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Albion Monitor |
Issue 177 |
JANUARY 2009
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UNEASY PEACE IN GAZA
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Fire and smoke billow following an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah near the border with Egypt
PHOTO: © Iyad El Baba/UNICEF-oPt
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"If only my three daughters will be the last victims of this horrible conflict," wept Dr. Ezzadin Abu Al-Aish, a Palestinian doctor recovering from his wounds at a Tel Aviv hospital. An Israeli tank shell killed three of his nine children as well as a 14-year-old niece in their home in the Jebaliya refugee camp. Hours later, Israel implemented a unilateral ceasefire halting its three-week military incursion into Gaza.
While Hamas was trying to present a tough demeanor and attempting to get the last word in, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was endeavoring to hide his obvious satisfaction at the outcome of the Gaza campaign. Suppressing a smile, Olmert faced the cameras at a press conference at the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. "We won. The IDF objectives for its operation in the Gaza Strip were obtained in full. Hamas was surprised and badly beaten"
There's no formal agreement with Hamas. Israel wants to avoid the Islamist organisation being put on an equal footing. Olmert and Barak warned that if Hamas refuses to hold its fire, Israel will respond forcefully. On the ground Sunday morning, the only incidents were those initiated by Hamas. For now, Israeli forces remain in all areas of Gaza they have conquered. Indications are that Israel does not intend to stay for long
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As Hillary also appoints State Dept. special envoy on climate change
Fulfills campaign pledge to resume funding for the UN Population Fund
U.S military prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan has 3x more inmates
Primary mission remains stopping Taiwan from formally declaring independence
Best American forests are quickly getting thinner
At least 763 Israeli citizens, mostly Palestinian, arrested at demonstrations
Several implicit swipes at Bush's record in Senate testimony
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"I will not take my wife to a male doctor even if she dies" (Photo: Parwin Faiz/IRIN)
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Dying from post-delivery infections due to poor hygiene and lack of access to antibiotics
Protecting Guam from offshore drilling
Dozens believed dead in reprisal attacks as Hamas retakes control of Gaza
Viewed as plan to help an estimated million widows
Despite Israeli government's pledge to crack down on illegal outposts, none closed, and hundreds more built
Even worse than projection 3 months ago
17,000 children among the refugees without winterized tents, reliable food and water supply
Also targeting shops selling music and films, and stopped barbers from shaving beards
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In rural areas of Yemen, children are encouraged to carry guns as manhood is linked to bearing arms (Photo: Muhammed al-Jabri/IRIN)
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Children as young as 15 allegedly given weapons by the armed forces and sent to the front with no training
Current growth hotspots are Russia, China and India as class-action suit filed in U.S. for fraud and racketeering
Blaming China's alleged currency manipulation politically popular
Commutes sentences for convicted U.S. border guards who were a cause celebre for the nation's anti-immigrant movement
Immediately close Gitmo, denounce torture, demand leading orgs
Costing the U.S. a lot more than the amount he evaded on taxes
Latino leaders and voters were glacially slow to warm up to Obama, and McCain got nearly one-third of the Latino vote
Senator shocked by calling Reagan-funded Contras "our terrorists"
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The suicide of Adolf Merckle, a leading German businessman over the last 30 years, is being seen by many as an allegorical story of the end of a brand of reckless capitalism.
Merckle, who would have been 75 in March, stepped in front of a speeding train near his house Jan. 5 after realizing that his speculative transactions had ruined his global economic empire. He had left behind a suicide note addressed to his family that said simply, "I'm sorry."
Merckle was once one of the richest men in Germany. His fortune was estimated at more than $9 billion.
What broke Merckle was eventually a model of capitalism built up on a belief that it is possible to make vast amounts of money through a multiplication of projected figures, and where speculation became the quick-fix to substitute long-term investment and production. He was not alone
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Columnists
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GOODBYE TO ALL THAT
Recently the nonpartisan, investigative Center for Public Integrity, released an in-depth report titled "Broken Government," a chronicling of more than 125 of what the Center calls "systematic failures across the breadth of federal government," from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Federal Labor Relations Authority to NASA.
"Many of the failures are rooted in recurring themes. Agency appointees selected primarily for ideology and loyalty, rather than competence; agency heads who overruled staff experts and suppressed reports that did not coincide with administration philosophy; agency-industry collusion; a bedrock belief in the wisdom of deregulation; extensive private outsourcing of public functions; a general failure to exercise government's oversight responsibilities; and severely slashed budgets at understaffed agencies." Whew
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Albion Monitor
(http://www.albionmonitor.com)
Issue 177
Editor: Jeff Elliott (editor@monitor.net)
The Albion Monitor is currently published as an ongoing newspaper by
Wayward Press Inc, POB 1733, Sebastopol, CA 95473 Subscriptions $9.95/yr
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