Sunday, June 14, 2009
Hospitals around Tehran surrounded by secret police who refuse to let people with injuries get through, humanity at its worst #iranelection
http://twitter.com/IranElection09
Iran Election Postscript: Violence, Clerics in Control… thus far.
Violence and acrimony over Iran’s disputed election intensified on Sunday, with word that the authorities had detained more than 100 prominent opposition members, riots erupting in Tehran and other cities, and the incumbent hinting that his top challenger could face punishment for calling the result a sham.
Two of the three opposition candidates and a clerical group issued fresh statements requesting an annulment of the election on Friday, which gave a lopsided victory to the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative who has become a polarizing figure at home and abroad. They did so despite a decree from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that the outcome was fair.
It was unclear how far Mr. Ahmadinejad’s adversaries were willing or able to go in challenging the result. But supporters of the opposition candidates skirmished with baton-wielding riot police officers on the edges of a government-organized victory rally in Tehran. There were also reports of riots in other Iranian cities, and the protests were echoed by Iranians demonstrating against the election results in Washington and in several European capitals.
Mr. Ahmadinejad dismissed the opposition’s allegations of fraud, saying that the victory had given him a bigger mandate than ever. He criticized Mir Hussein Moussavi, the main opposition candidate — who remained at home on Sunday with security forces closely monitoring his movements — in a veiled statement that many here saw as a threat. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/middleeast/15iran.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print
Was it Fraudulent? Legitimacy, if not more, is at stake. Past elections seemed to establish the pattern that low-turnout was the key for conservative victory. This year’s almost doubled that of the last election, so that makes some analysts suspicious.
The White House Press initially put out statements that said they were "impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm" the Iranian election generated. But, a day later, they too were saying that irregularities need to be investigated.
Juan Cole was quick to posit that “the election was stolen,” though he conceded that at that point (Saturday) his was an informed speculation.
As the real numbers started coming into the Interior Ministry late on Friday, it became clear that Mousavi was winning. Mousavi's spokesman abroad, filmmaker Mohsen Makhbalbaf, alleges that the ministry even contacted Mousavi's camp and said it would begin preparing the population for this victory.
The ministry must have informed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has had a feud with Mousavi for over 30 years, who found this outcome unsupportable. And, apparently, he and other top leaders had been so confident of an Ahmadinejad win that they had made no contingency plans for what to do if he looked as though he would lose. http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html
Laura Secor sounded more definite:
There can be no question that the June 12, 2009 Iranian presidential election was stolen. Dissident employees of the Interior Ministry, which is under the control of President Ahmadinejad and is responsible for the mechanics of the polling and counting of votes, have reportedly issued an open letter saying as much. Government polls (one conducted by the Revolutionary Guards, the other by the state broadcasting company) that were leaked to the campaigns allegedly showed ten- to twenty-point leads for Mousavi a week before the election; earlier polls had them neck and neck, with Mousavi leading by one per cent, and Karroubi just behind. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2009/06/laura-secor-irans-stolen-election.html
Chameleon, unoriginal Mitt Romney blames Obama:
"It's very clear that the president's policies of going around the world and apologizing for America aren't working.... Just sweet talk and criticizing America is not going to enhance freedom in the world." http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Politics/story?id=7835048&page=1
North Korea: They’re making repeated sounds that they’re prepared to fight. UN sanctions are added, banning all arms exports from North Korea which eliminates a key source of revenue for the very poor country. North Korea has warned that any interdicting of their ships will be considered an act of war.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to impose a broad set of additional financial, military and trade sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests. It also called on states for the first time to seize banned North Korean weapons and technology aboard ships on the high seas.
While the 15-nation council stopped short of authorizing military action to enforce those measures, its unanimous condemnation of North Korea represented a diplomatic blow for the country's ailing leader, Kim Jong Il, who has previously counted on China and Russia to derail efforts to impose sanctions.
Following the vote, China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Yesui, said that his government is "firmly opposed to the nuclear test" and that North Korean actions have "impaired" international efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. But he urged countries, apparently referring to the United States, to "act prudently" in responding to North Korea, and he insisted that "under no circumstance should there be the use of force or threats of the use of force."
At the White House, Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the resolution's financial sanctions are "very robust" and have "teeth that will bite." For instance, she said, a provision banning all arms exports from North Korea would cut off a major source of foreign revenue that could be used for its nuclear programs.
Washington maintains that such sanctions offer the greatest prospects for disrupting the country's nuclear and ballistic missile trade. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061203959_pf.html
Congress folk with a stake: Investments in health care industry: A large number have measurable holdings:
Almost 30 key lawmakers helping draft landmark health-care legislation have financial holdings in the industry, totaling nearly $11 million worth of personal investments in a sector that could be dramatically reshaped by this summer's debate.
The list of members who have personal investments in the corporations that will be affected by the legislation -- which President Obama has called this year's highest domestic priority -- includes Congress's most powerful leaders and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in key committee posts. Their total health-care holdings could be worth $27 million, because congressional financial disclosure forms released yesterday require reporting of only broad ranges of holdings rather than precise values of assets.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), for instance, has at least $50,000 invested in a health-care index, and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a senior member of the health committee, has between $254,000 and $560,000 worth of stock holdings in major health-care companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.
The family of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee drafting that chamber's legislation, held at least $3.2 million in more than 20 health-care companies at the end of last year.
…On that 22-member panel, at least eight senators have financial interests in the health-care industry worth a minimum of $600,000 -- and potentially worth as much as $1.9 million. The investors include Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), a senior member of the panel, who holds at least $165,000 in pharmaceutical and medical stocks, and freshman Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), who holds at least $180,000 in investments in more than 20 health-care companies.
The hearings will be led by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who is filling in for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the committee chairman, who is battling brain cancer. Dodd's wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, serves on the boards of four health-care companies, receiving more than $200,000 in salary and stock from her service in 2008, according to the Associated Press.
Dodd's aides say his wife's financial interest will not have any impact on his leading role in the health-care debate, noting that she is not a lobbyist and has never represented clients before any branch of the federal government. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061204075_pf.html
Israel Endorses Two State Solution… sort of At least it’s a start
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he is willing to support the creation of a Palestinian state, for the first time making a commitment that the United States, Europe and the Arab nations have pushed for since he took office.
But in a prime-time address delivered at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, he attached a weighty list of conditions dictated by his personal beliefs and by the need to satisfy his right-leaning coalition in the Israeli parliament: The Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized, with international guarantees that it remain so; it would have to cede control of its airspace to Israel; and it could be created only if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland.
President Obama welcomed Netanyahu's speech as an "important step forward" and in a statement endorsed both key Israeli and Palestinian concerns. "The President is committed to two states, a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestine, in the historic homeland of both peoples," the statement said. "He believes this solution can and must ensure both Israel's security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a viable state, and he welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu's endorsement of that goal."
But the prime minister's speech left major points of contention unresolved, including Obama's call in a speech in Cairo this month for a freeze on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061400741_pf.html
Michael Klare: Consensus Builds as to Peak Oil, that supplies will get tighter, price higher:
As it happens, the recent release of the 2009 IEO has provided energy watchers with a feast of significant revelations. By far the most significant disclosure: the IEO predicts a sharp drop in projected future world oil output (compared to previous expectations) and a corresponding increase in reliance on what are called "unconventional fuels" - oil sands, ultra-deep oil, shale oil, and biofuels.
So here's the headline for you: For the first time, the well-respected Energy Information Administration appears to be joining with those experts who have long argued that the era of cheap and plentiful oil is drawing to a close. Almost as notable, when it comes to news, the 2009 report highlights Asia's insatiable demand for energy and suggests that China is moving ever closer to the point at which it will overtake the United States as the world's number one energy consumer. Clearly, a new era of cutthroat energy competition is upon us.
As recently as 2007, the IEO projected that the global production of conventional oil (the stuff that comes gushing out of the ground in liquid form) would reach 107.2 million barrels per day in 2030, a substantial increase from the 81.5 million barrels produced in 2006. Now, in 2009, the latest edition of the report has grimly dropped that projected 2030 figure to just 93.1 million barrels per day - in future-output terms, an eye-popping decline of 14.1 million expected barrels per day. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175082
Fungus Threatens Wheat Crop Scientists are racing to develop resistant strains:
Crop scientists fear the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80% of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from eastern Africa. It has already jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. Experts say it is poised to enter the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind will inevitably carry it to Russia, China and even North America -- if it doesn't hitch a ride with people first.
"It's a time bomb," said Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "It moves in the air, it can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take."
Though most Americans have never heard of it, Ug99 -- a type of fungus called stem rust because it produces reddish-brown flakes on plant stalks -- is the No. 1 threat to the world's most widely grown crop.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico estimates that 19% of the world's wheat, which provides food for 1 billion people in Asia and Africa, is in imminent danger. American plant breeders say $10 billion worth of wheat would be destroyed if the fungus suddenly made its way to U.S. fields. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-wheat-rust14-2009jun14,0,1661589.story
-R
