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(part 1):
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"We wish all the time to be able to provide you fresh bread and to propose you a joy of eating life with bread."
--slogan of Kobeya Kitchen, a Japanese bakery/restaurant chain
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EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK HAS CALLED UPON THE EGYPTIAN ARMY AND INTERIOR MINISTRY TO INCREASE BREAD PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION in the poorer districts of Cairo and other major cities in response to rioting and long lines outside bakeries over recent days.
Said riots and queues having been aggravated by high wheat prices on the global markets and rumours of corruption among bakeries producing subsidised bread for the poor @ an official price of five piastres (about a penny) a loaf; in contrast, free-market bread sells for as much as 10-12 times the price of subsidised loaves.
Which, by American standards, is cheap however you slice it.
But in Egypt, a substantial number of its 70 million populace lives below the poverty line, and cannot live without subsidised bread.
Howbeit guarded, considering the continued and continuing American Colonial Occupation which His Fraudulency and his hand-picked (as it were) successor, The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang, insists will be now, tomorrow and forever (even if there has been a decline in the numbers of those wanting American troops to leave Iraq forthwith).
The BBC, one of the co-sponsors of the survey of 2,000 Iraqis across all its provinces, elaborates further:
While 55% of all Iraqis believe that their lives are good, only 33% of Sunnis are happy with their lives, compared with 62% of Shias and 73% of Kurds.
"In spite of all the improvements, the Sunni population of Iraq clearly remains deeply alienated, and deeply hostile," our correspondent says.
Some 62% of those polled say security in their own area is good - up from 43% last year - but exactly half of all Iraqis still rate security as the biggest problem for the country overall.
And Iraqis are still reporting problems with the provision of basic services.
Large majorities of Iraqis - 88%, 81% and 61% respectively - say that the availability of water, fuel and electricity is "very bad" or "quite bad".
These results echo the findings of a Red Cross report on the humanitarian situation in Iraq.
The Red Cross found that millions of Iraqis have little or no access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare, with some families spending a third of their average monthly wage of $150 (£75) just buying clean water.
And Iraqi public hospitals provide only 30,000 beds, less than half of the 80,000 needed, the report says.
Next month, the top US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, will testify before the US Congress about progress in Iraq since the beginning of the "surge", when 30,000 extra troops were sent to the country.
One of the stated aims of the surge was to provide enough security to allow Iraqi politicians to hammer out a lasting political settlement.
The poll suggests that Iraqis are sceptical about political progress.
Only 21% believe that the increase in US forces has made conditions for political dialogue in Iraq better, while 43% think the surge has made conditions worse.
And 38% want American forces to leave immediately, compared with 35% who want the troops to remain until security has been restored.
The survey suggests that support for the Iraqi government is returning, after a drop-off in recent years.
Just under 50% of Iraqis now have confidence in the government, up from 39% in March 2007.
"Iraq seems to be holding together as a country. Overwhelming numbers of both Sunnis and the Shia still want it to remain a unified nation," says John Simpson.
"By comparison the Kurds are the splitters. Only 10% of them want to keep the country together."
Support for Iraqi security forces remains high, with 67% expressing confidence in the police and 65% in the army.
In contrast, public confidence in local militias has fallen since last year.
In March 2007 it stood at 36%, by August it was down to 24%, and it has fallen another 2% since then, to 22%.
Within that, Shia feelings about local militias has fallen the most steeply.
In March 2007, 51% of Shias had confidence in militias - now that figure has declined to 28%, the survey suggests.
The poll is the fifth such survey to be conducted since the beginning of the US-led invasion in 2003.
(The poll has a margin of error of 2.5% either way.)
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AS IF THE SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION HERE IN THE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" UNITED STATES RISKED FURTHER SERIOUS DETERIORATION (as evident by the near-collapse of Bear Stearns @ the weekend, and JP Morgan Chase buying Bear Stearns shares @ the fire-sale price of $2/share), expect there to be plenty of lurid and tasteless anti-Semitic propaganda galore (all the while packaged as "patriotic") exploiting the same for the detrius of Those Who Should Know Better (as in the poor, undereducated and easily-influenced, traditionally the ones suffering the worst in serious socioeconomic crises).
And speaking of the poor, undereducated and easily-influenced in the face of what some see as an imminent socioeconomic crisis (the fault of which lies squarely upon His Fraudulency's Great Within, know), expect there to be seen plenty of dubious "work-from-home" offers of the "make-work/fake-work" sort from the carpetbaggers profiting off socioeconomic uncertainty within due course--especially so before mass unemployment starts setting in, the fact of which will doubtless be quickly exploited.
Reinforced by glowing-sounding earnings claims as are unlikely to be realised by respondents, let alone substantiated by advertisers--who, come to think of it, are more than likely to offer what amounts to time-limited "make-work" positions as are unlikely to constitute work by even the requirements for "work experience" in state workfare schemes.
THE FOLLOWING RECENT OP-ED FROM THE CAPITAL TIMES OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, soon to switch from print to "virtual" for the most part, offers an interesting prospect of a new angle which His Fraudulency's Great Within seems to be seeking in the ur-RAHOWA Against International Terrorism--otherwise known as "negative peace:"
Barbara and Fred Arnold: Mexico wages war of 'negative peace' in Chiapas
Barbara and Fred Arnold March 11, 2008
We wound our way two hours north of San Cristbal de las Casas, inching around treacherous curves where erosion had created huge chasms opening to the valley below.
Twisting and turning on the narrow road, we passed the site of the 1996 San Andreas Peace Accords between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government.
Deep in the central highlands of Chiapas, our delegation stopped in front of a closed iron gate leading to the community of Oventik. A ski-masked man approached and asked us to write down our full names and then requested our documents. He walked away with 24 American passports.
After an hour's wait, another masked man ushered us through the gate and into a small concrete building. It is there we met with the Zapatista regional Good Government Council.
What we learned in the next few days made us angry and sad. Subsequent conversations with independent observers and in other communities confirmed these impressions and strengthened our commitment to tell this story in the United States.
Fourteen years ago a small band of armed indigenous women and men took control of six communities in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, just north of the Guatemalan border. They were fighting for "land and freedom." Poor and indigenous Mexicans fought for these very issues in 1917 under Emiliano Zapata in a revolution that never reached Chiapas. The 1994 civil war lasted just 12 days before a cease-fire was reached.
Fourteen years later the Mexican government proclaims there is no war in Chiapas and that any fighting is between indigenous groups, not between the Mexican military and the indigenous people.
Both of these statements deserve our scrutiny. A struggle between indigenous groups exists, but what are the origins of that conflict?
The number of Mexican soldiers in Chiapas in 1998 was 70,000. In 2008 that number is estimated to be 40,000. The number of military camps and checkpoints is also down. Although there are few direct attacks against the indigenous people, more insidious violations of human rights are taking place. An international peace organization, SiPAZ, contends that a lack of direct violence is a "negative peace."
The military has built installations upstream from and adjacent to indigenous communities. The constant military presence itself intimidates. Soldiers throw garbage into the rivers where women wash clothes, bathe, and even get water for drinking. Soldiers urinate on the feet of men and women passing by. They threaten to rape young women, subtly showing their guns. They cut cornfields, kill animals, burn houses.
All these acts are meant to intimidate, to harass and to oppress.
Another tactic is to glorify military life for young indigenous men. These impressionable young men see handsome soldiers in uniform. Military personnel show movies in which soldiers are heroes, give money and gifts, provide opportunities to play basketball and soccer and see pornographic films.
Then, at the pivotal psychological moment, soldiers convince these men that the army is in their village to protect them. And from whom? The Zapatistas. These impressionable men start looking at their brothers and sisters with suspicion.
Similar to the military objective, government strategy is to divide loyalties within indigenous communities. The government provides aid to one part of the community. Those receiving assistance begin to depend on and like cash payments, schools, community buildings, medical clinics, new roads. Zapatistas refuse to accept such government help, but respect their neighbors' right to receive it.
However, the government soon changes policy and withholds aid unless the entire community accepts it. Because the Zapatistas continue to refuse, their neighbors suddenly look at them as enemies. A community formerly living in peace now erupts in conflict--consciously imposed.
The government thus successfully creates a huge gulf between two groups of indigenous people who have previously lived together amicably and respectfully. According to Peter Rosset, a scholar of the conflict, "The growing gulf between rich and poor leads to the desperation and violence of neighbor against neighbor."
The low-intensity warfare continues. The Zapatistas refuse to fight; they understand that direct conflict is the objective. Why? They know that the government's goal is to reclaim and privatize land now held by indigenous communities.
As we prepared to end our haunting visit, the men with masks returned our passports. Zapatista communities live under constant threat from government and military forces. A member of the Good Government Council sighed, "They are trying to 'erase' us."
George Collier, an emeritus professor of anthropology at Stanford University, wrote in his 2005 book, "Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion," that "low-intensity warfare and polarization make it difficult, even dangerous, for participants to talk frankly about their experiences and perspectives."
But these Zapatistas did trust us with their story, exclaiming, "You make us feel safer and not so alone."
National policy seeks to create access to resource-rich Chiapas--with a view toward trade, profit, and the disintegration of indigenous populations. Opposing this injustice requires our standing in solidarity with these indigenous men and women, whose fundamental identities and very futures are at stake.
And remember, boys and girls, what His Fraudulency said the other day about the ur-RAHOWA being "forever," and that G-d A-mighty has given His Blessings upon the same.
In effect, using "negative peace" to justify anti-terroristic excesses as may endanger "our antient and pecuilar soverignty and soverign identity" more than the traditional bogeyman in this respect of the "New World Order" as has long been used by weird and unwholesome elements xenophobic and then some.
AS TODAY IS THE TRADITIONAL CELEBRATION OF IRELAND AND ALL THINGS IRISH, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ST. PATRICK'S DAY (were it not for its coinciding with Holy Week this year), perhaps it may be interesting to digress in some length how our Irish brethren are reinventing transportation policy.
I refer here to the Irish Government's €34 billion initiative over the 2006-2015 period known as Transport 21, which is designed to develop a comprehensive rail, road and air transport network across the Auld Sod by way of major construction and reconstruction efforts serving to benefit all of Ireland, with particular attention being directed to the Dublin metropolitan region--as in:
Further expansion of the Luás light-rail network, including final interconnexion of the two lines and construction of three new lines.
Reconstruction, reequipment and electrification of the commuter-rail network (DART), including a new underground Interconnector between Heuston and Pease rail stations in central Dublin.
Increasing capacity on the Kildare commuter rail line between Hazelhatch and Cherry Orchard.
Reopening a long-disused stretch of rail line between Clonsilla (on the Maynooth commuter rail line) and Dunboyne, with possible further extension to Navan.
Constructing two Metro lines, as in:
a heavy-rail line linking St. Stephen's Green and Swords (near Lissenhall) via Dublin airport; and
a quasi-LRT line between Tallaght, Porterstown and Dublin airport on the western fringe.
Expanding the Dublin Bus network's capacity by 60% through new and replacement bus purchases and introduction of new radial and orbital routes.
Introduction of bus-priority lanes (or, in Transport 21's phrase of choice, Quality Transit Corridors) on major streets and highways in the Dublin region.
But it's not just Dublin that's seeing the fruits of Transport 21: Regional Ireland is also to see its share of transport investments, among them:
A €195 million investment in 67 locomotive-hauled coaches for the flagship Dublin-Cork Intercity service and 183 DMU (diesel multiple unit) railcars for regional rail services.
A state-of-the-art repair and maintenance facility for the aforementioned DMU trainsets in Portlaoise.
€73 million invested since 2006 towards the purchase of 160 new buses and 145 replacement buses for rural, commuter and local bus services in the provinces.
Development of commuter-rail services in the Cork region (Mallow-Cork City-Midleton/Cobh), including reconstruction of the long-disused line to Midleton.
Reconstruction and phased reopening of the long-disused Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Claremorris via Galway (which would see commuter rail service to Athenry), allowing for direct rail services between Galway and Limerick, plus a more direct interconnexion @ Claremorris for Dublin via the Westport line and further potential for regional rail services. (The Claremorris-Collooney line will be railbanked.)
Meanwhile, in the highways sector, major projects covered by Transport 21 include:
Constructing two new motorways (the M1 and M3) from Dublin to the Northern Ireland border.
Reconstructing the M50 Dublin expressway, including one segment being developed as a Public-Private Partnership.
Reconstructing the N2 (Dublin-Monaghan) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N4 (Dublin-Sligo), with replacement as the M4 motorway in places.
Reconstructing the N5 (Dublin-Westport-Castlebar) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N6 (Dublin-Galway), with replacement as the M6 motorway in places.
Reconstructing the N7 (Dublin-Limerick) as the M7 motorway.
Reconstructing the N8 (Dublin-Cork), with portions becoming the M8 motorway.
Reconstructing the N9 (Dublin-Waterford) to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks.
Reconstructing the N11 (Dublin-Rosslare), with occasional portions as the M11 motorway and same segueing into Euroroute E01 between Rosslare and Larne (Northern Ireland).
Reconstructing five major highways between Waterford and Letterkenny known as "the Atlantic Corridor" (viz., the N15, N17, N18, N20 and N25), with further improvement on the N25 between Waterford and Rosslare, to eliminate major traffic bottlenecks throughout.
So what could we "morally superior" Americans, especially so here in Minnesota (thanks to the I-35W bridge collapse bringing renewed sense of urgency to the deterioration of transport infrastructure), learn from our Irish brethren in this respect?
"Think about it"
When Rabbie meets Westboro Baptist's protests (part 4)
FURTHER WORTHY OF SUGGESTION FROM THE REPRETOIRE OF THE SCOTS POET ROBERT BURNS when it comes to giving the so-called "Westboro Baptist Church" and its misguided campaigns of protest @ certain funeral or memorial services would have to be his "A Man's a Man For A' That," his ballad about the commonality of mankind as could have some value @ tolerance and diversity rallies and campaigns as well:
Is there for honest Poverty That hings his head, an' a' that; The coward slave-we pass him by, We dare be poor for a' that! For a' that, an' a' that. Our toils obscure an' a' that, The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The Man's the gowd for a' that.
What though on hamely fare we dine, Wear hoddin grey, an' a that; Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine; A Man's a Man for a' that: For a' that, and a' that, Their tinsel show, an' a' that; The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor, Is king o' men for a' that.
Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord, Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that; Tho' hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof for a' that: For a' that, an' a' that, His ribband, star, an' a' that: The man o' independent mind He looks an' laughs at a' that.
A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an' a' that; But an honest man's abon his might, Gude faith, he maunna fa' that! For a' that, an' a' that, Their dignities an' a' that; The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth, Are higher rank than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that.
16.3.08
What if they called an election, and hardly anybody came?
OFFICIAL IRANIAN PROPAGANDA CROSSING INTO PROLEFEED CLAIMETH THAT SOME 60% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS TURNED OUT in the recent parliamentary elections, reinforced by all manner of campaigns smelling of the coercive to get people to the polling stations.
But that's as maybe: A BBC reporter assigned to Tehran noticed where one central Tehran polling station was rather empty and quiet enough to the point where you could hear a pin drop, or so it seems.
In all, such was another in those elections as were neither free nor fair; returns to the moment suggest that conservative candidates opposed to moderate-leaning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were winning a clear majority thanks to certain reformist candidates having been "disqualified" on technical issues (or so the Council of Guardians, an appointed body of Muslim clerics seeking to ensure the purity of the Islamic Revolution and its articles of faith, thinks).
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WHICH BRINGS TO MIND THIS REMINDER AND WARNING FROM HISTORY by way of religiopolitical conservative activist Paul Weyrich (as quoted by Right Wing Watch, People For the American Way's blog) @ the 1980 National Affairs Briefing of the Religious Roundtable (emphasis added):
Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome--good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.
Which, to the Elmer Gantry Theological Seminary's way of thinking, is justification for voter-suppression tactics by which His Name can be invoked against especially National Minorities "by whatever means necessary," no matter how crass or disgusting they may be.
And which serves as reminder to all of you to remain all the more vigilant to voter-intimidation and voter-registration-interference campaigns and tactics by the weird and unwholesome element, particularly so where such causes use patriotic-sounding "feel-good" names to conceal sinister intent, operating more than likely out of mail drops "for privacy reasons," or so they want us thinking.
That, and interference with the electoral process being a penal offence, with enhanced penalties likely where National Minorities are targeted in such efforts. Hence, if you encounter any such campaigns in your part of the country, be sure to contact:
your local law-enforcement agencies; and
People For's freecall hotline of 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
No doubt there are elements who would stop @ nothing to ensure that, true to maxim, "bad leaders are elected by good people who don't vote."
*************
THE DALAI LAMA, TIBET'S EXILED RELIGIONATIONAL LEADER, HAS GONE ON RECORD in describing Chinese actions against Tibetan nationalists seeking the restoration of Tibet's antient and pecuilar soverignty and soverign identity as nothing less than, in his words, "cultural genocide."
But then again, how much longer before the Archie Bunker/Alf Garnett crowd starts picking up the term and perverts it for their own sick and dangerous delusions of White Christian Supremacy and Honour being "in clear and present danger of being compromised"?
Such is something as bears watching, especially because of its dangerous possibilities among Those Who Should Know Better.
READERS, APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION ARE IN ORDER @ THIS TIME for my having been unable to come up with the usual dose of blog material until now.
It just so happens that earlier today, Your Correspondent had an eye checkup @ the Shopko (a discount store here in Winona which has in-store optical department), it having been the time for one on his part.
And it turns out that my next pair of glasses will be bifocals.
Yes, you read right--bifocals.
This largely because of Medical Assistance (MA) policies and limitations, understand, in view of where my eyes have been heading since I've been on a computer for some while now.
As well, the checkup included the use of "drops" as dilates the pupil so the eye medico can do checks for the likes of glaucoma and cataracts; hence, the eyes were out of service for awhile because of the dilated pupils perhaps affecting the vision and making things a little difficult.
Things have improved enough so that I could get this explanation off to you, the readers of this blog.
In any case, the transition to bifocals will not be a picnic; understand this in advance. (Come to think of it, readers who have experience with bifocals would be welcome to offer suggestions on how I can transition best from traditional eyeglasses to bifocals.) What's more, eyeglass prescriptions covered under Medical Assistance in Minnesota are processed by a different laboratory, so it may take a week or so (depending on workload) before the new ones arrive.)
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ALL IN ALL, I HOPE THIS RATHER UNCONVENTIONAL ITEM IN THE WEBLOG proves of interest to you, not to mention being a change-of-pace of sorts.
And your comments are appreciated.
(UPDATE as of Monday, 24 March, 16h36 CDST/21h36 UTC: The bifocals have arrived, I am now wearing them ... and I admit that I'm getting used to them. Followed by a little luncheon of sorts @ the just-opened Ground Round here in Winona, as was in proximity; such was a gesture of convenience, so I decided to try it. Not half bad.)
IF IT'S ANYTHING TO YOU, READER, THE REASONS WHY I HAVE TO HAVE ONLINE SHOPPING IN THIS BLOG are many:
To make some productive use of your time while reading these items in the first place--especially when you have online shopping that needs to be done.
To encourage you to make this blog a regular habit in more ways than one.
To supplement Your Correspondent's limited and limiting disability benefit-derived income; as he's no doubt mentioned time and time again, he suffers emotional disorders aggravated by past abuse as precludes his being able to get a steady and stable job in the more traditional sense. What's more, Your Correspondent is unlikely to come into money within measurable distance; hence, the commissions he can get from your online shopping adventures, as well as Virtual Tip Jar donations (which are fully secure and encrypted, in case you have any concerns), will greatly help in the interim.
To encourage energy conservation vis-a-vis your shopping habits by shopping online, especially with gas well over $3/gallon in many areas of the country and many pressed for time.
With several e-tailers such as I have, such allows you to better comparison shop for what you're looking for, and find it @ the price that you find best.
So what stands in the way of serious online shopping for once here @ The Exaggerator on your part, reader?
