Statistics on US Professors: Liberals outnumber conservatives 18 to one at Brown University. At Cornell University, the number is even higher, with liberals outnumbering conservatives more than 26 times. Penn State displayed a bit more balance, with the ratio of liberals to conservatives being six to one. Even the smallest disparity, at the University of Houston, had a ratio of three liberals to one conservative.
Of the 166 professors examined at Cornell University, only six were conservatives, with no conservatives at all in the fields of history and sociology. There were likewise no conservatives in these fields at Brown University.
Some of the largest disparities were found in the University of California system. UCLA, for instance, has only nine conservatives for 141 liberals. UC-Santa Barbara had only one conservative professor in the 73 examined. At the four UC schools surveyed, there were only five conservative political science professors compared to 90 liberals.
At UC-Berkeley, only seven of the 66 professors noted were conservatives, with none in the department of sociology. "It's not surprising to a lot of the more conservative students on campus because you often find classes where it seems very apparent," the editor-in-chief of Berkeley's student newspaper The California Patriot, James Gallagher, told Campus Report. "The problem is, a professor has the right to be in any party, ideology they want to be. But when they let ideology come over into their teaching that's when we have a problem.... Because there is such a bias, because there are so many professors who do identify with more of the Left that you have a lot of professors out there who let their ideology interfere with how they teach a class. That's not really learning, that's not really seeking any truth."
"Conservatives are exposed to [prejudice] because we are a minority. And as a minority you just have to be prepared to defend yourself," Berkeley Political Science Professor A. James Gregor told Campus Report. He thinks that conservative professors are a "minority" and that in his own experience Berkeley has gone out of its way to attract liberal professors. "All these things I think are in-house problems in any academic institution. Most of conservatives are located in the natural sciences because they don't have to deal with popular opinions, prejudices, and so forth. In the talky, chatty sciences, you find liberal thought."
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Final Exam on Option 1
The Dominant Social Paradigm: In “What” You Trust?
My best friend sometimes surprises me with his remark that black people in America are being treated with more privileges than white in the public sphere. The thing that irritates me most is the way he says it in a matter-of-factly tone. My response is always the same: “Are you crazy? Do you know how white people discriminate, hate and humiliate other minority ethnic groups here?” As each word is spilt out of my mouth, there is an ambiguous feeling that keeps nagging at my brain. Where did this perception come from? Is it my own knowledge or the knowledge that passed by me as randomly as an early breeze? Indeed, knowledge is not what is born but created. In this sense, human’s mind works in a way that not only complicates the whole social picture, it creates layer upon layer of illusion and fallacy. What one person perceives as the truth, or reality, might not be the truth as others see it. Then, what is really the truth when the statistical truth can be a source of subjective lies by itself? This uncertainty is ultimately the starting point where divisions and conflicts arise. So, who am I to further exacerbate this state of being by leaning on one reality against another? Thus, the assertion that “The “dominant social paradigm” has little to do with reality, which it claims to portray. It is an ideological device that blunts moral reactions to injustice and cruelty; diverts attention from real human empowerment onto consumerism, money, and the power to disempower others; terrorizes the population with over-represented and graphic depictions of violence; atrophies the capacity to imagine and act thoughtfully and responsibly on what one imagines; sustains a form of American, upper class, white, male, supremicism that makes everyone else pay for the terror and denial of vulnerabilities and complex inner emotional realities; and encourages all of the subjects of the supremicism to participate in their own form of denial by commodifying their souls. The “DSP” is a distorted holographic projection of unreality which threatens to destroy reality altogether.” is both reasonable and unreasonable to me at the same time. As in academics, I will go along with the statistical truth of numerical analysis.
First, it is impetuous to link the assumption above with the “dominant social paradigm” without having a thoroughful understanding of the definition of “DSP” in American society today. The “DSP” is as bleak as ever in such a dynamic, changing environment where new generation after generation is instilled with disdain toward the past. It is not surprising that the traditional structures of society are at the mercy of the people who overtly question them. It is the fact that criticisms and calls for change often emanate from personal and systematical confusion rather than the quest for a betterment of human lives that nullify the authentication of the calling. The “dominant social paradigm” is the set of common values, beliefs, and shared wisdoms about the physical and social environments that constitutes a society’s basic worldview. The DSP diffuses itself through institutional socialization on the basis of inter-generation transmission. The DSP also provides general guidance for individual and social behavior. But the thing that really invokes the inquisition into its benevolent nature is because DSP serves to legitimate and justify institutions and practices in society, hence, functions as an ideology. Yes, people these days have problems with ideology. DSP is not restricted to some simple concepts of social norms and structures as most people think it should be. DSP is more than just gender roles, religious values, and social etiquettes. The established DSP contains six major areas with each area associated with some important categories. The six major areas revolve around Core Values, Economy, Polity, Society, Nature and Knowledge. All six areas are concerned with specific categories such as Core Values indulges material (economic growth), natural environment valued as a resource, and domination over nature; Economy exults market forces, risk and reward, rewards for achievement, differentials, and individual self-help; Polity promotes authoritarian structures for experts influential, hierarchical, law and order; Society is perceived as centralized, large scale, associational, and ordered; Nature is seen as having ample reserves, nature hostile/neutral, and the environment is controllable; Knowledge imbues us with confidence in science and technology, rationality of means, and separation of thought/feeling and fact/value.
For all that matters, the DSP has a lot to do with reality which renders the main assumption unreasonable. The fact that people are obsessed with material, resource consumption, and the disposition to win over nature is undeniable. The heralded alternative paradigm (AP) is obviously incongruous and implausible in regard of the current state of human nature. AP is supposedly designed to convey a nirvana state of immaterial, environment blending, and harmony with nature that do not exist in our earthly world. For no matter how much society tries to decry the desire and greed of getting wealthy and wealthier, people are still vying for a materialistic life even at the cost of reducing spiritual wealth. People have a tendency to attack other people’s wealth out of jealousy but when the same people become rich themselves and surrounded by materials, they reveal the same kind of behaviors. Hypocrisy is at a high level whereas the most vocal proponents of AP; or to tell the truth, the DSP opponents are the people that fundamentally revert to their old-selves. Was it not Al Gore trying to blame everybody for neglecting global warming while his private house consumes an amount of electricity that shocks even his peers? Was it not some of the Oxfam members I saw throwing food around the table during lunch and left many half-eaten only days after hunger awareness? Or was I wrong at the fact that almost all people in this country are extremely proud of overcoming the nature or fate, or whatever constraints they perceive? On the other hand, natural environment regarded as resources is the reason that there are many conflicts and wars in the world today. In “Resource Wars,” Klare focuses exclusively on the claiming for ownership or purchasing influence, and rights to transport of and access to natural resources all over the world by many different countries and entities as a path to wealth. Recent and future conflicts are directly or indirectly derived from the greed for resources as economization of security, increasing worldwide demand, scarcity of resources, and ownership disputes are driving resources to become more critical to global conflicts than we may think. In “Blood Diamonds” the storyline is connected to the business of trading natural diamonds in Africa. Diamonds are valuable resources that are being dried up by the people. This true statement about resources is enhanced by another book by Klare: “Blood for oil” in which the historic tie between the US and Saudi over oil was discovered. “Syriana” is another movie which link human greed to resources.
In recent developments, there is an increasing resistance against DSP with accusation that the system bends moral reactions to injustice and cruelty. I believe there is truth in this bold statement. In the area of Economy, the toleration of the people about globalization can be traced directly to DSP. Globalization has become more of a struggle between the Global Haves and the Global Have-nots as multi-national corporations are gaining more and more power over the states and across borders. In this sense, globalization is highly connected and even continuous with the imperialism of prior centuries. As in the colonization process, globalization gives corporations from other countries the rights to exploit human and natural resources of a local country. The difference is only states being replaced by private sector. While globalization is making the economic gap between the rich and the poor wider than ever, DSP is creating an atmosphere of achievement and success for smart people who deserve to be rewarded. “The yes men” are a typical realization of the anti-DSP in action in which they dispose the dark side of globalization in a satirical way. “The yes men” laugh at the naïve compliance of the majority of intelligent people to whatever they hear from the World Trade Organization. Nevertheless, there is more to this issue because everything happens will include a trade-off. While some people might be worse off, many others will have a chance to improve their lives. The object view is to look at the aggregate picture to see if the living standard for average people is better or not.
In “The Pentagon’s New Map”, Barnett employs the reasoning of economic differentials in the DSP between the functional Core and the non-integrating Gap, the two parts of the world, as the primary reason for current and future conflicts. The Core, economically advanced countries bound together by the norms of international trade, is separated from the poor Gap where countries are either hesitant or forthrightly hostile toward opening up for international trade. This difference is to be used to placate and explain why past, current and future conflicts between the twos are justified and inescapable. Closely-related to this dividing strategy is Derek Gregory’s notion of imagined geographies in “Colonial Present”. Under imagined geographies, the world is cut into half, occupied by the Occident, or the Core, and the Orient, the Gap. The Occident tries to negatively depict or dehumanize the Orient in a way that greatly distances the twos. The people inside the Occident will eventually see the people in the Orient through this glass. The subjective view of the Occident proceeds to Orientalism, spawning hatreds and conflicts while pacifying people to be complicit with the infliction of violence and injustice on the people from the other side; vice versa.
More than anything, the concept of society in DSP is the inflammatory topic that induces much contempt and apprehension. The importance and influence of the nation-states’ identity and the affiliation of civilizations among countries have always played an integral part in turning people against peace, justice as well as moral conscience. In the history of human being, most people have always put their national identity above the empathy towards other people. The genocide of the Jews in WWII was known but ignored by most Germans. The Palestine-Israel conflict has continuously produced bloodshed for both sizes but the citizens of the respective countries have barely raised their voices out of their dedication for the country. What is currently happening in Iraq and Afghanistan where hundreds of thousands of people are being killed get a blind eye from many Americans who think that the wars serve properly the “National Security Strategy of The United States” and the country’s interest. The association of people to classes and structures has indeed propelled contemporary global conflict of cultural difference as well. These days, people lose their appetite on humanity by frequently hearing things such as “Clash of Civilizations” or “Jihad vs McWorld” all the time.
Another dimension of society which profligates injustice and cruelty is the “power elite” in accordance with the Polity area of DSP; the elite are said to be the powerful and wealthy families who have a strong influence in American politics or the small group of upper-classes who hold the decision-making ability and the associated privileges. Because of the belief in rigid structure of the world order, of hierarchical, and of expert’s influential knowledge, the majority of people tolerate the elite because the system instills in people a hunch that the elite are meant to be on the top and that having them in control is actually a boon. Ostensibly, this social dissonance between the less privilege and the elite is explored carefully in the book “Power”. Historically, even in progressive countries like the US, where the masses have much more voices in determining their power over the basic rights and freedoms of self-interests, the power allocated to these people are very limited. Because the people in power, out of their self-interest, will try to create and preserve more power for themselves, this behavior comes at an expense of other unprivileged people who normally comprise the majority of a society. This is injustice. People might jump right on the bandwagon and declare that the country needs Marxism. Marxism, nonetheless, died because it was impractical. Marxism sees only opposite interests between the upper and the working classes leading to class struggle while downgrading other options and opportunities for change. Strategically, authoritarian structures can utilize power to disempower others. Electoral voting system, the tyranny of the majority, welfare reform, and regulation of labors are typical means that are used by governments or businesses to limit power distribution to the mass.
In “Peace by Peaceful Means”, Galtung refers to the Polity influence on violence as part of the indirect violence. Cultures to legitimate and structural violence are the two major types of this Macro level. Galtung’s suggestion for a solution is a radical, complete change to positive peace. Moreover, the skepticism about DSP can also be found in his analysis of Patriarchy, or the domination of male violence in the relationship with female. Galtung constructs female as high empathy-horizontal-centripetal disposes for peace; and male as low empathy-vertical-centrifugal for violence. Galtung chastises society for failure to perceive the reality of patriarchy, which can turn to direct, structural, and cultural violence. To Galtung, DSP helps ingrain and develop the perception of male sexuality and male aggressiveness which contribute greatly to various forms of violence today.
When it comes to consumerism and money, media commercials are not to be extricated. Marx is also well-known for his theory of “The Fetishism of The Commodity” in “Power”, which discusses the pursuit of happiness through materials. Materialism is always at the forefront of the motivation for consumption. People’s lives are gradually attached to the flow of products as the level of greed and requirements increase overtime. In "No Logo", Mrs Klein points out the fact that American corporations have created ideas and lifestyles in reflection with products to penetrate deep into the everyday life of the normal consumers. This strategy is very important to the successful consumerization of the society by corporations.
As it does to consumerism, the media plays a critical rule in forming the mind of our society today. The accusation that DSP “terrorizes the population with over-represented and graphic depictions of violence; atrophies the capacity to imagine and act thoughtfully and responsibly on what one imagines” can be partly attained to the constant reminding of the threat of terrorism by the media, the depiction of black people committing crime on “Cops”, and the promotion of gun culture in the country. Determined by this vision, Michael Moore set off with a movie called “Bowling for Columbine” in which he attacked everything from the TV show on Fox, the NRA to the gun culture, hissing at the so-called DSP.
In reality, the movies was proved to be full of falsehood and inaccuracies, but the most surprising to me is that I can not see any people criticizes DSP of the sex and violence on TV, internet, video games. Moreover, it would be ridiculous to say that the current DSP still portrays “a form of American, upper class, white, male, supremicism that makes everyone else pay for the terror and denial of vulnerabilities and complex inner emotional realities; and encourages all of the subjects of the supremicism to participate in their own form of denial by commodifying their souls” because the prevalent evidences show that black are recognized as equally as white at least in the public agenda. For example, The Duke rape case ends up with no black reverends even attempt a sorry sentence while Imus was fired immediately after his somehow derogatory comment on young black girls.
After all, people can see that there are many flaws with the current DSP. However, these flaws are not the results of the system; they are the results of the misinterpretation or intentional distortion of human’s mind. For example, DSP is more about the naturally biological strength of male’s bodies rather than the emphasis on aggressiveness. In avoiding the fact that not all are created equal, the critics of DSP undermine the process of nature in our lives. For our society to progress, we must not only try to change but know why, how and in what way that the change will result in the betterment of our lives. To go wailing about problems that come from personal perception for personal selfish objective should be rejected!
My best friend sometimes surprises me with his remark that black people in America are being treated with more privileges than white in the public sphere. The thing that irritates me most is the way he says it in a matter-of-factly tone. My response is always the same: “Are you crazy? Do you know how white people discriminate, hate and humiliate other minority ethnic groups here?” As each word is spilt out of my mouth, there is an ambiguous feeling that keeps nagging at my brain. Where did this perception come from? Is it my own knowledge or the knowledge that passed by me as randomly as an early breeze? Indeed, knowledge is not what is born but created. In this sense, human’s mind works in a way that not only complicates the whole social picture, it creates layer upon layer of illusion and fallacy. What one person perceives as the truth, or reality, might not be the truth as others see it. Then, what is really the truth when the statistical truth can be a source of subjective lies by itself? This uncertainty is ultimately the starting point where divisions and conflicts arise. So, who am I to further exacerbate this state of being by leaning on one reality against another? Thus, the assertion that “The “dominant social paradigm” has little to do with reality, which it claims to portray. It is an ideological device that blunts moral reactions to injustice and cruelty; diverts attention from real human empowerment onto consumerism, money, and the power to disempower others; terrorizes the population with over-represented and graphic depictions of violence; atrophies the capacity to imagine and act thoughtfully and responsibly on what one imagines; sustains a form of American, upper class, white, male, supremicism that makes everyone else pay for the terror and denial of vulnerabilities and complex inner emotional realities; and encourages all of the subjects of the supremicism to participate in their own form of denial by commodifying their souls. The “DSP” is a distorted holographic projection of unreality which threatens to destroy reality altogether.” is both reasonable and unreasonable to me at the same time. As in academics, I will go along with the statistical truth of numerical analysis.
First, it is impetuous to link the assumption above with the “dominant social paradigm” without having a thoroughful understanding of the definition of “DSP” in American society today. The “DSP” is as bleak as ever in such a dynamic, changing environment where new generation after generation is instilled with disdain toward the past. It is not surprising that the traditional structures of society are at the mercy of the people who overtly question them. It is the fact that criticisms and calls for change often emanate from personal and systematical confusion rather than the quest for a betterment of human lives that nullify the authentication of the calling. The “dominant social paradigm” is the set of common values, beliefs, and shared wisdoms about the physical and social environments that constitutes a society’s basic worldview. The DSP diffuses itself through institutional socialization on the basis of inter-generation transmission. The DSP also provides general guidance for individual and social behavior. But the thing that really invokes the inquisition into its benevolent nature is because DSP serves to legitimate and justify institutions and practices in society, hence, functions as an ideology. Yes, people these days have problems with ideology. DSP is not restricted to some simple concepts of social norms and structures as most people think it should be. DSP is more than just gender roles, religious values, and social etiquettes. The established DSP contains six major areas with each area associated with some important categories. The six major areas revolve around Core Values, Economy, Polity, Society, Nature and Knowledge. All six areas are concerned with specific categories such as Core Values indulges material (economic growth), natural environment valued as a resource, and domination over nature; Economy exults market forces, risk and reward, rewards for achievement, differentials, and individual self-help; Polity promotes authoritarian structures for experts influential, hierarchical, law and order; Society is perceived as centralized, large scale, associational, and ordered; Nature is seen as having ample reserves, nature hostile/neutral, and the environment is controllable; Knowledge imbues us with confidence in science and technology, rationality of means, and separation of thought/feeling and fact/value.
For all that matters, the DSP has a lot to do with reality which renders the main assumption unreasonable. The fact that people are obsessed with material, resource consumption, and the disposition to win over nature is undeniable. The heralded alternative paradigm (AP) is obviously incongruous and implausible in regard of the current state of human nature. AP is supposedly designed to convey a nirvana state of immaterial, environment blending, and harmony with nature that do not exist in our earthly world. For no matter how much society tries to decry the desire and greed of getting wealthy and wealthier, people are still vying for a materialistic life even at the cost of reducing spiritual wealth. People have a tendency to attack other people’s wealth out of jealousy but when the same people become rich themselves and surrounded by materials, they reveal the same kind of behaviors. Hypocrisy is at a high level whereas the most vocal proponents of AP; or to tell the truth, the DSP opponents are the people that fundamentally revert to their old-selves. Was it not Al Gore trying to blame everybody for neglecting global warming while his private house consumes an amount of electricity that shocks even his peers? Was it not some of the Oxfam members I saw throwing food around the table during lunch and left many half-eaten only days after hunger awareness? Or was I wrong at the fact that almost all people in this country are extremely proud of overcoming the nature or fate, or whatever constraints they perceive? On the other hand, natural environment regarded as resources is the reason that there are many conflicts and wars in the world today. In “Resource Wars,” Klare focuses exclusively on the claiming for ownership or purchasing influence, and rights to transport of and access to natural resources all over the world by many different countries and entities as a path to wealth. Recent and future conflicts are directly or indirectly derived from the greed for resources as economization of security, increasing worldwide demand, scarcity of resources, and ownership disputes are driving resources to become more critical to global conflicts than we may think. In “Blood Diamonds” the storyline is connected to the business of trading natural diamonds in Africa. Diamonds are valuable resources that are being dried up by the people. This true statement about resources is enhanced by another book by Klare: “Blood for oil” in which the historic tie between the US and Saudi over oil was discovered. “Syriana” is another movie which link human greed to resources.
In recent developments, there is an increasing resistance against DSP with accusation that the system bends moral reactions to injustice and cruelty. I believe there is truth in this bold statement. In the area of Economy, the toleration of the people about globalization can be traced directly to DSP. Globalization has become more of a struggle between the Global Haves and the Global Have-nots as multi-national corporations are gaining more and more power over the states and across borders. In this sense, globalization is highly connected and even continuous with the imperialism of prior centuries. As in the colonization process, globalization gives corporations from other countries the rights to exploit human and natural resources of a local country. The difference is only states being replaced by private sector. While globalization is making the economic gap between the rich and the poor wider than ever, DSP is creating an atmosphere of achievement and success for smart people who deserve to be rewarded. “The yes men” are a typical realization of the anti-DSP in action in which they dispose the dark side of globalization in a satirical way. “The yes men” laugh at the naïve compliance of the majority of intelligent people to whatever they hear from the World Trade Organization. Nevertheless, there is more to this issue because everything happens will include a trade-off. While some people might be worse off, many others will have a chance to improve their lives. The object view is to look at the aggregate picture to see if the living standard for average people is better or not.
In “The Pentagon’s New Map”, Barnett employs the reasoning of economic differentials in the DSP between the functional Core and the non-integrating Gap, the two parts of the world, as the primary reason for current and future conflicts. The Core, economically advanced countries bound together by the norms of international trade, is separated from the poor Gap where countries are either hesitant or forthrightly hostile toward opening up for international trade. This difference is to be used to placate and explain why past, current and future conflicts between the twos are justified and inescapable. Closely-related to this dividing strategy is Derek Gregory’s notion of imagined geographies in “Colonial Present”. Under imagined geographies, the world is cut into half, occupied by the Occident, or the Core, and the Orient, the Gap. The Occident tries to negatively depict or dehumanize the Orient in a way that greatly distances the twos. The people inside the Occident will eventually see the people in the Orient through this glass. The subjective view of the Occident proceeds to Orientalism, spawning hatreds and conflicts while pacifying people to be complicit with the infliction of violence and injustice on the people from the other side; vice versa.
More than anything, the concept of society in DSP is the inflammatory topic that induces much contempt and apprehension. The importance and influence of the nation-states’ identity and the affiliation of civilizations among countries have always played an integral part in turning people against peace, justice as well as moral conscience. In the history of human being, most people have always put their national identity above the empathy towards other people. The genocide of the Jews in WWII was known but ignored by most Germans. The Palestine-Israel conflict has continuously produced bloodshed for both sizes but the citizens of the respective countries have barely raised their voices out of their dedication for the country. What is currently happening in Iraq and Afghanistan where hundreds of thousands of people are being killed get a blind eye from many Americans who think that the wars serve properly the “National Security Strategy of The United States” and the country’s interest. The association of people to classes and structures has indeed propelled contemporary global conflict of cultural difference as well. These days, people lose their appetite on humanity by frequently hearing things such as “Clash of Civilizations” or “Jihad vs McWorld” all the time.
Another dimension of society which profligates injustice and cruelty is the “power elite” in accordance with the Polity area of DSP; the elite are said to be the powerful and wealthy families who have a strong influence in American politics or the small group of upper-classes who hold the decision-making ability and the associated privileges. Because of the belief in rigid structure of the world order, of hierarchical, and of expert’s influential knowledge, the majority of people tolerate the elite because the system instills in people a hunch that the elite are meant to be on the top and that having them in control is actually a boon. Ostensibly, this social dissonance between the less privilege and the elite is explored carefully in the book “Power”. Historically, even in progressive countries like the US, where the masses have much more voices in determining their power over the basic rights and freedoms of self-interests, the power allocated to these people are very limited. Because the people in power, out of their self-interest, will try to create and preserve more power for themselves, this behavior comes at an expense of other unprivileged people who normally comprise the majority of a society. This is injustice. People might jump right on the bandwagon and declare that the country needs Marxism. Marxism, nonetheless, died because it was impractical. Marxism sees only opposite interests between the upper and the working classes leading to class struggle while downgrading other options and opportunities for change. Strategically, authoritarian structures can utilize power to disempower others. Electoral voting system, the tyranny of the majority, welfare reform, and regulation of labors are typical means that are used by governments or businesses to limit power distribution to the mass.
In “Peace by Peaceful Means”, Galtung refers to the Polity influence on violence as part of the indirect violence. Cultures to legitimate and structural violence are the two major types of this Macro level. Galtung’s suggestion for a solution is a radical, complete change to positive peace. Moreover, the skepticism about DSP can also be found in his analysis of Patriarchy, or the domination of male violence in the relationship with female. Galtung constructs female as high empathy-horizontal-centripetal disposes for peace; and male as low empathy-vertical-centrifugal for violence. Galtung chastises society for failure to perceive the reality of patriarchy, which can turn to direct, structural, and cultural violence. To Galtung, DSP helps ingrain and develop the perception of male sexuality and male aggressiveness which contribute greatly to various forms of violence today.
When it comes to consumerism and money, media commercials are not to be extricated. Marx is also well-known for his theory of “The Fetishism of The Commodity” in “Power”, which discusses the pursuit of happiness through materials. Materialism is always at the forefront of the motivation for consumption. People’s lives are gradually attached to the flow of products as the level of greed and requirements increase overtime. In "No Logo", Mrs Klein points out the fact that American corporations have created ideas and lifestyles in reflection with products to penetrate deep into the everyday life of the normal consumers. This strategy is very important to the successful consumerization of the society by corporations.
As it does to consumerism, the media plays a critical rule in forming the mind of our society today. The accusation that DSP “terrorizes the population with over-represented and graphic depictions of violence; atrophies the capacity to imagine and act thoughtfully and responsibly on what one imagines” can be partly attained to the constant reminding of the threat of terrorism by the media, the depiction of black people committing crime on “Cops”, and the promotion of gun culture in the country. Determined by this vision, Michael Moore set off with a movie called “Bowling for Columbine” in which he attacked everything from the TV show on Fox, the NRA to the gun culture, hissing at the so-called DSP.
In reality, the movies was proved to be full of falsehood and inaccuracies, but the most surprising to me is that I can not see any people criticizes DSP of the sex and violence on TV, internet, video games. Moreover, it would be ridiculous to say that the current DSP still portrays “a form of American, upper class, white, male, supremicism that makes everyone else pay for the terror and denial of vulnerabilities and complex inner emotional realities; and encourages all of the subjects of the supremicism to participate in their own form of denial by commodifying their souls” because the prevalent evidences show that black are recognized as equally as white at least in the public agenda. For example, The Duke rape case ends up with no black reverends even attempt a sorry sentence while Imus was fired immediately after his somehow derogatory comment on young black girls.
After all, people can see that there are many flaws with the current DSP. However, these flaws are not the results of the system; they are the results of the misinterpretation or intentional distortion of human’s mind. For example, DSP is more about the naturally biological strength of male’s bodies rather than the emphasis on aggressiveness. In avoiding the fact that not all are created equal, the critics of DSP undermine the process of nature in our lives. For our society to progress, we must not only try to change but know why, how and in what way that the change will result in the betterment of our lives. To go wailing about problems that come from personal perception for personal selfish objective should be rejected!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Finland Agrarian reform
During the interwar years Finland, to a much greater extent than the rest of the Nordic countries, was an agrarian country. In 1918, 70 percent of the population was employed in agriculture and forestry, and by 1940 the figure was still as high as 57 percent. Paper and wooden articles were Finland's most important export commodities. By the Smallholdings Law of 1918 and by land reform in 1922, which allowed the expropriation of estates of more than 495 acres (200 hectares), an attempt was made to give tenant farmers and landless labourers their own smallholdings. More than 90,000 smallholdings were created, and since then the independent smallholders, who form the majority of the Agrarian Party (now the Centre Party), have been a major factor in Finnish politics.
www.britannica.com/eb/article-26099/Finland
www.britannica.com/eb/article-26099/Finland
Somalia: News Collection
During this time of heightened debate and crisis over the war on terrorism all over the world, Somalia is one of the battlefields that involves both antagonists forces continously in motion. The new deadly attack in a failed assassination attempt on Somalia's transitional president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, left eleven people killed, with the president's brother and six of the attackers among the dead. This incident is just a small examples of a series of terrorist attacks in the country in the recent years including one of my previous post in this blog. The list of recent terrorist attacks in Somalia can be found at: via Guardian Unlimited.
With the backing of the US and a representative of Christianity, Ethiopia collides against Eritrea, a Muslim country which is trying to impose influence on Somalia and mobilize an uprising of Islam by supporting Islamic forces in nearby countries. These two countries are threatening to rift apart not only Somalia but the East African bloc as a whole. Links: Available on Topix from Reuters.
Nearly 400 people were killed in recent clashes because of the escalation of fighting in Mogadishu despite the presence of the African Union peacekeeping force. In response to this tragedy, some Civil society organisations in Somalia have launched a campaign to help thousands of desperate civilians displaced by the fighting. The volunteer groups, including many business organizations, are driving food, medicines and water to many refugee camps between Mogadishu and Afgoye, south of the capital. These groups believe they have to act quickly as they can not continue to passively wait for the international help from groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Danish Refugee Council and Daryeel Bulsho Guud (a local NGO backed by German agencies). Links: via AllAfrica.com.
Some developments in the conflict include a new cease-fire in Mogadishu and many neutral contact groups on Somalia calling for reconciliation between the transitional government and the Muslim insurgency. Links can be found at: via Australian Broadcasting Corporation and via The Norway Post
With the backing of the US and a representative of Christianity, Ethiopia collides against Eritrea, a Muslim country which is trying to impose influence on Somalia and mobilize an uprising of Islam by supporting Islamic forces in nearby countries. These two countries are threatening to rift apart not only Somalia but the East African bloc as a whole. Links: Available on Topix from Reuters.
Nearly 400 people were killed in recent clashes because of the escalation of fighting in Mogadishu despite the presence of the African Union peacekeeping force. In response to this tragedy, some Civil society organisations in Somalia have launched a campaign to help thousands of desperate civilians displaced by the fighting. The volunteer groups, including many business organizations, are driving food, medicines and water to many refugee camps between Mogadishu and Afgoye, south of the capital. These groups believe they have to act quickly as they can not continue to passively wait for the international help from groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Danish Refugee Council and Daryeel Bulsho Guud (a local NGO backed by German agencies). Links: via AllAfrica.com.
Some developments in the conflict include a new cease-fire in Mogadishu and many neutral contact groups on Somalia calling for reconciliation between the transitional government and the Muslim insurgency. Links can be found at: via Australian Broadcasting Corporation and via The Norway Post
Sunday, April 15, 2007
SOMALIA Week 12 updated
The future of this country is very bleak now as fightings are still widespread around the country. The forces that drive the war are still very hostile towards each other and the conflicts are very hard to settle. Unless there is a significant change in the mindset of all participating sides: the extreme Islamic army and the Transitional Government-Ethiopia coalition, the war will last for a long time and will displace more and more people out of the country or into complete poverty. On the other hand, if the United Nation pays more attention to the country and its dilemma, there is a chance that the problem can be solved or a truce can be achieved. Under current circumstances, the prospect is minimal.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Mogadishu clashes 'killed 1,000'
More than 1,000 people have been killed in recent clashes in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, according to elders from the city's main clan.
Hawiye clan spokesman Hussein Aden Korgab also said more than 4,000 had been injured in some of the heaviest fighting in 15 years.
The clashes came as the government and Ethiopian soldiers battled insurgents - both Islamists and Hawiye fighters.
Meanwhile, Eritrea has confirmed that a Somali Islamist leader is there.
The Union of Islamic Courts was driven out of Mogadishu in December by an alliance of Somalia's transitional government and Ethiopia.
Eritrea, Ethiopia's regional rival, has always denied backing the Islamists but has now admitted that Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has held talks with President Isaias Afewerki in Asmara.
"We are not all prepared to allow invaders to trample upon our sacred rights and bring us under submission," he said, according to a statement on the website of Eritrea's information ministry.
Somalia has not had an effective national government for 16 years.
War crimes probe
BBC Somali service editor Yusuf Garaad says the figure of more than 1,000 dead does not come as a surprise as heavy artillery were used in residential areas during the fighting.
Most of the clashes took place near the main stadium in Mogadishu and al-Kamin neighbourhood in the south of the capital, according to human rights groups.
African Union troops are supposed to replace the Ethiopians"We assessed battle fields, spoke to civilians, visited hospital and areas that were affected by the clashes," Mr Korgab told the AFP news agency, explaining how the clan elders reached a figure for the number of casualties.
The United Nations refugee agency says some 124,000 people have fled the city.
Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer while on a visit in Somalia accused Eritrea of destabilising Somalia, by backing the insurgents.
Ms Frazer who met the president and prime minister in Baidoa, called for a permanent ceasefire to be established through dialogue between the interim government and affected communities.
The European Union representative in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Eric van der Linden, has called for investigations to establish if the Ethiopian and Somali forces committed war crimes during the fighting.
Hawiye clan elders and commanders from Ethiopian forces are expected to hold further talks on Tuesday about their implementing the ceasefire they agreed last week.
But fears are high that fighting could be imminent following reports that both sides have been digging trenches in parts of the city they control.
African Union (AU) troops are supposed to be replacing the Ethiopian soldiers but so far only 1,200 Ugandans have arrived, of the planned 8,000-strong force.
Hawiye clan spokesman Hussein Aden Korgab also said more than 4,000 had been injured in some of the heaviest fighting in 15 years.
The clashes came as the government and Ethiopian soldiers battled insurgents - both Islamists and Hawiye fighters.
Meanwhile, Eritrea has confirmed that a Somali Islamist leader is there.
The Union of Islamic Courts was driven out of Mogadishu in December by an alliance of Somalia's transitional government and Ethiopia.
Eritrea, Ethiopia's regional rival, has always denied backing the Islamists but has now admitted that Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has held talks with President Isaias Afewerki in Asmara.
"We are not all prepared to allow invaders to trample upon our sacred rights and bring us under submission," he said, according to a statement on the website of Eritrea's information ministry.
Somalia has not had an effective national government for 16 years.
War crimes probe
BBC Somali service editor Yusuf Garaad says the figure of more than 1,000 dead does not come as a surprise as heavy artillery were used in residential areas during the fighting.
Most of the clashes took place near the main stadium in Mogadishu and al-Kamin neighbourhood in the south of the capital, according to human rights groups.
African Union troops are supposed to replace the Ethiopians"We assessed battle fields, spoke to civilians, visited hospital and areas that were affected by the clashes," Mr Korgab told the AFP news agency, explaining how the clan elders reached a figure for the number of casualties.
The United Nations refugee agency says some 124,000 people have fled the city.
Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer while on a visit in Somalia accused Eritrea of destabilising Somalia, by backing the insurgents.
Ms Frazer who met the president and prime minister in Baidoa, called for a permanent ceasefire to be established through dialogue between the interim government and affected communities.
The European Union representative in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Eric van der Linden, has called for investigations to establish if the Ethiopian and Somali forces committed war crimes during the fighting.
Hawiye clan elders and commanders from Ethiopian forces are expected to hold further talks on Tuesday about their implementing the ceasefire they agreed last week.
But fears are high that fighting could be imminent following reports that both sides have been digging trenches in parts of the city they control.
African Union (AU) troops are supposed to be replacing the Ethiopian soldiers but so far only 1,200 Ugandans have arrived, of the planned 8,000-strong force.
SOMALIA Week 11 updated
Somalia is taking its part in a partnership for sustainable development with the African Union Initiative On Promotion and Development and the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles in the region. Also, the country is also a close member of the Food Administration Organization. Development priorities for the partnership between Somaliland and UNDP for 2007: democratic governance, rule of law and security and poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods; with HIV and AIDS, gender and human rights as cross-cutting themes are topics of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2007. The development bank also gives good credit to the nation:
In million UA
African Development Bank Group 2004
1967-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals -150.77
Loan and Grant Disbursements-83.78
African Development Bank
2004
1967-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals
-
7.87
Loan and Grant Disbursements
-
7.18
African Development Fund
2004
1974-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals
-
136.90
Loan and Grant Disbursements
-
75.69
Nigeria Trust Fund
2004
1976-2004
Loan Approvals
-
6.00
Loan Disbursements
-
0.90
In million UA
African Development Bank Group 2004
1967-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals -150.77
Loan and Grant Disbursements-83.78
African Development Bank
2004
1967-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals
-
7.87
Loan and Grant Disbursements
-
7.18
African Development Fund
2004
1974-2004
Loan and Grant Approvals
-
136.90
Loan and Grant Disbursements
-
75.69
Nigeria Trust Fund
2004
1976-2004
Loan Approvals
-
6.00
Loan Disbursements
-
0.90
Sunday, April 1, 2007
SOMALIA Week 10 updated
Somalia has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the region with an average on total population: 48.47 years; male: 46.71 years; female: 50.28 years (2006 est.). Somalia continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, with 10% of children dying at birth and 25% of those surviving birth dying before age five. The number is on total: 114.89 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 124.18 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 105.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.). But on the other hand Somalia also has one of the lowest HIV infection rates in Africa: 1% (2001 est.) or 43,000 (2001 est.) of people living with HIV. In education, with the collapse of the central government in 1991, the education system is now private. Quranic schools also known as duqsi's remain the basic system of instruction for religion in Somalia. They provide Islamic education for children, thereby filling a clear religious and social role in the country. The Qu'ranic system, which teaches the greatest number of students relative to the other education sub-sectors, is the only system accessible to nomadic Somalis compared to the urban Somalis who have easier access to education. In 1993, a survey by UNICEF was conducted in which it found, among other things, that about 40% of pupils in Qu'ranic schools were girls. The actual disparity against women in the Educational system in Somalia is even bigger in secular schools besides the problem of few higher-education schools. The country is also wrecked by many fatal diseases especially Malaria, killing 40% of all death.
GDP—per capita:
purchasing power parity - $550 (2001 est.)
Somalia’s estimated 6.8 million people live in extreme poverty and show some of the worst health indicators in the world. Somalis suffer from chronic food insecurity and severe droughts. More than 350,000 remain refugees, while 370,000 to 400,000 have been internally displaced often for years.
GDP—per capita:
purchasing power parity - $550 (2001 est.)
Somalia’s estimated 6.8 million people live in extreme poverty and show some of the worst health indicators in the world. Somalis suffer from chronic food insecurity and severe droughts. More than 350,000 remain refugees, while 370,000 to 400,000 have been internally displaced often for years.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Who Pays America's Tax Burden, and Who Gets the Most Government Spending?, A Special Report
by Andrew Chamberlain, Gerald Prante and Scott A. Hodge
Special Report No. 151
Executive SummaryWhile many studies answer the question of who pays taxes in America, the question of who gets the most government spending is often overlooked. Just as some Americans bear a larger portion of the nation's tax burden than others, some Americans also receive a larger share of the nation's government spending.
This report summarizes the key findings of a comprehensive 2007 Tax Foundation study of federal, state and local taxes and government spending. The results show that when we consider the distribution of government spending as well as taxes, it provides a dramatically altered view of how U.S. fiscal policy affects Americans at different income levels than is apparent from the distribution of tax burdens alone.
Overall, we find that America's lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America's highest-earning households received $0.41. Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy.
These findings suggest tax distributions alone do not tell Americans how much the nation's fiscal system is helping or hurting low-income households. To answer that, we must look beyond tax burdens to government spending as well. Lawmakers who ignore the distribution of government spending risk making policy judgments based on an incorrect set of facts about the United States fiscal system.
Special Report No. 151
Executive SummaryWhile many studies answer the question of who pays taxes in America, the question of who gets the most government spending is often overlooked. Just as some Americans bear a larger portion of the nation's tax burden than others, some Americans also receive a larger share of the nation's government spending.
This report summarizes the key findings of a comprehensive 2007 Tax Foundation study of federal, state and local taxes and government spending. The results show that when we consider the distribution of government spending as well as taxes, it provides a dramatically altered view of how U.S. fiscal policy affects Americans at different income levels than is apparent from the distribution of tax burdens alone.
Overall, we find that America's lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America's highest-earning households received $0.41. Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy.
These findings suggest tax distributions alone do not tell Americans how much the nation's fiscal system is helping or hurting low-income households. To answer that, we must look beyond tax burdens to government spending as well. Lawmakers who ignore the distribution of government spending risk making policy judgments based on an incorrect set of facts about the United States fiscal system.
SOMALIA Week 9 updated
With a long history of Colonialization under the rule of the Britishs and the Italians, Somalia's political history is uniquely dependent on the systems of the Motherlands. Unstable for many decades, the Governments in Somalia has been in constant chaos and through many coups. Especially after Independence, Warlords have threatened to tear down the whole system. Nevertheless the current Transitional Government is expecting a more Democratic country in Somalia.
Colonial period
The year 1884 ended a long period of comparative peace. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, the Scramble for Africa started the long and bloody process of the imperial partition of Somali lands. The French, British and Italians came to Somalia in the late 19th century.
The British claimed British Somaliland as a protectorate in 1886 after the withdrawal of Egypt and the treaty with Warsangeli clan. Egypt sought to prevent European colonial expansion in Northeast Africa. The southern area, claimed by Italy in 1889, became known as Italian Somaliland. The northernmost stretch became part of the French Territory of Afars and Issas, also known as French Somaliland, until it later achieved independence as Djibouti.
The Somali War of Colonial Resistance (1898–1920) was led by Somali poet, scholar and statesman, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. The war ended with the RAF's bombing of the Sayid's fort, with massive loss of civilian and military life on the Somali side.
Climate
Major climatic factors are a year-round hot climate, seasonal monsoon winds, and irregular rainfall with recurring droughts. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from 30°C to 40°C (85–105°F), except at higher elevations and along the east coast. Mean daily minimums usually vary from about 15°C to 30°C (60–85°F). The southwest monsoon, a sea breeze, makes the period from about May to October the mildest season at Mogadishu. The December-February period of the northeast monsoon is also relatively mild, although prevailing climatic conditions in Mogadishu are rarely pleasant. The "tangambili" periods that intervene between the two monsoons (October–November and March–May) are hot and humid.
Economy
Since the collapse of the state, Somalia has transformed from what Mohamed Siad Barre referred to as "scientific socialism" to a free market economy.
Due to the lack of government oversight or statistics, and the recent war, it is difficult to calculate the size or growth of the economy. For 1994, the CIA estimated GDP at $3.3 billion In 2001, it was estimated to be $4.1 billion. In 2005, the CIA estimated GDP to be $4.809 billion. Real growth in 2005 was projected at 2.4%.
Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. After livestock, bananas are the principal export; sugar, sorghum, maize, and fish are products for the domestic market. The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP.
Population
Somalia has a population of around 10,700,000 according to UN estimations in 2003, 85% of which constitute ethnic Somalis.
There is little reliable statistical information on urbanisation in Somalia. However, rough estimates have been made indicating an Urbanisation of 5% and 8% per annum with many towns rapidly growing into cities. Currently, 34% of the Somali population lives in towns and cities with the percentage rapidly increasing.
Because of the civil war, the country has a large diaspora community, one of the largest of the whole continent. There are over a million Somalis outside of Africa, and this excludes those who have inhabited Ogaden province, northeastern Kenya, and Djibouti.
With the Economy relies too heavily on Agriculture, Somalia's exports are under heavy burden and disadvantages because of heavy taxes and subsidies in rich countries. Foreign debt is currently 2.56 billion dollars. Because of Refugee movements in response to food shortages and clan warfare, the UN estimates that 350,000 people were internally displaced by the civil war in 2001. About 450,000 Somalis are living in refugee camps outside the country.
Colonial period
The year 1884 ended a long period of comparative peace. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, the Scramble for Africa started the long and bloody process of the imperial partition of Somali lands. The French, British and Italians came to Somalia in the late 19th century.
The British claimed British Somaliland as a protectorate in 1886 after the withdrawal of Egypt and the treaty with Warsangeli clan. Egypt sought to prevent European colonial expansion in Northeast Africa. The southern area, claimed by Italy in 1889, became known as Italian Somaliland. The northernmost stretch became part of the French Territory of Afars and Issas, also known as French Somaliland, until it later achieved independence as Djibouti.
The Somali War of Colonial Resistance (1898–1920) was led by Somali poet, scholar and statesman, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. The war ended with the RAF's bombing of the Sayid's fort, with massive loss of civilian and military life on the Somali side.
Climate
Major climatic factors are a year-round hot climate, seasonal monsoon winds, and irregular rainfall with recurring droughts. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from 30°C to 40°C (85–105°F), except at higher elevations and along the east coast. Mean daily minimums usually vary from about 15°C to 30°C (60–85°F). The southwest monsoon, a sea breeze, makes the period from about May to October the mildest season at Mogadishu. The December-February period of the northeast monsoon is also relatively mild, although prevailing climatic conditions in Mogadishu are rarely pleasant. The "tangambili" periods that intervene between the two monsoons (October–November and March–May) are hot and humid.
Economy
Since the collapse of the state, Somalia has transformed from what Mohamed Siad Barre referred to as "scientific socialism" to a free market economy.
Due to the lack of government oversight or statistics, and the recent war, it is difficult to calculate the size or growth of the economy. For 1994, the CIA estimated GDP at $3.3 billion In 2001, it was estimated to be $4.1 billion. In 2005, the CIA estimated GDP to be $4.809 billion. Real growth in 2005 was projected at 2.4%.
Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. After livestock, bananas are the principal export; sugar, sorghum, maize, and fish are products for the domestic market. The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP.
Population
Somalia has a population of around 10,700,000 according to UN estimations in 2003, 85% of which constitute ethnic Somalis.
There is little reliable statistical information on urbanisation in Somalia. However, rough estimates have been made indicating an Urbanisation of 5% and 8% per annum with many towns rapidly growing into cities. Currently, 34% of the Somali population lives in towns and cities with the percentage rapidly increasing.
Because of the civil war, the country has a large diaspora community, one of the largest of the whole continent. There are over a million Somalis outside of Africa, and this excludes those who have inhabited Ogaden province, northeastern Kenya, and Djibouti.
With the Economy relies too heavily on Agriculture, Somalia's exports are under heavy burden and disadvantages because of heavy taxes and subsidies in rich countries. Foreign debt is currently 2.56 billion dollars. Because of Refugee movements in response to food shortages and clan warfare, the UN estimates that 350,000 people were internally displaced by the civil war in 2001. About 450,000 Somalis are living in refugee camps outside the country.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The dark side of Anti-War and media Complicity (Cont'd)
Hat Off For The Most Liberal State in The US!
The dark side of Anti-War and media Complicity
Mike Rogers' Office Vandalized
Congressman Mike Rogers' home is under police guard after his Lansing office was severely vandalized last night.
The case is being handled by the FBI and the US Capitol Police, who have requested that the Lansing Police investigate the matter.
According to the Congressman's spokesperson, the office was extensively damaged.
Two security cameras were destroyed and the building was spray painted.
The tapes from the cameras are being reviewed to see if they recorded anything before they were destroyed.
The vandals also spread red paint all over the 8th congressional district sign in front of the building, as well as on a sign that says "We Support Our Troops."
They also put a sign on one of the buildings windows that says Congressman Rogers has "blood on his hands."
Congressman Rogers is in Washington DC today to testify on Capitol Hill.
His Chief of Staff Andy Keiser issued a statement about the vandalism.
Keiser says:
"It is unfortunate that a few criminals decided to attack the 8th District Congressional office in the middle of the night. This is an office which provides mid-Michigan citizens with assistance regarding Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies."
"The aggressive destruction of federal property and vandalism was a callous attempt to intimidate Congressman Rogers and his staff."
"We all are entitled to our own opinion on the situation in Iraq but we are not entitled to destruction of taxpayer property and intimidation of federal officials. With an office in Lansing, regular office hours throughout the district, rapid response to constituent concerns and a 24-hour online office, Congressman Rogers prides himself on his constituent service and ensuring all voices are heard. Despite this vicious attack last night, the office continues to serve constituents today and we encourage folks to continue calling the Congressman for assistance, appointments and other information they may need."
Congressman Mike Rogers' home is under police guard after his Lansing office was severely vandalized last night.
The case is being handled by the FBI and the US Capitol Police, who have requested that the Lansing Police investigate the matter.
According to the Congressman's spokesperson, the office was extensively damaged.
Two security cameras were destroyed and the building was spray painted.
The tapes from the cameras are being reviewed to see if they recorded anything before they were destroyed.
The vandals also spread red paint all over the 8th congressional district sign in front of the building, as well as on a sign that says "We Support Our Troops."
They also put a sign on one of the buildings windows that says Congressman Rogers has "blood on his hands."
Congressman Rogers is in Washington DC today to testify on Capitol Hill.
His Chief of Staff Andy Keiser issued a statement about the vandalism.
Keiser says:
"It is unfortunate that a few criminals decided to attack the 8th District Congressional office in the middle of the night. This is an office which provides mid-Michigan citizens with assistance regarding Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies."
"The aggressive destruction of federal property and vandalism was a callous attempt to intimidate Congressman Rogers and his staff."
"We all are entitled to our own opinion on the situation in Iraq but we are not entitled to destruction of taxpayer property and intimidation of federal officials. With an office in Lansing, regular office hours throughout the district, rapid response to constituent concerns and a 24-hour online office, Congressman Rogers prides himself on his constituent service and ensuring all voices are heard. Despite this vicious attack last night, the office continues to serve constituents today and we encourage folks to continue calling the Congressman for assistance, appointments and other information they may need."
Sunday, March 18, 2007
SOMALIA
Have you seen the movie "Black Hawk Down"? It was a story about a group of American special task force end up dying in a God-forsaken country in the remote African desert. America has since relinquished their effort to keep up the presence there. For a country that has never been in peace, the war which just happened last year was just an event as normal as in any other tragic events in this country's history, and its future is as blur as a fading Northen star. The country has been dominated by warlords ever since its independence day. Wrecked havoc by eternally internal conflict and hostile warfares with the biggest neighbor Ethiopia, the country is now awaiting another uprising from the Islamic force after they were driven away by a coalition between Christian-majority Ethiopia and the Interim Somalia Government backed by the US.
" Somalia (Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال transliteration: aṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Somali Republic (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, Arabic: جمهورية الصومال transliteration: Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmāl) and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is located on the Horn of Africa in East Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti to the north-west, Kenya on its south-west, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen on its north, the Indian Ocean at its east and Ethiopia to the west. The Somali state currently exists solely in a de jure capacity; Somalia has no recognized central government authority nor any other feature associated with an established independent state. De facto authority resides in the hands of the governments for the unrecognized entities of Somaliland and Puntland and the United Nations-recognized, interim Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which until recently controlled only Baidoa. Violence has plagued Mogadishu, the capital, since warlords ousted former President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Capital
Mogadishu2°02′N 45°21′E
Largest city
Mogadishu
Official languages
Somali
Government
Transitional Federal Government
- President
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
- Prime Minister
Ali Mohammed Ghedi
Independence
from the UK and Italy
- Date
July 1, 1960
Area
- Total
637,657 km² (42nd)246,201 sq mi
- Water (%)
1.6
Population
- 2003 estimate
10,700,000 (74st)
- 1987 census
7,114,431
- Density
13 /km² (198th)34 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2006 estimate
- Total
$5.023 billion (160th)
- Per capita
$600 (not ranked)
HDI (2003)
n/a (n/a) (unranked)
Currency
Somali shilling (SOS)
Time zone
EAT (UTC+3)
- Summer (DST)
not observed (UTC+3)
Internet TLD
.so
Calling code
+252
Political organization
In 2002, Southwestern Somalia, comprising Bay, Bakool, Middle Juba, Gedo, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba provinces of Somalia declared itself autonomous. However, at the time of its declaration, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, established in 1999, was in full control of Bay and Bakool and parts of Gedo and Middle Juba regions only. This temporary secession was reasserted in 2002, leading to de facto autonomy of Southwestern Somalia. An internal armed conflict between Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud and his two deputies, weakened it militarily. From February 2006, this area and the city of Baidoa became central to the Transitional Federal Government. In 2004, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) organized and wrote a charter for the governing of the nation. The government wrote the charter in Nairobi. The TFG capital is presently in Baidoa.
In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union rose to predominant control of Somalia. They took over the capital of Mogadishu in the Second Battle of Mogadishu in May–June and began to spread their control through the rest of the country.
Another secession occurred in July 2006 with the declaration of regional autonomy by the state of Jubaland nominally consisting of parts of Gedo, Middle Juba, and the whole of Lower Juba region. Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, chairman of the Administration of Juba Valley Alliance, who comes from Galgadud region, in central Somalia is the most powerful leader there. This regional government did not want full statehood.
In 2002, Southwestern Somalia, comprising Bay, Bakool, Middle Juba, Gedo, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba provinces of Somalia declared itself autonomous. However, at the time of its declaration, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, established in 1999, was in full control of Bay and Bakool and parts of Gedo and Middle Juba regions only. This temporary secession was reasserted in 2002, leading to de facto autonomy of Southwestern Somalia. An internal armed conflict between Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud and his two deputies, weakened it militarily. From February 2006, this area and the city of Baidoa became central to the Transitional Federal Government. In 2004, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) organized and wrote a charter for the governing of the nation. The government wrote the charter in Nairobi. The TFG capital is presently in Baidoa.
In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union rose to predominant control of Somalia. They took over the capital of Mogadishu in the Second Battle of Mogadishu in May–June and began to spread their control through the rest of the country.
Another secession occurred in July 2006 with the declaration of regional autonomy by the state of Jubaland nominally consisting of parts of Gedo, Middle Juba, and the whole of Lower Juba region. Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, chairman of the Administration of Juba Valley Alliance, who comes from Galgadud region, in central Somalia is the most powerful leader there. This regional government did not want full statehood.
Languages
Somalia is unique in Africa because all inhabitants speak a native language. Somali is the main language. Somali is used virtually everywhere and nearly every Somali citizen speaks it.
A considerable amount of Somalis speak Arabic due to religious reasons and ties with the Arab world and media. English is also widely used and taught, Italian used to be a major language but due to the civil war and lack of education only the older generation speaks it.
Religion
Eid celebrations in Mogadishu.
The Somalis are Muslims.Loyalty to Islam is what reinforces distinctions that set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbours, many of whom are either Christians (particularly the Amhara and others of Ethiopia and Kenya) or adherents of indigenous African faiths. "
Somalia is unique in Africa because all inhabitants speak a native language. Somali is the main language. Somali is used virtually everywhere and nearly every Somali citizen speaks it.
A considerable amount of Somalis speak Arabic due to religious reasons and ties with the Arab world and media. English is also widely used and taught, Italian used to be a major language but due to the civil war and lack of education only the older generation speaks it.
Religion
Eid celebrations in Mogadishu.
The Somalis are Muslims.Loyalty to Islam is what reinforces distinctions that set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbours, many of whom are either Christians (particularly the Amhara and others of Ethiopia and Kenya) or adherents of indigenous African faiths. "
Somalia has long been fighting against Colonialism from the British and the Italian. The two countries pulled Somalia back and forth and even torn it apart during World War II. The independence of the British Somaliland Protectorate from the United Kingdom was proclaimed on 26 June 1960. On 1 July 1960, unification of the British and ex-Italian Somaliland took place. However, after Independence, the country got into a worse shape with more and more territories vied for secession. The main ally of Somalia was the Communist Soviet but the USSR turned against Somalia and supported Ethiopia in the war between the two countries. Inside the country, a conflict to unseat warlords broke out in May 2006. The battle was fought between an alliance of Mogadishu warlords known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism or "ARPCT" and a militia loyal to Islamic Courts Union or "ICU". Outside, Somalia and Ethiopia fought a bitter war in 1977–78 over the Somali province of Ogaden, which has been ruled by the Ethiopians since the partition of Somali lands in the first half of the 20th century by the British Empire. In addition, the ICU claimed that Ethiopia, with its long history as an imperial power, seeks to occupy Somalia, or rule it by proxy.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Hypocrisy is in Michael Moore as in any other of his targets
Documentary questions Moore's tactics
By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Movie Writer Sun Mar 11, 6:02 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas - As documentary filmmakers, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine looked up to
Michael Moore' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Michael Moore.
Then they tried to do a documentary of their own about him — and ran into the same sort of resistance Moore himself famously faces in his own films.
The result is "Manufacturing Dissent," which turns the camera on the confrontational documentarian and examines some of his methods. Among their revelations in the movie, which had its world premiere Saturday night at the South by Southwest film festival: That Moore actually did speak with then-General Motors chairman Roger Smith, the evasive subject of his 1989 debut "Roger & Me," but chose to withhold that footage from the final cut.
The husband-and-wife directors spent over two years making the movie, which follows Moore on his college tour promoting 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11." The film shows Melnyk repeatedly approaching Moore for an interview and being rejected; members of Moore's team also kick the couple out of the audience at one of his speeches, saying they weren't allowed to be shooting there.
At their own premiere Saturday night, the Toronto-based filmmakers expected pro-Moore plants in the audience heckling or trying to otherwise sabotage the screening, but it turned out to be a tame affair.
"It went really well," Melnyk said. "People really liked the film and laughed at the right spots and got the movie and we're really happy about it."
Moore hasn't commented publicly on "Manufacturing Dissent" and Melnyk thinks he never will. He also hasn't responded to several calls and e-mails from The Associated Press.
"There's no point for Michael to respond to the film because then it gives it publicity," she said.
"(President) Bush didn't respond to `Fahrenheit 9/11,' and there's a reason for that," Caine added.
The two were and still are fans of all his movies — including the polarizing "Fahrenheit 9/11," which grossed over $119 million and won the Palme d'Or at the
Cannes Film Festival' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Cannes Film Festival — and initially wanted to do a biography on him. They traveled to his childhood home of Davison, Mich., visited his high school and traced his early days in politics and journalism.
"The fact that he made documentaries entertaining was extremely influential and got all kinds of people out to see them," said Melnyk, whose previous films with Caine include 1998's "Junket Whore." "Let's face it, he made documentaries popular and that is great for all documentary filmmakers."
"All of these films — `Super Size Me,' `An Inconvenient Truth' — we've all been riding in his wake," said Caine. "There's a nonfiction film revolution going on and we're all beneficiaries of that. For that point alone, he's worth celebrating."
But after four months of unsuccessfully trying to sit down with Moore for an on-camera interview, they realized they needed to approach the subject from a different angle. They began looking at the process Moore employs in his films, and the deeper they dug, the more they began to question him.
The fact that Moore spoke with Smith, including a lengthy question-and-answer exchange during a May 1987 GM shareholders meeting, first was reported in a Premiere magazine article three years later. Transcripts of the discussion had been leaked to the magazine, and a clip of the meeting appeared in "Manufacturing Dissent." Moore also reportedly interviewed Smith on camera in January 1988 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.
Since then, in the years since "Roger & Me" put Moore on the map, those details seem to have been suppressed and forgotten.
"It was shocking, because to me that was the whole premise of `Roger & Me,'" Melnyk said.
She and Caine also had trouble finding people to talk on camera about Moore, partly because potential interview subjects assumed they were creating a right-wing attack piece; as self-proclaimed left-wingers, they weren't.
Despite what they've learned, the directors still appreciate Moore.
"We're a bit disappointed and disillusioned with Michael," Melnyk said, "but we are still very grateful to him for putting documentaries out there in a major way that people can go to a DVD store and they're right up there alongside dramatic features."
By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Movie Writer Sun Mar 11, 6:02 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas - As documentary filmmakers, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine looked up to
Michael Moore' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Michael Moore.
Then they tried to do a documentary of their own about him — and ran into the same sort of resistance Moore himself famously faces in his own films.
The result is "Manufacturing Dissent," which turns the camera on the confrontational documentarian and examines some of his methods. Among their revelations in the movie, which had its world premiere Saturday night at the South by Southwest film festival: That Moore actually did speak with then-General Motors chairman Roger Smith, the evasive subject of his 1989 debut "Roger & Me," but chose to withhold that footage from the final cut.
The husband-and-wife directors spent over two years making the movie, which follows Moore on his college tour promoting 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11." The film shows Melnyk repeatedly approaching Moore for an interview and being rejected; members of Moore's team also kick the couple out of the audience at one of his speeches, saying they weren't allowed to be shooting there.
At their own premiere Saturday night, the Toronto-based filmmakers expected pro-Moore plants in the audience heckling or trying to otherwise sabotage the screening, but it turned out to be a tame affair.
"It went really well," Melnyk said. "People really liked the film and laughed at the right spots and got the movie and we're really happy about it."
Moore hasn't commented publicly on "Manufacturing Dissent" and Melnyk thinks he never will. He also hasn't responded to several calls and e-mails from The Associated Press.
"There's no point for Michael to respond to the film because then it gives it publicity," she said.
"(President) Bush didn't respond to `Fahrenheit 9/11,' and there's a reason for that," Caine added.
The two were and still are fans of all his movies — including the polarizing "Fahrenheit 9/11," which grossed over $119 million and won the Palme d'Or at the
Cannes Film Festival' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Cannes Film Festival — and initially wanted to do a biography on him. They traveled to his childhood home of Davison, Mich., visited his high school and traced his early days in politics and journalism.
"The fact that he made documentaries entertaining was extremely influential and got all kinds of people out to see them," said Melnyk, whose previous films with Caine include 1998's "Junket Whore." "Let's face it, he made documentaries popular and that is great for all documentary filmmakers."
"All of these films — `Super Size Me,' `An Inconvenient Truth' — we've all been riding in his wake," said Caine. "There's a nonfiction film revolution going on and we're all beneficiaries of that. For that point alone, he's worth celebrating."
But after four months of unsuccessfully trying to sit down with Moore for an on-camera interview, they realized they needed to approach the subject from a different angle. They began looking at the process Moore employs in his films, and the deeper they dug, the more they began to question him.
The fact that Moore spoke with Smith, including a lengthy question-and-answer exchange during a May 1987 GM shareholders meeting, first was reported in a Premiere magazine article three years later. Transcripts of the discussion had been leaked to the magazine, and a clip of the meeting appeared in "Manufacturing Dissent." Moore also reportedly interviewed Smith on camera in January 1988 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.
Since then, in the years since "Roger & Me" put Moore on the map, those details seem to have been suppressed and forgotten.
"It was shocking, because to me that was the whole premise of `Roger & Me,'" Melnyk said.
She and Caine also had trouble finding people to talk on camera about Moore, partly because potential interview subjects assumed they were creating a right-wing attack piece; as self-proclaimed left-wingers, they weren't.
Despite what they've learned, the directors still appreciate Moore.
"We're a bit disappointed and disillusioned with Michael," Melnyk said, "but we are still very grateful to him for putting documentaries out there in a major way that people can go to a DVD store and they're right up there alongside dramatic features."
Globalization is bad....more for the US and worse for human
Halliburton's Dubai move sparks US political ire
Mon Mar 12, 11:09 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A weekend announcement by Halliburton, the US oil services giant, that it is shifting its corporate headquarters to Dubai from Texas triggered an angry response from some US lawmakers Monday.
Halliburton, which was once run by Vice President
Dick Cheney' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Dick Cheney, said Sunday it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the region's booming energy market.
"It's an example of corporate greed at its worst," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
"This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years," he charged.
"At the same time they'll be avoiding US taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash."
Halliburton and its former KBR subsidiary, which it is spinning off, have weathered several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid 2.4 billion dollar contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of
Iraq' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Iraq in 2003.
KBR agreed last year to pay the US government eight million dollars to settle fraud claims related to an Army supply contract.
Halliburton said it was relocating to Dubai on business grounds. The firm said that over 38 percent of its 13 billion dollar oil-field services revenue was generated from the eastern hemisphere.
It also said its move to the United Arab Emirates was the next step in a strategic plan unveiled in 2006 to boost its business with national oil companies in and around the Gulf region.
Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), said the lawmaker might convene a hearing in the House of Representatives over Halliburton's announcement.
"This is a surprising development. I want to understand the ramifications for the US taxpayer and national security," Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement.
Halliburton's chief executive, Dave Lesar, will move his office from Houston, Texas to Dubai in a bid to oversee a ramped-up bid to gain more regional oil services contracts and other related business.
Weekend press reports said Halliburton still intended to keep its US legal registration, but a company spokesperson could not be reached to confirm this.
The global firm has operations in 70 countries and more than 45,000 employees.
Mon Mar 12, 11:09 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A weekend announcement by Halliburton, the US oil services giant, that it is shifting its corporate headquarters to Dubai from Texas triggered an angry response from some US lawmakers Monday.
Halliburton, which was once run by Vice President
Dick Cheney' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Dick Cheney, said Sunday it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the region's booming energy market.
"It's an example of corporate greed at its worst," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
"This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years," he charged.
"At the same time they'll be avoiding US taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash."
Halliburton and its former KBR subsidiary, which it is spinning off, have weathered several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid 2.4 billion dollar contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of
Iraq' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Iraq in 2003.
KBR agreed last year to pay the US government eight million dollars to settle fraud claims related to an Army supply contract.
Halliburton said it was relocating to Dubai on business grounds. The firm said that over 38 percent of its 13 billion dollar oil-field services revenue was generated from the eastern hemisphere.
It also said its move to the United Arab Emirates was the next step in a strategic plan unveiled in 2006 to boost its business with national oil companies in and around the Gulf region.
Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), said the lawmaker might convene a hearing in the House of Representatives over Halliburton's announcement.
"This is a surprising development. I want to understand the ramifications for the US taxpayer and national security," Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement.
Halliburton's chief executive, Dave Lesar, will move his office from Houston, Texas to Dubai in a bid to oversee a ramped-up bid to gain more regional oil services contracts and other related business.
Weekend press reports said Halliburton still intended to keep its US legal registration, but a company spokesperson could not be reached to confirm this.
The global firm has operations in 70 countries and more than 45,000 employees.
Monday, March 12, 2007
To read but not think is the bad side of education!!!
In Uruguay Mr Bush has a mere 12% approval rating, according to CIFRA, a Montevideo consultancy. But 59% of Uruguayans support a free-trade accord with America, including a majority of the supporters of the Frente Amplio, the ruling left-wing coalition.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro not only gets the lowest average score (4.4) but also the highest percentage of negative ratings (41%). Less than a third (27%) rates him positively. Castro is the best known of the Latin American leaders rated, with only 21 percent saying they did not know or would not respond.
Chávez and Bush tie for third from the bottom with average scores of 4.6. They also get the same percentage of positive ratings (39%) and are viewed negatively by 28 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Both Chávez and Bush are relatively well known with only 29 percent and 21 percent, respectively, not responding.
Why do you think the more people know of Castro or Chavez, the more they disapprove of them? and see why people hate America because of conception rather than reality. Globalization is more favorable to poor countries than US. If you really want to know, look at the opinion of people in countries having trade with US and look how trade affect their countries...
Cuban leader Fidel Castro not only gets the lowest average score (4.4) but also the highest percentage of negative ratings (41%). Less than a third (27%) rates him positively. Castro is the best known of the Latin American leaders rated, with only 21 percent saying they did not know or would not respond.
Chávez and Bush tie for third from the bottom with average scores of 4.6. They also get the same percentage of positive ratings (39%) and are viewed negatively by 28 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Both Chávez and Bush are relatively well known with only 29 percent and 21 percent, respectively, not responding.
Why do you think the more people know of Castro or Chavez, the more they disapprove of them? and see why people hate America because of conception rather than reality. Globalization is more favorable to poor countries than US. If you really want to know, look at the opinion of people in countries having trade with US and look how trade affect their countries...
Saturday, March 3, 2007
When education goes to the extreme!!!
Kent State denies ties to jihadi site
Department head says professor contributed news but isn't creator
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
An Internet story on Wednesday identified a Kent State faculty member as the author of a jihadist news service on the Web.
The Drudge Report story accused Julio ``Assad'' Pino of posting ``Global War'' at global-war.bloghi.com.
Pino, 46, a Muslim convert and associate professor of history at KSU, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
His department head, John Jameson, defended him as a good teacher and said the allegations in the story appeared to have been blown out of proportion.
He said Pino told him he provided news stories to the Web site but didn't accept any ownership of it.
The Web site does not name the originator, but a photo of a bearded man there is not of Pino, the description of the originator does not fit Pino and none of the postings on it can be tied to Kent State, Jameson said.
While Pino did operate a pro-Palestinian Web site in the past, he told Jameson he gave it up ``when the hate response got to be too much,'' Jameson said.
The jihadist Web site ``doesn't have any connection to Kent State,'' university spokesman Ron Kirksey said. ``We object to our name being used in connection with it.''
The turmoil began Wednesday when a column by Mike S. Adams on conservative townhall.com, Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, was posted on the Drudge Report, a collection of news stories from throughout the world.
``All we want is to get Allah's pleasure,'' the jihadist Web site reads. ``We will write `Jihad' across our foreheads, and the stars. The angels will carry our message through the world.''
Adams accused Pino of ``drawing a paycheck from the people of the State of Ohio while trying to launch a jihad against people like me.''
One recent posting on the Web site was, Crusaders Can't Take Anymore in Afghanistan, Adams said.
Pino is a specialist in Latin America and has a doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles.
He joined Kent State in 1992 and a few years ago received tenure -- in essence, lifetime employment -- for his research and writings. At Kent, he has taught courses such as The '60s + A Third-World View and Comparative Third-World Revolutions.
He is no stranger to controversy.
Last year he was the target of an Internet petition that labeled him a ``walking, talking time bomb'' and sought to get him fired with comments like, ``Remove this traitor from our educational system'' and ``Get this murderer out of the country!''
In a 2005 letter to the student-run Kent Stater, Pino responded to students who questioned why Muslims were burning American flags.
``You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of drugs, gambling, the sex trade, spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past, such as AIDS, and turns women into commodities for sale,'' he wrote.
``The ill done to the Muslim nations must be requited. The Muslim child does not cry alone; the Muslim woman does not cry alone; and the Muslim man is already at your gates.''
In another letter that year, he called Bush a ``cocaine cowboy''... ``who has added an extra 100,000 corpses to the pile of brown-colored corpses, collected like Indian heads in the Old West.''
In 2003, Pino was charged with disorderly conduct at an anti-war rally at Kent State. He said the charges were an attempt to harass protesters.
The most controversial incident may have been in 2002, when he wrote a column in the Kent Stater that eulogized an 18-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber. He said he was trying to explain why suicide bombings occurred in Israel.
KSU English professor Lewis Fried took offense and urged then-KSU President Carol Cartwright to fire Pino. She refused, saying the university supported free speech.
``A university stands for the sustaining of life and not of murder,'' Fried said Wednesday. ``I'm not opposing free speech, just murderous free speech.''
Kirksey said the university had received about 100 calls and e-mails, some of them threatening Pino, in the most recent incident. University police had been notified, he said.
Department head says professor contributed news but isn't creator
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
An Internet story on Wednesday identified a Kent State faculty member as the author of a jihadist news service on the Web.
The Drudge Report story accused Julio ``Assad'' Pino of posting ``Global War'' at global-war.bloghi.com.
Pino, 46, a Muslim convert and associate professor of history at KSU, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
His department head, John Jameson, defended him as a good teacher and said the allegations in the story appeared to have been blown out of proportion.
He said Pino told him he provided news stories to the Web site but didn't accept any ownership of it.
The Web site does not name the originator, but a photo of a bearded man there is not of Pino, the description of the originator does not fit Pino and none of the postings on it can be tied to Kent State, Jameson said.
While Pino did operate a pro-Palestinian Web site in the past, he told Jameson he gave it up ``when the hate response got to be too much,'' Jameson said.
The jihadist Web site ``doesn't have any connection to Kent State,'' university spokesman Ron Kirksey said. ``We object to our name being used in connection with it.''
The turmoil began Wednesday when a column by Mike S. Adams on conservative townhall.com, Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, was posted on the Drudge Report, a collection of news stories from throughout the world.
``All we want is to get Allah's pleasure,'' the jihadist Web site reads. ``We will write `Jihad' across our foreheads, and the stars. The angels will carry our message through the world.''
Adams accused Pino of ``drawing a paycheck from the people of the State of Ohio while trying to launch a jihad against people like me.''
One recent posting on the Web site was, Crusaders Can't Take Anymore in Afghanistan, Adams said.
Pino is a specialist in Latin America and has a doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles.
He joined Kent State in 1992 and a few years ago received tenure -- in essence, lifetime employment -- for his research and writings. At Kent, he has taught courses such as The '60s + A Third-World View and Comparative Third-World Revolutions.
He is no stranger to controversy.
Last year he was the target of an Internet petition that labeled him a ``walking, talking time bomb'' and sought to get him fired with comments like, ``Remove this traitor from our educational system'' and ``Get this murderer out of the country!''
In a 2005 letter to the student-run Kent Stater, Pino responded to students who questioned why Muslims were burning American flags.
``You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of drugs, gambling, the sex trade, spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past, such as AIDS, and turns women into commodities for sale,'' he wrote.
``The ill done to the Muslim nations must be requited. The Muslim child does not cry alone; the Muslim woman does not cry alone; and the Muslim man is already at your gates.''
In another letter that year, he called Bush a ``cocaine cowboy''... ``who has added an extra 100,000 corpses to the pile of brown-colored corpses, collected like Indian heads in the Old West.''
In 2003, Pino was charged with disorderly conduct at an anti-war rally at Kent State. He said the charges were an attempt to harass protesters.
The most controversial incident may have been in 2002, when he wrote a column in the Kent Stater that eulogized an 18-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber. He said he was trying to explain why suicide bombings occurred in Israel.
KSU English professor Lewis Fried took offense and urged then-KSU President Carol Cartwright to fire Pino. She refused, saying the university supported free speech.
``A university stands for the sustaining of life and not of murder,'' Fried said Wednesday. ``I'm not opposing free speech, just murderous free speech.''
Kirksey said the university had received about 100 calls and e-mails, some of them threatening Pino, in the most recent incident. University police had been notified, he said.
If President Bush were Hitler, Venezuelans say they would rather live with him than with the "Man of the peole" Chavez
Between 2000 — a year after Chavez took office — and 2005, the number of Venezuelans living in the U.S. doubled to about 160,000, according to the latest U.S. Census numbers. Nearly half live in Florida.
But those numbers are deceptive.
In 2005, 10,645 Venezuelans received their green cards allowing them to live in the United States, almost doubling the 6,222 who received them in 2004, according to the latest Department of
Homeland Security' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Homeland Security statistics. And another 400,000 Venezuelans came to the United States in 2005 on business and tourism visas. It is unclear how many stayed.
Colombia, with nearly twice Venezuela's roughly 27 million residents, sent the same number that year.
Anecdotal evidence suggests even more are seeking to come here since Chavez's recent nationalization of Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector. The Venezuelan Congress also recently gave him special powers to decree laws for 18 months, and Chavez is threatening to expropriate supermarkets, stores and other businesses caught hoarding food or speculating on prices.
Medina said six family members visited him in the last two months seeking ways to relocate to the U.S. Unlike previous cycles, those seeking to leave and bring their money to the U.S. now are coming from around Venezuela, not just from Caracas, said Medina, an account executive for the credit group ExpoCredit.
Meanwhile Ralph Gomez, who heads the Miami area Tower Investments group and has long specialized in real estate for South American clients, said he's received more than two dozen calls since the year began from people interested in coming to the U.S. Other agents report a similar spike.
Upper-class Venezuelans and their money flowed out of the country after Chavez was elected in 1998 and again when he quashed an unsuccessful coup against his government in 2002, but many professionals still hoped the climate would remain friendly to business. Then came the latest nationalizations. Chavez still pledges to maintain a business-friendly climate, and analysts say the government has paid fair market prices to nationalize the electric and phone companies.
Yet, with 17 percent inflation pushing the Bolivar to more than 4,000 per dollar on the black market, compared to the official rate of 2,150 Bolivars per dollar, many Venezuelans are looking to move their businesses to the U.S. or to set up a new one here.
Those who can afford it often opt for business visas that require a minimum of a $500,000 investment in a company that creates jobs in an underdeveloped area in the U.S.
About 33,000 Venezuelans received some kind of work visa to come to the U.S. in 2005 — nearly a quarter of all such visas for South Americans — compared to about 17,000 in 1999.
Those who come are received with open arms in Miami, where their money is welcome and the Cuban exile community views Chavez as the next Fidel Castro. As of 2004, Venezuelans tied with Germans and Canadians as the second biggest group of foreigners purchasing homes in Florida, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the British bought more Florida homes.
But moving to the U.S., even for the wealthy, isn't simple. Medina moved his family to the Miami three years ago, but it took him until last summer to tie up financial ends, obtain a visa and a job in Florida.
"I would travel back and forth when I could," he said. "It was hard, but I know I am among the lucky ones."
And while Venezuelan emigrants cite the political and economic instability of the country as their main reasons for leaving, many also talk of rampant and random violence.
Marbelia Font, 47, and her husband landed in Miami in September from Caracas to close on a newly built investment property. They thought their two daughters would enjoy the brief vacation.
But when two friends were fatally shot back home in Venezuela, Marbelia and her 13- and 8-year-old daughters stayed. Her husband returned to Venezuela, hoping to earn a visa by moving his manufacturing and construction business to the U.S. Font said he has struggled to obtain necessary legal documents from the Chavez government.
She now lives in the half-furnished home they'd planned to rent in Doral, just west of Miami. It is decorated only with a picture of her husband and the girls. She and her daughters struggle with loneliness, and she is unable to work as she waits for the family's visas to come through.
"It is so hard because the girls were very close to their father, and now they only see him once every three months," she said.
But those numbers are deceptive.
In 2005, 10,645 Venezuelans received their green cards allowing them to live in the United States, almost doubling the 6,222 who received them in 2004, according to the latest Department of
Homeland Security' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Homeland Security statistics. And another 400,000 Venezuelans came to the United States in 2005 on business and tourism visas. It is unclear how many stayed.
Colombia, with nearly twice Venezuela's roughly 27 million residents, sent the same number that year.
Anecdotal evidence suggests even more are seeking to come here since Chavez's recent nationalization of Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector. The Venezuelan Congress also recently gave him special powers to decree laws for 18 months, and Chavez is threatening to expropriate supermarkets, stores and other businesses caught hoarding food or speculating on prices.
Medina said six family members visited him in the last two months seeking ways to relocate to the U.S. Unlike previous cycles, those seeking to leave and bring their money to the U.S. now are coming from around Venezuela, not just from Caracas, said Medina, an account executive for the credit group ExpoCredit.
Meanwhile Ralph Gomez, who heads the Miami area Tower Investments group and has long specialized in real estate for South American clients, said he's received more than two dozen calls since the year began from people interested in coming to the U.S. Other agents report a similar spike.
Upper-class Venezuelans and their money flowed out of the country after Chavez was elected in 1998 and again when he quashed an unsuccessful coup against his government in 2002, but many professionals still hoped the climate would remain friendly to business. Then came the latest nationalizations. Chavez still pledges to maintain a business-friendly climate, and analysts say the government has paid fair market prices to nationalize the electric and phone companies.
Yet, with 17 percent inflation pushing the Bolivar to more than 4,000 per dollar on the black market, compared to the official rate of 2,150 Bolivars per dollar, many Venezuelans are looking to move their businesses to the U.S. or to set up a new one here.
Those who can afford it often opt for business visas that require a minimum of a $500,000 investment in a company that creates jobs in an underdeveloped area in the U.S.
About 33,000 Venezuelans received some kind of work visa to come to the U.S. in 2005 — nearly a quarter of all such visas for South Americans — compared to about 17,000 in 1999.
Those who come are received with open arms in Miami, where their money is welcome and the Cuban exile community views Chavez as the next Fidel Castro. As of 2004, Venezuelans tied with Germans and Canadians as the second biggest group of foreigners purchasing homes in Florida, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the British bought more Florida homes.
But moving to the U.S., even for the wealthy, isn't simple. Medina moved his family to the Miami three years ago, but it took him until last summer to tie up financial ends, obtain a visa and a job in Florida.
"I would travel back and forth when I could," he said. "It was hard, but I know I am among the lucky ones."
And while Venezuelan emigrants cite the political and economic instability of the country as their main reasons for leaving, many also talk of rampant and random violence.
Marbelia Font, 47, and her husband landed in Miami in September from Caracas to close on a newly built investment property. They thought their two daughters would enjoy the brief vacation.
But when two friends were fatally shot back home in Venezuela, Marbelia and her 13- and 8-year-old daughters stayed. Her husband returned to Venezuela, hoping to earn a visa by moving his manufacturing and construction business to the U.S. Font said he has struggled to obtain necessary legal documents from the Chavez government.
She now lives in the half-furnished home they'd planned to rent in Doral, just west of Miami. It is decorated only with a picture of her husband and the girls. She and her daughters struggle with loneliness, and she is unable to work as she waits for the family's visas to come through.
"It is so hard because the girls were very close to their father, and now they only see him once every three months," she said.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
No Logo, But then, Who care about Logo?
As the figure on the left shows, the US is indeed being exploited by developing countries through free trade, by US, i mean the middle-class Americans. Now, let's look at transnational corporations from the perspective of the Anti-Globalization side. In "No Logo", Mrs Klein points out why American corporations have been so successful in manipulating people to buy their products. The main strategy is through an overwhelming Advertising. By using creative advertisements to appeal to customers' emotion, corporations have created ideas and lifestyles instead of products which can penetrate deep into the everyday life of the normal consumers. For instance, Disney created an environment for the "American Dream", a different world where people are encircled by its fantasy images and values. Other examples are the nonconforming personality of a "Virgin" person, of pure Athleticism of Nike or Starbuck communities. These corporations can eventually mass produce their ideas to a vast society. Consumers become more befuddled by words and images created by big businesses like democracy, inside power...The consequence is of the creation of a more naive consumers easily trapped and blindfolded by corporations. This can be proved by the "Yes" men in their quest to infiltrate and expose how educated consumers will listen to whatever absurdities corporations under the WTO tell them. Mrs Klein believes that the culture formed by corporations is harmful to nations and people. That is the reason that the new movement aiming at corporations' influence is increasingly popular. She also criticizes the transformation of jobs in America to a lesser level, non-real positions. All these issues accumulate with the privatization of more specters of the global world economy have given corporations even more power over people and states. She claims that the activist movement against Globalization is just a way to take back the power and dignity of the normal people because people's wealth beings are not associated with the health of corporations. It is the same as people in the "Gap" are not necessarily better off integrating with the "Core" through globalization as Barnett believes.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
15 year old girl attacked by Arab woman and a Canadian
Continued provocations: An Arab photographer from Ramallah attacked a resident of Hebron's Jewish community this afternoon outside Beit Hadassah. Following a police investigation, it was decided to arrest the Arab attacker.
Main Article: A 15 year old Hebron girl was attacked this morning by an Arab woman, who hit her and threw her glasses to the ground. A Canadian 'anarchist' named Jacob Kornblum also attacked the girl and assisted the Arab attacker to escape. Following issuance of a complaint tonight, the two attackers were arrested by Hebron police for interrogation.
Hebron's leadership demands that the attacking foreigner from Canada, together with other anarchists in Hebron, be immediately deported from Israel. Their provocative activities and incitement against Hebron's Jewish community cause tremendous tension, are dangerous, and could easily lead to bloodshed.
Comment: So, what do you think? Should we jump right into conclusion that the woman was evil and the Canadian was a jerk? Remember that this article is on the Israel newspaper. Shouldn't we want to know what really happened from the viewpoint of the woman and the Canadian as well as the witnesses from both sides also? Should we jump right into conclusion that This is how the Arabs are abusing innocent Israelis? Isn't it a good thing to stop listening to others and think by ourselves for a moment? Do we really know the complete truth? Do we overgeneralize the issue? There is no truth but truth but we will never know the truth unless we face it... I myself have been to both extremes... Go explore the truth by yourself.
Main Article: A 15 year old Hebron girl was attacked this morning by an Arab woman, who hit her and threw her glasses to the ground. A Canadian 'anarchist' named Jacob Kornblum also attacked the girl and assisted the Arab attacker to escape. Following issuance of a complaint tonight, the two attackers were arrested by Hebron police for interrogation.
Hebron's leadership demands that the attacking foreigner from Canada, together with other anarchists in Hebron, be immediately deported from Israel. Their provocative activities and incitement against Hebron's Jewish community cause tremendous tension, are dangerous, and could easily lead to bloodshed.
Comment: So, what do you think? Should we jump right into conclusion that the woman was evil and the Canadian was a jerk? Remember that this article is on the Israel newspaper. Shouldn't we want to know what really happened from the viewpoint of the woman and the Canadian as well as the witnesses from both sides also? Should we jump right into conclusion that This is how the Arabs are abusing innocent Israelis? Isn't it a good thing to stop listening to others and think by ourselves for a moment? Do we really know the complete truth? Do we overgeneralize the issue? There is no truth but truth but we will never know the truth unless we face it... I myself have been to both extremes... Go explore the truth by yourself.
Monday, February 19, 2007
I guess some people don't see the Hypocrisy in here!!!
Clinton Objects to Confederate FlagFeb 19 4:25 PM US/Eastern
By JIM DAVENPORTAssociated Press Writer
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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.
"I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day," Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview.
"I personally would like to see it removed from the Statehouse grounds," the New York senator said during her first trip to the early voting state since announcing her White House bid.
Other Democratic hopefuls, including Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, have said the flag should come down. The banner, which once flew over the Statehouse dome and now flies nearby, is the subject of an ongoing NAACP boycott.
Clinton is one of several Democrats to draw huge crowds during campaign stops in the state, but she said during the interview that her party will have a tough time winning in GOP-heavy South Carolina
"I think it's going to be hard for any Democrat to carry the state," she said. "The Republican Party is very strong here."
Earlier in the day, Clinton spoke to more than 1,500 people gathered at Allen University, a historically black college in Columbia.
The senator picked up key endorsements last week from two black state senators who helped deliver black voters to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in 2004. One of those politicians, state Sen. Darrell Jackson, whose media company also picked up a $10,000 consulting contract from Clinton's campaign, introduced her to the Allen University crowd.
During the AP interview, Clinton said her campaign struck no deal with Jackson. "Senator Jackson has worked in Clinton campaigns going back to 1992," she said.
Comment: So she voted against the petition of "American Flag Anti-defamation" law because of her love for US troops in Iraq too? God bless her Patriotism!!!
By JIM DAVENPORTAssociated Press Writer
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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.
"I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day," Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview.
"I personally would like to see it removed from the Statehouse grounds," the New York senator said during her first trip to the early voting state since announcing her White House bid.
Other Democratic hopefuls, including Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, have said the flag should come down. The banner, which once flew over the Statehouse dome and now flies nearby, is the subject of an ongoing NAACP boycott.
Clinton is one of several Democrats to draw huge crowds during campaign stops in the state, but she said during the interview that her party will have a tough time winning in GOP-heavy South Carolina
"I think it's going to be hard for any Democrat to carry the state," she said. "The Republican Party is very strong here."
Earlier in the day, Clinton spoke to more than 1,500 people gathered at Allen University, a historically black college in Columbia.
The senator picked up key endorsements last week from two black state senators who helped deliver black voters to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in 2004. One of those politicians, state Sen. Darrell Jackson, whose media company also picked up a $10,000 consulting contract from Clinton's campaign, introduced her to the Allen University crowd.
During the AP interview, Clinton said her campaign struck no deal with Jackson. "Senator Jackson has worked in Clinton campaigns going back to 1992," she said.
Comment: So she voted against the petition of "American Flag Anti-defamation" law because of her love for US troops in Iraq too? God bless her Patriotism!!!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
This is why i support the West to get richer, to do more charity. America did not get oil and gold from Liberia nor created local wars there...
The Debt was used for infrastructures and facilities, not weapons...
US cancels Liberia's $391m debt
Condoleezza Rice promises debt relief to LiberiaThe US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has promised to write off $391m (£200m) in debt Liberia owes to the US.
Speaking at a World Bank conference, she told Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: "We have every intention of helping you succeed."
The World Bank's Paul Wolfowitz opened the conference by saying that Liberia's $3.7bn of debt was unsustainable for a country of three million people.
President Sirleaf warned that Liberia was "not out of the woods yet".
Ms Rice also announced that President Bush had asked Congress to provide more than $200m in additional aid to Liberia over the next year.
A conflict between 1989 and 2003 devastated the West African state and left more than 200,000 dead.
US cancels Liberia's $391m debt
Condoleezza Rice promises debt relief to LiberiaThe US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has promised to write off $391m (£200m) in debt Liberia owes to the US.
Speaking at a World Bank conference, she told Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: "We have every intention of helping you succeed."
The World Bank's Paul Wolfowitz opened the conference by saying that Liberia's $3.7bn of debt was unsustainable for a country of three million people.
President Sirleaf warned that Liberia was "not out of the woods yet".
Ms Rice also announced that President Bush had asked Congress to provide more than $200m in additional aid to Liberia over the next year.
A conflict between 1989 and 2003 devastated the West African state and left more than 200,000 dead.
For some twisted people: Defiance means supporting murderers
"So when I ask [young Muslims], some of them see Osama Bin Laden as a bit of a hero. They see the Palestinian suicide bombers as strong.
"It's not because terrorism is an Islamic thing, or that they want to see it happen. It's about defiance.
"Tupac is not enough anymore - it's about doing this to the powerful - giving the finger to the West and authority."
Quoted from Dawood Gustave
By Dominic Casciani BBC News community affairs
"It's not because terrorism is an Islamic thing, or that they want to see it happen. It's about defiance.
"Tupac is not enough anymore - it's about doing this to the powerful - giving the finger to the West and authority."
Quoted from Dawood Gustave
By Dominic Casciani BBC News community affairs
See How a Good Country Likes Austria Serves Their National Interest Here
Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from IranBy Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:55am GMT 13/02/2007
Audio: Revelation makes US action against Iran more likely, says Thomas Harding
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.
The Steyr HS50 is a long range, high precision rifle
The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops.
Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.
Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported.
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The find is the latest in a series of discoveries that indicate that Teheran is providing support to Iraq's Shia insurgents.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, yesterday denied that Iran had supplied weapons to Iraqi insurgents. But on Sunday US officials in Baghdad displayed a range of weapons they claimed had originated in Iran.
They said 170 American and British soldiers had been killed by such weapons.
The discovery of the sniper rifles will further encourage those in Washington who want to see Iran's uranium-enriching facilities destroyed before a nuclear weapon is produced.
The Foreign Office expressed "serious concerns" over the sale of the rifles last year and Britain protested to the Austrian government.
A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "Although we did make our worries known the sale unfortunately went ahead and now the potential that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands appears to have happened."
The rifle can pierce all body armour from up to a mile and penetrate armoured Humvee troop carriers.
It is highly accurate and fires a round called an armour piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture.
The National Iranian Police Organisation bought the rifles allegedly to use them against drug smugglers in an £8 million order placed with Steyr in 2005.
The company was given permission to export them by the Austrian government, which is not a Nato member.
Last Updated: 11:55am GMT 13/02/2007
Audio: Revelation makes US action against Iran more likely, says Thomas Harding
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.
The Steyr HS50 is a long range, high precision rifle
The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops.
Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.
Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported.
advertisement
The find is the latest in a series of discoveries that indicate that Teheran is providing support to Iraq's Shia insurgents.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, yesterday denied that Iran had supplied weapons to Iraqi insurgents. But on Sunday US officials in Baghdad displayed a range of weapons they claimed had originated in Iran.
They said 170 American and British soldiers had been killed by such weapons.
The discovery of the sniper rifles will further encourage those in Washington who want to see Iran's uranium-enriching facilities destroyed before a nuclear weapon is produced.
The Foreign Office expressed "serious concerns" over the sale of the rifles last year and Britain protested to the Austrian government.
A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "Although we did make our worries known the sale unfortunately went ahead and now the potential that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands appears to have happened."
The rifle can pierce all body armour from up to a mile and penetrate armoured Humvee troop carriers.
It is highly accurate and fires a round called an armour piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture.
The National Iranian Police Organisation bought the rifles allegedly to use them against drug smugglers in an £8 million order placed with Steyr in 2005.
The company was given permission to export them by the Austrian government, which is not a Nato member.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Klare: A new book, another old cliche
Has it not struck us that the book "Resource War" is the presequel of the latest story in Klare new "Blood for Oil". Indeed, Klare did explain to us about the significance and the strategy that the US was involved in even before 9-11 in regard of "oil resource" in his previous book. However, he expanded and went further into researching the historical tie of the US and Saudi Arabia to build the foundations for his new episode. Klare traced the root back to the end of WWII, when the Franklin Roosevelt's administration was still in power. According to Klare, Roosevelt was the first President to fully acknowledge and understand the power of oil and its influence on the US economy. It may be just a selling tactic when Klare said he had not been aware of how important oil was in America at that time because everybody knew that the US had become a world power by 1945 partly because of its discovery of "the new energy", which rendered steam power obsolete. Klare, nevertheless, pointed out the impact of oil in the war in which America was the sole energy supplier to the Allies and has taken for granted that oil was an inseparable part of the whole economy. Here, the drama unfold, when Roosevelt was informed that the US oil reserves would be exhausted in the near future if used at the current pace, he desperately went in search for an alternative. All research pointed to a country which has the most oil to offer but had never been in diplomatic relation with the US: this country was Saudi Arabia. Then came the pact in which America would protect the royal family in exchange of a privilege to tap on the huge reserves inside Saudi. Klare brought up the fact that Standard Oil became the first multi-national corporation as a direct result of this agreement on oil. Klare argues that the policy involving Saudi Arabia has become the guideline for the US foreign diplomacy since. It has not changed much from administration to administration, only the intensity and the approaching method. Klare gave a reason why America had to eliminate Saddam when they knew of his ambition of controlling the region: the threat of having a "stranglehold" on the independence of the US economy was too great. And for this reason, the US unknowingly created a powerful enemy in Binladen, whose offer for help was denied by the Saudi king. It has become a situation of friend of enemy is enemy. After all, Klare contemplates that the greed of the US has created bloodshed and potential bloodshed one after another. However, it is unfair and overmaneuvering to say that conflicts and blood were caused by resources only. The Middle East had been plagued by internal strifes for a long time before the presence of the US. Saddam attacked Kuwait not because of the US. Binladen did not become enemy of the US but of the whole Western ideology. In ignoring the truth that the citizens in countries having US investments are a lot better off then others, Klare has underscored the relevant benefit of business. Lastly, Klare forgot to mention the involvement of other oil-crazed countries in the picture of global conflict.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
i found an eloquent speaker that is highly praised by most liberals!!!
Enough of the D.C. Dems
By Molly Ivins
March 2006 Issue
Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.
I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.
Look at their reaction to this Abramoff scandal. They’re talking about “a lobby reform package.” We don’t need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it. The Abramoff scandal is a once in a lifetime gift—a perfect lesson on what’s wrong with the system being laid out for people to see. Run with it, don’t mess around with little patches, and fix the system.
As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:
1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.
Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance. The party is still cringing at the thought of being called, ooh-ooh, “unpatriotic” by a bunch of rightwingers.
Take “unpatriotic” and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? “Unpatriotic”? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.
Who are these idiots talking about Warner of Virginia? Being anodyne is not sufficient qualification for being President. And if there’s nobody in Washington and we can’t find a Democratic governor, let’s run Bill Moyers, or Oprah, or some university president with ethics and charisma.
What happens now is not up to the has-beens in Washington who run this party. It is up to us. So let’s get off our butts and start building a progressive movement that can block the nomination of Hillary Clinton or any other candidate who supposedly has “all the money sewed up.”
I am tired of having the party nomination decided before the first primary vote is cast, tired of having the party beholden to the same old Establishment money.
We can raise our own money on the Internet, and we know it. Howard Dean raised $42 million, largely on the web, with a late start when he was running for President, and that ain’t chicken feed. If we double it, it gives us the lock on the nomination. So let’s go find a good candidate early and organize the shit out of our side.
Molly Ivins writes in this space every month. Her latest book is “Who Let the Dogs In?”
Comments: Enough of what she barks, she is trying to take back America with..."violence?". If she wants the Democrats to completely go liberals and turn their back against all old establishments, she will see who is the winner. I believe many people don't care who are in power, what they want to see is who will make their life better. Talking about making life better, i can debate with any liberal all day...
By Molly Ivins
March 2006 Issue
Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.
I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.
Look at their reaction to this Abramoff scandal. They’re talking about “a lobby reform package.” We don’t need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it. The Abramoff scandal is a once in a lifetime gift—a perfect lesson on what’s wrong with the system being laid out for people to see. Run with it, don’t mess around with little patches, and fix the system.
As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:
1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.
Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance. The party is still cringing at the thought of being called, ooh-ooh, “unpatriotic” by a bunch of rightwingers.
Take “unpatriotic” and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? “Unpatriotic”? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.
Who are these idiots talking about Warner of Virginia? Being anodyne is not sufficient qualification for being President. And if there’s nobody in Washington and we can’t find a Democratic governor, let’s run Bill Moyers, or Oprah, or some university president with ethics and charisma.
What happens now is not up to the has-beens in Washington who run this party. It is up to us. So let’s get off our butts and start building a progressive movement that can block the nomination of Hillary Clinton or any other candidate who supposedly has “all the money sewed up.”
I am tired of having the party nomination decided before the first primary vote is cast, tired of having the party beholden to the same old Establishment money.
We can raise our own money on the Internet, and we know it. Howard Dean raised $42 million, largely on the web, with a late start when he was running for President, and that ain’t chicken feed. If we double it, it gives us the lock on the nomination. So let’s go find a good candidate early and organize the shit out of our side.
Molly Ivins writes in this space every month. Her latest book is “Who Let the Dogs In?”
Comments: Enough of what she barks, she is trying to take back America with..."violence?". If she wants the Democrats to completely go liberals and turn their back against all old establishments, she will see who is the winner. I believe many people don't care who are in power, what they want to see is who will make their life better. Talking about making life better, i can debate with any liberal all day...
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