Thursday, July 27, 2006

Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?

Among other things, I've spent the last few weeks researching the roots of the Israel's current war of aggression against Lebanon. I even drafted an essay on the history of Lebanon for the modern-day alarmist, which you can read here. As for the current state of Lebanon's politics, that can be quickly summarized in two points: first Lebanon's Constitution requires a Christian (Maronite) President, a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister and a Shi'a Muslim Speaker of the Parliament, and second, read this piece on how the Christian enclaves of Beirut are unscathed, untargeted and, quite uninterested by Israel's constant bombardment of their fellow Muslim citizens.

In drafting this essay, I initially set out to lay down a comprehensive history of the Middle East from World War I to the present day. You see, there really was no Middle East until England and France carved up the region pursuant to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, despite their later pledge of "the complete and total liberation" of Arab peoples in the Anglo-French Declaration. Moreover, I was going to detail the backroom deal in which England secretly ceded a portion of their Mandate of Palestine for the establishment of a Jewish state through the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which was later consummated in the scandalous 1947 UN Partition of Palestine. Richard Cohen recently was lambasted for, in my opinion, an insightful, honest article describing that scandal. I was also going to explain to you how corporate avarice has, and continues to, destabilize the Middle East as oil was first privatized, then nationalized, and is now being privatized again. (As a sidenote, if you have a second, read about St. John Philby, who was a key to the privatization process and, in my opinion, one of contemporary history's most incredible, yet largely unknown figures.) I was even going to tell you how Britain, after establishing dominance over Iraq and its oil in the 1920s, fought an Iraqi insurgency by outsourcing the fighting to Indian soldiers. Ultimately, however, I've decided to skip all that and publish only a solitary quote -- believing it to illuminate the single most important aspect of Israel's invasion. However, in editing for publication, my rage percolated and I just had to do a few paragraphs on Bush. But first, the quote.

Yesterday, Prime Minister (Sunni) Fouad Siniora of Lebanon queried, rhetorically, the American body politic: "Is the value of human life less in Lebanon than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" As of today, non-combatant (civilian) casualties stemming from Israel's response to the kidnapping of 3 of its soldiers number between 300 and 600 Lebanese and at least 150 Palestinians. 19 Israeli civilians have been killed.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration, which speaks on the international stage for you, me and every other American, has turned a deaf ear to this suffering, all the while tirelessly marketing undocumented allegations that Hezbollah, the Islamic revolutionary political faction in Lebanon, is currently being supported by Syria, Iran and, now, laughably, Al-Qaeda-- the ultimate hobgoblin in the Bush arsenal.

As to the allegation that Iran is currently funding and controlling Hezbollah, whether through its alleged surrogate Syria or otherwise, I challenge any reader to find documentation of this connection. I've found nothing in two weeks of searching. I did come to understand, through this excellent piece by Daniel Byman on the history of the relationship between Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, that Iran supported a nascent Hezbollah in the 1980s, as the group sought an Islamic revolution in Lebanon similar to that in Iran in 1979. However, Byman concedes that "Hezbollah is increasingly growing out of its role as a proxy and becoming more of a partner with both Tehran and Damascus." Moreover, he never once makes the assertion that Iran or Syria had any role in directing or approving the recent kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.

The last bit, the alleged Al-Qaeda connection, came out earlier today. It's being reported that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the alleged second in command to bin Laden, released a videotaped statement which included this gem: "The war with Israel does not depend on ceasefires. It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq."

If you'll remember, Zawahiri is supposed to be bin Laden's attending doctor, living with him and the rest of those nefarious Al-Qaeda thugs while plotting evildoer-like things from some cave in the enigmatic "mountainous Afghan-Pakistani border region." I saw this interview on my favorite daily news program, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and was absolutely shocked. Not because of anything he was saying, as I'm more likely to believe this guy that Zawahiri is merely a pawn from CIA central casting, but rather at what I saw. Take a look for yourself at the picture below and ask yourself-- does anything seem out of place?


In case you missed it look again... and then slap yourself silly for not noticing that this guy, who we are told is running for his life in the nether-regions of Afghanistan, is in a television studio, complete with large scale prints of spooky images and multiple, dynamic lighting sources. Either Al-Qaeda's built a really nice studio and franchised a Kinko's nearby (which should make them pretty easy to find), or something is fishy here.

As of tonight, CBS is the only news source that even mentions the "professional television studio." However, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan completely missed the clue, instead remarking that, "It's a slicker look for al Qaeda's number two, who delivered his latest video message from what appears to be a professional television studio, complete with background props." [Update: This morning the New York Daily News, which masquerades as a newspaper but shares more in common with The National Enquirer, attempts to clarify the mystery by noting that "Zawahiri appeared in a white turban in front of photos of the World Trade Center towers burning, slain Al Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef and a bearded 9/11 cell leader Mohamed Atta. Atta's photo was downloaded from a Zacarias Moussaoui trial exhibits Web site, while the phony backdrop was intended to look like Zawahiri was in a huge TV studio." That's it... no explanation why Zawahiri would "intend" to look like he was in a TV studio, or how he's getting the equipment necessary for such a production. But I guess that's just journalism today... a whole lot of "what," just no "why."]

Despite the distractions created by the allegations of foreign involvement and the potential of the Israeli aggression to incite a regional war, the mind of every concerned citizen of the world should focus on answering Prime Minister Siniora's question: "Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?"

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Republican Philosophy for the Economy: Entering the Alamo?

On June 18, I wrote on the woeful state of the American consumer. Updating that post, I offer the recent numbers from the Federal Reserve indicating that the negative trends cited in my post continue. To wit, consumer credit increased for the seventh consecutive month, a rise of $4.4 billion in May (a 2.4% increase) to a total of $2.17 trillion, spurred by a 9.9 percent gain in non-revolving credit (mostly credit cards) that amounted to an increase of $6.7 billion for the month. Meanwhile, Americans continue to eschew disposable savings, with the personal savings rate furthering its march into negative territory with a -1.7% reading. Simply put, this means that Americans are spending (actually borrowing) 1.7% more than they are earning. Here's a 2006 chart from the St. Louis Federal Reserve illustrating the personal savings rate over the last ten years-- notice any trend?

Since my first post, I've had some pretty smart people tell me that the personal savings rate calculation is misleading in that it does not include money squirreled away in retirement savings (401(k), IRAs, etc.) My retort is that those monies are not liquid-- you cannot access those dollars without penalty in most cases and, even if Americans did, I cannot find much positive in people sapping their retirement savings to pay their credit card bills and mortgages. As to mortgages, homeowners are now using a record percentage (11.4%) of disposable personal income to pay their mortgage obligations.

Ultimately, my point in setting forth these figures is to reflect on the effects stemming from a continuing negative personal savings rate and inevitable washing out of the credit pool, in sequence, leading to a decline in every material economic indicator other than the unemployment and tax rates. To the extent that you believe such a scenario is a bit too nihilistic, you're probably right-- the American consumer, as a class, will survive; albeit paying higher monthly interest charges and, perhaps, draining their savings. Whatever the next point in the cycle though, I would challenge anyone to exhibit an American economic model in which debt-laden consumers continue to spend and borrow in an environment where domestic interest rates are increasing and the world community is tortured by widening political and religious conflict.
Given these delicate economic conditions, it seems odd Republicans are laying the foundation for their mid-term election platform that includes a plank extolling their stewardship of the American economy. While corporations continue to report double-digit returns, the Republican government's greatest economic achievement is celebrating a deficit of $300 billion as a supply-side lesson in practice. Fortunately, not many are fooled. There is, however, at least one idiot arguing that the "White House can now very credibly assert that the deficit will indeed have been halved by the time Bush leaves office." Halved from what? The total deficit equals $1.4 trillion (with actual Congressional deficit spending of $2.2 trillion during the Bush administration) and "cutting that in half" can only be done by producing a surplus of $700 billion. However, as the Washington Post notes, even the administration's recent "midsession review" predicts that "spending will outstrip revenue in every year through 2011 -- the end of the administration's budget window. The administration notes that tax revenue this year is projected to be 18.3 percent of the nation's economic output, just above the 40-year average of 18.2 percent. It is projected to be under that -- averaging 17.9 percent -- from 2007 through 2011." If Republican-controlled Congressional spending continues (and likely increases) in this fashion and the domestic economy suffers from the aforementioned maladies of the American consumer, then "staying the course" with current domestic economic policy is indeed taking the American people into the Alamo: destined for defeat.
As the sun rises on tomorrow's America, we are virtually guaranteed to have a growing deficit, likely to have rising interest rates and metaphysically certain to have a decrease in the aggregate purchasing power of the American consumer. Pile on the ever-increasing rise in the price of crude oil, catalyzed by global turmoil (Gaza, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan-- to name a few) and the continuing outsourcing/offshoring of domestic jobs, and it is difficult to imagine a great American economic renaissance anytime in the near future. After the last five years, it seems difficult to imagine a globalized economy prospering in these difficult conditions at any point in the near future, and that does not augur well for the American economy or its globalized supply chains. Maybe alternative energy production is the answer.
If you have a slice of the good life now, I'd recommend that you put part of it in the freezer. It may not taste as good ten years from now, but it'll be better than waiting in line for a slice, or having no slice at all.

Your comments are both welcome and encouraged.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Laundry: Andy Rooney style

I was recently told, second-hand, that "all smart people watch 60 minutes." Fortunately, I have been watching the show and, in particular, the Andy Rooney segments. I have a great admiration for the sophisticated simplicity of his perspectively honest missives and curmudgeon's disposition. What follows is my best effort of describing a simple task I undertook today, channeling the Socratic Andy Rooney...

You see, I do all my laundry in a single, marathon session--a fashion that has suited me since I became responsible for my own laundry (thanks for those 18 years Mom). Seems more efficient to me to operate in this fashion, though I've noticed a difference in viewpoint with some, which surveys will tell us are primarily those of the opposite gender. The same survey reveals that men are four times more likely than women to find "spending time with their laundry partner the best part of doing laundry." However, "women can take solace in the fact that men are 3 times more likely to report that they stare at their laundry as it cycles."

Do you realize how much water your washer uses for a single load of laundry? In the United Sates, over 12 million gallons of water a day is used for laundry--that's nearly 4.4 billion gallons a year. And how does the washer work? Does it really clean my clothes? Would scrubbing my clothes get them any cleaner? What deficit in cleanliness am I willing to trade for modern convenience? What about the different brands of laundry detergent--is one better than the other? Turns outs that yes, some detergents are better at getting out certain types of stains. And dryer sheets/fabric softeners-- what are they made of? Whatever it is, they sure are handy.

Finally, I have a lesson to share with you. If you are doing your laundry in a marathon session like me, be sure to include the clothes you're wearing in the last load. There's nothing more disappointing than putting away all the laundry, only to realize that the clothes you're wearing are dirty.

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