Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Israel-Palestine: Settlements. Sharon inconsistency
Israel on Monday publicly confirmed plans to build 3,500 new housing units in the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Maale Adumim. Palestinians angrily responded that such an action would violate the Middle East peace plan and would be a major obstacle to resolving bitter disputes over nearby Jerusalem.
After reports in the Israeli news media, the Defense Ministry confirmed Monday that Shaul Mofaz, the defense minister, had approved the new building plan for Maale Adumim two months ago, based on government proposals dating back several years.
In another development on Monday, Israel handed over security control to the Palestinians in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, a hotbed of Palestinian militants. Last month Israel agreed to transfer security control of five Palestinian towns in the West Bank, and Tulkarm is the second one to be handed over, after Jericho last week.
,,, Palestinians criticized the expansion plan disclosed Monday as a flagrant attempt to expand the Jewish presence in and around the traditionally Arab eastern parts of Jerusalem and to seal them off even further from Palestinian areas in the West Bank.
"If this is carried out, Israel will be dictating the outcome of negotiations on the future of Jerusalem before they even begin," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/international/middleeast/22mideast.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Today's Times' editorial criticizes the above
We all know that any final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians will have to include an adjustment of borders; returning to the 1967 lines is fine in theory, but there are too many Israeli Jews living outside those boundaries to expect all of them to move. But that is precisely why adding to those numbers right now is so cynical. And claims by the Israelis that they never intend to give certain settlements back anyway just don't cut it.
Mr. Sharon is unfairly trying to stack the deck before peace talks even begin by expanding the Jewish presence around the traditionally Arab eastern parts of Jerusalem. Such a move could further seal off those Israeli Arabs in east Jerusalem from Palestinian areas in the West Bank.http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/opinion/23wed1.html
Social Security: Bush Retreat: Now, private/personal accounts are “just one idea people should consider."
Even the slogan at the president's public events has changed. At the New Mexico event, gone were the banners that once declared the president's interest in "Strengthening Social Security."
Instead they had a more targeted message: "Keeping Our Promise to Seniors." His last several outings have been dedicated to reassuring older voters that their Social Security payments are not in jeopardy, rather than demanding the bold restructuring that was once the focus of his sales pitch. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23social.html
Christopher Hitchens: The former Leftie visits Ohio.
OHIO’S ODD NUMBERS
No conspiracy theorist, and no fan of John Kerry’s, the author nevertheless found the Ohio polling results impossible to swallow: Given what happened in that key state on Election Day 2004, both democracy and common sense cry out for a court-ordered inspection of its new voting machines
I am not any sort of statistician or technologist, and (like many Democrats in private) I did not think that John Kerry should have been president of any country at any time. But I have been reviewing books on history and politics all my life, making notes in the margin when I come across a wrong date, or any other factual blunder, or a missing point in the evidence. No book is ever free from this. But if all the mistakes and omissions occur in such a way as to be consistent, to support or attack only one position, then you give the author a lousy review. The Federal Election Commission, which has been a risible body for far too long, ought to make Ohio its business. The Diebold company, which also manufactures A.T.M.s, should not receive another dime until it can produce a voting system that is similarly reliable. And Americans should cease to be treated like serfs or extras when they present themselves to exercise their franchise. http://makethemaccountable.com/articles/Ohio_s_Odd_Numbers.htm
Schiavo: A federal appeals court said Terri Schiavo's parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims." The parents plan another appeal.
Complicit Media: The latest from the Right: pushing a doctor who claims he can rehabilitate Terri Schiavo. William Hammesfahr is a Florida neurologist who was disciplined two years ago by the Florida Board of Medicine and was one of five court-approved physicians who examined her. And, since hack legislator Mike Bilirakis (R-Florida) wrote a letter to the Nobel Committee recommending him for The Prize, he is consistently introduced by Right media as “nominated for the Nobel Prize”.
Sean Hannity, habitual liar:
HANNITY: And coming up later in the program tonight, we're going to meet a doctor who actually spent 10 hours examining Terri Schiavo. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize. He believes that she could be rehabilitated.
[...]
HANNITY: You were nominated for a Nobel Prize in medicine?
HAMMESFAHR: Yes.
[...]
HANNITY: You were nominated to get a Nobel Peace Prize in this work. Are you saying that this woman could be rehabilitated?
[...]
HANNITY: How is it possible we're in this position if you have examined her? You were up for a Nobel Prize. This is mind boggling to me.
Joe Scarborough, MSNBC Rightie, has done the same, if less repetitively.
From the March 21 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country:
SCARBOROUGH: And a Nobel Prize-nominated neurologist who has treated Terri Schiavo, he says Terri should live and that her husband is perpetrating a hoax that is just aimed at killing his wife. http://mediamatters.org/items/200503220009
Fight Back?
As usual, looking for Democrats to evidence some spine- and a tad of Michael Schiavo’s outrage. Nothing from Kennedy and Kerry, Pelosi or Reid, but Howard Dean and Jim McDermott (long the sponsor of single payer health in the House) spoke up on Tuesday:
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and an internist, told reporters that Dr. Frist's remarks were not "medically sound." Another Democrat, Representative Jim McDermott, a psychiatrist from Washington, accused his colleagues on Tuesday of committing "legislative malpractice."
"This poor woman and this poor family are being used as a political football, and these guys will do anything to push the point that they think is so important, that they will invade this family's privacy," he said in an interview. He singled out Dr. Weldon, saying, "This is a guy who's lost track of who he is." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23doctors.html?pagewanted=all
Osama: Yes, he was at Tora Bora The Bushies knew it all along (so did we), but, like so much else, lied about it during the campaign. The AP report:
A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a commander for Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and helped the al-Qaida leader escape his mountain hideout at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a U.S. government document.
The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee "assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora."
The detainee is not identified by name or nationality. He is described as being "associated with" al-Qaida and having called for a jihad, or holy war, against the United States. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050322/D890A5DO0.html
Update: Chocolate: Health Food? Indulge me. 2 articles, different shading
Dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate - may help reduce blood pressure and boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from food, according to the results of a small study. Investigators from the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that after eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar.
In contrast, eating roughly the same amount of white chocolate for the same period of time did not affect either blood pressure or insulin sensitivity.
This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&e=3&u=/nm/chocolate_dark_dc
…some studies suggest that compounds in chocolate can relax blood vessel linings, which supposedly would be a good thing for the heart. But, he said, estrogen does the same thing, and while it was thought for decades that the estrogen in hormone replacement therapy protected against heart disease, we now know that estrogen is bad for heart health -- one of the main reasons women are now generally steered away from hormone therapy at menopause.
Mars notes in press materials that 100 grams of chocolate contain four times the concentration of catechins -- a specific class of antioxidants theorized to benefit the heart -- as a cup of tea. But 100 grams of chocolate have more than 500 calories. Tea has no calories.
In studies suggesting chocolate has a health benefit, researchers take pains to make sure test subjects eating chocolate consume no more calories than participants who don't eat chocolate. But that's not what happens in the real world. ''We're Americans," said Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidants Research Lab at Tufts University and an investigator on one of the chocolate studies. ''We don't know how to enjoy quality without quantity." http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/03/22/health_by_chocolate_sorry_no?mode=PF
In sum, it’s good for you and, as we know, is highly caloric.
-R
Israel on Monday publicly confirmed plans to build 3,500 new housing units in the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Maale Adumim. Palestinians angrily responded that such an action would violate the Middle East peace plan and would be a major obstacle to resolving bitter disputes over nearby Jerusalem.
After reports in the Israeli news media, the Defense Ministry confirmed Monday that Shaul Mofaz, the defense minister, had approved the new building plan for Maale Adumim two months ago, based on government proposals dating back several years.
In another development on Monday, Israel handed over security control to the Palestinians in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, a hotbed of Palestinian militants. Last month Israel agreed to transfer security control of five Palestinian towns in the West Bank, and Tulkarm is the second one to be handed over, after Jericho last week.
,,, Palestinians criticized the expansion plan disclosed Monday as a flagrant attempt to expand the Jewish presence in and around the traditionally Arab eastern parts of Jerusalem and to seal them off even further from Palestinian areas in the West Bank.
"If this is carried out, Israel will be dictating the outcome of negotiations on the future of Jerusalem before they even begin," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/international/middleeast/22mideast.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Today's Times' editorial criticizes the above
We all know that any final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians will have to include an adjustment of borders; returning to the 1967 lines is fine in theory, but there are too many Israeli Jews living outside those boundaries to expect all of them to move. But that is precisely why adding to those numbers right now is so cynical. And claims by the Israelis that they never intend to give certain settlements back anyway just don't cut it.
Mr. Sharon is unfairly trying to stack the deck before peace talks even begin by expanding the Jewish presence around the traditionally Arab eastern parts of Jerusalem. Such a move could further seal off those Israeli Arabs in east Jerusalem from Palestinian areas in the West Bank.http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/opinion/23wed1.html
Social Security: Bush Retreat: Now, private/personal accounts are “just one idea people should consider."
Even the slogan at the president's public events has changed. At the New Mexico event, gone were the banners that once declared the president's interest in "Strengthening Social Security."
Instead they had a more targeted message: "Keeping Our Promise to Seniors." His last several outings have been dedicated to reassuring older voters that their Social Security payments are not in jeopardy, rather than demanding the bold restructuring that was once the focus of his sales pitch. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23social.html
Christopher Hitchens: The former Leftie visits Ohio.
OHIO’S ODD NUMBERS
No conspiracy theorist, and no fan of John Kerry’s, the author nevertheless found the Ohio polling results impossible to swallow: Given what happened in that key state on Election Day 2004, both democracy and common sense cry out for a court-ordered inspection of its new voting machines
I am not any sort of statistician or technologist, and (like many Democrats in private) I did not think that John Kerry should have been president of any country at any time. But I have been reviewing books on history and politics all my life, making notes in the margin when I come across a wrong date, or any other factual blunder, or a missing point in the evidence. No book is ever free from this. But if all the mistakes and omissions occur in such a way as to be consistent, to support or attack only one position, then you give the author a lousy review. The Federal Election Commission, which has been a risible body for far too long, ought to make Ohio its business. The Diebold company, which also manufactures A.T.M.s, should not receive another dime until it can produce a voting system that is similarly reliable. And Americans should cease to be treated like serfs or extras when they present themselves to exercise their franchise. http://makethemaccountable.com/articles/Ohio_s_Odd_Numbers.htm
Schiavo: A federal appeals court said Terri Schiavo's parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims." The parents plan another appeal.
Complicit Media: The latest from the Right: pushing a doctor who claims he can rehabilitate Terri Schiavo. William Hammesfahr is a Florida neurologist who was disciplined two years ago by the Florida Board of Medicine and was one of five court-approved physicians who examined her. And, since hack legislator Mike Bilirakis (R-Florida) wrote a letter to the Nobel Committee recommending him for The Prize, he is consistently introduced by Right media as “nominated for the Nobel Prize”.
Sean Hannity, habitual liar:
HANNITY: And coming up later in the program tonight, we're going to meet a doctor who actually spent 10 hours examining Terri Schiavo. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize. He believes that she could be rehabilitated.
[...]
HANNITY: You were nominated for a Nobel Prize in medicine?
HAMMESFAHR: Yes.
[...]
HANNITY: You were nominated to get a Nobel Peace Prize in this work. Are you saying that this woman could be rehabilitated?
[...]
HANNITY: How is it possible we're in this position if you have examined her? You were up for a Nobel Prize. This is mind boggling to me.
Joe Scarborough, MSNBC Rightie, has done the same, if less repetitively.
From the March 21 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country:
SCARBOROUGH: And a Nobel Prize-nominated neurologist who has treated Terri Schiavo, he says Terri should live and that her husband is perpetrating a hoax that is just aimed at killing his wife. http://mediamatters.org/items/200503220009
Fight Back?
As usual, looking for Democrats to evidence some spine- and a tad of Michael Schiavo’s outrage. Nothing from Kennedy and Kerry, Pelosi or Reid, but Howard Dean and Jim McDermott (long the sponsor of single payer health in the House) spoke up on Tuesday:
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and an internist, told reporters that Dr. Frist's remarks were not "medically sound." Another Democrat, Representative Jim McDermott, a psychiatrist from Washington, accused his colleagues on Tuesday of committing "legislative malpractice."
"This poor woman and this poor family are being used as a political football, and these guys will do anything to push the point that they think is so important, that they will invade this family's privacy," he said in an interview. He singled out Dr. Weldon, saying, "This is a guy who's lost track of who he is." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23doctors.html?pagewanted=all
Osama: Yes, he was at Tora Bora The Bushies knew it all along (so did we), but, like so much else, lied about it during the campaign. The AP report:
A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a commander for Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and helped the al-Qaida leader escape his mountain hideout at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a U.S. government document.
The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee "assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora."
The detainee is not identified by name or nationality. He is described as being "associated with" al-Qaida and having called for a jihad, or holy war, against the United States. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050322/D890A5DO0.html
Update: Chocolate: Health Food? Indulge me. 2 articles, different shading
Dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate - may help reduce blood pressure and boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from food, according to the results of a small study. Investigators from the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that after eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar.
In contrast, eating roughly the same amount of white chocolate for the same period of time did not affect either blood pressure or insulin sensitivity.
This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&e=3&u=/nm/chocolate_dark_dc
…some studies suggest that compounds in chocolate can relax blood vessel linings, which supposedly would be a good thing for the heart. But, he said, estrogen does the same thing, and while it was thought for decades that the estrogen in hormone replacement therapy protected against heart disease, we now know that estrogen is bad for heart health -- one of the main reasons women are now generally steered away from hormone therapy at menopause.
Mars notes in press materials that 100 grams of chocolate contain four times the concentration of catechins -- a specific class of antioxidants theorized to benefit the heart -- as a cup of tea. But 100 grams of chocolate have more than 500 calories. Tea has no calories.
In studies suggesting chocolate has a health benefit, researchers take pains to make sure test subjects eating chocolate consume no more calories than participants who don't eat chocolate. But that's not what happens in the real world. ''We're Americans," said Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidants Research Lab at Tufts University and an investigator on one of the chocolate studies. ''We don't know how to enjoy quality without quantity." http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/03/22/health_by_chocolate_sorry_no?mode=PF
In sum, it’s good for you and, as we know, is highly caloric.
-R
