Sunday Roundup - September 21, 2014

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream corporate media.  Today we look at Ebola, Ukraine, rebuilding Gaza, Islamic State, and, in brief, Scotland, Obamacare, and the impact of unemployment benefits.

Ebola

Map is from WHO website

The death toll in the Ebola outbreak afflicting west Africa has now surpassed 2,600.  Besides the west African nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.  Healthcare workers, already in very short supply in the impoverished countries hardest-hit by the outbreak, have paid an especially heavy price. 318 of them have been infected across four west African countries, 151 of whom have died.     Al Jazeera reported on Thursday: More than 700 more Ebola cases have emerged in West Africa in the past week week, a statistic that showed the outbreak was rapidly accelerating, the World Health Organisation has said....Later on Thursday, the UN Security Council declared the outbreak a "threat to international peace and security" and called on all states to provide urgent resources and assistance to help tackle the crisis. The alarm came as Sierra Leone readied for an unprecedented three-day nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the Ebola in a controversial move which experts claimed could worsen the epidemic. The population of six million will be confined to their homes from midnight on Thursday as almost 30,000 volunteers go door-to-door uncovering patients and bodies hidden in people's homes.  The US has pledged to send 3,000 troops to help in the fight the disease. In addition, Cuba, Uganda, and China are all sending medical teams to the afflicted area.   As reported in The Guardian on September 16: President Barack Obama called the Ebola epidemic in west Africa a potential threat to global security as the White House pledged to send 3,000 troops to fight the worst ever outbreak of the disease in history...Almost $1bn (£620m) is needed to contain the Ebola epidemic raging across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which could infect up to 20,000 people if unchecked by the end of the year, the UN warned..."If not dealt with effectively now, Ebola could become a major humanitarian crisis in countries currently affected," Valerie Amos, the UN humanitarian chief, told reporters in Geneva. The capacity of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to provide even the most basic necessities was, she warned, "on the brink of collapse".  Scientific American posted a response to a NYT op-ed that raised the specter of the virus mutating to an airborne pathogen: Interviews with several infectious diseases experts reveal that whereas such a mutation—or more likely series of mutations—might physically be possible, it’s highly unlikely.  Let's hope so.

Ukraine

Map is from Al Jazeera February 27 article

The September 5 ceasefire in the Ukraine appears to be holding in spite of sporadic violations. The Independent reported on September 15: The conflict-wracked eastern Ukraine city of Luhansk had a rare day of jubilation yesterday as pro-Russian fighters paraded military vehicles victoriously through city streets – as other areas saw continued shelling in the conflict between government forces and the rebels...Luhansk’s population of about 250,000 people, reduced because of the war, emerged to celebrate “city day” yesterday, which opened on a sombre note as priests led hundreds of residents in prayer in commemoration of those killed during a government-mounted siege of the city.  Speaking at the open-air service by the Mother of Sorrows Church, local separatist leader Igor Plotnitsky mourned those that had been killed and in an unusually conciliatory public statement called for forgiveness for those responsible. Luhansk has suffered more casualties and damage from the conflict than any other city.  Alec Luhn, in a September 16 Foreign Policy dispatch, writes of the rebuilding effort there.  The pause in fighting has...been the first chance to assess the damage to the city and hopefully begin reconstruction. Residents have been trying to rebuild their homes, but most workplaces and banks have shut down, and many government benefits and pensions have not been paid for months. Construction materials, especially glass and artificial roofing, are in short supply. Winter is coming, but the gas pipes in many places have been shredded by shelling. And there's no guarantee that the fragile peace will last....If the cease-fire holds, the task of rebuilding will be the first test of the separatist government's ability to not just foment rebellion but also to run a state. "Life is returning to normal," the new head of the self-declared [Luhansk People's Republic], Igor Plotnitsky, told journalists after sharing a glass of champagne with a newly married couple accompanied by rebel groomsmen in camouflage. Not all residents are so optimistic.  Luhn quotes a woman selling spices in the midst of a burned out marketplace.  "We're hoping for the best, but we expect the shelling to start again...The number of [Ukrainian] troops outside the city is increasing." 

Gaza Reconstruction
Haaretz reported on Tuesday's announcement that the United Nations had brokered an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that would allow reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip to proceed.  [UN Middle East envoy Robert] Serry told the UN Security Council that the United Nations had brokered the deal "to enable work at the scale required in the strip, involving the private sector in Gaza and giving a lead role to the Palestinian Authority in the reconstruction effort, while providing security assurances through UN monitoring that these materials will not be diverted from their entirely civilian purpose."  Damage to Gaza from the Israeli siege has been estimated to be as high as $7.8 billion.  On September 18, Haaretz also carried a Reuters report on Saudi Arabia's pledge of $500 million to help rebuild Gaza.  Saudi Arabia's commitment comes ahead of a conference in Cairo on Oct. 12 when Palestinian leaders hope other donors, including Turkey, Qatar, the European Union and United States, will step forward with promises of support. 

Islamic State

On September 18, the US Congress completed its approval of Obama's plan to provide arms and training for Syrian rebel forces, primarily Sunnis in a civil war with Syria's primarily Shia government.  Sunni Saudi Arabia lobbied Congressional leaders prior to the vote.  As the US begins its military action against Islamic State, getting ourselves into a sectarian fight that we should have no part in, many commentators see a danger of escalation.  Spencer Ackerman in The Guardian  argues that unclear military goals have been an American tradition for decades - resulting in the loss of countless lives and dollars.  A military lesson the United States seems doomed to constantly forget and painfully re-learn: unclear goals invite escalation.  Referring to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's testimony before Congress that US military may engage in "close combat advising", Ackerman writes: Dempsey’s euphemism bursts the seams of Barack Obama’s insistence that US troops will not return to combat in Iraq. That was itself a rhetorical escalation from the White House’s earlier assurance against troops on the ground, full stop, which has proved difficult to square with the current 1,700 US troops now in Iraq, 1,600 more than were there in June. Perhaps more candidly, Dempsey said Obama has asked the general to come back for “case-by-case” authorization on involving US troops in combat, even as the president again forswore ground combat in a speech at MacDill air force base on Wednesday.  Obama's stated objectives in this third Iraq war are not clearly defined and there may be no way of knowing when they are achieved.  Ackerman continues: Obama follows in an ignominious presidential tradition. George W Bush’s goals for the second Iraq war pivoted from the mirage of eliminating weapons of mass destruction to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein to the preservation of something resembling democracy....The pattern has held, with few exceptions, since the second world war ended. Korea’s “police action” resulted in a gruesome stalemate once Douglas MacArthur reinvented the war from the preservation of a US ally in Seoul to the destruction of Moscow’s ally in Pyongyang. As many as two generations of US policymakers wish to get over Vietnam, their unrealistic guarantees to foreign proxies and preference for military solutions to entrenched, obscure political challenges repeat the central mistakes contributing to a traumatizing escalation.  US wars are more likely to end through an exogenous event – such as Russia’s diplomatic restraint of Serbia to end the 1999 Kosovo air war or Libyan rebels’ killing of Muammar Gaddafi to end the 2011 Libya air war – than through the deliberate application of military force.  

In Brief/Links

Scottish voters rejected independence from the UK on Thursday by a 55 - 45 percent vote.  The Scotsman reported on the promises from Labour and the Conservatives on greater autonomy for Scotland and on the resignation of Scotland's First Prime Minister, Alex Salmond, "after his lifelong dream of an independent Scotland was rejected by the people."  In the last weeks before the referendum. numerous British politicians came to Scotland to argue for a "no" vote.   The Independent had an interesting list of "eight things you never realized were Scottish". [The Independent, Sep 17]

Finally, here are two (more) stories that put the lie to fallacious GOP talking points.
Re: "People insured through the state and federal health care exchanges are not paying their premiums" - More than 90% of the estimated 8 million people originally signed up to get  their health insurance through the state and federal healthcare exchanges (7.3 million) are paying their premiums and remain in the program. [Kaiser Health News, Sep 19]
Re: "Extending unemployment benefits makes people lazy and drop out of the labor force."
Extending benefits to unemployed workers beyond the 26 weeks provided by most states has little effect on the unemployment rate and essentially no impact on labor force participation, a recent working paper released by the Federal Reserve Board found.  [Daily Kos, Sep 12]   Daily Kos blogger Dartagnan adds: Republicans have blocked every attempt to provide extended  benefits to the long- term unemployed since 2013...[and] haven't passed a single piece of job-creating legislation.  So what has been the result of this "experiment?"  The Labor Force participation rate is at a record low in this country: A record 92,269,000 Americans 16 and older did not participate in the labor force in August, as the labor force participation rate matched a 36-year low of 62.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sunday Roundup - April 20, 2014

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream media.  Today we look at the Iran nuclear talks, the Ukraine  agreement, the passing of Gabriel García Márquez, and Pope Francis' Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing.  

Iran Nuclear Talks
Hardliners on all sides of the Iran nuclear talks have put pressure on the negotiators trying to hammer out an historic agreement.  On Wednesday April 16, Reuters reported on Iranian hardliners' stepped up criticism of the nuclear talks:  The hardliners, unsettled by the shift to a more moderate foreign policy since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August, have repeatedly criticized the talks in recent months but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backs them....In their latest charge, critics of the negotiations leaked an audio recording purporting to show Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticizing Rouhani's view of the nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported.  Araghchi,[ a key negotiator in the talks that produced the November interim deal,] lashed out at his critics on Wednesday, saying the audio filed was "selected and distorted" and urging them not to play politics with what he called Iran's nuclear rights...Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told Reuters he did not fear opposition from hardliners and was optimistic about reaching a comprehensive agreement with world powers by the July 20 deadline.

Hardliners aside, Iran continues to reduce its nuclear enrichment capabilities as demanded by the West.  Reuters/The Star Online (Malaysia) reported on Thursday's release of the IAEA's monthly update: The monthly update by the International Atomic Energy Agency , which has a pivotal role in verifying that Iran is living up to its part of the accord, made clear that Iran so far is undertaking the agreed steps to curb its nuclear programme.  The IAEA update noted that Iran has cut its most sensitive nuclear stockpile by nearly 75 percent and diluted half of its higher-grade enriched uranium reserve to a fissile content less prone to bomb proliferation. A planned facility needed to convert low-enriched uranium gas (LEU) to a non-weaponizable oxide has been delayed, likely due to technical issues.  Western diplomats said earlier that this matter was of no immediate consequence as Iran's commitment concerns the size of the reserve towards the end of the deal, in late July, meaning it has time both to complete the site and convert enough LEU.

Ukraine
Some progress was made on resolving the crisis in the Ukraine.  The Guardian reported Thursday: The US, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union have reached agreement on a series of immediate steps aimed at pulling eastern Ukraine back from the brink of war.  The deal, clinched after a dramatic extended meeting in Geneva, calls for the disarming of all illegal groups. In the next few days they would have to vacate all the government buildings and public spaces they have occupied over the course of the crisis.  In return, the protesters in eastern Ukraine would be offered amnesty for all but capital crimes and the government in Kiev would immediately start a process of public consultation aimed at devolving constitutional powers to the provinces.  However, pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine are staying put for the time being.  The Guardian reported Friday: Pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine have accused the authorities in Kiev of violating an agreement to defuse tensions across the country, adding that they have no intention of leaving buildings they have occupied...At a press conference on Friday..., Denis Pushilin, the self-styled leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, said his supporters would stay put until a referendum on the region's future status took place. The current pro-western government in Kiev was illegitimate, he said...Pushilin – speaking from the occupied regional administration building in central Donetsk – said that Kiev had already violated the Geneva deal by refusing to withdraw its military units from eastern Ukraine. 


Gabriel García Márquez
Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, the greatest Latin American writer of the 20th century, passed away Thursday at the age of 87.   His "magical realism" works are his best known.  In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts". Tributes poured in from around the world for the beloved author.  And beloved he was.  In the late 1990's, I was in Cartagena, where he maintained a home even during his many travels abroad. Painted on a rock wall not far from the Caribbean Sea were the words "Te amo Gabo".  Originally a law student, "Gabo" turned to journalism and eventually to fiction.  His breakout novel was "One Hundred Years of Solitude", published in 1967.  He counted Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro among his many admirers.  Because of his outspoken anti-imperialist views, García Márquez was denied travel visas to the US for many years.  The ban was lifted by Bill Clinton after he became President.

The City Paper (Bogotá) writes: García Márquez was among the vanguard of the ‘Latin American Boom,’ a literary movement to which Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa also belonged.  García Márquez’s use of magical realism, a style in which events are so extraordinary and unbelievable they seem fantastical, inspired a generation of writers and drew readers into an unforgettable world filled with poetry and imagination...“Gabo,” as he was affectionately known in Colombia, will be sorely missed in Colombia and abroad. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has declared 3 days of mourning for the passing of this native son of letters. 

The Scotsman writes of One Hundred Years of Solitude: García Márquez combines miraculous and supernatural events with the details of everyday life and the political realities of Latin America. The characters are visited by ghosts, a plague of insomnia envelops Macondo, a child is born with a pig’s tail and a priest levitates above the ground....García Márquez, a stocky man with a quick smile, thick moustache and curly hair, said he found inspiration for the novel by drawing on childhood memories of his grandmother’s stories - laced with folklore and superstition but delivered with the straightest of faces.  The Scotsman article concludes with this tribute from Colombian pop star Shakira: “Your life, dear Gabo, will be remembered by all of us as a unique and singular gift, and as the most original story of all,” Colombian pop star Shakira wrote on her website alongside a photograph of her hugging Garcia Marquez.


Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world)
Happy Easter!  Pope Francis delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing after celebrating the Easter liturgy. Under clear blue skies in Rome, Pope Francis gave his Urbi et Orbi ("to the city and to the world") blessing.  At the heart of his message was a call to live the Good News of the Gospels in our treatment of the most vulnerable:  "In every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life's troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast."  He prayed for the vulnerable and for peace throughout the world. As reported in Deutsche Welle:     The holiest day in the Christian calendar attracted more than 100,000 people to the square to hear the Pope speak on Sunday at mid day.  Easter celebrations in Rome again sent out the message of social solidarity which has characterised Pope Francis' papacy since it began last year.  He made reference to killings and violence around the world, including in Nigeria, Ukraine and Jerusalem and urged warring sides in Syria to negotiate "boldly."


Images
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is from El Espectador.
Pope Francis giving the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing is from La Corriere della Sera/L'Osservatore Romano

In Brief
"The Guardian and the Washington Post have been awarded the highest accolade in US journalism, winning the Pulitzer prize for public service for their groundbreaking articles on the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities based on the leaks of Edward Snowden." [The Guardian, April 14]

El Espectador, a Colombian newspaper for which Gabriel García Márquez wrote, has an extensive appreciation of his life, including a time line, slide shows and images.

Complete English text of Pope Francis' Urbi et Orbi Blessing [Huffington Post/AP, April 20]