The latest news on children’s health care, Iraq, urban infrastructure, student aid, Iraq-Senate, Iraq-Administration wants more time, Darfur, Middle East, Dems-poverty, GOP-family values, Canada-healthcare, urban infrastructure, faith builds New Orleans, and select commentaries.
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Student aid. Senate Passes Bill to Boost Student Aid “The Senate passed a bill early Friday to increase aid to college students. The bill would give more money to Pell grant recipients, who are among the poorest. They get a maximum award of $4,310 annually now, but that would be bumped up to $5,400 by 2011.”
Children’s health insurance. Senate panel backs youth health plan”Defying a veto threat from President Bush, a Senate panel on overwhelmingly approved a compromise to expand health insurance for children of low-income working families by sharply hiking tobacco taxes. The 17-4 Finance Committee vote underscored the popularity of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program,” Senate Panel Adds Billions for Health “The bill calls for a total of $60 billion in spending over the next five years, which is $35 billion more than it would cost to continue spending at current levels. In the House, Democratic leaders are developing a proposal calling for a total of $75 billion. By contrast, President Bush has proposed a $5 billion increase, for a total of $30 billion.”
Iraq-Senate. Reid Unmoved by Calls For Iraq Compromise “Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid offered no apologies for his decision to reject compromise efforts to alter President Bush’s Iraq strategy that had the support of a growing number of Republicans. “We did the very best we could,” the senator from Nevada said in response to criticism that he had cut off debate on just as a bipartisan consensus on milder Iraq proposals was emerging.”
Iraq-Administration wants more time. White House lowers bar for Iraq success “The Bush administration mounted an offensive to tout progress in Iraq and lower Capitol Hill lawmakers’ expectations for success by September – a day after Democrats’ efforts to end the war sputtered in Congress.” U.S. military wants new date to assess buildup: November “The Bush administration and U.S. military officials predicted that a key September report would show progress in Iraq, but that it would be November before they could judge the success of the troop buildup.” U.S. Generals Request Delay in Judging Iraq “The top commanders in Iraq and the American ambassador to Baghdad appealed for more time beyond their mid-September assessment to more fully judge if the new strategy was making gains. … But their appeals, in three videoconferences on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon, were met by stern rebukes from lawmakers of both parties.”
Darfur. Brown and Sarkozy Darfur pledge “Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy are prepared to make a joint personal trip to Darfur to seek an end to bloodshed in the region, the two leaders said as they met in Paris toda. The prime minister, in France on his second foreign trip since taking office, said the death toll in Darfur – where 200,000 are thought to have been killed – was “unacceptable” and Britain and France would cooperate on a new plan to help end “one of the great humanitarian disasters”. Bush Says He Considered Action in Darfur “President Bush said that he had considered unilaterally sending U.S. troops to Darfur to stop the mass slaughter in that Sudanese region but decided against it in favor of a multinational response that he conceded has been “slow” and “tedious.”
Middle east. Quartet, Iran See Different Futures for Middle East “Pledging to make headway where others have failed, Tony Blair made his debut as the new Middle East envoy at a meeting in Portugal with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and representatives of the European Union and Russia.” Abbas wants talks to hit core issues “A Thursday meeting of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators and the planned release Friday of 256 Palestinian prisoners by Israel are the latest in a flurry of moves to try to re-energize Mideast peace efforts and strengthen the position of President Mahmoud Abbas,” Mixed reaction in Middle East as Blair makes debut “Less than a month after leaving office, Tony Blair returned to a new and high-profile international role as envoy for the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which insisted there would be no dealings with the Islamist movement Hamas.” Israelis dodge military duty as solidarity fades “Growing numbers of young Israelis are finding ways to avoid compulsory military service, a trend that many think reflects declining social cohesion in the Jewish state and increasing alienation from its most venerated institution.”
Dems-poverty. Poverty is key theme for Democrats in ’08 “After decades of promoting economic growth as the best cure for poverty, Democrats are trying to woo voters with promises of direct financial aid and to reach out to people who have seen their lives worsen over the last eight years. Democrats are now embracing such solutions to combat entrenched poverty, and in the process taking on Republicans on issues beyond the war in Iraq.”
GOP-family values. A fight for GOP ‘family values’ banner “The emergence of Fred Thompson as a top contender in the Republican presidential race has sparked a clash with rival Mitt Romney over the social conservatives who are crucial to winning the GOP nomination.”
Canada-health care. Religion roils debate over Ontario hospital “The church, the state and the health-care system are set to collide in a rural Ontario town, where a large group of residents is trying to stop a secular hospital from becoming a Roman Catholic institution.”
Urban infrastructure. Cities work to fix signs of aging “An exploding steam pipe under a busy street in Midtown Manhattan this week dramatizes potentially dangerous decay in aging public works systems across the nation that will require tens of billions of dollars to fix. From New York to Atlanta, cities officials are raising utility rates, issuing bonds and trying to modernize public works systems that are straining under the demand of ever-increasing populations.” Blast shows age of U.S. infrastructure “With a blast that made skyscrapers tremble, an 83-year-old steam pipe sent a powerful message that the miles of tubes, wires and iron beneath New York and other U.S. cities are getting older and could become dangerously unstable.”
Faith builds New Orleans. Faith rebuilds house and soul “Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, much of the city is deserted. Broken glass hangs from the windows of office towers. Weeds flourish in front of boarded-up homes. In the Lower Ninth Ward, entire blocks have been obliterated, the houses carted away to the junkyard, leaving nothing but the square outlines of foundations and the squat, concrete steps that once led to front doors. Yet many of those surveying this scarred landscape see reason for hope. It arrives, in wave after wave, on the sunburned faces and sweaty backs of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who come to rebuild the Gulf Coast. To many weary residents, every church van with out-of-state plates seems like a beacon of light, a sign they have not been forgotten.”
Commentary.
Fight homelessness with data (Editorial, Boston Globe) “Now public policy is getting smarter, and instead of managing homelessness, the federal government is seeking to end it. Rather than join sleep-outs, officials are relying on data. This change should transform lives and mesh well with state and local efforts.”
Making The Poor Visible (E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post) “John Edwards may be running third in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he has already changed the national conversation on a crucial issue. Poverty is no longer a hidden subject in American politics.”
posted July 21, 2007 at 1:15 am
What you missed in the Middle East:
The July 20, 2007 edition of Haaretz published an article about Mordechai Vanunu’s July 2, 2007 sentencing to 6 more months in jail for speaking to media in 2004.
The bottom line regarding the state’s continued vindictiveness against Vanunu was summed up in a quote from his attorney, “The attitude of Israel towards Vanunu can be described only in psychiatric terms: It has a Vanunu Mania.”
What follows is my letter to the editor of Haaretz:
Crossing Paths With Vanunu for the Fifth Time
It happened last Monday, July 16th also known as the 9th day of Av, the day the Jewish Temple was destroyed.
I was on my way down Nablus Road in East Jerusalem just after attending Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions media kick off day for the first of 300 homes to be rebuilt out of the 18,000 Israel has destroyed.
I was witness to the pouring of the foundation of the new home of the Hamdan clan of nine who still have the deeds to their property that were filled-out during the Ottoman Empire.
I was on my way back to the American Colony for a swim when we crossed paths in front of St. Stephen’s Dominican Church on Nablus Road.
St. Stephen was the very first Christian martyr to be stoned to death for speaking truth to power…
Just before my first of five journeys to Israel Palestine, a Palestinian American friend warned me, “Don’t visit Vanunu, if you see him; don’t speak to him. He’s not allowed to speak to foreigners and you could cause him trouble.”
I responded, “OK, I won’t track him down, but Jerusalem is a small town and if our paths cross, I will speak to him. What kind of government is that, that will tell a human being who they can and cannot talk with?”
I met Vanunu for the first time in June 2005 and he told me, “When I was in prison my mother came to me and told me that I was suffering because I was a Christian. I know I caused them a lot of pain and they have suffered because of my case. I forgive them even though they rejected me and my Christian faith. I have always thought for myself and made up my own mind.
“I really had no idea what I was doing by getting baptized a Christian, I just felt like I had to do it. It was my way to be a new being. It wasn’t until after my trial that I started to read the New Testament. While I was in prison I would read aloud for ½ hour twice a day. I would read the entire New Testament and begin it again when I finished the Book of Revelation. I did this for me as well as for my captors. Not so much the prison guards but the ones who watched me on camera 24 hours a day.
“The Shen Beet, you know like the FBI and the Mossad, like your CIA were watching me constantly. They tortured me by keeping a light on in my cell constantly for two years. They told me it was because they were afraid I would commit suicide, and the oppressive camera was for my safety. They recruited the guards and other prisoners to irritate me. They would deprive me of sleep by making loud noises near my cell all night long.
“I chose to read them 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 instead; Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with THE TRUTH! It always protects, it always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.
“My human rights have been denied me because I am a Christian. When I was on trial I was treated just like a Palestinian; no human rights at all and cruel and unusual punishment, all because I told the truth.
“The only real way to worship is in loving one’s enemies. It was not easy to love my tormentors, it was only because I felt so much like Jesus crucified on the cross, and me crucified in prison, that I could do it. It was not ever easy. I have forgiven but not forgotten anything and I never will.
“In Israel, a life sentence is 25 years. Even murderers go free after 17. They imposed the same restrictions on me that Palestinians receive; no human rights at all.
“The only way to peace is peace; the only way is non-violence. The only answer to Israeli nuclear weapons, their aggression, occupation and oppression, the wall and refugee camps is to answer them with truth and a peace-full voice. When I became the spy for the world I did it all for the people of the world.
“If governments do not report the truth, if media does not report the truth, all we can do is follow our conscience. Daniel Ellsberg did, the woman from Enron did, and I did. The USA needs to wake up and see the truth that Israel is not a democracy unless you are a Jew.
“Israel is the only country in the Middle East where America can right now find WMD’s. America can also find where basic human rights have been denied Christians, right here in Israel.”
During my March 2006 interview with Vanunu he told me, “When I decided to expose Israel’s nuclear weapons I acted out of conscience and to warn the world to prevent a nuclear holocaust. The Israeli media demonized me. They published many lies about me and Israel kept me totally isolated in prison for most of the 18 years. I am also regarded as a traitor because I was baptized a Christian.
“My Christian conversion was also considered as treason and led to me receiving more time in jail than any murderer has ever served. The Israelis have this very beautiful article about freedom and liberty but they want to destroy anyone who criticizes them for revealing the truth to the world. The world must look and see what kind of democracy Israel is when one speaks out the truth.”
“It’s very sad that Hillary Clinton went to the Jewish Wailing Wall and forgot the real crying wall is the Palestinian wall…the apartheid wall… the wall is not for defense, but to keep this conflict permanent…the people who need the help are the Palestinian Christians. We need all Christians to come and see the true facts on the ground.
“The Dimona is 46 years old; reactors last 25 to 30 years. The Dimona has never been inspected and Israel has never signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty but all the Arab states have…Twenty years ago when I worked there they only produced when the air was blowing towards Jordan ten miles away. No one knows what is happening now.
“The Israelis have 200 atomic weapons and they accuse the Palestinians and Muslims of terrorism. The world needs to wake up and see the real terrorism is the occupation and the Palestinians have
lived under that terror regime for 40 years.
“Israel propaganda portrays all Palestinians as Muslim extremists and Hamas terrorists and neglect that Palestinian Christians are following the true message of Jesus Christ with nonviolent resistance. We need all Christians to come and see the truth for themselves. Israel is only a democracy if you are a Jew.”
I once wrote an Op-ed that stated that Vanunu was also a prophet. When he read the piece, he emailed me and in bold letters wrote: “DON’T CALL ME THAT!”
I won’t to his face, but in the spirit of freedom of speech, I cannot help myself. Prophets do NOT predict the future-as much as they point out impending doom. Vanunu pointed the way to the weapons of mass destruction program underground in the Negev desert, and they have yet to receive an International Inspection.
The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah also spent much of his life under house arrest in Jerusalem, for being a truth teller. We know more about the personal life and struggles of Jeremiah than any other Hebrew prophet. Jeremiah, which translates as “The Lord throws”-as in hurling, had few friends and is considered primarily a prophet of doom.
Jeremiah was intensely introspective, self-critical, timid by nature but honest and open about his feelings. Jeremiah never married and began prophesying in Judah from 604-586, a time of storm and stress when the doom of entire nations-including Judah itself-was being sealed. Jeremiah had been the king’s friend and confident, but the prophet soon entered a dreary round of persecution and imprisonment, alternating with only brief periods of freedom, and lived under virtual house arrest.
Jeremiah was also labeled a traitor by many for speaking truth to power, “I cannot keep silent…Disaster follows disaster; the land lies in ruins…My people are fools; they do not know me.”-Jeremiah 4:19.
Vanunu will appeal his six month jail sentence for speaking to professional media in 2004, this September.
You can donate to his Defense Fund through http://www.vanunu.com
You can see and hear my 2005, 2006 interviews with Vanunu @
http://www.wearewideawake.org