Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
JEREMY SCAHILL, - The Nation
Stephan: This is a very insightful essay whose main points will be familiar, but are put together here in a very coherent manner.
Jeremy Scahill, a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blackwater...
At the end of the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal this weekend, the leadership of the Afghan Taliban issued a statement characterizing the alliance’s adoption of a loose timeline for a 2014 end to combat operations as ‘good news’ for Afghans and ‘a sign of failure for the American government.’ At the summit, President Barack Obama said that 2011 will begin ‘a transition to full Afghan lead’ in security operations, while the Taliban declared: ‘In the past nine years, the invaders could not establish any system of governance in Kabul and they will never be able to do so in future.’
In an address marking the start of the Muslim holiday, Aid-al-Adha, the reclusive Taliban leader declares, ‘The enemy is retreating and facing siege in all parts of the country day in and day out.’
How brutal raids are sabotaging the political strategy the US claims to support in Afghanistan.
While Obama claimed that the US and its allies are ‘breaking the Taliban’s momentum,’ the reality on the ground tells a different story. Despite increased Special Operations Forces raids and, under Gen. David Petraeus, a return to regular US-led airstrikes, the insurgency in Afghanistan is spreading and growing stronger. ‘By killing […]
No Comments
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
VANESSA GREGORY, - Men's Journal
Stephan: Over 1,000 papers on meditation have entered the peer reviewed literature in the past 15 years. If it were in my power I would like to see every person in the country offered training in a psycho-physical self-regulation meditation technique. It would change the entire orientation of the country, putting it on a more life-affirming path. Even the most utterly secular disciplines, such as this one, teach one to open to nonlocal consciousness. No one comes back unchanged.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a daily meditator for 40 years. It has changed the nature of my beingness for the better, and I suspect most meditators would say the same.
Two summers ago at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, a group of reservists prepared for a tour of duty in Iraq. Twelve-hour days were jammed with rifle qualifications, counterinsurgency training, emergency medical courses, and - last but not least - moments spent in total silence. ‘You’d see men sitting in the lotus position in their field uniforms with rifles across their backs,
No Comments
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
MARILYNN MARCHONE, - The Associated Press
Stephan: This is truly a wonderful sequence of developments in the struggle to get control of HIV.
In the nearly 30 years the AIDS epidemic has raged, there has never been a more hopeful day than this.
Three striking developments took place Tuesday: U.N. officials said new HIV cases are dropping dramatically worldwide. A study showed that a daily pill already on pharmacy shelves could help prevent new infections in gay men. And the pope opened the way for the use of condoms to prevent AIDS.
‘I don’t know of a day where so many pieces are beginning to align for HIV prevention and treatment, and frankly with a view to ending the epidemic,’ said Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group that works on HIV prevention research. ‘This is an incredibly opportune moment and we have to be sure we seize it.’
President Barack Obama said the groundbreaking research on the AIDS drug ‘could mark the beginning of a new era in HIV prevention.’
The U.N. report said new cases dropped nearly 20 percent over the past decade and that 33.3 million people are living with HIV.
Health officials credit part of the decline to wider condom use, and Tuesday, in a historic shift in church teachings, the Vatican said using a condom is a lesser […]
No Comments
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Stephan: As I have said I will choose pat-down over radiation, until much more is known about it. I am concerned about the electromagnetic burden we all carry with us almost all the time -- Just for starters we live in a net of 60 cycle fields, produced by the wiring in our homes.
At the same time I don't want to be delayed or have my thinking intruded upon by a hassle. If you feel the same this is worth reading.
Here’s advice from the Transportation Security Administration about what you can expect at airports – and how you can make the process a bit smoother.
* The TSA’s new screening techniques are in place at all domestic airports, even if security is handled by a private company instead of the agency.
* Only passengers who set off a walk-through metal detector or advanced-imaging technology machine, or who opt out of the scanning machine, receive a pat-down.
* Items that might set off an alarm on the metal detector include: keys; loose change; cellphones; pagers; heavy jewelry (including pins, necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches, earrings, body piercings, cuff links, lanyards and bolo ties); clothing with metal buttons, snaps or studs; metal barrettes or other hair accessories; belt buckles; and underwire bras.
* Travelers are required to remove their shoes and put them through the X-ray machine for inspection. Slip-on shoes ease the process.
* Prepare for screening by removing the contents of your pockets and alert the security officer if you have a hidden medical device. Less than 3 percent of passengers end up needing a pat-down, the TSA says.
* Pat-downs will take longer than body scans. According to the TSA, body scans take about five […]
No Comments
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
JOHN CASSIDY, - The New Yorker
Stephan:
A few months ago, I came across an announcement that Citigroup, the parent company of Citibank, was to be honored, along with its chief executive, Vikram Pandit, for ‘Advancing the Field of Asset Building in America.
No Comments
