July 20, 2005 In the News - Comments by Doug Bracewell

XXXXXXX July 20 - 2005 XXXXXXX

NB: COMPILERS PERSONAL COMMENTS IN UPPER CASE

“NOTABLES”

Gwynne Dyer : Israel and Palestine: the end of the "calm"

Seymour M. Hersh | Did Washington Try to Manipulate Iraq's Election?

Three Sunnis on Iraq constitution committee killed

Why US is shifting nuclear stand with India
Venezuela Says Shell Owes $130 Million in Taxes, Given 15 Days to Pay

Pentagon Preparing Eastern European Bases for Mideast War
Paul Krugman | Unemployed: The Dropout Puzzle

Bilderberg 1996: A close call for thwarting a scheme to partition Canada
Mind affects machines in Princeton basement

Bizarre season of heat, hail and floods

Plague of locusts invades France, devouring crops

Niger children starving to death

Crazy weather strikes across Canada

“HUMOR / ODDITIES”

See: Jake’s Comedy Corner

Done only as the British can do

You will love this one.It is quite a big download but well worth the time. Make sure your sound is on. When the picture comes up click on “PLAY” to start.

MELODIC COMMENTARY ON .. UK NATIONAL ID CARDS

“UNITED STATES”

Judge Grants Immortality to Presidential Privilege

U.S. District Judge David Levi this week contradicted the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that presidential privilege erodes over time, by accepting CIA and Bush administration claims that presidential privilege still applies to two intelligence briefs given to President Johnson in 1965 and 1968.

“ISRAEL”

Israel Masses Troops along Gaza Border

Israel yesterday massed thousands of troops along the border of the Gaza Strip and warned that it would invade unless the Palestinian Authority acted to prevent the firing of missiles at Israeli towns.

Israeli troops seek to halt pull-out protests
Up to 20,000 Israeli police and soldiers were deployed yesterday to prevent a mass rally and march by protesters against the planned withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank next month.

Gwynne Dyer : Israel and Palestine: the end of the "calm"

Sharon's strategy does not aim at serious negotiations with Palestinians, he wants an imposed peace that leaves all the main Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank under Israeli control, receiving official U.S. support last August. He is expanding Jewish settlements around predominantly Arab East Jerusalem to cut it off from the West Bank and eliminate the possibility that it could ever serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglas explained last October, the disengagement process is intended to supply "the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians....When you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem."

Sharon spoke bluntly about his strategy to the Knesset in April: "I am doing everything I can to preserve as much (of the West Bank settlements) as I can." He is succeeding: by the time the Gaza withdrawal is complete, so should be the wall that cuts through the West Bank and defines the new de facto border between Israel and the occupied territories.

“MIDDLE EAST”

Seymour M. Hersh | Did Washington Try to Manipulate Iraq's Election?

"The election clock was running down, and people were panicking," said one of Hersh's inside sources. "The polls showed that the Shiites were going to run off with the store. The Administration had to do

something."

Democracy Now Interview With Seymour Hersh

Hersh's article cites unidentified former military and intelligence officials who said the administration had gone ahead with covert election activities in Iraq that "were conducted by retired CIA officers and other nongovernment personnel, and used funds that were not necessarily appropriated by Congress."

Comparison: Iraq and Vietnam

15 POINT TABLE

Three Sunnis on Iraq constitution committee killed

The killings in the Karrada district of central Baghdad would be a crushing blow to hopes that a nascent political process would undermine Iraq's insurgency.

Weekend of slaughter propels Iraq towards all-out civil war

Baghdad hospital doctors on strike against soldiers

More than two dozen doctors walked out of one of Baghdad's busiest hospitals on Tuesday to protest what they said was abuse by Iraqi soldiers, leaving about 100 patients to fend for themselves in chaotic wards.

US-backed groups organize regime change in Iran
Like the color-coded terror alert system, the technicolor Velvet Invasions blink warning. Despite receiving an ugly bruise in Uzbekistan, the CIA and its NGO (non-governmental organization) regime change industry hope to stage another cardboard coup in Iran.But it could be a Black & Blue Revolution -Trish Schuh/Online Journal

Iran foils Al-Qaeda conspiracies, 3000 members detained or expelled

U.S. COULD STRIKE NORTHERN SYRIA

U.S. Defense Department and Central Command have been discussing a U.S. strike that could end the Syrian network's operation. The insurgency network was said to be based in Aleppo where foreign fighters undergo training by Sunni insurgency groups linked to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. "The Syrians appear to be encouraging some of this activity,"

FRIEND COMMENT: Just like Cambodia

“FOREIGN AFFAIRS”

It's full steam ahead for EU constitution, even after 'No' votes

You may have got the impression that the European constitution was dead - that the French had felled it, and the Dutch had pounded a stake through its heart. If so, think again. The constitution is being implemented, clause by clause, as if the No votes had not happened.

STILL THINK THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC WORLD ?

France to privatize highways

Earlier this summer, the Paris government launched the privatization of the state-owned utility company Gaz de France. The sister electricity company, EDF, is expected to be partially privatized later this year.

Denmark Mulls Arrest of U.S. Flag Burners

Protestors who burned U.S. and Danish flags during last week's presidential visit might face arrest. Burning the Stars and Stripes is illegal in Denmark, but the country's red and white Dannebrog is strangely enough not protected by law.

Power Blackouts Hit Rome; Cause Unknown

US unhappy Afghan drug trade not stemmed

Britain has been assigned to lead U.S., European and Afghan forces to eradicate Afghanistan's drug trade. But after 18 months, the level of opium cultivation in Afghanistan has reached an all-time high of nearly half a million acres, reported the Sunday Telegraph.

Why US is shifting nuclear stand with India
US plans to broaden India's access to nuclear technology, have their roots in designs from the earliest days of the Bush administration to build India's stature as a counterbalance to a rising and problematic China. The proposed extension of nuclear access to what the White House likes to call "the world's largest democracy" raises questions about potential impact on other countries with nuclear ambitions and designs for international status -Christian Science Monitor

Sino-Japan test-drilling dispute could lead to confrontation

A Chinese Riot Rooted in Confusion

Lacking a Channel for Grievances, the strike was a shocking first for Xizhou, an industrial zone. But across China there are thousands of such explosions every year - by farmers who lose their land, workers who get laid off and villagers who feel cheated by corrupt officials. The protests have become a major concern for the Communist Party government, raising the prospect of broad instability that could potentially undermine the party's grip on power.

Australia rules out inquiry into new spy chief

Australia's new chief spy has been accused of compromising an undercover agent's identity with loose talk in Egypt 20 years ago but the government on Monday ruled out an inquiry into the claims. Reed said O'Sullivan, who has made no comment on the allegations, was never called to give evidence in the 1995 inquiry.

Dagestan, the Next Caucasian Tinderbox?
Dagestan is not only the biggest and most populous of the seven semi-autonomous republics of the North Caucasus — a region dominated by impoverished, non-Russian Muslim peoples — it is also the most strategic: a large chunk of the Russian Caspian coast lies here, making Dagestan a key transport route for trade and oil.-Times UK

UNESCO chief condemns killing of journalists in Brazil and Haiti

Any physical violence against media professionals is ‘a crime against society, since this curtails freedom of expression

Brazil Signs US$600-Million Oil Contract with China

Brazil's government owned Petrobras announced Monday, July 18, the signing of a contract for the export to China of 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil adding that it expects sales of petroleum products to reach US$ 1 billion annually in five years.

Thousands of Peruvians protest US trade pact

against a proposed U.S.-trade pact that a United Nations investigator warned would put medicines out of reach of millions of poor people.

Chavez Stokes Confrontation Over U.S. Role in Venezuela
Relations between Venezuela and the United States, strained for years, are plunging to new lows.-Washington Post

Venezuela to seize 'idle' firms

"Just as we cannot permit good land to lie uncultivated, so we cannot allow perfectly productive factories to stay closed." The Venezuelan leader said that more than 700 companies in the country were idle. He said more than 1,000 firms in Venezuela had partially closed down simply because of economic difficulties. "We want to work with you to help restore your production," he told company owners.

Venezuela Says Shell Owes $130 Million in Taxes, Given 15 Days to Pay

On Thursday, Seniat officials seized tax-related documents from Chevron Corp.'s administrative office in Venezuela, saying the company had repeatedly failed to comply with requests for the information. Chavez' administration has accused oil companies running Venezuela's 32 operating agreements of violating oil contracts for years and failing to pay taxes.

London bomber made one-day Israel visit - official

The government official said Mohammad Sidique Khan, who London police believe blew himself up on an underground train this month, arrived in Israel on Feb. 19, 2003, and left the next day. The official declined to speculate on reasons for the visit.

'No internal inquiry' into blasts

No inquiry is under way into why the London bombers were not picked up by the security services, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer has said.

Pre-attack memo raises pressure on intelligence
Pressure on the country's intelligence services intensified on Tuesday with the leaking of a memo in which they said just weeks before the London bombings that there was no group with the motive and means to attack.The threat assessment report from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), obtained by the New York Times from a foreign intelligence service, also stated that violence in Iraq motivated terrorist-related activity in Britain

Riding Pillion for Attacking Terrorism Is a High-Risk Policy

A study published Monday by the well-known "Chatham House" contradicts Blair. It accuses his policy of alliance with the United States of having supplied a "boost" to al-Qaeda and of having made Great Britain

particularly vulnerable.

“MILITARY / INTELLIGENCE / SECURITY”

Soldiers forced to shout 'bang' as the Army runs out of ammunition UK

Soldiers are facing the undignified prospect of being forced to shout "bang, bang" on military training exercises after an admission by the Army that it is running out of blank ammunition.

THEN, WHERE IS THE TAXPAYER $$ GOING ?

Pentagon Preparing Eastern European Bases for Mideast War
The U.S. Army is conducting joint military exercises this month in Bulgaria and Romania as a key test of Pentagon plans to develop Eastern European bases as staging areas for fighting in the Middle East.-Yahoo News

“ECONOMICS”

Unocal bid highlights globalist-nationalist conflict
In its attempt to portray its conflict with CNOOC as a geopolitical issue, Chevron has brought to the fore the increasingly difficult decisions faced by Washington in responding to China's rising economic power. Writing in US News and World Report, Matthew Benjamin summarized the problem succinctly: "Essentially, the United States and its politicians are learning that globalization is not pain free." -Michael A Weinstein/Asia Times

Unocal's stake in Southeast Asia
First Chevron, now CNOOC: everyone seems to want Unocal's profitable gas and oil assets, which span the world from the Gulf of Mexico to the Caspian Sea. Indeed, Unocal's resources would add a plentiful bounty to any energy company's portfolio, especially in Asia, where increasing demand for oil and gas is having a noticeable effect on regional economies -Jeff Moore/Asia Times

Paul Krugman | Unemployed: The Dropout Puzzle

Many say that the American economy has fully recovered from the 2001 recession because unemployment rates have fallen from JUNE/03 = 6.3% to NOW = 5%.

Berkeley's J. Bradford DeLong writes, "We have four of five indicators telling us that the state of the job market is not that good and only one - the unemployment rate - reading green." We are seeing none of the indicators associated with abundant jobs, like increases in: 1)the payrolls reported by employers, 2)the number of people employed, 3)the length of the average workweek, and 4)wage gains (beyond inflation).

Employment growth has lagged behind population growth over the past four years and the unemployment rate isn't much higher than it was in early 2001. How is that possible? Dr. Bradbury's (Boston Federal Reserve Bank) study suggests that there are at least 1.6M - 5.1M people who aren't counted as unemployed but would take jobs if they were available. Americans aren't considered unemployed unless they are actively looking for work, and a large number of people have dropped out of the official labour force.

It's hard to see where further expansion will come from. We've had four years of extremely loose fiscal and monetary policy to spur spending; tax cuts have pushed the federal budget deep into the red; and a housing bubble that has lifted real estate to ludicrous heights.

If all that wasn't enough to give us a full economic recovery, what will?

Ford 2nd-Qtr Profit Falls 19% on U.S. Sales Decline

Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 U.S. automaker, said second-quarter profit fell 19 percent as its North American auto operations lost money on falling sales of cars and trucks.

Hewlett-Packard to Cut 14,500 Jobs
Personal-computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday said it will cut 14,500 jobs, about 10 percent of its full-time staff, as part of a restructuring plan designed to save $1.9 billion annually

UPDATE 1-US rate futures hit by blunt Greenspan comments

U.S. short-term interest rate futures fell heavily on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the central bank should continue to raise rates. "Our baseline outlook for the U.S. economy is one of sustained economic growth and contained inflation pressures. In our view, realizing this outcome will require the Federal Reserve to continue to remove monetary accommodation,"

“CANADA”

Bilderberg 1996: A close call for thwarting a scheme to partition Canada
As a general rule, Bilderberg meetings are never mentioned in the media, since the mainstream press is fully-owned by the Bilderbergers. The veil of secrecy was torn off on May 30, 1996, the first day of the conference, by a front-page story in one of Canada's most widely read and influential newspapers, the Toronto Star -Daniel Estulin/Online Journal

I SUSPECT THE QUEEN ORDERED CHRETIEN TO ACT

“DEMOCRACY / FREEDOM”

Big Brother Could Be Tracking You

What is most annoying about the GPS in cell phones is that it is there for the government to use to locate you but in most phones, you can't get the information for yourself.

New anti-terror laws for UK, using word 'martyrs' to be criminal offense

Murdock buys blogs

News Corp is bolstering its newly-formed internet unit by spending $580m on Intermix - the company behind blog site myspace.com.

“SOCIETY”

A Place Where Women Rule

Ten years ago, a group of women established the village of Umoja, which means unity in Swahili, on an unwanted field of dry grasslands. The women said they had been raped and, as a result, abandoned by their husbands, who claimed they had shamed their community. What started as a group of homeless women looking for a place of their own became a successful and happy village.

Tattooed Fruit Is on Way

A pear is just a pear, except when it is also a laser-coded information delivery system with advanced security clearance. No one knows exactly when every piece of fruit will be traceable, but the trend is clear: Wal-Mart is already requiring all pallets delivered to its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to be fitted with radio frequency identification tags, so that they can be tracked by a satellite.

Zundel Charged With Hate Crime

“HEALTH / SCIENCE / TECH”

Guidant Says 28,000 Pacemakers May Need Replacement

Guidant Corp., the heart-device maker Johnson & Johnson is buying, said doctors should consider replacing cardiac pacemakers implanted in the chests of 28,000 people worldwide because of a faulty seal.

Senate Approves Crawford to be Permanent FDA Chief
The US Senate by a wide margin yesterday approved Lester Crawford as permanent commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in a roll call vote that came after pointed criticism of the agency's lapses during his tenure.-Boston.com

White House Memo Calls For Slashing Remaining Space Shuttle Flights

Mind affects machines in Princeton basement

balls that go in certain directions on command, water fountains that seem to rise higher with a wish and drums that quicken their beat.

“ENVIRONMENT / EARTH”

GOP Chairmen Face Off on Global Warming

House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-NY) has demanded that another senior Republican, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (TX), call off his investigation of three scientists who have charted Earth's rapid warming in recent decades.

Japan accused of vote-buying on whaling

“WEATHER”

Clinton warns of global warming dangers

GOOD TO SEE CLINTON IS ON TOP OF THINGS

Glacial Cover-Up Won't Stop Global Warming

Switzerland studies show that glaciers there have lost almost a fifth of their total area between 1985 and 2000, at a rate seven times faster than during the entire 123 years up to 1973. Summer skiers now sweep by a patch of white polyethylene as big as a football field against the backdrop of majestic jagged peaks. It works like a picnic cooler, deflecting the summer sun while keeping the contents cool. This year, nearly 40 acres are under wraps in Tyrol's Stubaital, Oeztal, Kaunertal and Pitztal regions -- about 5 percent of the region's ski areas.

World Crop Update: EU Wheat; Canada Weather; India Cotton ...

THINGS DON’T LOOK TOO BAD FOR EUROPE AND AMERICAS

Bizarre season of heat, hail and floods

Scotland Glasgow Fair a washout, rain, cloud, cold.
Southern England Hosepipe ban, waders threatened by drought.
France, Spain, Portugal Drought, tinder-box conditions, big forest fires.
Switzerland, eastern France Hailstones the size of walnuts.
Romania Deadly floods.
Italy Bathers flee toxic algae.
Mexico Hurricane Emily.
Taiwan/China Typhoon Haitang.
Niger Drought threatens thousands with starvation.
Bangladesh Record floods.

Extreme weather in Europe

FRANCE 51 of 96 regions have water limits. WEST: water levels are at lowest since the drought of 1976, SOUTH: swarms of locusts President Chirac has asked farmers abide by restrictions.

SPAIN worst drought since records began in the 1940s. Reduced water reservoirs by 80% Rivers at a third of normal volume. Centre and south believed to have lost half the cereal crop.

PORTUGAL Taps could soon run dry in the tourist-packed Algarve. Two-thirds of the country is in the grip of a record drought. Farmland is turning arid, damaging crops and cattle. Losses are estimated at €1bn.

Guide to Mediterranean heatwave

Algeria : temperatures climb to 50C - Drought is putting crop production by some 2.5 million farmers at risk.

Italy: The temperature has topped 35C The country's crops, especially cereals, are at risk drought

Drought tightens its deadly grip in Europe

The European Commission said last week cereals production in the bloc was likely to fall 10 percent, or 28 million tonnes, this year due to the dry conditions in many countries. In Algeria, some 2.5 million farmers are at risk and in Morroco crops have slumped by 57 percent to 3.6 million tonnes.

Plague of locusts invades France, devouring crops

"There is nothing we can do for the 700 or 800 farmers affected. France is now fighting a plague of hundreds of thousands of locusts which are devouring everything from crops to flowers in village window boxes. The worst invasion by the voracious insects is centered on Saint-Affrique in the Aveyron region where, for the first time since 1987, hundreds of thousands have hatched in the last week. The locust infestation has come amid the serious drought, although ministers insisted yesterday that it was not as bad as during the heatwave in August 2003 when 15,000 people died. the drought problem in France is not yet as critical as in Spain, Portugal and Italy,

Britain faces drought alert

South-east England is at the fringe of the drought that is affecting parts of western Europe. The water supply has become after the driest winter and spring in nearly 30 years. In the eight months from November until June, the counties of Surrey and Sussex had only 58 per cent of their average rainfall for the period; it was their driest winter and spring since 1975-76, and the third driest in nearly 100 years. once-common wading birds that need wet ground have had a catastrophic breeding season in the South-east.

Scorching Heat Around Europe Causes Deaths And Droughts

parts of western Switzerland were swept Monday afternoon by fierce wind and hailstorms. In Geneva, trees were uprooted and broad stretches of vineyards on the shore of Lake Geneva were destroyed.

Famine in Niger - another crisis that could have been prevented

3.5M face starvation. Even in a 'normal' year, around one million people require food aid. This year, however, that figure has more than trebled, because of a continuing lack of water. Two harvests have already failed, and anything which did manage to grow has been devoured by locusts.

Niger children starving to death

Children are dying of starvation in feeding centres in Niger, where 3.6m people face severe food shortages, aid agencies have warned. Aid agency World Vision warns that 10% of the children in the worst affected areas could die.

Climate Only Partly To Blame For Africa Food Woes

From Niger to Zimbabwe, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, crop failure leaves millions hungry. In Southern Africa, the World Food Programme says 10 million will need aid after rains failed. GENERALLY, food production is dominated by small-scale subsistence farmers, using rudimentary techniques are vulnerable to climate shocks such as sudden rain failure.

Climate is not the whole story. In the worst affected countries, war, and illness accentuate the effects of an ever-worsening drought. In Malawi, many farmers are either too sick or have died from AIDS to tend their fields properly and the resulting crop failure leads to an increasing cycle of poverty that leaves them unable to buy seeds or tools. In Eritrea, landmines left over from war with Ethiopia prevent cultivation, conscription removes farmers, rainfall has decreased from 500mm to 200mm (in 10yrs), so that 2/3 of the population now rely on food aid. In Angola, roads have been destroyed by war and neglect, so farmers cannot get their crops to market – 40% of the coffee then rots.

It would help to teach techniques minimising soil erosion and water retention, and ensuring that the right crops are grown in the correct ecology to increase drought resistance (ex. switch from maize to sorghum and millet).

Still, the lack of rain just as crops ripened was devastating. In Zambia: (where agricultural reform was implemented) "This year it wasn't the climate. Up until the early part of the year we thought it would be a normal year. Then the rain just stopped and the country will again need large volumes of food aid." said Catholic Relief Services

Crazy weather strikes across Canada

There has been record flooding and tornado activity in Alberta, violent and destructive thunder-and-lightning storms in Winnipeg, and much of Ontario and parts of Quebec are choked in the swelter of a suffocating heat wave that has produced all-time high temperatures, blackouts and death.

- Windsor: above 30C for 16 days in June, former record of 15 days in 1949.

- Toronto coroner's office has confirmed four heat-related deaths this summer.

- Ontario broke the power consumption record last week - 26,170 megawatts

- Quebec 400,000 people were without electricity on Sunday.

- Alberta has received 150% of its normal seasonal precipitation

- Winnipeg had two thunderstorms Sunday with 100 mm rain, winds that levelled hundreds of trees

Winnipeg suffers damage after intense storm

in parts of Manitoba's capital city almost 90 millimetres of rain fell within 40 minutes. Wind speeds hit more than 110 kilometres per hour. City power outages were "very, very widespread. Most areas in the city have been affected. There are some areas that have hydro poles that are either sheared off the top, or just brought down at the base of the pole." This is the province's wettest summer in decades, and has destroyed about 20 per cent of cropland, leaving it too wet to farm.

Fires rage in Quebec after hot, dry spell

Quebec is experiencing its worst forest-fire season since 1932, perhaps the third worst year since we began keeping records in 1922. Fires have burned close to 4,000 square kilometres.

You see things and say ‘why’?

But I dream of things that never were and I say: ‘why not’?

George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah, Part 1, Act 1

Part of the Ministry of Doug Bracewell