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NEWS DISSECTOR: Blogging From Berlin:The News And Views I Wanted To Share
NEWS DISSECTOR May 13, 2008
Blogging From Berlin:The News And Views I Wanted To Share
A friend writes that the cyclones and earthquakes we are seeing-the "disaster of the day" may be a sign that the earth is getting angry with the way it is abused….mmmm.
THE WORLD FROM MY IN-BOX
UPDATE ON BURMA DISASTER
INTERVIEW WITH DALI LAMA
I am in Berlin. Spent yesterday, their mother's Day, at the huge annual 4 day "Carnival of the Cultures"-a festival celebrating the German's Capital's diverse multi-cultural communities.
It was mobbed, featuring music, food, children's games and drink-lots of it. I am staying in the former East Berlin. It was great to see a street named after Rudi Dutchke, the 60's anti-war activist. I had to check out a site called Toytown Germany to learn about the controversy that surrounded the renaming of part of the strasse:
Four years after the taz, a newspaper with not so clandestine leftist leanings, had first broached the idea of honoring Rudi Dutschke the Berlin Administrative Court of Appeals has disallowed a claim intended to prohibit part of Kochstrasse to be renamed Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse. Neighbors along the street had seen an infringement of their constitutional rights, stating that changing the street name would "alter their social status", condone crimes committed in the same street four decades ago and compel them to inform authorities and other entities of the change in address, an intolerable state interference in their private sphere.The court ruled that the naming of streets is a public interest issue and that private issues have no sphere of influence in the matter.
Rudi would have been amused.
Interesting that this town is actually run by an alliance of former Communists and current Social Democrats. A long lost cousin of mine who I met for the first time told me Berlin is not really considered part of Germany by some other Germans and even some people living here because of its more progressive and cosmopolitan culture and character. What do I know…..
Really don't have much time to write, but given the intense developments worldwide, I wanted to share some of the key stories piling up in my in box:
THE LATEST ON BURMA
First, Burma, the country the Junta calls Myanmar. There are news reports that the Buddhist Monks are stirring to protest the government's inaction Richard Blair writes:
The humanitarian crisis from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar / Burma will be quickly dropping off the media's radar screen, except for the international agitation aspect of the situation. While media reports seem to be stuck on the countries that can't get cooperation from the government of Myanmar (for example, the U.S.), and some NGOs that weren't previously working in Myanmar have encountered difficulties in access to the country, success stories are indeed starting to trickle out.
Obviously, the needs are still great and will be for some time to come. Over 30,000 people are confirmed as dead from the storm, and estimates of the final toll reach as high as 100,000. The problem is: that's just from the storm itself, and the immediate aftermath. Cases of cholera are already being reported, and disease spreads quickly in conditions such as are currently being experienced in the Irrawaddy delta area.
In creating Myanmar Relief (myanmarrelief.blogspot.com) early last week as the scope of the disaster was beginning to unfold, I made a concerted effort to stay away from the international political angles that seemed to underscore most of the media narrative. My focus has been on highlighting NGO efforts, and what's working and what's not in terms of getting relief to the affected areas.
If you'd like to point your readers to a (mostly) apolitical source of information on how to help the victims of cyclone Nargis and the NGOs that are actually on the ground working (instead of bitching in the media), please consider a link to myanmarrelief.blogspot.com as a comprehensive guide to the relief efforts that are underway.
CHINA: THE DALAI LAMA IS PRAYING
China's earthquake and its mounting death toll-now put officially at TEN THOUSAND- is all over the news, Here in Germany, Die Spiegel is carrying an interview with the Dali Lama:
SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH THE DALAI LAMA
'I Pray for China's Leadership'
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan people, discusses the uprising in his native Tibet, why he doesn't support protests against the Olympic torch relay and his proposals for a compromise with Beijing.
SPIEGEL: Your Holiness, have you already received your invitation for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing?
Dalai Lama: The Chinese have chosen a different option: not to invite me, but to exclude me. And to blame me. Just yesterday, the Tibet Daily in Lhasa wrote some harsh words about me, once again. Your fellow journalists there are very inventive.
SPIEGEL: Some of the expressions we remember from the last few weeks include: criminal, traitor, separatist and then, coming from the head of the Communist Party of the Tibet Autonomous Region: "A wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast." Does this name-calling hurt?
Dalai Lama: Oh no, not at all. You forgot "demon," by the way. These are just empty words. If using this sort of language to describe me makes the Chinese officials happy, then they should continue. I will also be happy to provide a blood sample, so that scientists can determine whether I am man or beast. But what I do condemn to the fullest and consider a serious human rights violation is when the Chinese authorities force the Tibetans in my native Tibet to vilify me and, while threatening them, to compel them to denounce me in writing.
SPIEGEL: Beijing admits to this approach, calling it a "patriotic education campaign …"
Dalai Lama: … which, in truth, is a violation of religious freedom and, therefore, of the laws of the People's Republic.
SPIEGEL: Despite the name-calling - even concurrently with it - the Chinese political leadership has made overtures to meet with you. Does this make any sense to you? And do you feel that the Communist Party leaders in Beijing truly believe that you have agitated the people in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet, or even incited them to commit acts of violence?
Dalai Lama: I don't know whether they believe it, but if they do, perhaps they should go to Oslo and have the Nobel Peace Prize taken away from me. No, of course I am committed to nonviolence - I have been for my entire life and will always be. I have asked the Chinese authorities to come here to Dharamsala and examine all of my documents and speeches, to which they will be given access. And then they can present evidence for their accusations.
SPIEGEL: But you cannot deny that in addition to the peaceful demonstrations by monks, which were brutally suppressed, Tibetan youth in Lhasa have also been guilty of looting and arson.
Dalai Lama: I assume that this was the case. I condemn it, and it makes me sad to see my fellow Tibetans acting in this way - even though it was most certainly the result of deep-seated disillusionment and despair over being second-class citizens in their own country. But this is no excuse for violence. I have proposed an international investigation of the events in Tibet, to be completed by a recognized, independent institution. But one thing is certain: It was, for the most part, innocent Tibetans who suffered under the brutality of the police and military. We deplore the loss of more than 200 lives. But we too lack a complete and detailed picture of what happened and is still happening in Tibet.
SPIEGEL: Where do you get your information?
Dalai Lama: We have little that is exclusive: the occasional call on a mobile phone, or an e-mail. Of course, these new media are heavily censored, but it is difficult for Beijing to get them completely under control.
SPIEGEL: What was your reaction when you received the first reports of the atrocities, and when you saw the first images of the dead?
Dalai Lama: I wept. I was sitting with the prime minister of our government-in-exile, and we were both wiping the tears from our eyes. So much suffering, so much despair. I was simply sad, deeply sad.
SPIEGEL: But not angry?
Dalai Lama: Sometimes an angry word slips out, which is bad enough. But no, anger is foreign to me, because anger means wanting to do harm to someone. My faith helps me overcome such negative emotions and find my equilibrium. Each of my Buddhist rituals is part of a process of giving and taking. I receive Chinese mistrust, and I send out compassion. I must admit that it hasn't always been easy for me in recent weeks.
SPIEGEL: Have you also prayed for the Chinese, including the perpetrators?
Dalai Lama: Despite all fears and worries, I am at peace with my subconscious, so that I can perform my duties quite normally. I have no trouble sleeping. Perhaps this is because I also pray for the Chinese, of course. For their leadership. And also for those who have blood on their hands.
A Quiet US Confession
Weapons Were Not Made In Iran After All
By CASMII
In a sharp reversal of its longstanding accusations against Iran arming militants in Iraq , the US military has made an unprecedented albeit quiet confession: the weapons they had recently found in Iraq were not made in Iran at all.
ON THE MIDDLE EAST-OBAMA VERSUS CARTER (UNDERNEWS)
CHICAGO SUN TIMES Rob Malley, a Middle East policy adviser to likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, resigned after news surfaced that he had been meeting with Hamas - something Obama pledged he himself would never do.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Saturday Malley called the Obama campaign on Friday to sever ties with the candidate after learning the Times of London was publishing a story about his contacts with the terrorist group.
Malley is an analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based International Crisis Group, specializing in the Israeli-Arab conflict. He told NBC News that his job "is to meet with all sorts of savory and unsavory people and report on what they say. I've never denied whom I meet with; that's what I do."
LaBolt said, "Sen. Obama strongly opposes talking to Hamas, a terrorist group committed to Israel's destruction. As president, he will work to isolate Hamas and target its resources, and rejects any dialogue until Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces terrorism, and abides by previous agreements."
JIMMY CARTER, NY TIMES We met with Hamas leaders from Gaza, the West Bank and Syria, and after two days of intense discussions with one another they gave these official responses to our suggestions, intended to enhance prospects for peace:
* Hamas will accept any agreement negotiated by Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel provided it is approved either in a Palestinian referendum or by an elected government. Hamas's leader, Khaled Meshal, has reconfirmed this, although some subordinates have denied it to the press.
* When the time comes, Hamas will accept the possibility of forming a nonpartisan professional government of technocrats to govern until the next elections can be held.
* Hamas will also disband its militia in Gaza if a nonpartisan professional security force can be formed.
* Hamas will accept a mutual cease-fire in Gaza, with the expectation (not requirement) that this would later include the West Bank.
CARTER ON GAZA
ENERGY
Nikki Oldaker writes: "this is how clean energy is created…was built in 1919 - and still works."
HEALTH CARE
Dean Baker | Universal Health Care or John Care
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051208A.shtml
Dean Baker writes for Truthout: "With the Democratic presidential race winding down, the presidential campaign can again focus on the real issues facing the country. At the top of the list, alongside ending the Iraq War, is providing universal health care."
Intriguing story-don't have details: insider says Admin overlooked corruption in Iraq. Why would they do that? You don't think they were somehow complicit????
IMMIGRATION: 700 ARRESTS IN IOWA
Postville, Ia.(VIA REGISTER-and MCM) - Four Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on them have entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex.
The buses, along with a trail of SUVs and vans with Minnesota license plates, arrived at about 11:45 a.m.
Federal agents descended upon this northeast Iowa community at about 10 a.m. today to conduct an immigration raid at the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant.
The ICE agents entered the Postville plant to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.
Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.
Immigration officials told aides to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,500 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.
Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. "There has to be 100 of them," he said of the agents.
Larson said the agents told workers to stay in place then separated them by asking those with identification to stand to the right and those with other papers, to stand to the left.
"There was plenty of hollering," Larson said. "You couldn't go anywhere."
MEDIA CROSS OWNERSHIP FIGHT
Matthew Lasar: Big media slams proposal to roll back cross-ownership rule
Rarely has one Federal Communications Commission filing provoked as much ire as this. Thirteen major broadcast and newspaper groups have filed lengthy denunciations of a public interest group's appeal to redo the FCC's recent relaxation of its TV station/newspaper cross-ownership ban. Their comments once again expose the enormous divide between public opinion and big media on this issue.
"The Commission should deny the petition," insists CBS. "CBS has submitted hundreds upon hundreds of pages of comments, facts, and studies in this proceeding, all with the goal of demonstrating that the FCC's broadcast ownership scheme is woefully and perilously out of sync with the realities of today's media marketplace. To that end, we have urged the Commission to deregulate all of its media ownership rules."
CBS, Clear Channel, Fox Television, Gannet, Media General, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Newspaper Association of America, Tribune, and five other parties are responding to a plucky March 24th Petition for Reconsideration filed by Common Cause, the Benton Foundation, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and three other groups. Their long shot appeal not only asked for a roll back of the FCC's new TV/newspaper combo rules, it also petitioned the agency to rethink its TV and radio station ownership limits.
ECONOMY
NC: GLOBAL SLUMP : Uber-bear Ambrose Evans-Pritchard waxes apocalyptic this week, after finding that Standard & Poors issued a report that was even more pessimistic than he is.
From the Telegraph:
The avalanche of bankruptcies has begun. Six US companies of substance have defaulted on bonds over the past fortnight, against 17 for the whole of last year.
As a "non-believer" in the instant rebound story, I am not easily shocked by gloomy reports. But the latest note by Standard & Poor's - The Bust After The Boom - gave me a fright….
As the Fed's latest loan survey makes clear, lenders have dropped the guillotine. With the usual delay, the poison is spreading from banks to the real world.
Diane Vazza, S&P's credit chief, says defaults are rising at almost twice the rate of past downturns. "Companies are heading into this recession with a much more toxic mix. Their margin for error is razor-thin," she said.
FINANCIAL TIMES: HSBC sees further pain in US housing
The US housing market downturn could last for at least another year, HSBC
predicted on Monday as it revealed it had set aside $5.8bn (3bn) because
of the credit turmoil in the first quarter.
In the June 2008 issue of Condé Nast Portfolio, Washington editor Matthew Cooper examines how the much-heralded Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, has failed to accomplish most of his own agenda, and how the subprime mess has only given Paulson cover for his broader failings ("The Problem With Paulson," p. 48). Cooper writes, "If you judge Paulson in terms of his own goals, the things he vowed to tackle after he was confirmed, they remain unmet, and the things he wanted to fix are unimproved…
And Last But Hardly Least:
THE MONEY POWERING OUR POLITICS
According to Campaign Media Analysis Group, $241 million has been spent so far
on presidential campaign advertising, with up to $20 million more coming if
Sen. Hillary Clinton remains in the Democratic race and both she and Sen. Obama
continue to advertise through the remaining contests. The Obama campaign has
spent $76 million so far; the Clinton campaign has spent $46 million.
With about $40 million more spent on local cable, which CMAG doesn't track, that
would put the total ad spending in the presidential primaries at about $300
million. About $140 million of that was spent in calendar year 2008.
That compares with $64.4 million spent four years ago, although there was only a
Democratic campaign and its March end was immediately followed with $70.2
million in spending through May 1, much of it by the Bush campaign in ads
targeting Sen. John Kerry.
CMAG estimates total spending on political advertising in the presidential race
will be $800 million this year, up from $650 million in 2004. FROM TV WEEK.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Ok, the jet lag has me in its grip. No More for now. I hope half a News Dissector Blog is better than none.
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