The UN as a charade of what it was meant to be – the reporting is by ICP from sources inside the UN – please see the links:

–

Updated August 23, 2010 5:29 p.m.  Some recent articles

At UN, As Sudan Admits Expulsions Are For Rape Detection, Offers Jebel Marra Access.

In Congo, 154 Rapes 30 KM from UN Peacekeepers Leaves UN Silent, P-5 In Disarray.

–

Updated August 24, 2010 4:13 p.m.  Some recent articles

As UN’s Inaction on Congo Rapes Triggers Belated Trips, Why No Flares or Sat Phones?

UN and Council Silent on Congo Rapes of which MONUSCU Had Foreknowledge.

The last item of the August 24, 2010 UN DAILY NEWS:

UN EXPERT URGES RUSSIA TO PICK UP PACE OF PROTECTING RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – this requires further investigation that can be performed only via direct access to the UN which is being denied. The real issue is now not only the human rights of those peoples under Russian rule, but also if the UN Secretary-General will act on this if in his judgment talking to the Russians on this may harm his chances for re-election.

Although the Russian Government has made “important steps” to protect the rights of its indigenous people, a United Nations independent human rights expert today urged the country to accelerate progress.

James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on the situation on the freedom of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, called for “continuous and focused attention” in areas such as economic development, health, education and language.

Many indigenous people in Russia continuing to face “multiple impediments” to fully enjoying their human rights, he said, with human development indicators showing that they are “still often faring less well than other sectors of society.”

The expert praised Russia for showing its commitment to improving the living conditions of indigenous people, advancing their cultures and participation in decision-making, as well as developing a comprehensive policy for them.

However, he found that implementing existing laws guaranteeing their rights – at both national and regional levels – “remains a challenge that needs to be resolved.”

Mr. Anaya, who reports in an independent and unpaid capacity to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, launched a new report today based on his visit to Russia last October.

One of the areas of focus on his missions was to examine the situation of groups recognized by the Government as “small-numbered indigenous people,” number fewer than 50,000 people.

“Following the fall of communism, and transition to a market economy, indigenous peoples were in a particularly vulnerable position… unable to shape or define their new role in a drastically shifting political and economic atmosphere,” he writes in the publication.

“Many indigenous communities,” the Rapporteur continues, “suffered extreme hardship with some reaching the brink of extinction during this time, while unemployment, poverty and alcoholism soared.”

He calls on the Government to fully support the provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The landmark document, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007, outlines the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlaws discrimination against them.

Weather Beacon: Erik Guzman

Weather Beacon is an oracle for the digital age. Merging Wi-Fi technology and industrial engineering, this kinetic sculpture receives data from the Internet and emits a code of flashing lights, forecasting the weather and inviting the public to connect to their physical and invisible surroundings.

Presented by Arts World Financial Center. Sculpture operates 24 hours a day, though December 31, 2010

Weather Beacon has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council with the generous support of The September 11th Fund.

location:   World Financial Center Plaza   map

price:	Free
website:	www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com
phone:	212-945-0505 —————————————————————————————————————————————– Also: July 12 – September 3, 2010 Monday – Friday, 12 – 4pm WFC Courtyard Gallery View Map The Drifting Encyclopedia is an assemblage of American oddities, scientific and historical ephemera, questionable accounts and implausible representations thereof. Part Victorian cabinet of curiosities, part roadside attraction, this immersive art installation houses exhibits that echo the themes of unlikely connections and contemplates the actual, illusory and anomalous nature of love. The Drifting Encyclopedia is created in correspondence to Undercurrents & Exchange, a series of performances in the WFC Winter Garden.

Dickstein Shapiro at the Upcoming Power Dealmaking Summit.
September 14-15, 2010
New York, NY

with the help of Infocast – at The Concierge Conference Center at
780 3rd Avenue, New York City.

Dickstein Shapiro’s Energy Practice supports and participates in leading conferences covering issues and challenges that are important to the energy industry. The 2010 Power Dealmaking Summit brings together buyers and sellers, asset managers, institutional investors, private equity, hedge funds, and other serious players in the power industry. This timely and comprehensive program features an outstanding faculty of industry leaders who will share their knowledge and insights into the drivers and issues that will make a difference as the M&A market heats up, the capital markets strengthen, and an $80 billion wave of refinancing hits this vital industry.

Friends and clients of Dickstein Shapiro may use Code 106709 when registering with Infocast to receive a 50% reduction in tuition for the Summit. If we may be of any other assistance, please let us know.

We hope to see you there.

Power Dealmaking SUMMIT AGENDA.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
8:00 – 9:00 Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15 WELCOME & INTRODUCTION FROM THE SUMMIT CHAIR
Bernays T. (Buz) Barclay, Partner,
DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO, LLP

9:15 – 9:45 Keynote Address: COMING TO TERMS WITH UNCERTAINTY
Pundits are saying that domestic shale production will be sufficient to keep the US in a low gas price world forever; but we’ve heard this before. They say that demand for electric power comes roaring back when recessions end; but does an increased emphasis on demand side management and efficiency make this time different? Hot weather can change the economics of power production in a summer. A delay in a new transmission lines can add millions in revenue to one power plant and send another into bankruptcy. What are the important drivers of uncertainty for energy markets? How do you measure them? And, most importantly, how do you integrate the extreme uncertainty in today’s power markets into a valuation framework that supports term sheet development and negotiations?
Art Holland, Vice President, Utility & Risk Services, PACE GLOBAL

——
9:45 – 10:15 Report OUTLOOK & TRENDS AFFECTING DEALS & VALUES
The road ahead is highlighted by an expert survey and analytical insights regarding many of the factors, trends and circumstances that are driving project, asset and corporate M&A and financing deals to market and determining their value.
Interest rates, fuel prices, government policy, legislation and regulation, overhangs of un-invested capital and dis-investing capital, market functions and dysfunctions, cross-border interests, economic and monetary (FX) issues, carbon and climate change, availability and cost of equity and debt in the bank and institutional markets and more.
Robert Mudge, Partner, THE BRATTLE GROUP

——
10:15 – 10:45 Morning Networking Break & Private Meetings

——
10:45 – 11:15 Report THE MOUNTING CHALLENGES OF REFINANCING
$27 Billion of credit facilities and nearly $2 Billion in bonds extended to non-regulated power companies and projects will mature in 2012. Through 2015, the unregulated power sector faces about $83.1 billion of maturities, almost $61.4 billion of which is in the form of credit facilities, including revolvers, syndicated letter of credit facilities and term loans. This factor alone may cause a significant segment of the power industry to recapitalize, change ownership, and re-direct its business strategies over the next few years, while new power assets will also be vying for development, construction and growth capital. This session will provide the latest information on the scope and character of the impending refinancing challenge facing the industry.
A.J. Sabatelle, Senior Vice President, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE

——
11:15 – 12:30 CORPORATE PERSPECTIVES ON THE MARKET: CREATING VALUE IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENT.
In the wake of the financial and economic crisis, power companies find themselves in a new business environment. Their challenge is to identify the critical strategic threats and opportunities and act to change, adapt, exploit, survive and sustain. This panel of top executives from major corporate players in the power industry will discuss where they are placing their bets and how they expect to create value in this environment
• Where are we in the business cycle in the power industry?
• What value creation strategies make sense in the industry for the intermediate future? To what extent will the IPP model continue to be sustainable vs. the integrated and regulated utility model?
• Will there be a trend toward the return of utility ownership and re-regulation?
• How will financing and re-financing requirements affect business models, opportunities and competitiveness in the industry?
• What are the prospects for industry consolidation in the coming years? For asset acquisitions and divestitures in the near term? For new project development?
• How are the conditions in the credit markets going to affect buying and selling decisions?
• What are buyers’ outlooks for asset and business valuations? What are they for sellers?
• What are corporate outlooks for financing and capital markets in the next 12 months?
Moderator: Larry F. Eisenstat, Partner, DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO LLP
Panelists:
Paul Cavicchi, Executive Vice President, GDF SUEZ Energy North America
J. Andrew Murphy, Executive Vice President & Regional President, Northeast, NRG ENERGY
Paul Stauder, Senior Vice President, Covanta Americas Business Management, COVANTA ENERGY CORPORATION
Richard Straebel, Senior Vice President, MARUBENI POWER INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Kelly Tomblin, Vice President Corporate Strategy & Services, INTERNATIONAL POWER AMERICA, INC.
Thomas B. White, President & CEO, KGEN POWER CORPORATION

——
12:30 – 2:00 Group Luncheon

——
2:00 – 3:15 PRIVATE EQUITY ROLES IN POWER DEALS
In the past, private equity has been a prime mover in the power industry, both in asset deals and in corporate M&A and restructuring. What roles are private equity investors looking to play going forward? Is it time to liquidate and move to other industries, or are there still ways to find and create value with sufficient liquidity in reasonable investment horizons in the power industry? In this session, private equity players discuss where they are reloading for more investment and where they are changing directions or realigning their strategies.
• What market trends are the most important for private equity strategies
• How do private equity firms add value in the power sector?
• What role will private equity play in the current power market?
• What sectors of the power markets offer the most attractive opportunities for private equity firms?
• How do the financing markets affect the distinctive criteria private equity uses when making investment / divestiture decisions?
• Where are valuations headed? Are buyers able to meet the expectations of sellers in the current markets?
• How is the current credit environment affecting private equity strategies?
Moderator: Todd Alexander, Partner, CHADBOURNE & PARKE LLP
Panelists:
Scott Brown, CEO, NEW ENERGY CAPITAL
Charles Costenbader, Associate Director, Treasury & Commodities Group, MACQUARIE ENERGY, LLC
Brendan T. Fitzgerald, President, ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORS, LLC
Douglas Kimmelman, Senior Partner, ENERGY CAPITAL PARTNERS
Andrew Schroeder, Senior Partner, ENERGY INVESTORS FUNDS
Juliet Wallace, Director, DENHAM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP

———–
3:15 – 3:45 Afternoon Networking Break and Private Meetings
———-
3:45 – 5:00 M&A DYNAMICS AND TRENDS
What are the dynamics that will shape M&A deal flow in the coming year? Economic growth? Flights to safety? Foreign investment? Regulatory uncertainty? Legislative risk? Fuel costs? We have seen big deals, small valuations, significant consolidations, dramatic divestitures and great hopes. What will make sense in the coming year? Our panel of dealmakers will describe the landscape as they see it, and identify the trends to watch – or get ahead of.
• What will the deal flow look like over the coming year and why?
• How will fuel and power prices impact deal and deal flow?
• Who will be the buyers and who will be the sellers?
• What can be expected in terms of valuations and bid-asked spreads?
• How will the refinancing wave drive M&A?
• How will the capital market investor appetite affect deals?
• Will legislative or regulatory risk be a driver for any M&A activity?
• What can be expected in renewable company and asset A&D?
Moderator: Bernays T. (Buz) Barclay, Partner, DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO, LLP
Panelists:
John F. (Jay) Beatty, Managing Director, NEW HARBOR, INC.
Matt Gibson, Managing Director, GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. James Metcalfe, Global Head of Power, UBS
Timothy Vincent, Partner, GREENTECH CAPITAL ADVISORS
Carl Weatherley-White, Managing Director, BARCLAYS
5:00 – 6:00 Summit Reception
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
8:00 – 9:00 Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:05 WELCOME & INTRODUCTION FROM THE SUMMIT CHAIR
Bernays T. (Buz) Barclay, Partner, DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO, LLP
Power Dealmaking Summit
———
9:05 – 10:15 CREDIT, THE CAPITAL MARKETS AND DEAL FINANCING
With the capital markets back to normal, will they provide the means to support new M&A and asset deals as well as refinancing $83 Billion in existing IPP debt? At what price? Will the sellers be able to staple financing to an asset as they did once? This session will explore the deal financing opportunities available in the market, examine the deal structures being adopted, and hammer out what is the best market to raise capital in.
• What debt financing is available to support future deal flow? Under what terms?
• Does the bank market have sufficient capacity and appetite for the opportunities that are coming up?
• Is the high-yield debt and B-loan market back? What type of transactions will it finance and on what terms?
• How will transactions need to be structured in the future to be successfully financed?
• What special issues do merchant plants face in their re-financings? Will bankruptcies wash out a lot of equity from the merchant part of the power industry?
• Will new merchant plant deals be financeable in the near future
Moderator: James Drzemiecki, Senior Managing Director, FTI CONSULTING
Panelists:
Ralph Cho, Executive Director, WEST LB SECURITIES, INC.
Mark Dennes, Director, Power & Energy Project Finance –
North America, BNP PARIBAS
Jack Paris, Managing Director, CITI
Edward Sondey, Managing Director, BofA MERRILL LYNCH
David H. Williams, Managing Director, Power & Utilities Group, CIBC
Raymond Wood, Managing Director, Energy Group, CREDIT SUISSE
——-
10:15 – 10:45 Morning Networking Break and Private Meetings
——
10:45 – 11:45 DEBT INVESTORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON FINANCING AND REFINANCING POWER DEALS
The appetites and preferences of debt investors in the private placement markets will in large measure shape the outlook for dealmaking and refinancing in the capital-intensive power industry. In this session, ultimate purchasers and holders of the unregistered securities of power projects and power industry companies, and their agents, will share their perspectives on the market, their appetite for financing deals in the power industry as opposed to their alternative investment opportunities, and the factors driving market pricing and liquidity.
• What kind of deals are debt investors looking for?
• What is driving covenant negotiations and pricing?
• Is the market expected to continue to be open and liquid?
Power Dealmaking Summit
Moderator: James Drzemiecki, Senior Managing Director, FTI CONSULTING Panelists:
John Anderson, Senior Managing Director/Head, Power & Project Finance, JOHN HANCOCK FINANCIAL SERVICES
Jamie N. Manson, Head of Power, INVESTEC NORTH AMERICA LIMITED
Stephen Petricone, Managing Director, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP
____
11:45 – 12:00 FINAL THOUGHTS
Bernays T. (Buz) Barclay, Partner, DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO, LLP
12:00 Noon The Summit Adjourns
 http://www.infocastinc.com/index.php/con…

 http://asiasociety.org/style-living/food…

Fasting this Ramadan? Follow these few key guidelines to eating well and staying healthy during the holy month.

(Photo by ulterior epicure/Flickr)

By Rafaya Sufi

Fasting this Ramadan? Or have friends who are? Follow these few key guidelines to eating well and staying healthy during Ramadan.

Since its foundation, Ramadan is celebrated with vigor amongst Muslim communities. A typical day of fasting consists of consuming an overnight breakfast at dawn, restricting any food and drink till sunset. Muslims may continue to eat and drink after the sun has set till the next morning’s fajr prayer at dawn.

The key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle during the month depends on a few practical points.

1. Water: For starters, proper hydration is essential. Fasting does not mean that all bodily functions stop requiring water. Headaches, fatigue, fuzzy thinking, irritability, and illness are often caused by inadequate hydration. We need half our body weight each day to just maintain normal bodily functions. To determine your water needs, use this simple formula:

Your body weight in pounds/2 = The amount of water you need to drink in ounces a day

So, If you weigh 180 lbs/2 = 90 oz/day, minimum

2. Replace Sugar With Fruit (when possible): What’s better than eating a delicious slice of cake (or baklava, or brownie, or some chocolate mousse, or….) once you break your fast? Fruit! Yes, this is a hard one, so quit complaining and follow these instructions for healthier you. You may think you deserve a piece of your favorite dessert after all those hours of restraining, but sugar robs our bodies of minerals and vitamins. During a period of fasting, our bodies need to hold on to as many minerals and vitamins as possible, so don’t let them escape just by giving in to your craving (after all, this is a month of self-restraint). Try baking this nutritious Fried Banana recipe at home as an alternative to sugar-loaded desserts.

3. Soup: A quick, easy, and nutritious food to consume during Ramadan is soup. Soup provides deep nourishment and is easily absorbed by the body. It is also a great way to meet your water needs, and if you blend all the good stuff together, picky eaters will never question what they are eating! After you break your fast, have some soup, and make it a staple diet for the month. Try making some delicious, vitamin-packed Mulligatawny soup at home.

4. Eat Slowly/Don’t Overdo It: What’s the rush? You have all evening! There is a tendency to eat really fast amongst people breaking their fasts. Trying to pack in 101 activities within the first few minutes of breaking your fast, which includes eating 101 foods, can cause some serious indigestion. Avoid that awful feeling by slowing down. Take small bites so you can chew well. The longer you chew your food, the less work your digestive track needs to do and you absorb more nurturance. So overall, it’s a win-win situation.

5. Vitamins and Minerals: Load up on them! Unfortunately, food today is not as nutritious as it was once. Unless you’re consuming 100 percent organic foods, you’ll probably need to replenish your body with lost electrolytes and vitamins. The top nutrients to look at are vitamins C, B-complex, zinc, E, and A. Vitamins C, A, and E along with zinc are known as antioxidants, and unless you’re living under a rock, antioxidants are in–they’re the latest health trend these days because they do wonders for your body. Eat fresh fruits, berries, and vegetables in abundance! B-complex vitamins are great at relieving stress, so be generous with those. Most Americans are already deficient in the B-complex vitamins due to eating high amounts of refined and processed foods, so skip the white bread, and opt for a whole-wheat option instead. Enjoy this healthy Ginger Tea to combat that tired feeling after fasting all day.

That’s all for now, folks. Have a healthy Ramadan!

Watch and learn how to make Harira soup

Traditional Moroccan Soup (Ramadan Special)

cookingwithalia

• Harira -  moroccan soup /soupe marocaine (Ra…101,767 views sousoukitchen
• queue Soupe Harira moderne

We decided to post this in recognition of the fact that it presents material that shows ways of thinking that are very different from ours, but may also have true meaning to the several constituencies that read the source from where we picked up this article. Be they evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews, or devout Muslims – a circle of groups that despite seeming differences among themselves are quite united in their views of the Middle East.

——————————-

The ‘Zionist plot’ to build a mosque.

By Wesley Pruden, Jewish World Review - August 24, 2010 / 14 Elul, 5770

The Ground Zero mosque, which is stirring such a sandstorm in New York City, isn’t so popular in certain precincts of the Middle East, either. Some Muslims there think President Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York are nuts. Impotent and irresolute, too.

Some of the true believers in Arabia say the mosque is a conspiracy hatched by the Jews to set out a clear and permanent connection between Sept. 11 and Islam, a constant reminder of an attack on America led by devout Muslims. Dr. Abd al-Muti Bayumi, a prominent fellow of the Islamic Research Academy of Al Azhar, sometimes regarded as “the Vatican of Sunni Islam,” says the construction of a mosque anywhere near Ground Zero is the child of a “devious mentality” to connect the dots of Sept. 11 and Islam, to stoke memories of barbarism in the name of Islam.

Another Arab notability, Dr. Amna Nazir, a professor of doctrine and philosophy at Al Azhar, calls “building a mosque on this rubble indicates bad intention — even if we wished to shut our eyes, close our minds and insist on good will.” These are not the empty sentiments of good will and sensitivity so beloved of the girly men of the West. They’re statements of concern that “Zionist conspiracy” aid in construction of the Ground Zero mosque will ultimately damage Islam. Dr. Bayumi, for one, preaches suicidal jihad to demonstrate that his heart is in the wrong place: “I say in all honesty that we recruit the people of Islam, and instill in them the spirit of the true jihad, which is death for the sake of Allah, for the sake of our faith.”

The skepticism and hostility in Arabia to building the Ground Zero mosque — and until recently the proposed mosque was bigger news in the Middle East than in Minneapolis or Memphis — contrasts sharply with the enthusiasm of Muslims for the project in America. What do Muslims in Arabia know that Muslims in America don’t?

Sounds like a lot. Raymond Ibrahim, associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of “The Al Qaeda Reader” and guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College, thinks it’s a result of culture and geography: “I believe it has to do with the differing mentalities of Western, or ‘indigenous,’ Muslims. The [indigenous Muslims], who have had little experience of the West, simply cannot believe that Muslims [in America] would be so foolhardy as to pursue such an obvious affront to their host nation.” An indigenous Muslim can’t believe that even an infidel nation would tolerate the insult. He knows what a similar insult, such as the construction of a Christian chapel in Saudi Arabia, would invite in an Islamic country. Not knowing very much about the world, the indigenous Muslim expects a similar result from the infidels.

Muslims here, on the other hand, have learned to game the system in the West, particularly in America, where the elites’ thirst for moonshine is unquenchable. Muslim troublemakers have learned to expect apologies and excuses for anything they do so long as they invoke the right liberal weasel words, such as “tolerance” or “pluralism” or “dialogue.” They’ve learned that talk of “building bridges,” particularly if the bridges lead to nowhere, are preferred fare in the salons of the elites. Insulting Americans invites only apologies, accompanied by abundant bowing and curtsying. George W. Bush went to the Islamic Center in Washington only six days after Sept. 11 to preach that “Islam is peace,” that “when we think of Islam, we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world.”

Too bad for both George W. and Islam, but that’s not what most people here think of Islam. You couldn’t expect Michael Bloomberg to understand any of this, but Barack Obama, the son and stepson of Muslims who received his early education in Islamic schools, must know better. He should be familiar with the Islamic worldview that warm and fuzzy feel-good talk — what we once called “appeasement” — correctly invites contempt from men with strongly held conviction, however evil that conviction might be.

The American elites no longer understand strongly held convictions, good or evil, religious or political. The church and synagogue is only a place for rites and ritual, a place to marry your daughters and bury your dead. But devout Muslims really believe. They never apologize for who they are or what they believe. They have only contempt for the platitudes they have learned to use so effectively in hoodwinking the West — and for presidents who peddle the moonshine.

*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.-:*’“

Dear Sir,

We are using this opportunity to inform you that our company is in need of the following workers to work in a Factory / Hotels in  Canada with the reference of our power of attorney, we therefore require you to supply us the following manpower as follows:

HOTEL PERSONNELS
Waiters
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Caregivers
Tea Ladies
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Bar Attendants
Room Cleaners
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Security Guards
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Light Drivers and Heavy Drivers

Hotel Managers and Supervisors.

MEDICAL DOCTORS – Specialists / General Physicians / Surgeons / Staff Nurses

CONSTRUCTION PERSONNELS: Welders, Foreman, Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Painters

All this vacancy is available now, the visas, Tickets, Accommodation,Transport and Hospitality for the workers are in company charge.

If your company is interesting in our vacancies, you should please reply us immediately so that we can forward to you our company details and the mode of operations.

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UK OPERATIONAL OFFICE

HR GROUPS CONSULTING INC.

Regent’s Park London NW1 4SA United Kingdom
Tel+447031842231+447024971364 /+44703898643

CORPORATE OFFICE
HR GROUPS MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
Suite 105, 4990-92 Ave., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

HOURS OF DUTY.
Opening Hours:Monday-Thursday 07:30 -17:30 Friday: 07:30 -12:30
Telephone Hours:Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday from 8:00 to 17:30,Closed on Saturdays

Reihe: GENIAL DAGEGEN/ kuratiert von Robert Misik

Montag, 6. September, 19.00 Uhr

Bruno Kreisky Forum für internationalen Dialog | Armbrustergasse 15 | 1190 Wien

Anmeldungen unter: Tel.: 3188260/20 | Fax: 318 82 60/10 | e-mail: einladung.kreiskyforum@kreisky.org

FRANZ WALTER

Institut für Demokratieforschung Göttingen

VORWÄRTS ODER ABWÄRTS?

Hat die Sozialdemokratie noch eine Zukunft?

Moderation:   Robert Misik, Journalist und Autor

Vorwärts oder Abwärts?: Zur Transformation der Sozialdemokratie (edition suhrkamp)

Jospin, Blair, Schröder: 1998 sah es so aus, als stünde die europäische Sozialdemokratie vor einem goldenen Zeitalter. Elf Jahre später hat die SPD 10.192.426 Millionen Stimmen verloren und sechs Parteivorsitzende verschlissen, die niederländische Partij van de Arbeid fuhr 2002 das schlechteste Ergebnis ihrer Geschichte ein, die schwedischen Sozialdemokraten 2006, die österreichischen 2008. Der »Dritte Weg« erwies sich als Weg ins Abseits, längst ist vom Ende einer Volkspartei die Rede.

Es sieht so aus, als hätten die Sozialdemokraten keine überzeugende Antwort auf den radikalen Wandel der Arbeitswelt, auf Individualisierung und Globalisierung.

Franz Walter, einer der profiliertesten deutschen Parteienforscher, untersucht die Ursachen für den Niedergang der SPD. Er wirft einen Blick über die Grenzen Deutschlands und fragt, was Freiheit, Gleichheit und Solidarität in unserer Zeit bedeuten.

Melitta Campostrini
Bruno Kreisky Forum
for International Dialogue
Armbrustergasse 15
A-1190 Vienna
tel.: ++43 1 3188260/11
fax: ++43 1 3188260/10
e-mail: kreiskyforum@kreisky.org

www.kreisky-forum.org

Fareed Zakaria discusses CC with Jeff Sachs (Columbia), Pat Michaels (Cato, ex-UVA) & NASA’s Gavin Schmidt.
http://bit.ly/cCQO4Y

Pat Michaels says he is 40% funded by Petroleum Industry. There is no need to fight global warming.

Gavin Schmidt says he thinks we’re too sane not to do something about global warming.

Jeffrey Sachs says – if we do not act we will end up with a catastrophic planet.

Is it clear?

===============

Fareed Zakaria talks to Hirsi Ali who rejected Islam and Irshad Manji who wants to reform Islam.

Hirsi Ali, African Black, born in Mogadisho, Somalia and immigrated to Holland where she went to university and after 9/11 left Islam to become an atheist that says if you need a God take Christ. Her family says she risks hell for leaving Islam.

She says don’t lock 1.57 billion Muslims in a book written in the 7th century. She wrote “Nomad” about her leaving Islam.

She worked with Teo Van Gogh on a movie “Submission” about women in Islam, when he was killed. She was a member of the Netherlands Parliament, and now lives with security in the US and is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

She says that most Americans are unaware of Saudi Funded proselytizing in America.

Irshad Manji , with Pakistani African complexion, born in Uganda, with her family escaped to safety the US in Idi Amin’s days. She heads project Ifthihad at the Moral Courage Institute at NYU. She wants to reform Islam. Good popular cause backed by a good university, but who listens? She tells about a group of young boys in Detroit listening to her mother.

At the Second International Conference on Climate, Sustainability and Sustainable Development in Semi-arid Regions, in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, during the days that a large part of Pakistan is already submerged under water, some of the parts that are not submerged – in the Baluchistan region, were subject of Pakistani presentations on water scarcity.

Desertification – the challenge of desertification and sustainable development in semi-arid regions:

“Participants attended this session on Monday and heard presentations on, inter alia, land degradation and desertification in the Arab region, and the management of scarce water resources in the drylands of Pakistan.

They also discussed a case study on the development of a hydro-environmental project in Canindé municipality, Ceará, Brazil, and noted ongoing adaptation work, including planting drought-resistant crop varieties.”

—————

The final insult, as described by Matthew Green in The Financial Times of today is to get both effects in the same location.

The story is about a farmer who owns one acre near the Indus river and this year lost his wheat crop because there was no water. Then of a sudden the river burst its banks and his home was washed away.

The people were telling their stories in a refugee camp at a school in Sukkur.

The article continues with plain truth:

“In future years, Pakistan’s ability to manage its dwindling water resources may play a bigger role in deciding whether a nuclear-armed country beset by poverty and an Islamist insurgency starts to prosper or face worse instability.

‘Water shortages are one of the biggest challenges Pakistan faces,’ said F.M. Mughal, a specialist in water issues in Sindh. “Unless the government takes action we will see huge numbers of people sinking deeper into poverty.”

Before the flood, the Indus had shrunk to little more than a muddy puddle in parts of Sindh, forcing farmers to rely increasingly on wells drawing saline groundwater that saps the fertility from their soil, hitting yields of cotton, rice and wheat.

Farmers cite the diversion of upstream waters to feed farms in the populous Punjab province, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland, as the chief drain on their river’s vigour. Skewed patterns of ownership place most of Sindh’s land in the hands of an elite who win a disproportionate share of waters distributed through a rotational irrigation system.”

So, diversion of water to feed Punjab agriculture left other rural areas wanting, but this is not all – the second effect comes from the melting Himalayan Glaciers:

“Melting Himalayan glaciers because of rising temperatures, have exacerbated Pakistan’s shortages, according to a 2009 report by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The World Bank says Pakistan could face a “terrifying” 30-40 per cent drop in river flows in 100 year’s time.

The result is that Pakistan may be more prone to both droughts and flood. As more water is diverted to feed agriculture, average flow speeds have fallen, dumping silt on river beds. Shallower channels are less able to cope with sudden rainfall, rendering Pakistan more vulnerable to extreme flooding.

In the weeks leading up to the recent floods, angry farmers marched through villages in Sindh demanding access to water. Those who can no longer turn a profit in the fields are increasingly resorting to banditry or migrating to urban shanties.”

And now the observation:

“Rural Sindh has proved more resistant to the radical Islamist ideology that has fuelled the Taliban insurgency in northwest Pakistan. But in southern Punjab, the rural poor have formed a ready pool of recruits for an array of militant organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

In Sukkur, as in many other parts of Pakistan, people have lost faith in the ability of President Asif Ali Zardari’s fragile coalition government to overhaul a water management system riddled with inefficiency and graft.”

“We are highlighting every problem, but are getting no response,” said Moinuddin Shaikh of Civil Society Sukkur, a pressure group.

Whether Sindh can solve its dearth of water after the floods will depend on how far Pakistan’s layers of provincial and federal administration can embrace change. Much of the public discussion about the floods has lamented the state’s failure to build more dams, though experts debate how far they might have averted the crisis.

Some say the government should focus on reducing the huge wastage in inefficient irrigation systems where up to 70 per cent of water is lost through evaporation and seepage.

“It’s a critical issue, but it’s a solvable issue,” said Daanish Mustafa, a water specialist and a senior lecturer at King’s College London. “But it needs a kind of imagination and creativity that the Pakistani water bureaucracy does not have.”

Noting that Brazil’s Amazon forest is well known, but not its drylands,  a Brazilian delegation to the Bonn headquarters of the UNCCD convention Just as prior to Rio Summit of 1992 stressed the need to draw attention to the importance of the well being of the drylands people in Brazil and elsewhere, and to advocate an agenda for policy development. The delegation comprised of Francisco José Pinheiro, Vice Governor of the State of Ceará, the region threatened by desertification and the State hosting the Conference, Professor Antonio Rocha Magalhães, Director of the ICID 2010 Conference, and José Roberto de Lima, Brazil’s designated Technical Focal Point for the Convention in the Ministry of Environment.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja welcomes the delegation from Brazil to Bonn: (l to r) Jacob Acevedo (UNCCD), José Roberto de Lima (Brazil), Francisco José Pinheiro (Brazil), Luc Gnacadja (UNCCD), Prof. Antonio Rocha Magalhães(Brazil) and Heitor Matallo (UNCCD)

IISD – EARTH NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN – LINKAGES – Volume 177 Number 5 – Monday, 23 August 2010
 https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inb…

and  http://www.viafanzine.jor.br/site_vf/pag…

The Fortaleza Declaration: On the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development and climate change, the Declaration calls for:

• better governance of the drylands, representation of their populations and enhanced livelihoods;

• the enhancement of climate-sensitive sustainable development interventions in drylands;

• recognition of potential synergies to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience for the poor;

• the creation of favorable conditions for sustainable development in drylands through integrated actions to fight land degradation, mitigate drought effects, conserve biodiversity and adapt to climate change; and

• investment opportunities to exploit the comparative advantage of drylands in renewable energy production.

On political representation on multiple scales, the Declaration urges:

• enhanced representation of dryland populations in local, national and international policymaking and in the implementation of development activities;

• strengthening the capacity of dryland nations to influence the global environment and development agenda;

• the UN to consider the plight of dryland nations;

• preparatory meetings of Rio+20 be organized on a global ecosystem basis, to highlight issues pertaining to communities living in, inter alia, the drylands and tropical forests; and

• development and implementation of community-level information strategies to educate people on the implications of climate change.

On synergies among global environmental and development initiatives, the Declaration emphasizes:

• prioritizing sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity; and

• creation of synergies between local, national and global interventions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, conserve biodiversity and curb desertification.

On financing climate-sensitive sustainable development, it calls for:

• absorption of costs related to sustainable development by national economies;

• honoring previous financial obligations to support sustainable development by industrialized countries, the expansion of existing financial instruments, and acceleration of the disbursement of the Climate Investment and Adaptation Funds to local and national capacities; and

• including dryland regions in financial innovations to advance sustainable development under climate change conditions.

On education for sustainable development, the Declaration calls for the prioritization of education for communities in dryland areas.

On knowledge and information exchange, it recommends:

• the design and implementation of an integrated climate research, observation, modeling and applications programme to inform the policy process;

• greater inputs from the social sciences on the causes and effects of climate change and variability;

• bridging the gap between scientific information and political action; and

• expansion and strengthening of knowledge networks.

On integrated planning and implementation of development strategies and programmes, the Declaration calls for increased convergence in development strategies and programmes, especially relating to land and water resource management, forestry and the fight against desertification.

Finally, on responding to urgency, the Declaration calls for decisive action from the international community on climate, development and sustainability challenges.

———————————————————————-

further: A Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification was declared at the meeting by the UN, with the blessing of UNSG Ban Ki-moon.
The United Nations Decade for Deserts and Desertification was launched in Fortaleza, Brazil, yesterday, during the Second International Conference: Climate, Variability, Sustainability and Development, ICID 2010, and at the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya.

——————————–

CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEECH

On Wednesday, Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University, US, gave a keynote speech in which he warned that “we may be losing the battle” on anthropogenic climate change, underscoring the many climate-linked disasters in the past year, accompanied by “miserable outcomes” on the political front.

He recommended the ICID 2010 final declaration: declare the climate crisis in semi-arid lands a growing global security threat and a direct threat to the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); call for a UN Security Council special session on violence, security and semi-arid lands; and advocate the formation of a new political Alliance of Semi-Arid Countries (ASAC) to speak in a unified voice at the sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 16) to be held in Cancún, Mexico, in December 2010. He suggested that the ASAC call for: timely disbursement of adaptation funding, with the priority being hard-hit ASAC countries; the implementation of a global carbon tax to finance adaptation and mitigation efforts; large-scale solar power programmes in ASAC countries where appropriate, focusing on regions trapped in energy poverty.

SYNERGIES AMONG THE UN CONVENTIONS: On Tuesday morning, a plenary session convened, chaired by Luis Alberto Figueiredo Machado, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil.

Via video message, Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, suggested better water management practices at the local level to bring the relevant UN Conventions closer together. Director Magalhães called for including indigenous peoples and local communities in the talks on creating synergies. Sergio Zelaya, UNCCD, on behalf of Jaime Webbe, CBD, described future initiatives including a proposed joint liaison group, joint expert group and scientific body, as well as a joint extraordinary session of the Rio Convention COPs at the upcoming Rio+20 Earth Summit. Margarita Astrálaga, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), highlighted that the Rio Conventions can draw from other processes where the synergistic approach is already being implemented.

Nora Berrahmouni, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), called for integrated action plans to secure resource bases, conserve and preserve livelihoods, and to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Walter Vergara, World Bank, emphasized the importance of understanding the costs and benefits of various adaptation approaches.

Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive Secretary, called for greater investment in sustainable land and water management to ensure food security, decrease the rate of climate change, alleviate drought and avert further biodiversity loss.

In the ensuing discussion, participants discussed, inter alia: increased civil society involvement; greater information sharing on the Rio Conventions; and the inclusion of human rights in the synergies discussion.

THEMATIC PROCESS

From Monday to Thursday, over 70 thematic panel sessions and roundtables convened to address issues related to climate change adaptation, vulnerability and sustainable development. Panels were organized around the four sub-themes of the conference: climate information; climate and sustainable development; climate governance, representation, rights, equity and justice; and climate policy processes. A selection of panel sessions is presented below.

Global Network of Dryland Research Institutes (GNDRI): In this session on Wednesday, participants were briefed about the GNDRI. National institutes from Argentina, Brazil, India, Israel, Syria and the US discussed their institutions’ work and research priorities, including sustainable use of cultural resources, food security, water management, alternative agricultural systems, biodiversity and the creation of “climate ready” crops.

Lessons learned about lessons learned: In this session on Thursday, participants examined how lessons and recommendations developed from past crisis assessments and negotiating processes have not been heeded or implemented, including post-event assessments of natural disasters, problems faced in getting responses from hazard early warning systems, the lessons from the process leading to the Montreal Protocol, and lessons from the disappearance of the Aral Sea.

It was generally agreed that policy recommendations in “lessons learned” reports should always discuss increased risks from not heeding lessons.

Early warning systems for droughts: During this session on Thursday, participants heard presentations on essential components of early warning systems, the South American drought monitoring systems, indices and indicators for monitoring and assessing drought conditions worldwide, and the development of an international drought clearinghouse.

Among the recommendations discussed were the need for fuller understanding of drought impacts; use of a standardized precipitation index in addition to current tools; the development of a user manual on indicators and indices; and the implementation of indices and early warning systems with the end user in mind.

THEME 2: CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Participants attended sessions relating to this theme from Monday to Thursday. The theme broadly dealt with climate and sustainable development, with a specific focus on arid and semi-arid lands.

Desertification – the challenge of desertification and sustainable development in semi-arid regions: Participants attended this session on Monday and heard presentations on, inter alia, land degradation and desertification in the Arab region, and the management of scarce water resources in the drylands of Pakistan. They also discussed a case study on the development of a hydro-environmental project in Canindé municipality, Ceará, Brazil, and noted ongoing adaptation work, including planting drought-resistant crop varieties.

———————————

As announced by Xinhua:

International conference on semi-arid regions begins in Brazil.

August 17, 2010

From: Anne Smiler

From an honorary New Yorker
Subject: FOR NEW YORKERS

This is a great tribute to all of us with New York in our
blood….Enjoy!!!!

I am a New Yorker

I do not live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate
I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away
Or I may live just over the GW Bridge
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
Whatever took me out of New York:
Business, family or hating the cold
did not take New York out of me.
My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza,
The Yankees or the Mets (Giants or Dodgers)
Jones Beach, Rye Beach, Orchard Beach or one of the beaches on the sound
I know that ‘THE END’ means Montauk.
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
When I go on vacation, I never look up
Skyscrapers are something I take for granted
The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me
Taxis and noise and subways and ‘get outa heah’ don’t rattle me
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct
I eat Greek food and Italian food,
Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food
Because they are all American food to me.
I don’t get mad when people speak other languages in my presence
Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to
stay.
They were New Yorkers
People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me.
My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses
that benefit all Americans.
My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers.
They died trying to save Americans and non-Americans,.
Because they were New Yorkers.
Only those that grew up or lived in NYC can understand the meaning of
this:

THERE IS NO NORTH AND SOUTH. IT’S ‘UPTOWN’ OR ‘DOWNTOWN.’ IF YOU’RE
REALLY FROM NEW YORK , YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CONCEPT OF WHERE NORTH AND
SOUTH ARE…AND EAST OR WEST IS ‘CROSS-TOWN.’

YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE AN EGG CREAM.

YOU RIDE IN A SUBWAY CAR WITH NO AIR CONDITIONING JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE
SEATS AVAILABLE.

YOU KNOW WHAT A ‘REGULAR’ COFFEE IS.

YOU MOVE 3,000 MILES AWAY, SPEND 10 YEARS LEARNING THE LOCAL LANGUAGE
AND PEOPLE STILL KNOW YOU’RE FROM BROOKLYN, LONG ISLAND, Staten Island
(the other “Island)” OR “THE BRONX”, THE MINUTE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH.

YOU RETURN AFTER 10 YEARS AND THE FIRST FOODS YOU WANT ARE A ‘REAL’
PIZZA AND A ‘REAL’ BAGEL.

A 500 SQUARE FOOT APARTMENT IS LARGE.

YOU WOULDN’T BOTHER ORDERING PIZZA IN ANY OTHER CITY.

YOU’RE NOT THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED IN GOING TO TIMES SQUARE ON NEW
YEAR’S EVE.

YOUR INTERNAL CLOCK IS PERMANENTLY SET TO KNOW WHEN ALTERNATE SIDE OF
THE STREET PARKING REGULATIONS IS IN EFFECT.

YOU KNOW WHAT A BODEGA IS.
SOMEONE BUMPS INTO YOU AND YOU CHECK FOR YOUR WALLET.

YOU DON’T EVEN NOTICE THE LADY WALKING DOWN THE ROAD HAVING A PERFECTLY
NORMAL CONVERSATION WITH HERSELF.

YOU PAY ‘ONLY’ $230 A MONTH TO PARK YOUR CAR.

YOU CRINGE AT HEARING PEOPLE PRONOUNCE HOUSTON ST. LIKE THE CITY IN
TEXAS .

THE PRESIDENTIAL VISIT IS A MAJOR TRAFFIC JAM, NOT AN HONOR.
THAT’S NEW YORK ,

BABY! YA GOTTA LOVE IT.

Op-Ed Columnist at The New York Times says – Islam needs a Mandela and means three of them.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: August 21, 2010

I love that line: “We have to surprise them.” I was watching the movie on an airplane and scribbled that line down on my napkin because it summarizes what is missing today in so many places: leaders who surprise us by rising above their histories, their constituencies, their pollsters, their circumstances — and just do the right things for their countries.

I tried to recall the last time a leader of importance surprised me on the upside by doing something positive, courageous and against the popular will of his country or party. I can think of a few: Yitzhak Rabin in signing onto the Oslo peace process. Anwar Sadat in going to Jerusalem. And, of course, Mandela in the way he led South Africa.

But these are such exceptions. Look at Iraq today. Five months after its first truly open, broad-based election, in which all the major communities voted, the political elite there cannot rise above Shiite or Sunni identities and reach out to the other side so as to produce a national unity government that could carry Iraq into the future. True, democracy takes a long time to grow, especially in a soil bloodied by a murderous dictator for 30 years. Nevertheless, up to now, Iraq’s new leaders have surprised us only on the downside.

Will they ever surprise us the other way? Should we care now that we’re leaving? Yes, because the roots of 9/11 are an intra-Muslim fight, which America, as an ally of one faction, got pulled into. There are at least three different intra-Muslim wars raging today. One is between the Sunni far right and the Sunni far-far right in Saudi Arabia. This was the war between Osama bin Laden (the far-far right) and the Saudi ruling family (the far right). It is a war between those who think women shouldn’t drive and those who think they shouldn’t even leave the house. Bin Laden attacked us because we prop up his Saudi rivals — which we do to get their oil.

In Iraq, you have the pure Sunni- versus-Shiite struggle. And in Pakistan, you have the fundamentalist Sunnis versus everyone else: Shiites, Ahmadis and Sufis. You will notice that in each of these civil wars, barely a week goes by without one Muslim faction blowing up another faction’s mosque or gathering of innocents — like Tuesday’s bombing in Baghdad, at the opening of Ramadan, which killed 61 people.

In short: the key struggle with Islam is not inter-communal, and certainly not between Americans and Muslims. It is intra-communal and going on across the Muslim world. The reason the Iraq war was, is and will remain important is that it created the first chance for Arab Sunnis and Shiites to do something they have never done in modern history: surprise us and freely write their own social contract for how to live together and share power and resources. If they could do that, in the heart of the Arab world, and actually begin to ease the intra-communal struggle within Islam, it would be a huge example for others. It would mean that any Arab country could be a democracy and not have to be held together by an iron fist from above.

But it will be impossible without Iraqi Shiite and Sunni Mandelas ready to let the future bury the past. As one of Mandela’s guards, watching the new president engage with South African whites, asks in the movie, “How do you spend 30 years in a tiny cell and come out ready to forgive the people who put you there?” It takes a very special leader.

This is also why the issue of the mosque and community center near the site of 9/11 is a sideshow. The truly important question “is not can the different Muslim sects live with Americans in harmony, but can they live with each other in harmony,” said Stephen P. Cohen, an expert on interfaith relations and author of “Beyond America’s Grasp: a Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East.”

Indeed, the big problem is not those Muslims building mosques in America, it is those Muslims blowing up mosques in the Middle East. And the answer to them is not an interfaith dialogue in America. It is an intrafaith dialogue — so sorely missing — in the Muslim world. Our surge in Iraq will never bear fruit without a political surge by Arabs and Muslims to heal intracommunal divides. It would be great if President Obama surprised everyone and gave another speech in Cairo — or Baghdad — saying that.

Fareed Zakaria: Right these days – Germany is booming – not China or the other developing counties. The US is falling behind compared  to both of them.

German Consumers did not over spend on credit cards like in the US.
Germany still has manufacturing going on – they did not switch to outsourcing like the US. The government encouraged and sustained manufacturing.
German manufacturers did not fire workers – they retained them for the return of better days by going to half time work.
Germany instituted reforms in such areas as pension systems, the labor market was freed – so their workers are less expensive but still have work

GERMANY – WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS REGAINED BY NOW ALL THE JOBS THAT WERE LOST NEVERTHELESS DURING THE RECESSION.

———————

China is now in second place in the global economy. In 2030 China will overtake the US.

Niall Ferguson wrote “High Financier” about Goldman Sachs and Ascent of Money.” Sees 14% growth in China.

Zachary Karabell spoke of “Super-fusion” of the US and China economies and looks at the US where it took 18 months to make grants for green business while it took China a plain government decision to achieve a similar goal.

Minxin Pei, a former Chinese dissident that goes back to Tiananmen Square, and works now with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that most dictatorships misallocate resources but the Chines did better – this because they believe the government must show competence to have claim to power, but is behind in environmental protection and education.

Tina Hachigian, added – With a per capita income income one tenth of the US China chose instead to have to say more on intellectual property and trade.

Karabell thinks it is now beneficial to have China as the weaker party in Chimerica – but China wants more like we saw in its relations to Australia. China is dependent on investments from abroad and the World is doing better when China is doing well.

Ferguson thinks the marriage may be now on the rocks and perhaps beyond counselling.

Nina Hichigian did not think this will happen very fast – We work together on Terrorism, north Korea (though not as well lately, on CLIMATE CHANGE – if this will not happen we all are sunk.

Pei still did not forgive China and said they will be lucky to grow 7% for the next 10-15 years – this because workers will get higher wages. The low labor costs were the strength.

Niall Ferguson seems rather optimistic by saying that we will witness in China the fastest INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and an economic story rather then an ideological radicalization. They have had it already and now he sees the evolution of a large middle class. THEY WANT HIGHER WAGES BECAUSE THEY WANT TO CONSUME. And here Pei added -  AND DO NOT THINK OF THE “Square.” That is as in Tienanmen Square.

Nina said that 40% of Americans think they are already the domineering power today (that is China), but if we make right domestic policy decisions in the US we could still be ahead.

——

But did she look at Washington lately? Is this Washington capable of making decisions or every tea cap holder will just stay in the way? Did anyone look at Germany? Is there anything to learn from them still, or the boat has left already and the US is just irretrievably behind?

—–

And Fareed’s reading recommendation for the week:

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created by William Bernstein.

Bernstein argues that from the birth of civilization until 1820 there was little change in the standard of living. And then all of sudden came the prosperous life.

And what brought about such a change? Science, innovation, communication and more.

Fareed says this is a fascinating look at how we got to where we are today, with lessons for how we can continue to be prosperous.

————————————-

Footnote: We read in the paper that France looking at Germany that is again doing well – says that because it fell deeper, Germany got up faster. Oh well! We would have expected better logic from a tall good looking French Finance Minister.

Imran Khan Niazi (born 25 November 1952) is a retired Pakistani cricketer who played international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and has been a politician since the mid-1990s. He is considered a National hero in Pakistan.

Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a charity worker and cricket commentator.

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice), a small and marginal political party, of which he is the only member ever elected to Parliament.^[3] He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007.^[4] Khan, through worldwide fundraising, helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali’s Namal College in 2008.

He is an outspoken intellectual with Pakistan at his heart – if this is not an oxymoron.

The good looking Imran was educated at Aitchison College, the Cathedral School in Lahore, and the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics.^[8]

On 16 May 1995, Khan married English socialite Jemima Goldsmith, a {Jewish} convert to Islam, in a two-minute Islamic ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths’ house in Surrey.^[9] The marriage, described as “tough” by Khan,^[7] produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).^[10] As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced because it was “difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan”.^[11]

Khan now resides in Bani Gala, Islamabad, where he built a farmhouse with the money he gained from selling his London flat. He grows fruit trees, wheat, and keeps cows, while also maintaining a cricket ground for his two sons, who visit during their holidays.[7

He is Fareed Zakaria’s favorite Pakistani.

Today Imran said that it is when the flood waters recede we get to know the full extent of the disaster that is still growing these days.

People were left without food, shelter, the cotton crop for income, the cattle, – this is 20 million people completely destitute.

Pakistan has not come to terms how to deal with this. He went a couple of times to the camps and saw people fighting over the goods that were brought in. The government has to put the army to keep them from fighting.

You speak of Cathrina – but Bush did not go to visit his chateau and burnish the image of his son when the flooding went on!

There is no help money coming in and there is no leadership in Pakistan now.

Fareed asked: Islamic fundamentalists make inroads just because there was no government – is that true?

And the anwer was clear – The WORLD MUST STOP TO LOOK AT AN ISLAMIC COUNTRY JUST BECAUSE A RELIGIOUS PARTY DOS CHARITY WORK – FOR PAKISTAN THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE.

IF THIS CONTINUES FOR THREE MONTHS THE COUNTRY WILL IMPLODE WITH 20 MILLION PEOPLE NOT HAVING WHERE TO GO.

THE FILM ‘LEBANON’: INSIDE AN ISRAELI TANK AND THE REALITY OF WAR.

21 August 2010

By J. Hoberman
SFWeekly.com

Lebanon, written and directed by Samuel Maoz, is not just the year’s most impressive first feature but also the strongest new movie of any kind I’ve seen in 2010. Actually, Lebanon — which won the Golden Lion at Venice, after being rejected by Berlin and Cannes — hardly seems like a debut, perhaps because it’s based on a scenario Maoz had been replaying in his head for nearly 30 years.

We feel that if the data here is accurate, Arab business is rather looking for new talent in the new world. We believe that most young recruits to businesses in North Africa and the Middle East are returning young talent and that this positions well these business companies for the changing global atmosphere. It is rather that then looking to hire on the cheap. The business slow down has just helped refresh the human capital of MENA (The Middle East – North Africa Arab region).

—————
 http://www.arabianbusiness.com/595422-me…

MENA firms hire new graduates to cut costs – poll

by

Elsa Baxter,  Sunday, 22 August 2010.

GRADUATES: 37.6 percent of people said their employers preferred to hire fresh graduates post recession. (Getty Images)

Almost 40 percent of Middle East and North African (MENA) employees said their company was more interested in hiring new university graduates since the global recession, according to the latest poll by Bayt.com.

The survey, which consulted 13,197 respondents from across the region, found that 37.6 percent of people said their employers preferred to hire fresh graduates, while 26.4 percent said they were less inclined to do so. A further 19.2 percent of respondents said things were unchanged.

More than half (51.7 percent) of participants said the number one motivation behind the hiring was financial because new graduates command lower salaries and fewer benefits, while 12.7 percent said it was because they would have more passion for the job.

A further 10.4 percent it was because new graduates would have more creativity, 8.4 percent said it was due to their fresh analytical thinking, and 5.1 percent cited better communication skills. {our math says this is 37.6% or that one out of 2,9 respondents was honest about the motives. The others belong to the commonly held  idea that age makes people wiser while we rather think that today ag makes most people more obsolete}

“The results of our most recent poll show that in times of economic strife employers are perceived as more likely to hire fresh graduates mostly due to the fact that they accept a lower salary and require fewer benefits,” said Amer Zureikat, vice president of sales, Bayt.com.

The US is pulling out its combat forces from Iraq, but the Sunday TV main topic was THE MOSQUE.  As always – the best conversation was on Fareed Zakaria’s CNN/GPS program.

His guest were Bret Stephens from The Wall Street Journal and Peter Beinart – Senior Political Writer at the blog The Daily Beast, Associate Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, and a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation – till 2006 he was with The New Republic and still lives in Washington DC.

Stephens said that the legalities are clear but the issue is if this Mosque at that location advances interface dialogue and the answer is NO!

Beinart said you cannot divorce the right for building a Mosque from the right to decide where to build it. What about military bases? Will you next say that because there is sensitivity to Americans killed in wars in Muslim countries you cannot have a Mosque on a military base?

Stephens asked – wait – what if the German Government decides to build a tolerance center across the street from a concentration camp – this is much more like the present case.

Zakaria said – that is about irrational sensitivity – do you call this bigotry?

Stephens answered that the rights are indisputable and Bret said that you cannot ask people in the right not to use the right – this is equal to taking away the right.

Zakaria concluded that we talk past each other so the discussion is over. And that is the true state of these matters today.

We hope that Zakaria realizes now that his returning a prize to the ADL of the Bnei Brith was – well – premature.

Also, as he said that the discussion is really not ended – we suggest he invites next time also Anne Barnard whose article in today’s New York Times he did mention.

Anne Barnard is now on the city desk of the paper, but she is not a newcomer to these issues as sh worked in the Middle East – in Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt. She has seen sensitivities from very close – not your regular city desk person. We know Anne for many years – actually since she was a kid – and have met her in different locations as well. We continue here with her material and hope she continues to keep her sights on the developments we expect when Imam Raouf returns from his Middle East tour.

———-

Further comments about Beinart. His parents immigrated to the US from South Africa and work in Cambridge where he was born. His mother remarried theater personality Robert Brustein. Beinart is Jewish and belongs to a liberal synagogue in Washington.

Peter Beinart has written: “The Icarus Syndrome – A History of American Hubris,” HarperCollins, June 1, 2010, and
“The Good Fight: Why Liberals–and Only Liberals–Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again,” HarperCollins, May 2006,

Beinart was a supporter of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.[7] and in a recent essay, he has argued that the tensions between liberalism and Zionism in the U.S. may tear the two historically-linked concepts apart.[8]

After leaving The New Republic, in 2007-2009, Beinart was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

———-

Further comments about Bret Stephens: He was born in 1973 and grew up in Mexico City. Stephens went to the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics.[2]

Stephens began his career at the Journal as an op-ed editor in New York and later worked as an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels. In 2006 he took over the “Global View” column from George Melloan, who has retired.

Between 2002 and 2004 Stephens was editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, a position he assumed at age 28 – the youngest person ever to hold that position. He is the winner of the 2008 Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.
In 2005, Stephens was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, where he was previously a media fellow. He is also a frequent contributor to Commentary magazine.[3]

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Fareed Zakaria promised that on his program this emotional discussion will be rational – what he did not say was that he is in effect pitting against each other two well qualified Jews. We do not believe that THE MOSQUE – that is that particular Mosque – is only an issue for Jews. We indeed believe that his next panel will pull in other “suffering souls” as well.

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Feisal Abdul Rauf’s Balancing Act in Mosque Furor – NYTimes.com

The full article by our friend Anne Barnard, as above, but as published front page The New York Times had the title:
Complicated Balancing Act for Imam in Mosque Furor – Complicated Balancing Act for Imam.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/nyregi…

It includes The Imam’s history and his father’s history – both of them highly interesting people. While the father was an employee of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and eventually led to the construction of the New York Islamic Center cum Mosque at the corner of East 96th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan, Feisal became the Imam of the Sufi congregation downtown. Then he attempted also the building of a large Center cum Mosque.

William Sauro/The New York Times

Mr. Abdul Rauf’s father, Muhammad, in 1968. He ran the Islamic Center of New York.

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Far away from New York, in Bend Oregon (by Western Communications, Inc.) retained the New York Times in print – name of the article – but our friend’s article was reshaped  as follows:
 http://bbedit.sx.atl.publicus.com/apps/p…

Complicated balancing act for imam in mosque furor.

By Anne Barnard / New York Times News Service

Published: August 22. 2010 4:00AM PST

Michael Appleton / New York Times News Service

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf inside his mosque, housed in a building near the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, in November. “We want to push back against the extremists,” the cleric says. Others worry about an anti-Muslim backlash.

For years, Feisal Abdul Rauf has encountered distrust as he tries to reconcile Islam with the West.

Muslims need to understand and soothe Americans who fear them; they should be conciliatory, not judgmental, toward the West.

That was Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s message, but not everyone in the Cairo lecture hall last February was buying it. As he talked of reconciliation between America and Middle Eastern Muslims — his voice soft, almost New Agey — some questions were so hostile that he felt the need to declare that he was not an American agent.

But one young Egyptian asked: Wasn’t the United States financing the speaking tour that had brought the imam to Cairo because his message conveniently echoed U.S. interests?

“I’m not an agent from any government, even if some of you may not believe it,” the imam replied. “I’m not. I’m a peacemaker.”

That talk, recorded on video six months ago, was part of what now might be called Abdul Rauf’s prior life, before he became the center of an uproar over his proposal for a Muslim community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site. He watched his father, an Egyptian Muslim scholar, pioneer interfaith dialogue in 1960s New York; led a mystical Sufi mosque in Lower Manhattan; and, after the Sept. 11 attacks, became a spokesman for the notion that being American and Muslim is no contradiction — and that a truly American brand of Islam could modernize and moderate the faith worldwide.

In recent weeks, Abdul Rauf has barely been heard from as a national political debate explodes over his dream project, including somewhere in its planned 15 stories near ground zero, a mosque. Opponents have called his project an act of insensitivity, even a monument to terror.

In his absence — he is now on another Middle East speaking tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department — a host of allegations have been floated: that he supports terrorism; that his father, who worked at the behest of the Egyptian government, was a militant; that his publicly expressed views mask stealth extremism. Some charges, the available record suggests, are unsupported. Some are simplifications of his ideas. In any case, calling him a jihadist appears even less credible than calling him a U.S. agent.

Growing up in America

Abdul Rauf, 61, grew up in multiple worlds. He was raised in a conservative religious home but arrived in America as a teenager in the turbulent 1960s; his father came to New York and later Washington to run growing Islamic centers. His parents were taken hostage not once, but twice, by American Muslim splinter groups. He attended Columbia University, where, during the Six-Day War between Israel and Arab states like Egypt, he talked daily with a Jewish classmate, each seeking to understand the other’s perspective.

He consistently denounces violence. Some of his views on the interplay between terrorism and American foreign policy — or his search for commonalities between Islamic law and this country’s Constitution — have proved jarring to some American ears, but still place him as pro-American within the Muslim world. He devotes himself to befriending Christians and Jews — so much, some Muslim Americans say, that he has lost touch with their own concerns.

“To stereotype him as an extremist is just nuts,” said the Very Rev. James Morton, the longtime dean of the Church of St. John the Divine, in Manhattan, who has known the family for decades.

Since 9/11, Abdul Rauf, like almost any Muslim leader with a public profile, has had to navigate the fraught path between those suspicious of Muslims and eager to brand them violent or disloyal and a Muslim constituency that believes itself more than ever in need of forceful leaders.

One critique of the imam, said Omid Safi, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, is that he has not been outspoken enough on issues “near and dear to many Muslims,” from Israel policy to treatment of Muslims after 9/11, “because of the need that he has had — whether taken upon himself or thrust upon him — to be the ‘American imam,’ to be the ‘New York imam,’ to be the ‘accommodationist imam.’ “

Akbar Ahmed, chairman of Islamic studies at American University, said Abdul Rauf’s holistic Sufi practices could make more-orthodox Muslims uncomfortable, and his focus on like-minded interfaith leaders made him underestimate the uproar over his plans.

“He hurtles in, to the dead-center eye of the storm simmering around Muslims in America, expecting it to be like at his mosque — we all love each other, we all think happy thoughts,” said Ahmed.

“Now he has set up, unwittingly, a symbol of this growing tension between America and Muslims: this mosque that Muslims see as a symbol of Islam under attack and the opponents as an insult to America,” he added. “So this mild-mannered guy is in the eye of a storm for which he’s not suited at all. He’s not a political leader of Muslims, yet he now somehow represents the Muslim community.”

Andrew Sinanoglou, who was married by Abdul Rauf last fall, said he was surprised the imam had become a contentious figure. His greatest knack, he said, was making disparate groups comfortable, as at the wedding bringing together Sinanoglou’s family, descended from Greek Christians thrown out of Asia Minor by Muslims, with his wife’s conservative Muslim father.

“He’s an excellent schmoozer,” Sinanoglou said of the imam.

Many different Islamic influences

Abdul Rauf was born in Kuwait. His father, Muhammad Abdul Rauf, was one of many graduates of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, the foremost center of mainstream Sunni Muslim learning, whom Egypt sent abroad to staff universities and mosques, a government-approved effort unlikely to have tolerated a militant. He moved his family to England, studying at Cambridge and the University of London; then to Malaysia, where he eventually became the first rector of the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

As a boy, Abdul Rauf absorbed his father’s talks with religious scholars from around the world, learning to respect theological debate, said his wife, Daisy Khan. He is also steeped in Malaysian culture, whose ethnic diversity has influenced an Islam different from that of his parents’ homeland.

In 1965, he came to New York. His father ran the Islamic Center of New York; the family lived over its small mosque in a brownstone on West 72nd Street, which served mainly Arabs and African-American converts. Like his son, the older imam announced plans for a community center for a growing Muslim population — the mosque eventually built on East 96th Street. It was paid for by Muslim countries and controlled by Muslim U.N. diplomats — at the time a fairly noncontroversial proposition. Like his son, he joined interfaith groups, invited by James of St. John the Divine.

Hostage crisis

Unlike his son, he was conservative in gender relations; he asked his wife to not drive. But in 1977, he was heading the Islamic Center in Washington when they were taken hostage by a Muslim faction; it was his wife who challenged the gunmen on their lack of knowledge of Islam.

“My husband didn’t open his mouth, but I really gave it to them,” she told The New York Times then.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rauf studied physics at Columbia.

In his 20s, Abdul Rauf dabbled in teaching and real estate, married an American-born woman and had three children. Studying Islam and searching for his place in it, he was asked to lead a Sufi mosque, Masjid al-Farah. It was one of few with a female prayer leader, where women and men sit together at some rituals and some women do not cover their hair. And it was 12 blocks from the World Trade Center.

Divorced, he met his second wife, Khan, when she came to the mosque looking for a gentler Islam than the politicized version she rejected after Iran’s revolution. Theirs is an equal partnership, whether Abdul Rauf is shopping and cooking a hearty soup, she said, or running organizations that promote an American-influenced Islam.

A similar idea comes up in the Cairo video. Abdul Rauf, with Khan, unveiled as usual, beside him, tells a questioner not to worry so much about one issue of the moment — Switzerland’s ban on minarets — saying Islam has always adapted to and been influenced by places it spreads to. “Why not have a mosque that looks Swiss?” he joked. “Make a mosque that looks like Swiss cheese. Make a mosque that looks like a Rolex.”

In the 1990s, the couple became fixtures of the interfaith scene, even taking a cruise to Spain and Morocco with prominent rabbis and pastors.

Abdul Rauf also founded the Shariah Index Project — an effort to formally rate which governments best follow Islamic law. Critics see in it support for Taliban-style Shariah or imposing Islamic law in America.

Shariah, though, like Jewish law, has a spectrum of interpretations. The ratings, Kahn said, measure how well states uphold Shariah’s core principles like rights to life, dignity and education, not Taliban strong points. The imam has written that some Western states unwittingly apply Shariah better than self-styled Islamic states that kill wantonly, stone women and deny education — to him, violations of Shariah.

After 9/11, Abdul Rauf was all over the airwaves denouncing terrorism, urging Muslims to confront its presence among them, and saying that killing civilians violated Islam. He wrote a book, “What’s Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America,” asserting the congruence of American democracy and Islam.

That ample public record — interviews, writings, sermons — is now being examined by opponents of the downtown center.

Those opponents repeat often that Abdul Rauf, in one radio interview, refused to describe the Palestinian group that pioneered suicide bombings against Israel, Hamas, as terrorist. In the lengthy interview, Abdul Rauf clumsily tries to say that people around the globe define terrorism differently and labeling any group would sap his ability to build bridges. He also says: “Targeting civilians is wrong. It is a sin in our religion,” and, “I am a supporter of the state of Israel.”

“If I were an imam today I would be saying, ‘What am I supposed to do?’” said John Esposito, a professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University. “‘Can an imam be critical of any aspect of U.S. foreign policy? Can I weigh in on things that others could weigh in on?’ Or is someone going to say, ‘He’s got to be a radical!’”

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Could it be that the solution leads to a true CORDOBA HOUSE OF CULTURE AND INTER-RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING with all Cordoba three religions having footholds at the center – not  a Mosque.

In this case what if Rabbi Marc Schneier who started together with the East 96 Street Islamic Center’s Imams his good-will exchanges gets a foothold and offices there? The Battery Park Holocaust Museum could be linked, and the Archbishop of the Trinity Church of the neighborhood as well – that is with offices in the building. This would call for a joint board and joint ownership in the name of good intentions. It would be considered a step towards healing within the possible of the memory of 9/11/o1 within reach of the 10th memorial of the event. Clearly – this does not answer the call for a larger Mosque, neither will this be a place with Synagogue and church – we know that the institutions must be separate.

If separation is preferred, then a gesture of exchange of real estate for a different location would be appreciated.

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President Obama also went on TV today – breaking his vacation because of the media attacks on him branding him a Muslim.

Obama blamed this crazzy media culture when the main issue is the pulling out from Iraq but the focus is on “THE MOSQUE” – is this just an August diversion? By whom?

Michel Martin (an Emmy Award winning American journalist and correspondent for ABC News and National Public Radio. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has for the last 15 years become best known for her news broadcasting on national topics.), asks whom are we talking about as media? It is just the Conservative Pundits that keep on drumming? Or is there by now a symbiotic relationship between the right wing bloggers and the main-stream media? It does not make sense to pretend that there is not a concern with Islam. We heard on TV that Glen Beck said Lincoln Day has no meaning for him – so he calls for a rally at the mall on that day. Aha I said – if that is so – why do you expect more consideration from adherents of Islam – Americans or otherwise? Are Americans so dam by now that they cannot see that insensitivity breeds more insensitivity?

The infighting in the Israeli government prior to the restart of peace talks with the Palestinians, has produced an early interesting appointment for next Israeli Army Chief of Staff. The appointment was made by the Minister of Defence  Aharon Barack – a former, and most decorated, Chief himself,

Barack was the man that met President Obama rather then Foreign Minister Lieberman. Barack is ready for the upcoming negotiations while Lieberman is cold to these moves.

The training and past jobs that the February 2011 incoming new Chief brings with him include naval experience helpful with dealing with the Gaza strip, and ground forces experience that will be needed in dealing with all aspects of decision making. By not being directly versed with the Air Force, it can be concluded that Iran will not be the main objective as foreseen by Minister Barack. This probably pleases Washington but creates dissension in the Netanyahu Cabinet.

Rav Aluf (Lieutenant General) Yoav Gallant ( born November 1958 in Jaffa) was appointed today (August 22, 2010) to be the commander of the Israel Defense Forces Southern Command, and has been chosen to succeed Gabi Ashkenazi as the next Chief of General Staff.^[1]

Gallant received a B.A. in Business and Finance Management from the University of Haifa. He began his military career in 1977 as a naval commando in the unit called Flotilla 13, which he would later command^[2].

In the early 1980′s he worked as a lumberjack in Alaska^[3].

In the late 1990s Galant moved into land forces, commanding the Jenin Brigade of the West Bank Division, the 162nd Armored Division, and eventually attaining the rank of a major general while becoming the Military Secretary of the Prime Minister in 2002 and later commander of the Southern Command in 2005.

Today it was announced that he would become the IDF’s 20th Chief of Staff^[4]

Galant will become Israel’s 20th Chief of Staff, succeeding Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, whose term will end in February. Barak’s relationship with Ashkenazi has been rocky, and the relatively early appointment of Galant will not be comfortable for Ashkenazi.

Galant was chosen over four other candidates: Generals Benny Ganz, Gadi Eisencott, Gadi Shamni and Avi Mizrachi.

Several Israeli politicians have criticized the way in which Galant was chosen. MK Aryeh Eldad raised questions about the selection saying, “we won’t be able to fully trust the next Chief of Staff, if we don’t have confidence with the one who nominated him. If we don’t trust Ehud Barak, then we can’t trust the new Chief of Staff.” Eldad said Israel needs to conduct wider hearings on the candidates for the Chief of Staff.

This is written as last night I discovered new pits in the bus-network of the city.

The fact that nobody knows how you cross by bus the East River – that may be just a problem of information distribution.

The fact that many times the computerized card does charge twice when you transfer from bus-to-bus or subway-to-bus, may be a problem of intentional or just plain lack of maintenance of the charging machine.

The fact that lately buses were discontinued like cross-towns – M30 for example; routes shortened like M104 – what used to be a convenient “book reading way” to get from Columbia University to the UN, and now ends at Times Square; runs at larger intervals like the long line M15 – all this makes the taxi industry happy – we understand the political aspect and the reality of political life in New York City.

But what I discovered last night boggles the mind. In front of the Memorial Hospital and Research Center of Sloan Kattering Memorial Cancer Center – between East 67 and 68 Streets – last week a brand new bus shelter was established including the sign: “THIS IS NOT A BUS STOP – THE BUS STOP WAS MOVED ONE BLOCK SOUTH.” What? Why? Who Pays?

Now, the old stop was in front of the hospital for tens of years at the convenient location for the folks coming cross town, on East 68 Street from the West Side, with M66, catching the uptown M15, and those arriving from downtown and catching the cross-town M66 on East 67 Street. Moving it one block to the South, in front of a Church, close to East 66 Street makes no sense because M66 does not go through East 66 Street! True, there were no park meters in front of the Church either – so what?

Was this because the doctors at Sloan-Kattering needed the front available for the taxis that bring them to work?
The patients do not use that entrance. If the doctor’s lobby had to have its way, why build the new shelter in a place it was not wanted?

Is the Mayor ready to look at this little problem, and see that it is a very valid reason to investigate his own big problem with what is obvious deterioration of the Administration of his public transport system policy and management – specially when it is about the bus network? I brought the public transportation lagging policy up before – this with the Manhattan Borough President Mr. Scott Stringer. Is he ready to step in and fill the void?