A Gem–Easy to Read, A Foundation Book for World Brain and Global Game, May 22, 2011
I bought this book on a whim, sensing that despite its 1946 publication date it might be inspirational and I have been *very* glad to go through this. It was a half-century ahead of its time. This book, which does cite H.G. Wells and World Brain (Adamantine Classics for the 21st Century), is a wonderful core reading for any age including high school but certainly going all the way to PhD programs. I consider it a SUPERB start to any semester of dialog in this domain.
In early JanĀuĀary the BBC reported that MohamĀmad Bouazazi, aĀ Tunisian colĀlege gradĀuĀate who illeĀgally sold fruits and vegĀetaĀbles in Sidi Bouzid, had died from his self-inflicted burns. He had set himĀself on fire by dousĀing his body with petrol whenĀ police conĀfisĀcated his proĀduce. He didnāt have the proper perĀmits. PubĀlic protest had been rare in Tunisia before. When he died, the BBC reported that āa crowd estiĀmated at 5,000 took part in his funeral.ā The crowd chanted the same mesĀsage together, out loud: āFarewell, MohamĀmad, weĀ will avenge you. We weep for you today, we will make those who caused your deathĀ weep.ā
Safety copy below the line–note ending on Bush-Obama “crowd control” plans.
This important essay by Robert Parry contextualizes Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's arrogant stuffing of President Obama, which took place after Obama gave a weak-kneed speech on the Middle East. Ā If Parry is right, a really dirty game is in the offing.
And look at the banality of language that provoked Netanhahu: Obama's speech purported to analyze the implications of the Arab Revolt with an analysis that was viewed as being weak, inept, and self centered by some Arabs (e.g., see this cogentĀ analysis of his language) as well as his goals for the pursuit in the Arab-Israeli peace process: namely a return to Israel's 1967 borders, with some land swaps, in return for the security of a Jewish state within these borders (a choice of language that may have been an attempt to appease Netanyahu*).
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*Mr. Obama's language was somewhat ambiguous when he said the primary Israeli-related goal of the peace process was Ā to establish conditions for Israel as a Jewish state
and the homeland for the Jewish people.” But it does raise a question of whether he is acceding to the sectarian interpretation of a Jewish democracyĀ demanded byĀ Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made recognition of Israel as aJewish nation-state a prerequisite for any final agreement with the Palestinians. This kind of sectarian definition in a democracy has unknowable ramifications for the non-Jewish minority making up 20% of Israel's citizens. For a discussion of this issue, see Isabel Kirshner, “Some Question the Existence of Israel as a Jewish State,” New York Times, 24 October 2010.
This public rebuke raises questions about whether Netanyahu will now try to sink Obamaās reelection the way earlier Likud leaders undermined President Jimmy Carter
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuās Oval Office rebuke of U.S. President Barack Obama ā and the Republicansā immediate attempt to exploit the dispute to peel away Jewish voters ā suggest that American politics may be in for a replay of Campaign 1980.
IMF and Britain's foreign aid department both withhold money for reconstruction
By Jonathan Owen and Brian Brady
Sunday, 22 May 2011
EXTRACT:
The Department for International Development (DfID) confirmed last night that it had followed the lead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in withholding contributions to bankroll hundreds of “nation-building” projects in Afghanistan.
The move, to “protect taxpayers' money”, came as the full extent of the scandal at Kabul Bank ā described as the biggest fraud in modern times ā became clear. A secret US government report into the debacle “indicates that insiders at Kabul Bank used fraudulent loans to misappropriate $850m (Ā£525m), representing 94 per cent of outstanding loans”.
. . . . . . .
And it notes that, in addition to oversights by Deloitte, which failed to spot and report warning signs of fraud, a team from PwC didn't identify any fraud at Kabul Bank and gave it “a clean bill of health” ā something
that “may have acted to delay understanding of the gravity of Kabul Bank's true financial condition both among the examination staff and the international community”, according to the document.
A Gem–Easy to Read, A Foundation Book for World Brain and Global Game, May 22, 2011
