Arabia reflects resentment over the collapse of the much-vaunted reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah - which was personally brokered by King Abdullah earlier this year in Mecca - the anger expressed across the Muslim Arab world reflects deep embarrassment at the discredit Hamas has brought, in the name of Islam, through its savagery against Fatah.
“For its part, the Egyptian press has become unhinged, spewing vile denunciations of what is universally known as ‘th
Attention European environmentalists - “Venture-capital investment in clean-tech in North America more than doubled in the past two years to $3.9 billion, according to the Cleantech Network, an industry research body.... That makes it the third-largest recipient of venture money after biotech and computing. Despite European perceptions that Americans are behind in environmental matters, investment is now four times higher than in Europe.” (Source: The Economist, May 26, 2007)
According to Investor’s Business Daily, “Last year, the U.S. reduced carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 4.5 percent. By contrast, emissions by some European countries have risen 10 percent since 1993. Yet the Europeans have tried to ‘shame’ the Bush administration into accepting mandatory restrictions ...”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“Tourism in Greenland
“Global boom town
“ILULISSAT
“A town in Greenland attracts rich green globetrotters
“ILULISSAT, a town of 5,000 people in the chilly north of Greenland, is hot. Majestic blue icebergs the size of small islands float outside its harbour; its ice fjord drains 7% of the area of the Greenland ice sheet. It is the place to go to see global warming in action. And getting there has just become much easier. This week Air Greenland began commercial flights between Kangerlussuaq, a former military airstrip to the south, and Baltimore in Maryland. American eco-tourists can now fly straight to the Danish territory without going via Copenhagen.
Those who do so will be following a long line of political celebrities, many of whom are keen to be seen on a melting ice sheet after a successful election. Nancy Pelosi, America's House speaker, is due to arrive next week. A helicopter will take her to Swiss Camp, a research station on the ice sheet with its own sauna. Ms Pelosi's visit will follow those of John McCain, a senator and presidential candidate, and Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister. Germany's Angela Merkel is due in August; José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, is also making plans.
“All of these visitors will, of course, help to accelerate the very global-warming process they have come to witness. But the residents of Ilulissat do not mind, because warming is good for business. Unemployment in the town is zero. A glacier next to a nearby zinc and lead mine has retreated since the site closed in 1990, exposing an outcrop of metal-rich ore, where drilling will start again soon. Ships supplying the only factory in town, which processes the local catch for Royal Greenland, a huge state-owned prawn supplier, can now use the harbour throughout the winter (it was previously inaccessible for three months of the year). The warmer water seems to be bringing back the cod fishery as well.
“But the tourist industry is warming fastest. Around 15,000 tourists visited last year and twice as many are expected this summer. Hotels are booming and additional tourist guides are being trained. There is talk of setting up an ice museum, says Klaus Berg of Destination Disko, an outfit charged with co-ordinating tourism in the area. All that is needed now is a slogan. How about ‘Do your bit for global warming’?” (Source: The Economist, May 26, 2007)
“Despite Malaysia's constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, its Supreme Court ruled, in an important test case, that Lina Joy, a 43-year-old woman who wants to convert officially from Islam to Christianity, cannot do so without the approval of Islamic sharia courts.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007) [See “Religious Freedom in Malaysia” below]
Do you know where your teenager is?
“Bad week for The thrill of getting your driver’s license, after Safeco Insurance introduced an onboard automobile device that notifies parents if teens exceed the speed limit. At any time, parents can log onto the Internet and find the precise location of the teen’s car.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Iran Watch
“Sex and ‘temporary marriage’ - Iran’s Islamic Republic has a serious sexual dilemma. It frowns on unmarried couples who so much as go on a date. et t knows that with unemployment soaring, huge numbers of young people can’t afford do marry. So as a safety valve for mass sexual repression, leading figures from imams to feminists have advocated sigheh--or temporary marriage. Sigheh is most often resorted to in Iran when men leave home on pilgrimage or business. The couple agree how long the union will last--anything from an hour to 90 years--and the man gives a dowry. (Limited to four permanent wives, he can have as many temporary ones as he likes.) The practice, banned under Sunni Islam, is highly controversial: Many Shiites regard it as no better than prostitution. But it also has strong advocates. ‘The Prophet brought in this law of “temporary marriage,”’ said Islamic scholar Sayyid Busavi Lari, ‘to canalize the sex instinct in sound channels.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
* * *
Notable Quotables
And speaking of canalizing the sex instinct in sound channels - “When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and their Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?” George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
“The word that sums up Iraq’s chaos - Edward Wong - The New York Times - To understand why Iraq is such a bloody mess, said Edward Wong, you need only consider the word ‘sahel.’ It’s a word unique to Iraq, and it means ‘to utterly defeat and humiliate someone by dragging his corpse through the streets.’ For centuries, when a new faction in Iraq gained power, it would kill the leadership of the previous rulers and display their mutilated bodies as a demonstration of its dominance. In 1958, the body of a former prime minister, Nuri al-Said, was hacked apart and the bits publicly displayed. Later, Saddam Hussein practiced the same kind of brutality. When Saddam’s regime was toppled, the U.S. made a critical mistake in not establishing ‘total control, as Iraqi history says a conqueror must.’ That opened the door for the Shiites and Sunnis to hope they could emerge as the dominant power, if they just waited out the U.S. occupation. ‘Listen to Iraqis engaged in the fight, and you realize they are far from exhausted by the war. Many say this is only the beginning.’ The U.S. fights for stability and democracy, but for both Sunnis and Shiites, these lofty ideals can wait. They hunger for sahel--and are willing to endure years of horrific carnage in order to taste it.” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Department of “Ain’t It A Wacky World?”
“Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered a pop star to rewrite his hit song ‘Parveen to Bari Namkeen’ (‘Parveen, You Are So Cute’) after an Urdu newspaper published an anguished letter from a college student named Parveen. She says that she had to abandon her studies because ‘whenever I would pass b the college canteen, the boys would start singing the song and laugh at me.’ Singer Abrar ul-Haq has agreed to present a reworked version of the song within two weeks, despite his contentions in court that the letter was a hoax and, besides, that he was actually singing the name ‘Parmeem.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“The roof of a Serbian nightclub collapsed after women at a bachelorette part climbed the club’s load-bearing pillars to get a better view of a particularly well-built male stripper. The crowd of some 200 women at the event in Novi Sad included several female bank directors, lawyers, and even a local member of Parliament. Not only did the collapse of the roof fail to quiet the crowed of shrieking women, said a club spokesman, ‘they demanded the show go on to the end.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
Department of Statistical Information
“The price of a watt of solar photovoltaic capacity dropped from around $20 in the 1970s to $2.70 in 2004 (though a silicon shortage, caused by rocketing demand as a result of madly generous German subsidies, has pushed it up since). The price of wind power has fallen from $2 per kilowatt hour in the 1970s to 5-8 cents now, compared with 2-4 cents for coal-fired power.” (Source: The Economist, June 2, 2007)
According to Associated Press, “Thirty-two percent of Americans who died in 2005 were cremated--up from just 21 percent in 1996”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Only 26 percent of adult Americans get eight hours of sleep a night, down from 38 percent in 2001.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to Inc.com, “Some 30 percent of American workers plan to fake sick days this summer, according to a Harris Interactive survey. Most said they planned to go to the beach or go shopping.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The Boston Globe, “One in three corporate IT professionals admits to snooping at wok by using administrative passwords to gain access to wage information, personal e-mails, and human resource files.”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
According to The New York Times, “Free pornographic photos and videos are now so easy to find on the Internet that it’s hurting the X-rated film industry. Sales and rentals of pornographic videos dropped from $4.28 billion in 2005 to $3.62 billion last year--the first decline in decades. ‘People are making movies in their houses’ and uploading them to free Web sites, complained former professional pornographer Harvey Kaplan. ‘It’s killing the marketplace.’”(Source: The Week, June 15, 2007)
“Torture: Playing by al Qaida’s rules”
“The discovery of a torture manual at an al Qaida safe house in Iraq last week was hardly a surprise, said Don Surber in the Charleston, W.Va., Daily Mail, and neither was the way the U.S. media underplayed the story. This grisly document, complete with diagrams, instructs jihadists on how to use ‘drills, irons, vises, and other devices to mutilate their captives.’ Given the recent media outrage over the U.S. military’s allegedly insensitive treatment of detainees, you might logically think that such dramatic evidence of ‘true torture’ would warrant front-page coverage. Guess again. Neither The Washington Post nor The New York Times--which ran 29 stories on the allegation that a guard at Guantanamo Ba flushed an inmate’s Koran down the toilet--even mentioned the torture manual. The message is clear: It’s no big thing if the enemy engages in ‘eye removal, blowtorching skin, and horrors I won’t go into.’ But if the U.S. is even accused of abusing prisoners, it’s an international outrage.’” (Source: The Week, June 15, 2007) [excerpted]
“Palestinians Loot Arafat’s Gaza Home, Steal His Nobel Prize” - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
“A Palestinian crowd on Friday looted Yasser Arafat's home in Gaza.
“‘They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal,’ said Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman.
“‘They stole many of Arafat's documents and files, gifts he had received from world leaders, and even his military uniforms.’
“Eyewitnesses said most of the looters were ordinary citizens. ‘They stole almost everything, including furniture, tiles, closets and beds.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 18, 2007)
“Arafat’s Children: Gaza’s Mayhem Is the Bitter Fruit of Terror as Statecraft” - Editorial (Wall Street Journal)
“The cult of violence that has typified the Palestinian movement for much of its history has been tolerated and often celebrated by the international community. If Palestinians now think they can advance their domestic interests by violence, nobody should be surprised: The way of the gun has been paying dividends for 40 years.
“In 1972 Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Yet only two years later Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly - the first non-government official so honored. In 1970 Arafat attempted to overthrow Jordan's King Hussein and tried to do the same a few years later in Lebanon. Yet in 1980, the European Community, in its Venice Declaration, recognized Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization as a legitimate negotiating partner.
“In 1993, Arafat was welcomed in the White House for the signing of the Oslo Accords with Israel. That same year, the British National Criminal Intelligence Service reported that the PLO made its money from ‘extortion, payoffs, illegal arms-dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud.’
“In 2000, Arafat rejected an Israeli offer of statehood midwifed by President Clinton and instead initiated the bloody intifada that left 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians dead.
“Pressure will surely mount on Israel and the U.S. to accept Hamas' ascendancy and begin negotiations with its leaders. But is it wise to negotiate with a group that kills its fellow Palestinians almost as freely as it does Israelis? And what would there be to negotiate about? A suspension of hostilities in exchange for renewed international funding would simply give Hamas time and money to consolidate its rule and rebuild an arsenal for future terror assaults.
“A society that has spent the last decade celebrating suicide bombing has inevitably become a victim of its own nihilistic impulses. It is the bitter fruit of the decades of dictatorship and terrorism as statecraft that Yasser Arafat instilled among Palestinians.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 18, 2007)
“Gaza’s Christians Fear for Their Lives: Latin Church Torched” - Khaled Abu Toamah (Jerusalem Post)
“Christians living in Gaza City on Monday appealed to the international community to protect them against increased attacks by Muslim extremists. Many Christians said they were prepared to leave Gaza as soon as the border crossings are reopened.
“The appeal came following a series of attacks on a Christian school and church in Gaza City over the past few days. Father Manuel Musalam, leader of the small Latin community in Gaza, said masked gunmen torched and looted the Rosary Sisters School and the Latin Church.
“‘The masked gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to storm the main entrances of the school and church,’ he said. ‘Then they destroyed almost everything inside, including the Cross, the Holy Book, computers and other equipment.’
“Musalam expressed outrage over the burning of copies of the Bible, noting that the gunmen destroyed all the Crosses inside the church and school. ‘Those who did these awful things have no respect for Christian-Muslim relations,’ he said.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“‘Christians Must Accept Islamic Rule’” - Aaron Klein (World Net/Yent News)
“Christians can only continue living safely in Gaza if they accept Islamic law, including a ban on alcohol and on women roaming publicly without proper head coverings, an Islamist militant leader in Gaza said in an interview.
“Christians in Gaza who engage in ‘missionary activity’ will be ‘dealt with harshly,’ he said.
“The threats come two days after a church and Christian school in Gaza were attacked following the seizure of power by the Hamas terror group.
“‘I expect our Christian neighbors to understand the new Hamas rule means real changes. They must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza,’ said Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, an Islamic outreach movement that recently announced the opening of a ‘military wing’ to enforce Muslim law in Gaza.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“As UN Aid Efforts Are Restored in Gaza, UN Warehouse Is Looted in West Bank” (UN News Center)
“The UN agency tasked with helping Palestinians says its operations in Gaza have returned to normal, but a warehouse in Nablus in the West Bank containing several tons of food as well as office equipment was looted by armed men on Saturday.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
“Hamas and the Second Six-Day War: Implications, Challenges, and Opportunities” - Robert Satloff (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
“The same Palestinians who reportedly tell pollsters they support a two-state solution with Israel gave their vote to the party that opposes any peace with Israel in January 2006. Mahmoud Abbas, who has repeatedly said he rejects violence and endorses the two-state solution, legitimized Hamas' rejectionist alternative by entering into a power-sharing agreement with the group in the February 2007 Mecca accord.
“For Arab states - whose definition of courage is to endorse a vague offer of eventual peace with Israel that is fifteen years out of date, and then do virtually nothing to implement it - the Hamas victory should awaken them to the danger within.
“How did Hamas acquire the weapons it used to defeat Fatah? Through Egypt. How did Hamas acquire the funds it used to pay its foot soldiers? Through Arab donors (and Iranians, too). How did Hamas acquire the legitimacy to lay claim to leadership of the Palestinian people? Through Arab diplomacy (the Mecca accord).
“The U.S. should urge Israel to complete the process of disengagement that it began in 2005. Israel is alone in the world as being the only country responsible for providing food, water, and electricity to a political entity that daily lobs missiles against its citizens. This is madness. Israel should leave Egypt as Gaza's outlet to the world, with food, water, electricity, and other humanitarian goods flowing over the Gaza-Egypt border. Unless Israel takes such a step, Hamas will continue taking advantage of Israeli humanitarianism while lobbing missiles at Israel.
“We should not believe the simplistic logic that says the West Bank is totally controlled by Fatah while Gaza is totally supportive of Hamas; indeed, there is quite a lot of Hamas support in the West Bank, too. But Hamas has not succeeded in penetrating nearly as far in the West Bank primarily due to the active presence of the Israeli army. Ironically, the political horizon that some in the administration would like to talk about would raise premature hopes about the removal of precisely that factor that is the most important barrier to the spread of Hamas in the West Bank today.
“One of the most serious flaws in the original Oslo Accords was Israel's formal decision to consider the West Bank and Gaza a ‘single territory unit.’ These were, of course, territories that Israel occupied from two different countries, territories with no contiguity between them, territories with very different historical roots as well as populations with very different economies and socioeconomic characteristics. The de facto situation is that this situation has now ended.
“The writer is executive director of the Washington Institute.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 19, 2007)
This News Just In: Jimmy Carter May Have Lost His Mind!!!!!
“Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas” - By Associated Press (DUBLIN, Ireland)
“The United States, Israel and the European Union must end their policy of favoring Fatah over Hamas, or they will doom the Palestinian people to deepening conflict between the rival movements, former US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday.
“Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was addressing a conference of Irish human rights officials, said the Bush administration's refusal to accept the 2006 election victory of Hamas was ‘criminal.’
“Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
“Hamas fighters routed Fatah in their violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. The split prompted Abbas to dissolve the power-sharing government with his rivals in Hamas and set up a Fatah-led administration to govern the West Bank.
“Carter said the American-Israeli-European consensus to reopen direct aid to the new government in the West Bank, but to deny the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, represented an ‘effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples.’
“While seeking to boycott the Hamas leadership because of its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, Europe and the US have continued to send humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations.
“During his speech to Ireland's eighth annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center observed the 2006 election in which Hamas won 42 percent of the popular vote and a majority of parliamentary seats.
“Carter said that election was ‘orderly and fair’ and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was ‘shrewd in selecting candidates,’ whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.
“Far from encouraging Hamas's move into parliamentary politics, Carter said the US and Israel, with European Union acquiescence, has sought to subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the reins of political and military power.
“‘That action was criminal,’ he said in a news conference after his speech.
“‘The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah,’ he said.
“Carter said the United States and others supplied the Fatah-controlled security forces in Gaza with vastly superior weaponry in hopes they would ‘conquer Hamas in Gaza’ - but Hamas this month routed Fatah because of its ‘superior skills and discipline.’
“He said plans to reopen international aid to the West Bank, but clamp down on aid to Gaza, would imprison 1.4 million Gazans. He called for both territories to be treated equally.
“‘This effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples now is a step in the wrong direction,’ he said. ‘All efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two together.’
“Carter was pessimistic this would happen soon. ‘I don't see at this point any possibility that public officials in the United States, or in Israel, or the European Union are going to take action to bring about reconciliation,’ he said.” (Source: The Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2007)
We Repeat: Jimmy Carter May Have Lost His Mind!!!!!
Father of the Iranian revolution” - Michael D. Evans
[Source: The Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2007]
[My editorial comments: I don’t agree with all of this, but it certainly is something to think about, and there are many valid points made here.]
“We just don't get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called ‘dim-witted cowboy,’ has created the entire mess.
“The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.
“Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said ‘Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint.’ Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, ‘Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure.’ Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of ‘impeccable integrity and honesty.’
“The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, ‘Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?’
“Let's look at the results of Carter's misguided liberal policies: the Islamic Revolution in Iran; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Carter's response was to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics); the birth of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization; the Iran-Iraq War, which cost the lives of millions dead and wounded; and yes, the present war on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“WHEN CARTER entered the political fray in 1976, America was still riding the liberal wave of anti-Vietnam War emotion. Carter asked for an in-depth report on Iran even before he assumed the reins of government and was persuaded that the shah was not fit to rule Iran. 1976 was a banner year for pacifism: Carter was elected president, Bill Clinton became attorney-general of Arkansas, and Albert Gore won a place in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
“In his anti-war pacifism, Carter never got it that Khomeini, a cleric exiled to Najaf in Iraq from 1965-1978, was preparing Iran for revolution. Proclaiming ‘the West killed God and wants us to bury him,’ Khomeini's weapon of choice was not the sword but the media. Using tape cassettes smuggled by Iranian pilgrims returning from the holy city of Najaf, he fueled disdain for what he called gharbzadegi (’the plague of Western culture’).
“Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship. Khomeini could never have succeeded without Carter. The Islamic Revolution would have been stillborn.
“Gen. Robert Huyser, Carter's military liaison to Iran, once told me in tears: ‘The president could have publicly condemned Khomeini and even kidnapped him and then bartered for an exchange with the [American Embassy] hostages, but the president was indignant. 'One cannot do that to a holy man,' he said.’
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has donned the mantle of Ayatollah Khomeini, taken up bin Laden's call, and is fostering an Islamic apocalyptic revolution in Iraq with the intent of taking over the Middle East and the world.
“Jimmy Carter became the poster boy for the ideological revolution of the 1960s in the West, hell bent on killing the soul of America. The bottom line: Carter believed then and still does now is that evil really does not exist; people are basically good; America should embrace the perpetrators and castigate the victims.
“IN THE '60S it was mass rebellion after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When humanity confronts eternity, the response is always rebellion or repentance. The same ideologues who fought to destroy the soul of America with the ‘God is dead’ movement in the 1960s are now running the arts, the universities, the media, the State Department, Congress, and Senate, determined more then ever to kill the soul of America while the East attempts to kill the body. Carter's world view defines the core ideology of the Democratic Party.
“What is going on in Iraq is no mystery to those of us who have had our fingers on the pulse of both Iran and Iraq for decades. The Iran-Iraq war was a war of ideologies. Saddam Hussein saw himself as an Arab leader who would defeat the non-Arab Persians. Khomeini saw it as an opportunity to export his Islamic Revolution across the borders to the Shi'ites in Iraq and then beyond to the Arab countries.
“Throughout the war both leaders did everything possible to incite the inhabitants of each country to rebel - precisely what Iran is doing in Iraq today. Khomeini encouraged the Shi'ites across the border to remove Saddam from power and establish an Islamic republic like in Iran.
“Carter's belief that every crisis can be resolved with diplomacy - and nothing but diplomacy - now permeates the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, Carter is wrong.
There are times when evil must be openly confronted and defeated.
“KHOMEINI HAD the help of the PLO in Iran. They supplied weapons and terrorists to murder Iranians and incite mobs in the streets. No wonder Yasser Arafat was hailed as a friend of Khomeini after he seized control of Iran and was given the Israeli Embassy in Teheran with the PLO flag flying overhead.
“The Carter administration scrambled to assure the new regime that the United States would maintain diplomatic ties with Iran. But on April 1, 1979 the greatest April Fools' joke of all time was played, as Khomeini proclaimed it the first day of the government of God.
“In February 1979 Khomeini had boarded an Air France flight to return to Teheran with the blessing of Jimmy Carter. The moment he arrived, he proclaimed: ‘I will kick his teeth in’ - referring to then prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar, who was left in power with a US pledge of support. He was assassinated in Paris by Iranian agents in 1991.
“I sat in the home of Gen. Huyser, who told me the shah feared he would lose the country if he implemented Carter's polices. Carter had no desire to see the shah remain in power. He really believed that a cleric - whose Islamist fanaticism he did not understand in the least - would be better for human rights and Iran.
“He could have changed history by condemning Khomeini and getting the support of our allies to keep him out of Iran.”
“The writer is a New York Times best-selling author. His newest book is The Final Move Beyond Iraq. www.beyondiraq.com”
“Fatah Isn’t the Answer” - Michael Oren (Wall Street Journal)
“The green flags of Hamas are unfurling over Gaza and the Fatah forces trained and financed by the U.S. have ignominiously fled. Fears are rife that Iranian-backed and Syrian-hosted terror will next achieve dominance over the West Bank and proceed to undermine the pro-Western governments of Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf. To avert this catastrophe, the U.S. has joined with the Israelis and the Europeans in resuming the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid to the PA under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, and accelerating talks for the establishment of a West Bank Palestinian state.
“But the policy ignores every lesson of the abortive peace process to date as well as Fatah's monumental corruption, jihadism and militancy. Indeed, the unbridled corruption of the PA and its Fatah headmen served as a principal cause of Hamas' electoral victory in 2006, as well as its takeover of Gaza.
“Though Fatah originally aspired to replace Israel with a secular state, it refashioned itself in the 1990s as an Islamic movement, embracing the lexicon of jihad. Hundreds of mosques were built with public funds, and imams were hired to spread the message of martyrdom and the hatred of Christians and Jews. These themes became the staple of the official PA media, inciting the suicide bombings that began in 2000 and poisoning an entire generation of Palestinian youth.
“Fatah has never fulfilled its pledges to crack down on terror. Though Mahmoud Abbas routinely criticizes Palestinian terrorist attacks as ‘contrary to the Palestinian national interest’ - not an affront to morality and international law - he has never disavowed the al-Aqsa Brigades, a Fatah affiliate responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks against Israeli civilians.
“In view of its performance over the past 14 years, the Palestinian Authority under Fatah can be counted on to squander most or all of the vast sums now being given to it by the U.S. and the international community. More gunmen will be hired and better weapons procured, but in the absence of a unified command and a leadership worth fighting for, PA soldiers will perform no more credibly than they did in Gaza. Abbas will continue to denounce terror while ignoring the terrorist units within his own organization, while PA imams will persist in preaching their jihadist sermons.
“Clearly no progress toward Palestinian statehood can be made before Fatah has reformed itself financially, ideologically and structurally. This process is certain to take many years - longer if economic aid and political support are provided to the PA unconditionally.
“The U.S., together with its Quartet partners, can work to establish areas of extensive Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank. Security, however, will be jointly administered by Israel and Jordan. The Jordanian involvement is crucial to convincing Palestinians that the status quo of occupation has ended and they may in the future assume full responsibility for their internal defense. Such an arrangement will benefit Jordan as well, by facilitating its efforts to fight radicalism and stem the flight of Palestinians over its borders.
“The writer is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center and the author of Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present (Norton, 2007).” (Source: Daily Alert, June 20, 2007)
“UN’s Ban Faults Rights Council Over Israel” - Patrick Worsnip (Reuters/Washington Post)
“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined Western nations on Wednesday in criticizing the UN Human Rights Council for picking on Israel. A UN statement said: ‘The Secretary-General is disappointed at the council's decision to single out only one specific regional item, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world.’ The EU, Canada, and the U.S. had already attacked the singling-out of Israel for continued special investigation by the council. Alejandro Wolff, deputy U.S. permanent representative at the UN, accused the council on Wednesday of ‘a pathological obsession with Israel.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 21, 2007)
“Fears in Arab World Following Gaza Coup: Hamas Is Threatening Entire Arab World” ( MEMRI) [MEMRI is the official news agency of Egypt]
“The Arab world as a whole has not yet formulated a clear position on the events in Gaza. While the Arab countries fully backed Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against Hamas, spokesmen and senior officials have refrained from burning bridges with Hamas.
“The same trend is evident in the Arab media. Most articles avoided siding clearly with either Fatah or Hamas, calling on both sides to reach an understanding through negotiations. However, some op-eds have harshly condemned Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza, saying it has dealt a death blow to the Palestinian cause and has destroyed any hope of resolving the Palestinian problem.
“Talal Salman, owner of the Lebanese daily Al-Safir, wrote: ‘Palestine has collapsed in a pool of its own blood, and the only ones to blame are those who promised to liberate it.’
“In an op-ed titled ‘The Gaza Earthquake,’ Asharq Al-Awsat editor Tariq Al-Humayd wrote: ‘The preparedness of the Hamas fighters...proves that while Hamas and its leaders were crying out about lack of funds, Hamas was amassing arms and ammunition. Someone is providing it with regular funding, and as a result it appeared to be better prepared than the legitimate authorities. The source of the funds is obviously Iran.’
“Ahmad Al-Jarallah, editor of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, wrote: ‘By means of Hamas' takeover in Gaza, the Iran-Syria axis has managed to destroy the Mecca agreement, to sabotage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and to block the role of Saudi Arabia.’
“Jordanian journalist Raja Talib wrote in the Jordanian government daily Al-Rai: ‘Reality has shown that even if Hamas was originally a Palestinian [movement], it is now completely [committed] to the ideological agenda of Tehran.’
“Egyptian intellectual Ma'moun Fandy likened Hamas to a computer virus that threatens to destroy the Arab world. He wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat: ‘The Muslims must understand that the Hamas emirate is a model that the Islamists aim to implant in all their countries....We are now faced with a dangerous virus, in the form of the Hamas Emirate. A symptom of this infection was Hizbullah in Lebanon, and we see some signs of it in Egypt and Algeria as well - especially since the mother virus, the Muslim Brotherhood, has existed in Egypt for ages, in all its potency.’” (Source: Daily Alert, June 21, 2007)
“Shock, Awe and Dread in Gaza” - Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
“Quiet returned to the streets of Gaza all at once this week. Gunmen (not members of Hamas) have disappeared from the streets, apparently due to a fear of the Hamas Executive Force. And now that Hamas has banned people from masking their faces, that phenomenon has also ceased. Hamas traffic cops dressed in civilian clothes now stand guard at intersections. At the same time, Iz a-Din al-Kassam, the Hamas military wing, is constantly searching the homes of suspects, collecting weapons of members of the Palestinian security services, and responding to the actions of the armed clans. The Durmush clan, which is holding BBC journalist Alan Johnston, is the last bastion of opposition to Hamas in Gaza.
“The quiet can be attributed, at least in part, to the fear Hamas struck into residents' hearts last week. Testimony collected from the days of fighting indicates that Hamas imposed a methodical system of terror and scare tactics intended to deter, shock and frighten Fatah operatives and Gaza residents in general. Every Hamas patrol carried with it a laptop containing a list of Fatah operatives in Gaza, and an identity number and a star appeared next to each name. A red star meant the operative was to be executed and a blue one meant he was to be shot in the legs - a special, cruel tactic developed by Hamas, in which the shot is fired from the back of the knee so that the kneecap is shattered when the bullet exits the other side. A black star signaled arrest, and no star meant that the Fatah member was to be beaten and released.
“Hamas also killed innocent Palestinians, with the intention of deterring the large clans. To overpower the Bakr clan from Shati, Hamas removed all the family members from their compound and lined them up against a wall. Militants selected a 14-year-old girl, two women aged 19 and 75, and two elderly men, and shot them to death in cold blood.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“Congratulations Hamas” - Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed (Asharq Alawsat-UK)
“Hamas has buried the Palestinian cause and thrown the world's respect for the rights of Palestinians down the drain.
“Furthermore, it has polished Israel's image and thwarted any hopes for an independent Palestinian state.
“The Arab world will not accept the deposed prime minister [a reference to Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh] announcing his support of the killing, lawlessness, looting, burning and pursuing of fellow Palestinians from Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“The Golan Is Israeli” - Nadav Shragai (Ha’Aretz)
“It is almost politically incorrect, practically heresy, to claim today that the Golan is not Syrian in the least nor a deposit or bargaining chip for negotiations. The Golan is a lot more ‘Israeli’ than ‘Syrian.’ It has been Israeli for 40 years, double the time it was in Syria's hands. It has been under Israeli sovereignty for 26 years. It has neither a foreign people nor a demographic problem. The Golan has become a part of Israeli life. It is the most frequently visited part of the country, dotted with dozens of Jewish communities, agricultural fields, industrial areas and tourist resorts, nature reserves and wild landscape.
“Whoever talks about ‘returning’ the Golan to Syria is being misleading. The Golan was placed under a French mandate in the colonialist agreement that divided the region; Syria won independence only in 1946. In the brief period it was in the Golan - 0.5 percent of its territory - Syria turned the region into a launching pad for its attempt to conquer and decimate Israel. The Syrian army shelled the Israeli communities along the border, attacked the Lake Kinneret fishermen, tried to divert the course of its waters and made life ‘down below’ a Sderot-style hell. The Golan was conquered in a justified defensive war. We paid for it with blood. The Syrians lost it fair and square.
“In previous eras as well, the Golan was not considered a part of Syria, and it is replete with findings of Jewish heroism and sovereignty, starting with the reign of Solomon, through the Second Temple period, the heroic battle of the city of Gamla and the Talmudic period. It was no foreign land that we conquered. The results of the Second Lebanon War greatly increased the Syrian appetite and led it to threaten a war against Israel unless the Golan is handed over. This is exactly the time to tell the Israeli story of the Golan Heights.” (Source: Daily Alert, June 22, 2007)
“Arabs Losing Faith in ‘the Cause’” - Youssef Ibrahim (New York Sun)
“Why is America trying to pour new money and more weapons into Palestinian Arab hands barely days after the Gaza debacle? It is an ill-considered policy, both premature and useless. The only sure result will be that warring gangs in the West Bank will use every new weapon to continue the mayhem and that the money will end up in the pockets and bank accounts of the same crooks who lost Gaza.
“America and Israel may want to wait for what may turn out to be a changing of the guard: Arab voices, both expert and popular, are rising in vociferous denunciations of the once sacrosanct Palestinian Arabs. A widely read opinion commentator for the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Mamoun Fandy, thundered on Monday. ‘We need to tell the [Palestinians] the only thing they have proven over 50 years is that they are adolescents who cannot and should not be trusted to run institutions of state or any other important matters.’
“While it could be argued that the outrage in Saudi Arabia reflects resentment over the collapse of the much-vaunted reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah - which was personally brokered by King Abdullah earlier this year in Mecca - the anger expressed across the Muslim Arab world reflects deep embarrassment at the discredit Hamas has brought, in the name of Islam, through its savagery against Fatah.
“For its part, the Egyptian press has become unhinged, spewing vile denunciations of what is universally known as ‘th