[Peace-discuss] News notes, for the AWARE meeting 2008-01-06
C. G. Estabrook
galliher at uiuc.edu
Sun Jan 6 11:16:16 CST 2008
[Today is the Epiphany, the ancient Christian celebration of the visit
of the Wise Men; so, to avoid invidious comparison, I won't be coming to
the AWARE meeting tonight... Actually, I'm not quite over the flu, so
in place of the usual news summary at the meeting, I'm passing along
some notes that our researcher, Eric Sizemore, took for the WEFT program
News from Neptune yesterday, hoping that they will be a substitute. Ave
atque vale, CGE]
ABC News: The Grinch That Stole $10 Billion
<http://abcnews.go.com/Business/HolidayTheme/story?id=4029379&page=1>
The subprime mortgage mess has turned into a grinch, sneaking around
Wall Street taking hefty bonus envelopes out of stockings and from
underneath Christmas trees. ... Braconi said that drop translates
into $10 billion less in Wall Street's pay envelopes this year
compared to last. That is a substantial reduction from the record
$33.6 billion bonus pool of 2006.
The Daily Scare | Exposing Media and Government Propaganda, Obfuscation,
Scare Tactics and Fearmongering
<http://www.dailyscare.com/comment/reply/2727>
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was a calculated risk, intended
to derail democracy in Pakistan because Islamic extremists were
making the democratic transition from militias into political
parties. For this reason, it is unlikely that she was assassinated
by real Islamists, true Taliban. It is more likely that the hit on
Bhutto was connected to the Administration's getting the "green
light" (the day before the attack), to move large numbers of Special
Forces "trainers" into the tribal regions. [Arguable, but not
certain. --CGE]
Palestine Chronicle - Israel Kills 11 Gazans
<http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-01050863510.htm>
The new fatalities followed the killing of nine Palestinians,
including two women, in heavy Israeli ground and air strikes in the
village of Bani Suheila near the southern city of Khan Yunis.
[Israeli tanks fired on a family at breakfast. --CGE]
New Left Review - Perry Anderson: Jottings on the Conjuncture
<http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2695>
The long-standing corporate unity of the Pakistani Army, its grip on
the country immune to internal rifts or bouts of nominal civilian
rule, makes a disagreeable surprise unlikely. [One point, if a good
one, from a long and wide-ranging account of the present situation
-- the best I've seen, but not perfect. --CGE]
The bipartisan consensus on U.S. military spending - Glenn Greenwald -
Salon
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/02/military_spending/index.html>
Global Security has taken the Fiscal Year 2008 U.S. budget and
prepared a new chart illustrating the most significant and
under-discussed political fact in the United States, one that
substantially affects every other issue
ZNet |Electoral Politics | Edwards Reconsidered
<http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=90&ItemID=14656>
Edwards was the most improved presidential candidate of 2007. He
sharpened his attacks on corporate power and honed his calls for
economic justice. He laid down a clear position against nuclear
power. He explicitly challenged the power of the insurance industry
and the pharmaceutical giants.
Matt Stooks.com - CNN keeps blowing, and blowing, and blowing…
<http://mattstooks.com/?p=1219>
Ron Paul had 10 percent of the vote. Why isn't he listed when Bill
Richardson's two percent makes the Democratic pie?
Oil trader wins fame with $100-a-barrel trade - Telegraph
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/04/bcnoil104.xml>
Richard Arens, a local trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange,
has shot to fame after a lifetime of obscurity thanks to his
determination to print the golden $100-a-barrel trade ticket.
Cockburn / St. Clair: A Good Night in Iowa
<http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn01042008.html>
The wisdom had been that a Republican candidate would ride to
victory by swearing to seal the southern border, cut taxes, and go
to war on Iran. Huckabee's substantive record is one of tolerance
toward immigrants, compassion toward convicted criminals, and
straightforward abolition of the most hated agency in the United
States--the IRS--with installation of a sales tax, whose regressive
features would be balanced by rebates to the poor.
TheHill.com - Democrats say Bush can't pocket veto defense bill
<http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-say-bush-cant-pocket-veto-defense-bill-2008-01-02.html>
The White House on Monday said it was pocket-vetoing the measure,
but a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the
president cannot use such a measure when Congress is in session. The
distinction over whether the president can pocket-veto the bill is
important because such a move would prevent Congress from voting on
an override.
Patrick Cockburn: Is this the beginning of the end in Iraq? -
Independent Online Edition > Commentators
<http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article3291556.ece>
The government in the Green Zone is a hothouse plant that would
wither and die without the American military presence.
YouTube - McCain: "Make it 100!" <http://youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM>
McCain tells a crowd in New Hampshire - a state where 66% of the
population is opposed to the war in Iraq - that it's "fine with me"
if we're in Iraq for 100 years
Nation & World | Kucinich contests debate exclusion by ABC | Seattle
Times Newspaper
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004108723_campdig05.html>
Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint
with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday after ABC
News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan
Hunter from today's debates. Kucinich said ABC is violating
equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate.
Biden Takes Bush to Task Over Sale of F-16 Jet Fighters to Pakistan -
Salem-News.Com
<http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january032008/jets_pakistan_1307.php>
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Joseph R.
Biden, Jr. said that if any U.S. aid is involved, the sale is
illegal. "The recently passed Defense Appropriations bill bars any
assistance to Pakistan for weapons sales that are not for
counter-terrorism purposes. The primary purpose of F-16s is to
balance India, not to combat the Taliban or Al Qaeda. "
------------
In addition, it's important to note several things about this week's
Iowa caucuses:
(1) the real anti-war movement, in the form of Kathy Kelly's Voices of
Creative Nonviolence ("Seasons of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation
Project"), showed up the fake anti-war movement (Obama's campaign) by
getting arrested in the latter's offices;
(2) in spite of the media's assertion that the war was not an issue in
Iowa (and the candidates' fervent hope that that's right), Iowa voters
said the most important issues -- in order -- were the war, the economy,
and healthcare; and
(3) of the two winners, one is a severe critic of Wall Street -- and
it's not the Democrat, Obama, but the Republican, Huckabee.
Vote for Change? Atrocity-Linked U.S. Officials Advising Democratic, GOP
Presidential Frontrunners. On Democracy Now! Independent journalist
Allan Nairn and American Conservative correspondent Kelley Beaucar
Vlahos discuss a little-addressed facet of the 2008 campaign: many of
the top advisers to leading presidential candidates are ex-U.S.
officials involved in atrocities around the world.
2007 was the bloodiest year of the war so far, for both civilians and US
troops in Iraq. And in Afghanistan, U.S. military deaths, suicide
bombings and opium production hit record highs in 2007.
Jobs growth much weaker than expected as unemployment climbs - Jan. 4,
2008. The nation's labor market worsened in December to the weakest
level since the shock that followed Hurricane Katrina, as the problems
in housing and mortgages took a bite out of job opportunities. Employers
added far fewer jobs in the month than had been forecast, while the
unemployment rate shot up to 5 percent, which was a two-year high,
according to a government report Friday.
Saudis Confirm Detention of Blogger - New York Times. Fouad al-Farhan,
an outspoken Saudi blogger, is being held for "purposes of
interrogation." Mr. Farhan's blog, which discusses social issues, had
become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia. [Meanwhile.
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera is being prevented by the government from
broadcasting any negative coverage of the Saudi regime. --CGE]
Dropping Out of Electoral College -- In These Times. Maryland is the
first state to pass the National Popular Vote (NPV) into law, and
several others are right behind
Archivist Challenges Cheney | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 |
Newsweek.com. A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted
to keep classified -- and how he tried to challenge the rules
Home prices in 11 large metro areas posted record declines in October,
according to data released Wednesday, more evidence that 2007 was one of
the worst real estate markets since the year the United States entered
World War II...
World Food Prices Reach All Time High -- and the US cynically uses food
as a geostrategic weapon.
--The disorders in Kenya after a presidential election are linked to
the US support for that government as part of its region-wide control of
ME energy resources -- cf. Ethiopia in Somalia, now a worse human rights
disaster than Darfur, according to the UN -- and a direct result of US
intervention.
--The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that Western corporations
are looting the Congo, where millions have died.
--NAFTA has devastated Mexican farmers by forcing them to compete with
government-subsidized American and Canadian goods; protests along the
US/Mexico border have been little covered in the US.
In Venezuela, President Chavez decreed amnesty for people imprisoned for
civil disturbances directed against the state, including a US-backed
2002 coup that briefly overthrew him. Another matter not reported in
the US, because it doesn't fit the US "Chavez=dictator" propaganda. Can
you imagine Bush amnestying plotters who captured and threatened to kill
him?
###
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