Goodbye to all that: Congress Kills Pentagon Unit That Wanted Terrorism Futures Market
Congress Shuts Pentagon Unit Over Privacy By CARL HULSE New York Times September 26, 2003 WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 A Pentagon office that became steeped in controversy over privacy issues and a market in terrorism futures was shut down by Congress today as the Senate passed and sent to President Bush a $368 billion military measure that eliminates money for it. The Pentagon spending plan for 2004 adopted by the Senate says that the office, the Information Awareness Office, which had been headed by Adm. John M. Poindexter, should be terminated immediately while a few projects under its control could be shifted elsewhere within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The House passed the measure on Wednesday. They turned the lights out on the programs Poindexter conceived, said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, who led opposition to the office. From a standpoint of civil liberties, this is a huge victory. Congress first turned its attention to the operation headed by Admiral Poindexter, who had been a central figure in the Iran-contra scandal of the 1980's, because of the proposed Total Information Awareness program, a sweeping computer surveillance initiative developed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Critics challenged the program as a potential invasion of privacy. Pentagon officials renamed the effort the Terrorism Information Awareness program and said it would be devoted to analyzing foreign intelligence data. But the Senate still imposed restrictions on its operations. Then, in July, Mr. Wyden and Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, disclosed that the Pentagon office was about to open an Internet trading market to test the theory that traders could help predict the probability of events like terror attacks, missile strikes and assassinations of foreign leaders. Outraged lawmakers called for the program to cease, and it was closed within a day. The furor surrounding the terror market gave momentum to the effort to cut off money for the office entirely, and the legislative report accompanying the spending measure said Congress wanted it shut. This was a hugely unpopular program with a mission far outside what most Americans would consider acceptable in our democracy, said Timothy Edgar, a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union office in Washington. Admiral Poindexter resigned last month, though he defended the initiatives under his control and said the plan for a terror futures market had been sensationalized. Mr. Wyden said the programs that survived were mainly training initiatives like war-gaming software that helped agencies analyze evidence and communicate with one another. The legislation said Congress allowed the use of processing, analysis and collaboration tools developed by the disbanded office for foreign intelligence operations, but it did not specify agencies that would be using it.
Dem. candidate debate
Best line from debate, as formulated in NYT editorial: The newcomer, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, was more affable than forthcoming about his unformed policy views. He insisted that he was a Democrat at heart, despite previous votes for Republican presidents, and would prove it in position papers. The Rev. Al Sharpton told him to relax because the panel had a lot of old Democrats up here who have been acting like Republicans. Ken. -- If you are going through hell, keep going. -- Winston Churchill
The Reflections of General Wesley K. Clark on regime change
(Bob) Dylan said the answer was 'blowin' in the wind.' I think many of us felt that wind. I know I did. I had been the J-5, responsible for advising General Shalikashvili on our UN policies in 1994, when we stood by as nearly a million Africans were hacked to death with machetes in Rwanda. I had seen the aftermath of the vicious ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, before the US pledge of ground forces helped to end the fighting. In the post-Cold war world, it had taken too long, and too many people had already died. But I was pround that our country and our Alliance had learned, that we didn 't turn our heads, and that we hadn't stood aside to permit another tragedy in 1999 in Kosovo. And I was proud to have been part of that effort, even if it brought the end of my military service. It made me recall one of my friends from Oxford, US Army Captain Alex Hottell, a West Pointer from the Class of 1964. After we stayed up late one night discussing life and death in Vietnam, we finally came back to the adage, If there is nothing worth fighting and dying for, there's nothing worth living for. Alex was killed in Vietnam in 1970. But he believed in serving his country. He stood for something. As of this writing, Slobodan Milosovic is in jail in Yugoslavia. There is real hope for democratic transformation and peace. His Army commander, General Dragojub Ojdanic, was dismissed from his post as minister of defense. I hope they will soon be in The Hague, along with the others, standing trial for their crimes. Unfortunately, there is low-level fighting in southern Serbia and in northern Macedonia, as old grievances are being addressed by force, despite NATO's presence nearby. As for me, the adage that Alex and I spoke of that night at Oxford rings truer to me than ever. One of life's greatest gifts, I've found, is the opportunity to fight for what's right. There is so much more to be done. - General Wesley K. Clark, Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat. New York: Public Affairs, 2001, p. 415. (Note: Dutch Christian-Democrat Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was appointed the new secretary-general of NATO. He will replace Lord Robertson at the beginning of 2004. Says De Hoop Scheffer: I am reluctantly leaving Foreign Affairs. But when Allies express such confidence in you, I cannot and will not refuse). Jurriaan
Re: The Reflections of General Wesley K. Clark on regime change
Wesley Clark stated, expalining why he was proud of his command of the Kosovar war: (Bob) Dylan said the answer was 'blowin' in the wind.' I think many of us felt that wind. I know I did. I don't think so, General Clark: . . . Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. . . . . Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. . . . . Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. I had been the J-5, responsible for advising General Shalikashvili on our UN policies in 1994, __ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com
Bob Dylan on so-called Soft Leftist Wellstone
Published on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 in The Nation's On-Line Beat Bob Dylan, Dick Cheney and Paul Wellstone by John Nichols Most Americans had no idea where Eveleth, Minnesota, was until they saw the maps showing where Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife and daugher, three staffers and two pilots perished in a plane crash Friday. Not so Bob Dylan. A native of Hibbing, a city just 30 miles from Eveleth, the songwriter grew up on the northern Minnesota Iron Range where Wellstone was a populist hero to the Steelworkers and other trade unionists who continue to dominate the region's politics. On Saturday night, at a concert in Denver, Dylan made a rare reference to a contemporary political figure. The singer, who is not known for talking much at his concerts, dedicated a song to Wellstone. This is for a great man and a great senator from Minnesota, Dylan said. The crowd cheered as songwriter began playing one of his most political songs, 1964's The Times They Are A'Changin'. That song includes the lines: Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin' Complete article: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1029-02.htm How about these lines of the song, which the above article doesn't quote: The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'
Should the Left help the Democratic Party to Defeat Bush ?
I was thinking about this question of whether the Left should help the Democratic Party to defeat Bush, on the ground that this would improve the world situation. And I had to think of my own experience of general elections for parliament in New Zealand (I was involved a modest way in several election campaigns, as canvasser and publicist in New Zealand). Thing was, in 1984, many people wanted the National Party Prime Minister Sir Robert (Rob) Muldoon out of power. There was a rent freeze, a wage freeze, a price freeze, everything was frozen, Muldoon was making overtures to lovely old pensioners with universal pension schemes, he was attacking the fall in investment with every government interventionist policy he could think of, and the new yuppies did not like it. The Left didn't like the fact that Muldoon had repressed them in all sorts of ways, for example with the Security Intelligence Service Act. But the most farsighted bourgeois at that time was Sir Bob Jones, a millionaire property developer and speculator, who is currently no doubt making money out of the growth area in the New Zealand economy, namely real estate. Bob was in a position to do something ? What did Bob Jones actually do ? Well, he did a bit a political arithmetic. He founded a new party, the New Zealand Party, and the theme of this party was that Muldoon did not represent the values of the ordinary New Zealander, and consequently was not the real kiwi bloke that he said he was and therefore did not represent the national aspirations of New Zealanders. I actually attended a mass meeting of Bob Jones in the Chritchurch Town Hall. In various ways, Jones implied that Muldoon was a cultural scourge, a sore on the body politic, a reactionary prick although he presented his politics very positively (I was told by workers from the inside that Muldoon liked very young girls and had a flower collection, I don't exactly remember which specific type of flower, maybe Waterlilies or something). Jones was a great public speaker who could power on the dialogue. And by golly, it worked !!! The Left all voted for Labour to oust Muldoon, the Yuppies voted for the New Zealand Party, and the vote cast for the New Zealand Party was sufficient to take away enough seats from the National Party to hand the cabinet to the Labour Party, a bunch of shoddy old men who had been out of power since, I think, 1975 when Keynesian demand management did not stop the recession, and subsequently spruced themselves up. What did the new Labour Party do ? Well, when they assumed parliament benches, they did not really know what to do, but pretty soon they were doing it. This involved everything that the IMF dreamed of, and I mean everything. But the most important thing for Sir Bob Jones was probably the abolition of restrictions on the import and export of capital and a floating exchange rate. Hell, you should have seen the money he made !!! The considerable investment he made in the New Zealand Party really paid off, I never calculated electoral profitability, but the rate of profit must have been hundreds of percent at the very least, maybe even thousands of percent. Lateron Bob Jones shifted his headquarters to Australia. How relevant might this experience be for the USA ? Reference: http://www.cup.canterbury.ac.nz/Catalogue/Memories_of_Muldoon.htm
natural economics
Deflating the Bubble Economy Before it Bursts From Earth Policy Institute Thursday, September 18, 2003 Lester R. Brown We are creating a bubble economy--an economy whose output is artificially inflated by drawing down the earth's natural capital, says Lester R. Brown in his new book, PLAN B: RESCUING A PLANET UNDER STRESS AND A CIVILIZATION IN TROUBLE. (Available for FREE downloading in PDF format http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/index.htm) Each year the bubble grows larger as our demands on the earth expand. The challenge for our generation is to deflate the global economic bubble before it bursts, says Brown, President and Founder of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based independent environmental research organization. Throughout most of human history, we lived on the earth's sustainable yield--the interest from its natural endowment. But now we are consuming the endowment itself. Our existing economic output is based in part on cutting trees faster than they grow, overgrazing rangelands and converting them into desert, overpumping aquifers, and draining rivers dry. On much of our cropland, soil erosion exceeds new soil formation--slowly depriving the land of its inherent fertility. We are taking fish from the ocean faster than they can reproduce. We are releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere faster than the earth can absorb it, creating a greenhouse effect. Rising atmospheric CO2 levels promise a temperature rise during this century that could match that between the last Ice Age and the present, notes Brown in PLAN B, which was funded by the U.N. Population Fund. Bubble economies are not new. American investors got an up-close view of one when the bubble in high-tech stocks burst in 2000 and the NASDAQ, an indicator of the value of these stocks, declined by some 75 percent. The Japanese had a similar experience in 1989 when the real estate bubble burst, depreciating stock and real estate assets by 60 percent. As a result of the bad-debt fallout and other effects of this collapse, the once dynamic Japanese economy has been dead in the water ever since. The bursting of these two bubbles most directly affected people living in the industrial West and Japan. But if the bubble that is based on the overconsumption of the earth's natural capital bursts, it will affect the entire world. Thus far the consequences of most excessive natural capital consumption, such as aquifer depletion, collapsing fisheries, and deforestation, have been local. But in sheer number and scale these events are now reaching a point where they may soon have a global effect. Food appears to be the economic sector most vulnerable to setbacks, largely because the impressive production gains of recent decades were partly based on overpumping and overplowing. Overpumping is historically recent because powerful diesel and electrically driven pumps have become widely available only during the last half-century or so. Aquifers are being overpumped in scores of countries, including China, India, and the United States, which together account for nearly half of the world grain harvest. Overpumping creates a dangerous illusion of food security because it is a way of expanding current food production that virtually ensures a future drop in food production when the aquifer is depleted. In the past, the effects of aquifer depletion on food production were confined to less-populated countries, like Saudi Arabia, but now they are becoming visible in China. After a remarkable expansion from 90 million tons in 1950 to its historical peak of 390 million tons in 1998, China's grain harvest dropped to 330 million tons in 2003. This drop of 60 million tons exceeds the grain harvest of Canada. Thus far China has offset the downturn by drawing on its vast stocks of grain. It can do this for perhaps another year or two, but then it will be forced to import massive quantities of grain. Turning to the world market means turning to the United States, the world's largest grain exporter, presenting a potentially delicate geopolitical situation in which 1.3 billion Chinese consumers, with a $100-billion trade surplus with the United States, will be competing with U.S. consumers for U.S. grain, driving up food prices. Water shortages, such as those in China, are becoming global, crossing national boundaries via the international grain trade. Countries facing water shortages often import water in the form of grain. Since it takes 1,000 tons of water to produce 1 ton of grain, this is the most efficient way to import water. Grain has become the currency with which countries balance their water books. Trading in grain futures is now in a sense trading in water futures. Farmers may now also face higher temperatures than any generation since agriculture began. The 16 warmest years since recordkeeping began in 1880 have all occurred since 1980. With the three warmest years on record--1998, 2001, and 2002--coming in the last five years, crops
Iraqi Sympathy for Resistance Forces Fighting against the Occupation of Iraq
Seth Ackerman, a contributing writer to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR, http://www.fair.org/extra/writers/ackerman.html), comments on the FT article below: In this survey, commissioned by USAID, about half of Iraqis asked about the resistance gave answers indicating some degree of sympathy (i.e., fighters are provoked by US mistreatment, or are resisting occupation, etc.) while fewer than a third gave answers probably indicating opposition to the resistance (i.e., fighters are Ba'athist remnants) (September 25, 2003, http://squawk.ca/lbo-talk/0309/2214.html). * Financial Times (London, England) August 4, 2003, Monday London Edition 1 SECTION: EUROPE MIDDLE EAST; Pg. 5 LENGTH: 467 words HEADLINE: Iraqis sceptical over US explanation for continuing attacks on coalition BYLINE: By CHARLES CLOVER DATELINE: BAGHDAD Fewer then a third of Iraqis believe the armed attacks against coalition forces in their country are attributable to former Ba'ath party operatives turned guerrilla, as US officials suggest, a public opinion survey suggests. The study reveals scepticism among Iraqis at the US-led coalition's version of the postwar violence, which US General John Abizaid likened to a classical guerrilla campaign in remarks last month. We're fighting Ba'athist remnants throughout the country. I believe there's mid-level Ba'athist, Iraqi intelligence people, Special Security Organisation people, Special Republican Guard people that have organised at the regional level in cellular structure, he said on July 16. US officials have yet to produce much public evidence but many Iraqis believe the guerrillas are a new phenomenon, fuelled by nationalism, Islamism, and revenge. According to the survey, by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies (ICRSS), an independent think-tank in Baghdad, 22 per cent of Iraqis believe the attacks are actually provoked by coalition forces' behaviour, while 25 per cent believe them to be the work of resistance forces - a word which in Arabic implies a degree of sympathy for the attackers. The data are particularly interesting if concentrated on the cities of Ramadi and Falluja, where many of the recent attacks have happened. There, fewer than 5 per cent of those surveyed saw former regime sympathisers behind the attacks, 36 per cent said the attacks were provoked by US forces, and 52 per cent named resistance as chief cause. . . . Overall, 2,400 Iraqis in seven cities across Iraq were surveyed by ICRSS. Full results of the survey are to be released on Wednesday. * Yoshie
Australia to Give Infected Sheep to Iraq for Ramadan
The following article sums up the type of foreign aid and reconstruction that Iraqis may expect from foreign occupiers . . . a gift of infected animals rejected by ten countries . . . just in time for a Muslim holy day! * Australia to give infected sheep to Iraq for Ramadan Agence France-Presse Sydney, September 26 After more than 10 countries rejected its sheep that reportedly suffer from scabby mouth disease Australia has struck a secret deal to offload these sheep from the so-called ship of death in Iraq in time for the Muslim festival of Ramadan, reports said on Friday. Amid burgeoning public outcry over the sheep's plight and an unprecedented advertising campaign by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the government is keen to land the sheep in the Middle East. The shipload of 57,000 live sheep left Australia almost two months ago for Saudi Arabia but was rejected because an excessive number were suffering from the scabby mouth disease, a claim dismissed by on-board Australian veterinarians. The sheep have since been stranded on the Dutch-owned Cormo Express in the Persian Gulf in sweltering conditions which have led to around 6,000 deaths, the RSPCA said. Melbourne's Age newspaper reported on Friday that the government had struck a secret deal with Iraq for the sheep to be slaughtered for Ramadan [@ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083160817.html]. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said Australian livestock exporters, keen to put an end to the public relations disaster, would buy back the surviving sheep and give them away. It said the deal would cost the national live trade industry up to $6.8 million and could lead to a levy on live exports. Government officials were not available for comment. The Australian Associated Press quoted an agriculture ministry spokesman saying that no statement would be issued until a deal was sealed. The holy month of Ramadan ends on November 24 when Muslims celebrate with feasting and gifts after a month of fasting. . . . http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_391364,0005.htm * Yoshie
Looking for a list post author
I regret I don't have the time to search through archives... or make uneducated guesses... So I thought I'd try the blunt approach. Would the lad who made the post with the theory that the Republicans cannot build countries (like Iraq, as opposed to Japan in 46) is because they _are_ Republicans and unable to speak to the strata/class that does actually occupy building positions please identify himself? (No, you get no cash reward, I just wanted to talk to you privately a bit.) Thanks. Ken. -- The effects of the criminal on the development of productive power can be shown in detail. Would locks have ever reached their present degree of excellence had there been no thieves? Would the making of bank notes have reached its present perfection had there been no forgers? Would the microscope have found its way into the sphere of ordinary commerce... but for trading frauds? Doesn't practical chemistry owe just as much to adulteration of commodities and the efforts to show it up as to the honest zeal of production? Crime through its constantly new methods of attack on property, constantly calls into being new methods of defence, and so is as productive as strikes for the invention of machines. And if one leaves the sphere of private crime: would the world market ever have come into being but for national crime? Indeed, would even the nations have arisen? And hasn't the Tree of Sin been at the same time the Tree of Knowledge ever since the time of Adam? -- Karl Marx Theories of Surplus Value
Conference in Rhodes / Greece: Deadline March 15, 2004
BUSINESS ECONOMICS SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL 2004 CONFERENCE ISLAND OF RHODES - GREECE July 19-22, 2004 Rodos Palace Hotel (Direct charter flights to Rhodes are available from many European cities book early!) CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS (Deadline for Abstracts and Early Registration: March 15, 2004) The Business Economics Society International (BESI) invites you to participate in its 2004 Conference to be held in the island of Rhodes - Greece, at the Rodos Palace Hotel, July 19-22. The conference welcomes academics (business/economics professors and administrators), as well as corporation/government executives and economists. Participants may organize panels (please ask for the Panel Organizer Guidelines), present papers, participate in poster sessions, chair sessions, discuss papers, participate in round-table discussions, or simply observe. The program will consist of: · small concurrent sessions with: chairperson, presenters, and at least one discussant assigned to comment on each paper; · poster sessions; · roundtable thematic discussion sessions with moderator; · workshops and panels; · invited speakers. Time allocated for each session is one hour and 30 minutes. * To ORGANIZE PANELS please ask for Panel Organizer Guidelines. The fee for each participant in the panel, except the organizer, is $330. The fee for the panel organizer is $150. * To participate as a PRESENTER please submit ABSTRACTS and/or PAPERS: ABSTRACT/PAPER SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MARCH 15, 2004 · Please, submit your abstract (of no more than 200 words) via e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) by MARCH 15, 2004. Additionally, mail two hard copies of your abstract (see address below). All abstracts submitted will be evaluated for presentation and publication in the Book of Abstracts which will be available at the Conference; · You may submit abstracts for no more than 2 papers; · Abstracts/papers must not have been published, accepted, or submitted for publication elsewhere; · The categories that best fit your paper must be typed on the top right corner of the front page (See below table titled Subject Category Title and Number); · For co-authorships please include names, affiliations, and addresses of all authors and indicate who will serve as presenter; · The title of your abstract(s) or paper(s) is(are): FINAL PAPER SUBMISSION DEADLINE: APRIL 30, 2004 · Please submit via post 2 hard copies of the paper(s) and a disk containing the manuscript(s) in Word by APRIL 30, 2004. · Unless you instruct us otherwise, all papers will pass a blind peer review process for publication consideration in the 'GLOBAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS REVIEW ANTHOLOGY 2004', a volume of selected papers from the Conference. Format instructions will be attached to the acceptance for publication letter. [Manuscripts of more than 12 single-spaced pages of text (font: times, size=10) inclusive of graphs, tables, endnotes and references will be considered at $10 per additional page]; · Authorship should be identified only on a removable cover page. CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM Last Name First Name and M.I. Nickname for Badge Position/Title/Rank Affiliation Mailing Address Telephone: Day (___)___, Night (___) Fax: (___)_, E-Mail: __ [I wish to serve as a DISCUSSANTand/or a SESSION CHAIR/MODERATOR___. My specialty is__. Session Chair/Moderator and Discussant Guidelines as well as copies of the abstracts or papers to be discussed will be made available to you as soon as the sessions are organized.] CONFERENCE FEES (DUE MARCH 15, 2004) 1. Registration Fee ... ..$330 x __ = __ 2. Participating Co-Author(s) Panel Organizer only..$150 x __ = __ 3. After March 15, 2004 Add Late Fee.. ..$35 x __ =__ 4. Guest Fee (companions)... ...$60 x __ = __ Total Amount Due .. = __ Note: Registration fees include guest speaker-awards luncheon, one copy of the GLOBAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS REVIEW - ANTHOLOGY 2004, the semi-annual GLOBAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS REVIEW, and access to all
interlocking directorates 2003
http://store.thecorporatelibrary.net/publications/files/Interlocks2003.pdf PRESS RELEASE Corporate and Director Interlocks in the USA: 2003 Contact: Jackie Cook (207) 874-6921 [EMAIL PROTECTED] September 22, 2003 William Gray, Shirley Jackson, Edward Brennan, Samuel Nunn, and Helene Kaplan, are at the heart of interlocking corporate board relationships according to a report issued today by independent corporate governance research firm The Corporate Library. Its first Corporate and Director Interlocks benchmark report charts a path through the complex web of relationships among 13,000 US corporate directors and the 1,727 large corporations on whose boards they serve. The Corporate Library's Board Analyst Database includes detailed information on the corporate board members of the top 2,000 publicly traded US corporations. Its Interlocks Tool makes it possible to map the relationships among them - not just corporate, but also non-profit, trade association, and other affiliations, even membership in the exclusive Augusta Golf Club. There are three main parts to the study, each guided by a clear objective. These are to . provide a broad descriptive analysis of the degree of 'connectivity' among large US corporations and their directors, . identify specific patterns of relationships that compromise board independence, and . explore methods for identifying the most influential directors. The report includes a number of methods for evaluating the centrality and influence of directors and companies in the larger corporate network. The study finds that board structure and patterns of board interrelationships are strongly related and the implications of this correlation are explored.
poverty USA
U.S. Poverty Rate Up, Income Down for Second Straight Year By Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, September 26, 2003; 12:50 PM Nearly 1.7 million people fell into poverty last year, ticking the official poverty rate up to 12.1 percent from the 2001 rate of 11.7 percent, the second straight year that poverty has increased in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. The annual report, which also showed a decline in median household income, comes at a politically charged time, when President Bush's approval ratings have hit the lowest levels of his term and Democratic presidential candidates have focused their criticism of Bush on his economic stewardship. Moreover, the poverty increases were particularly concentrated last year in politically sensitive populations: African Americans, suburban residents and Midwesterners. Poverty levels rose precisely in many of the states that are likely to determine the next president: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois and Michigan, as well as Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah. Overall, the Census Bureau figures paint a picture of the worst off Americans struggling to recover from the 2001 recession. Daniel Weinberg, chief of the bureau's housing and household economic statistics division, says the decline in income and rise in poverty perfectly mirror statistics from virtually all previous recessions. He suggested the numbers may have been worse had it not been for Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut passed in 2001 and a rise in the value of food stamps and housing subsidies. The two bright spots in the survey were income disparity, which declined under the most sophisticated measurements, and the gap between the earnings of women and men, which reached its narrowest level ever. Women earn 77 cents to a man's dollar. Nationally, median household money income fell 1.1 percent -- or by $500 -- between 2001 and 2002, to $42,409 from $42,900. After-tax income fell a slightly smaller 0.8 percent. Since cash incomes peaked in 1999 at $43,915, household money income has dropped $1,506. The poverty rate has risen from a trough of 11.3 percent in 2000 to the 2002 rate of 12.1 percent. In 2001 and 2002, 3 million Americans slipped beneath the official poverty line, which, for an individual under 65 is $9,359 a year and for a family of four is $18,244. By the end of last year, 34.6 million Americans lived in poverty. Among those, 12.1 million are children, up from 11.7 million in 2001. Since 2002, the U.S. economy has shown clearer signs of recovery. The Commerce Department Friday revised growth in the second quarter of this year up for a second time, to a strong 3.3 percent. And most economists foresee far stronger growth in the last half of this year. But that stronger growth has yet to be reflected in the job market, where employment has continued to fall. And employment is the key factor in poverty rates, economists say. The poverty changes in 2002 were particularly concentrated. Poverty rates were unchanged for self-identified whites, Latinos and Asians, but African Americans saw an increase in the poverty rate from 23.9 percent to 24.1 percent. Regionally, poverty rates in the Northeast, South and West did not change last year, but they inched up in the Midwest, to 10.3 percent, from 9.4 percent. Likewise, inner city and rural households saw no change in the level of official poverty, but suburban residents experienced an increase in official poverty to 8.9 percent, from 8.2 percent. In all, 1.2 million more suburbanites were living in poverty then in 2001, a total of 13.3 million. The Census Bureau figures show the difficulty the president faces in taking power following the economic heights of the 1990s boom. At 12.1 percent, the 2002 poverty rate is actually lower than the 12.7 percent rate in 1998. Excluding 1999 through 2001, last year's poverty level was lower than every year since 1979, since modern records began in 1959. Only 10 years in the past 43 has the poverty rate been lower than the 2002 level.
Re: Australia to Give Infected Sheep to Iraq for Ramadan
the type of foreign aid and reconstruction that Iraqis may expect from foreign occupiers . . . a gift of infected animals rejected by ten countries . . . just in time for a Muslim holy day! Let's not jump to politically convenient conclusions based on stereotypes and scanty evidence. Note, first of all, that scabby mouth is so common that _any_ shipment would include some animals with it --- in this case it is alleged to be 6% of the sheep, when the agreed ceiling is 5%. As it happens, I was talking yesterday to a workmate who is involved in animal rights, including the campaign against live sheep exports. In her opinion, the underlying reason for the rejection --- to paraphrase --- was rivalry between Saudi businesses. That is to say, a particular livestock company here was overlooked for the export order --- a co which happens to be Saudi-owned. Draw your own conclusions. Transporting livestock for 1000s of km on open decked ships is bad for the animals, the humans who consume them --- and the profits of the businesses concerned. It was probably the latter factor which led to _halal_ meatworkers from SE Asia being encouraged to emigrate to Australia in the early 1970s. The conservative farming town in which I was born --- pop. 4000 --- now includes about 350 ethnic Malays and a mosque. However, the governments of the Gulf states have rejected the idea of imported halal meat, a policy which --- it seems to me --- has more to do with jobs in the Gulf, than any genuine cultural reasons. Needless to say, the jobs of _halal_ meatworkers in Australia are much less secure as a result. regards, Grant.
Re: Australia to Give Infected Sheep to Iraq for Ramadan
At 10:01 AM +0800 9/27/03, Grant Lee wrote: the type of foreign aid and reconstruction that Iraqis may expect from foreign occupiers . . . a gift of infected animals rejected by ten countries . . . just in time for a Muslim holy day! Let's not jump to politically convenient conclusions based on stereotypes and scanty evidence. It's a symbolically irresistible conclusion: dumping infected rejects in a new colony. :- More tidbits about colonial goings-on: * Sheep ship will try to dock in Iraq By LUKE McILVEEN 27sep03 THE ship carrying 54,000 Australian sheep pulled anchor and began heading for Iraq yesterday. But the Federal Government still has to get the permission of the US Army to dock in the southern port of Basra. The sheep are expected to arrive tomorrow afternoon. As revealed by the Herald Sun, Cabinet this week nominated Iraq as the best destination for the MV Cormo Express, which has been stranded in the Middle East since Saudi Arabia rejected its cargo five weeks ago. But there are still obstacles to be overcome. A US Army official in Iraq, dubbed Sergeant Bilko for his love of kickbacks, has warned Australia he will not allow the MV Cormo Express to dock without payment. Australian livestock traders have spoken to the staff sergeant by phone and named him after the bungling Sergeant Bilko, played by Steve Martin in the 1996 film of the same name, in which the main character spends his days on the base playing poker. The middle-ranking officer controls all supplies moving in and out of the war-torn country. This guy just runs everything and he's told us the ship has no chance of docking without his say-so, one livestock trader said. . . . Animal rights activists claimed the sheep would not be better off in Iraq. Iraq has been in a state of disarray since the war, said Glenys Oogjes, executive director of Animals Australia. If this gift of live animals goes ahead, the Australian public will demand an assurance that these animals be supervised by Australian authorities until enduring slaughter. http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7384027%255E662,00.html * At 10:01 AM +0800 9/27/03, Grant Lee wrote: As it happens, I was talking yesterday to a workmate who is involved in animal rights, including the campaign against live sheep exports. In her opinion, the underlying reason for the rejection --- to paraphrase --- was rivalry between Saudi businesses. That is to say, a particular livestock company here was overlooked for the export order --- a co which happens to be Saudi-owned. Draw your own conclusions. No one else has wanted the sheep so far -- even for free! -- though: * Jordan has refused to take the sheep. So has the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan turned down an offer to have the entire shipment for free. In Lebanon, the Union of Butchers and Cattle Merchants warned the Cormo Express to stay away. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3525686thesection=newsthesubsection=world * The Hindustan Times says that the sheep have been rejected by more than ten countries (@ http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_391364,0005.htm). At 10:01 AM +0800 9/27/03, Grant Lee wrote: _halal_ meatworkers in Australia It seems that non-halal meatworkers have been irate as well: * ...[A]s shipments to other markets continued despite the fate of the Cormo Express, condemnation of a trade long opposed by an unlikely alliance of animal rights activists and meatworkers began gaining traction. From the start live exports were dogged by controversy. Meatworkers fearing for their jobs and supported by other unions launched frequently violent protests, blockades and boycotts; farmers drove their own sheep through pickets and in one dramatic campaign launched co-ordinated convoys through union lines to load sheep themselves. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3525686thesection=newsthesubsection=world * -- Yoshie * Bring Them Home Now! http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/ * Calendars of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html, http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php, http://www.cpanews.org/ * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/ * Al-Awda-Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio * Solidarity: http://www.solidarity-us.org/
Re: Australia to Give Infected Sheep to Iraq for Ramadan
No one else has wanted the sheep so far -- even for free! -- though: Give a sheep a bad name...
Re: interlocking directorates 2003
Davis, Gerald F., Mina Yoo, and Wayne E. Baker. 2003. The Network Topography of the Amercan Corporate Elite, 1982-2001. Strategic Organization (May): forthcoming. On average, any two of the 4760 directors of the 546 largest US firms in the largest component in 1999 could be connected by 4.3 links, and any two of the boards are 3.5 degrees distant. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
Signs Show U.S. Underestimated Iraq War
* Signs Show U.S. Underestimated Iraq War Friday September 26, 2003 8:39 PM By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Wear and tear on tanks in Iraq is outpacing the Army's efforts to repair and resupply. The administration is scrambling to find thousands more troops by early next year. Stressed American soldiers are suddenly being given two-week vacations. Five months into the American occupation of Iraq, there are growing signs that the Bush administration vastly underestimated what it would take to stabilize the country after Baghdad fell in early April. Pentagon planners had not expected that such a large U.S. force, now totaling 130,000 troops, would be required for such a long period - more than a year it now appears, rather than weeks. They won't acknowledge the miscalculation publicly, but recent developments make them obvious: - Wear on tank treads and vehicle tires that has far outpaced the Army's ability to resupply them. Treads that normally are replaced once a year are wearing out in two months. Asked whether war planners had anticipated such heavy work for U.S. ground troops this long after the war, Gen. Paul Kern, the Army's materiel chief, said, ``Some did, some didn't.'' - The decision to require 12-month tours for all troops in Iraq, including reservists. When the 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force conquered Baghdad in early April, those troops thought the war was over and they would be headed home in a matter of weeks. Instead they stayed for months, and their replacements will serve even longer. - The disclosure this week by senior military commanders that they may have to take the politically sensitive step of calling up thousands more reservists for Iraq duty than was planned just weeks ago. A troop rotation plan announced in July included mobilization of two National Guard brigades. But that plan is being re-evaluated in light of continuing attacks on American forces and slow progress in getting other countries to contribute troops. - The Pentagon's decision to begin granting troops a vacation break, leaves that began this week and are expected to increase in number. ``They planned to pull the troops out quickly,'' said Anthony Cordesman, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. That plan was based on what Cordesman called an illogical assumption that U.S. forces would be greeted almost universally as liberators, that political control could be handed over to Iraqis quickly and that there would be no insurgency. ``We never really had a nation-building plan,'' Cordesman said. Pentagon planners did foresee some postwar difficulties. They were prepared, for example, to deal with a refugee problem, with acute hunger, with a torching of oil fields or with an explosion of ethnic violence - none of which happened. What they did not fully foresee was the violence aimed at U.S. occupation troops and the other security problems that have hampered the reconstruction efforts and angered many Iraqis. An early indication that the administration did not foresee a long and violent postwar period was a statement made by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Feb. 27, shortly before the war began. ``It's not logical to me,'' he told reporters, to think it would take as many troops to keep the peace as it would to win the war. The implication was that once Baghdad fell, U.S. forces could begin to draw down as Iraqis took over more of the security duties around the country. It remains the plan to transfer security and other responsibilities to the Iraqis. But the looting and lawlessness that descended upon parts of Iraq immediately after Saddam Hussein fell - followed by increasingly sophisticated and deadly ambushes of U.S. troops - have prevented any substantial decrease in the number of American troops on the ground. Some say it may have been beyond the Pentagon's capacity to anticipate these problems. ``Military operations, in my experience, rarely turn out exactly as you envisioned them, without having to make adjustments,'' said Steve Abbot, a retired four-star Navy admiral who was deputy commander of U.S. European Command when it ran the air war over Kosovo in 1999. ``Clearly there have been major adjustments.'' ^--- EDITOR'S NOTE - Robert Burns has covered military affairs for The Associated Press since 1990. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3196135,00.html * -- Yoshie * Bring Them Home Now! http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/ * Calendars of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html, http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php, http://www.cpanews.org/ * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/ * Al-Awda-Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio * Solidarity: http://www.solidarity-us.org/
Re: poverty USA
Proletariat quiescent.. --- Eubulides [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: U.S. Poverty Rate Up, Income Down = * --why do you slack your fighting-fury now? It's hard for me, strong as I am, single-handed to breach the wall and cut a path to the ships--come, shoulder-to-shoulder! The more we've got, the better the work will go! One of Sarpedon's speeches in THE ILIAD--The Trojans storm the rampart http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal __ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com
