It's a common observation that Associated Press coverage basically stinksmy father quit reading his local paper due in no small part to the prominence of junky AP reportsbut when the news service actually tries to do something smart by expanding its foreign coverage, American newspaper editors howl in outage. Why? Because some of them will see a rate increase. . . . Nobody is quicker to lecture the public about "diversity" than an American newspaper bureaucrat, but when it comes to actually covering the news among all those strange-looking funny-language-speaking people overseasyou know, the rest of the worldit's "Forget the news, we want a rate cut."
Editor & Publisher has the full story.
This is a familiar theme in newspapers. I once had a publisher who didn't want to pay for content for special sections. "Here," she told me, pushing a pile of papers across the desk, "use this stuff." The storiesevery one of themwere from (and I am not making this up) the "Fleischmann's Yeast Newsroom," and each story extolled the virtues of preparing baked goods with the aforementioned fungi. It might shock you (then again, it might not) just how much "news" consists of lightly-reformatted press releases.
So if you're wondering why your local paper is full of recipes for Fleischmann's "One-Dish Taco Bake" instead of the news of the world, now you know.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/30/2008 17:39 ||
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The Associated Press was started in the 19th century essentially as a cartel for the New York newspapers. It evolved to where it is today, but the damage is done; traditional media is hooked on the news service.
What if Gaza were to conquer Egypt? The possibility is not as remote as it may seem just by glancing at the map.
Egypt has more than 50 times the population of its former colony and 2,800 times the landmass. But Gaza is sovereign Hamas territory, Hamas is the Palestinian branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt -- not Israel -- is the country that has most to fear from a statelet that is at once the toehold, sanctuary and springboard of an Islamist revolution.
No wonder liberal Egyptians are reacting with near-hysterical alarm to last Wednesday's demolition of the border fence between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. The Brotherhood organized at least 70 demonstrations throughout Egypt early last week to protest Israel's economic blockade of the Strip, itself a reaction to Hamas's rocket barrages into Israel. "Arm us, train us and send us to Gaza," chanted the demonstrators, along with "O rulers of Muslims, where is your honor, where is your religion?" The independent Egyptian daily Almasry Alyoum also described conversations between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, to coordinate their activities.
As Middle Eastern power plays go, Hamas's decision to dismantle the Gaza-Sinai border was a masterstroke. Gaza's economic woes are almost wholly self-inflicted, but they are real. Dynamiting and bulldozing the border of a neighboring country is legally an act of war, but it was made to seem like a humanitarian necessity and a bid for freedom. Flooding that neighbor with hundreds of thousands of desperate people is a massive economic burden on Egypt, but one that it shirks at its political peril.
Above all, Hamas exploited the myth of pan-Arab solidarity with the Palestinians in order to explode it. Having whipped itself into its usual frenzy over Israel's "siege" of Gaza, it was a delicate matter for the state-run Egyptian press to make the government's case for deploying truncheon-wielding police to turn back the Palestinian human tide. It's an equally delicate matter for the Egyptian government to arrest Brotherhood protesters peacefully demonstrating "for Palestine," even if the Brotherhood's real target is Hosni Mubarak's regime and the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty that it supports.
it must have seemed to Palestinians an especially galling contrast that Israel announced the resumption of fuel supplies to Gaza just as Egypt was cutting its deliveries of fuel and foodstuffs to its border towns of Rafah and El Arish in the Sinai, in order to keep the Palestinians out. For good measure, Egyptian sources tell me that yesterday the government also arrested 3,000 Gazans who had made their way to Cairo -- yet another betrayal that will surely linger in Palestinian memory for a long time.
For the Brotherhood all this is excellent news. Yesterday, Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian minister in President Mahmoud Abbas's cabinet, reportedly sought a meeting in Cairo with Supreme Guide Akef in order to negotiate a new border arrangement. Mr. Akef declined to see him, a telling indicator of the Brotherhood's newfound political confidence. It can now lay firm claim to the Palestinian cause, never mind that its "brothers" in Hamas are the real source of current Palestinian misery.
By contrast, the Egyptian government faces a serious quandary, and not just as a matter of rhetoric. By its treaty with Israel, it is forbidden from deploying its army in large numbers to the Sinai. In previous years, it used this restriction as an alibi in its lackluster efforts to prevent the arms flow from Sinai to Gaza. Now that flow threatens to go in the opposite direction, endangering not just Israel but also Egyptian tourist resorts such as Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh.
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I commented before that Hamas is talibanizing north sinai. They'll play taliban from the North Sinai FATA and shoot rockets at Israel, while Egypt plays Pakistan and protests that Israel is invading Egyptian soil when Israel plays Nato and Afghanistan and tries to stop the rocket attacks.
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the next great foreign policy crisis on the American horizon.
Let me get this straight. An Arab/Muslim territory governed by Islamic criminals breaches a security barrier/border of a sovereign Arab/Muslim country. Not only is this aggression not denounced as a de facto act of war but it is completely dismissed and blamed on a Non-Arab/Muslim country. Oh and BTW, that country also just happens to be the recipient of aggression from said Arab/Muslim territory. And now its an American problem. Isnt that fuckin special?
I certainly hope so - I'll make a killing selling popcorn. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/30/2008 12:07 Comments ||
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I think this article gets the source of why the Gaza's broke the wall. It was entirely to bring in more weapons. Everything else was a smoke-screen and not a very good one at that. Egypt allowed it just as they always allow weapons transfers that can't be held openly against them.
We awake to the news that John Edwards is departing the presidential race. A couple of quick reactions.
1) Tomorrow nights one-on-one debate between Hillary and Obama is the Super Bowl for Democrats. This is actually probably a bit more pressure on Obama. You know Hillarys going to throw everything including the kitchen sink at him, and the Illinois Senator wont be able to get any support from Edwards.
2) Once again, the idiosyncrasy of Iowa is revealed. Edwards virtually moved there, got second place, and hasnt really been close to second anywhere ever since.
3) I have a theory that the more comfortable the living position of a lefty columnist is, the more they like politicians who denounce the rich. We periodically heard about how John Edwards was tapping into something on the campaign trail.
Edwards reminded us of the little girl with no coat a million times, he referred to his father working in a mill the way some people use commas, and he ran the most explicitly populist campaign in a generation, in an era of an unpopular war, great economic change from globalization, a subprime mortgage crisis, and just as the race was heating up, signs that were heading into a recession and he finished with no wins, one second place finish, a smattering of delegates (26 according to CNN), scraping by 17 percent here, 18 percent there.
Populism may sell in Iowa, but it just doesnt sell very well everywhere else. This would also explain the deflation of Huckabee.
4) As much as we may grind our teeth in response to Edwards economic snake oil, and mock other characteristics (the YouTube hair fussiness, the giant house, the work for a hedge fund to learn about poverty, the exorbitant speaking fees, the $400 haircut) hes a man with a family, who soldiered on into an exhausting effort, at the urging of his wife whos taking on cancer that may end her life. Elizabeths cancer didnt turn into a political prop, and there was something inspiring in the way that this couple treated the worst possible news one could imagine as a minor impediment to what they saw as the mission of their lives. Some of us are left wondering if we would be able to fight on the way they did if tragedy struck our lives in the same way.
Keep this man far away from elected office and keep an eye on the rumor that Obama would make him Attorney General but wish him and his family well as they continue on lifes path ahead.
5) Finally, a moment of snark: I guess the Politicos reporting about his departure from the race wasnt wrong, just way, way, way ahead of the curve.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/30/2008 14:12 ||
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I think a lot of people will be echoing this conclusion from RedState's Erick Erickson:
Tonight was not a failure of conservatism, but a triumph of military voters who have made their home in the Republican Party because we are the party of a strong national defense.
In both South Carolina and Florida, they won it for McCain. In the grand coalition of the GOP, we've talked about social conservatives and fiscal conservatives. We've all ignored the military voters, except John McCain. And he won them big. His message resonated.
Slightly revised version, that ties into a particular book now found at fine remainder bins everywhere McCain had the strongest credentials on national security in the field, and that's still the driving issue in Republican primaries - not by a wide margin, but by enough.
Romney could offer as many national security proposals as he wanted double Guantanamo, etc. but in the end, his biography didn't offer enough opportunities to say, "this guy knows how to fight in a dangerous world." Running the first post-9/11 Olympics was nice, metaphorically flipping the bird to the Iranians when they wanted a state police escort all of this is nice, but none of this competes with a man who begins his campaign video with North Vietnamese propaganda footage of the candidate tersely giving his name to an interrogator.
Giuliani had his own strengths, but as mentioned elsewhere, he wasn't a key player in the fight in Iowa. Or New Hampshire. Or Michigan. Or South Carolina. Or Wyoming or Nevada or anywhere else until tonight, and in the end, there was a smidgen of momentum from the early races. After each one, Republicans had to weigh the strengths of Huckabee, McCain, and Romney. For a month, no Republican had to think seriously about the upsides and downsides of a President Giuliani.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/30/2008 11:09 ||
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Retired veterans: a growing demographic, especially when one adds in family and friends. This will affect both parties for at least a generation, especially as most will weigh the War on Terror as higher priority than social or fiscal conservatism.
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OS, the truly sad thing is that many mil (ret.) voters are for McCain simply based on his 'Nam cred & his surge stance. They don't take into account that 60% of the things he's voted for or against since has hurt them & this country.
By Ghassan Karam
The concept of "Rationality" has evolved over the past three centuries or so to become the most important attribute of modernity, enlightenment, personal liberty, societal make up, political science and economic behavior. This Age of Reason is an age that promotes reason, common sense, logical thinking and optimal solutions. Any other kind of human behavior that does not comport to the above is deemed to be irrational and thus misguided and needs to be rejected since any model that is based on irrationality is essentially a fiction, it is an exercise in non scientific thinking and thus irrationality is harmful and leads only to deleterious outcomes.
It is unfortunate, but Lebanon seems to be suffering of a double whammy: a tremendously high level of irrationality in the political thinking of its opposition parties and another level of extreme irrationality in the economic expectations of certain factions led, or at least inspired, by the same politically bankrupt opposition parties.
In a democracy, critics have often warned about the potential of allowing a tyranny of the majority to prevail. Such concerns are not to be dismissed lightly, especially in countries whose make-up is similar to that of Lebanon, Switzerland or Belgium. Most democracies have addressed these fears and allayed them through the adoption of clear rules that protect minority rights or, as in Switzerland through adopting a system that requires participation by all societal groups that calls for tremendous grass root participation and a balance of power between the legislative and the executive.
Lebanon, which aspires, at least in the minds of some, to become a modern democratic state, has already adopted a representational system for its Chamber of deputies. Such a system is the best guarantor that concerns from various groups can be heard especially when these constituent groups insist on the practice of the semi- tribal ritual of identity politics. However, under no circumstance a minority political opposition group is to be accorded a veto power in the executive branch and also given the privilege of short circuiting the constitutional procedures of forming a cabinet. The irrationality of the Lebanese political opposition is so absurd that its demands do not deserve to be even considered.
Paradoxically this irrationality is not confined to the political arena. It has manifested itself more and more in the economic field as well. It should be no secret to anyone that economic prosperity cannot thrive and will not inhabit an environment that is politically unstable, risky and unaccountable and where the rule of law does not exist. Political stability is a prerequisite for investments of all sorts and thus for job creation and welfare enrichment. Very few rational people will place high expectations on economic performance when they simultaneously choose to implement a policy of economic disruptions, risk enhancement and increased instability.
The Lebanese opposition, however, have adopted exactly such a policy. They create unstable conditions, promote acts that disrupt economic activities, encourage actions that discourage investments, contribute to lower level of economic welfare and a lower level of tax revenues collected by the authorities. Yet they martial their forces to demonstrate against the governments inability to provide services that they have obstructed through their own activities. Go figure.
It is true that humans do not live by bread alone but it is equally true that humans cannot live without any nourishment for long. Lebanon has been paying a dear price for the political instability that has reined over the past thirty years. The easiest and simplest illustration of this phenomenal economic failure can be clearly seen in comparing the real GDP per capita for 1974 to that in 2007. During 1974 Lebanon enjoyed a per capita income of almost $2980.00 (measured in 1974 dollars). Most of the preliminary studies for last year, 2007, estimate a per capita income of around $5700.00 (measured in 2007 dollars). This $5700, measured in current terms, translates into only $2240 in 1974 dollars under the very conservative assumption that the 2007 CPI =250 while the 1974 =100.
As a result the question that needs to be asked by every responsible Lebanese: Where have the last one third of a century gone? The typical Lebanese citizen failed to run on the spot and actually lost 25 % of his/her income. Put differently, the Lebanese citizen is 25% worse off during 2007 than the citizen of 1974. That is one of the worst economic performances in the world. The most recent economic performance is not any better. During 2006 Lebanon ranked as the 204th (out of 214 countries) worst country in the world in its rate of GDP growth, just behind the Seychelles and Zimbabwe. Alas the opposition persists in creating political, social and economic instability and then rushes to hold others accountable for its egregious acts.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Alas the opposition persists in creating political, social and economic instability and then rushes to hold others accountable for its egregious acts.
Modern leftism in a nutshell. More interested in destroying than creating.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
