| America's Century of Regime Change
Last month marked the four-year anniversary of the calamitous U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Democrats in Congress, most having voted to authorize the invasion, have been divided over how, and how soon, to withdraw troops. Last week, the Senate passed a spending bill with non-binding provisions to withdraw troops starting 120 days after the bill's enactment and finished by March 31, 2008. The House passed a similar bill. In a BBC World News interview, Congressman Jack Murtha rallied for the position that troops should be called home immediately. He alluded first to the skewed intelligence the Bush administration used to justify the war and went on to declare that Iraq marks "the first time the U.S. has gone to war against a sovereign nation without provocation." In Overthrow: Americas Century of Regime Change, Stephen Kinzer shows that the congressman is wrong.
Exporters seek wheat supply control
KARACHI: Exporters have sought an end to the governments role in wheat supply meant for export, warning they may miss the target due to lethargic process of the commoditys transportation from the provincial food departments and Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Supplies Corporation (PASSCO).
In a recent communication between the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the wheat exporters, traders expressed serious concern over the policy of the authorities, which bound them to lift the commodity only from the food departments of Punjab and Sindh and the federally-administered PASSCO.
We have conveyed our reservations and now its up to the government to address such issues, said an exporter who held talks with senior officials in the ministry but asked not to be named.
Biodiversity extinction crisis looms says renowned biologist
What do tigers in India, chameleons in Madagascar, redwood trees in California, and tube worms living in deep-sea hydrothermal vents have in common? They are all components of Earths biological diversity, or biodiversity for short. Biodiversity is the sum of all living organisms on the planet. It is also what makes life on Earth livable for our species.
Biodiversity is the basis for ecological services that range from water filtration to food production to carbon cycling, and are worth tens of trillions of dollars per year. However, despite this importance, biodiversity is increasingly threatened. Human activities are fast diminishing the hotbeds of biological richnessrainforests, wetlands, coral reefs, and grasslandsand risk turning the planet into a biologically impoverished place.
Curves on the Road to Success
Gary Heavin and his wife, Diane, opened the first Curves women's gym in Harlingen, Texas, in 1992 and the first franchise in 1995. The 30-minute fitness concept for women, which combines strength and aerobic training through hydraulic resistance, has been so successful that the company now claims 4 million members using the services of 10,000 locations worldwide. Curves Clubs can be found in more than 40 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Ireland, Japan and South Africa. In 2006, Franchise Times ranked the privately owned company the ninth-largest franchise company in the world and the sixth-largest in the United States based on number of franchise units. Texas Lawyer associate editor Kristine Hughes recently asked questions via e-mail of Gary Heavin, Curves' founder and chief executive officer, and Roger Schmidt, senior vice president and chief general counsel for the Waco-based company.
Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan)
When criminal justice policy advocates talk about the need for parole reform, this legislation is not what they have in mind. Not only is the Senate Finance Committee chair pushing the construction of three more prisons (hmmm, wonder if one will be going into his district); Steve Ogden, a Bryan Republican, is also doing his part to help fill them up. He proposes in SB 435 that Texas eliminate parole for all registered sex offenders. There is some precedent: Plenty of prisoners are already ineligible for parole: death-row inmates, for example, and anyone whose sentence is life without parole. But with a looming prison bed shortage, a broken parole system, and a budget that's busted the constitutional spending cap, Ogden has ditched any pretense of fiscal conservatism. Instead, he proposes to keep the prison system's 25,000 sex offenders locked up for as long as possible, without regard for the severity of their crime.
Dave Chen Moving to Venture Partner
Early-stage venture capital firm OVP Venture Partners (OVP) announced today that partner Dave Chen will transition to part-time venture partner effective July 1, 2007. He will retain an economic interest in the firm's most recent two funds while moving to independently pursue opportunities in sustainability and new and emerging markets. Dave Chen Moving to Venture Partner PORTLAND, OR | Posted on April 6th, 2007 "Dave brought a high degree of energy and intelligence to OVP. He has tremendous passion in the areas of sustainability and emerging markets, and we encourage and support his pursuit of new opportunities in these areas," said Chad Waite, General Partner at OVP.
OVP is currently investing its seventh fund of $250 million and recently added two new partners to its investing team.
Islamophobia and the “West”
A recent article by Thomas Riggins dealt cogently and insightfully with the recent controversy over an anti-Muslim book, While Europe Slept, which received a finalist nomination for a National Book award.Riggins presented an accurate distinction between radical Islam and Islam asa religion, and highlighted the open racist politics of group which have campaigned on chauvinist political platforms (Keep Sweden Swedish) while claiming to defend the civil rights and liberties of women, other religious groups, and minorities threatened both by Muslim terrorists and by Muslim populations hostile to these values.
As the non Marxist philosopher-athelete, Lawrence Peter Yogi Berra, said, this is dejavu all over again.Although the global political situation may be different, present-day anti-Muslim racism (broadly defined) not only bears a good deal of resemblance to the anti-Jewish racism or anti-Semitism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but some of the social economic factors are similar, as are the political forces exploiting and developing this racism.
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