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Iran Forms Special Task Force On Rial After Hits Record Low Versus Dollar

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Spokesman for the Iranian Administration Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said a special task force has been set up at the behest of President Hassan Rouhani to control the country’s currency market as the Iranian rial hit a record low against the US dollar.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Monday, Nobakht regretted the recent currency depreciation and said the existing situation is not “appropriate” at all.

As First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri has been tasked by the president with tackling the issue, a special task force on the issue has been formed, he added.

The task force has concluded that the Iranian administration should adopt new policies and reform the previous ones in regard to the country’s currency market, said Nobakht, who is also the head of the Plan and Budget Organization (PBO).

He went on to say that the new policies would be finalized in a session attended by the president and be operational in coming days.

The Iranian rial hit a record low against the US dollar for the second time in two months, rattling businesses and prompting some currency dealers to suspend trading.

The rial fell to a record low of 60,000 against the dollar by Monday afternoon on the unregulated currency market.


Russian Envoy Accuses US Of Stoking Tensions In Syria; Haley Says ‘World Must See Justice Done’

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Russia’s UN ambassador is accusing the United States of deliberately stoking international tensions and “unpardonably” threatening Russia.

Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on a suspected poison gas attack in a rebel-held town near Syria’s capital that Britain, France and others have “blindly” followed the US He says they use “slander, insults, hawkish rhetoric, blackmail, sanctions and threats to use force against a sovereign state.”

Nebenzia said the US doesn’t understand what it’s doing now and warned that Washington is moving the world toward a “dangerous threshold.”

He reiterated Russia’s contention that there was no chemical attack Sunday on Douma and said a fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should go to Damascus.

Earlier on Monday, the White House had pointed the finger of blame for an alleged chemical attack on Syrian civilians at Tehran and Moscow, suggesting the Damascus regime could not have carried out such a strike alone.

“Russia and Iran also bear responsibility for these acts since they would not be possible without their material support,” said press secretary Sarah Sanders.

The Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian backers have denied using chemical weapons in a series of alleged attacks, including one on Saturday that killed at least 48 people in the rebel-held town of Douma.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley earlier urged the UNSC to act following the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, warning the United States was ready to respond.

Russia said a US military strike against Syria would have “grave repercussions” and stressed that the use of chlorine or sarin had not been confirmed in the attack Saturday in Douma.

“We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done,” Haley told an emergency meeting at UN headquarters in New York.

Britain, France, the United States and six other countries requested the urgent meeting after toxic gas was allegedly used in the rebel-held town of Douma, killing at least 40 people.

“History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria,” Haley said.

“Either way, the United States will respond.”

Nebenzia said Moscow had told the US that it would not allow its forces on the ground in Syria to be put at risk.

“Armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria, where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions,” Nebenzia said.

Russian experts on the ground have found no evidence of sarin or chlorine use, said the ambassador, who offered Syrian and Russian assistance to allow investigators from the OPCW to travel to the site.

Nebenzia accused Western powers of pursuing a “confrontational policy” using “slander, insults, hawkish rhetoric, blackmail, sanctions and threats to use force.”

Speaking in Washington, President Donald Trump vowed earlier that “major decisions” would be made in the “next 24-48 hours” as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he wasn’t ruling out military action.

The United States is determined to “see that the monster who dropped chemical weapons on the Syrian people is held to account,” Haley said.

Washington earlier presented a draft resolution that would establish a new independent inquiry of chemical attacks in Syria, but diplomats said the measure was unlikely to win Moscow’s support.

In November, Russia used its veto power at the council to block the renewal of a previous UN-led probe that found the Syrian air force had dropped sarin on the town of Khan Sheikhun in April last year.

It was not known when the proposed US measure would come up for a vote at the council.

France accused Russia of having a hand in the attack on Douma that drew global outrage.

“These attacks took place either with Russia’s tacit or explicit agreement, or despite its military presence on the ground,” said French Ambassador Francois Delattre.

Where Trump Went Wrong On China Trade – OpEd

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By Cornelia Meyer*

Donald Trump may have a point about unfair trade practices by China, especially its investment practices. If he went about things in a less haphazard way, he could have gathered a lot of support on the subject of intellectual property rights in China.

President Trump missed the opportunity to build a broad-based coalition between countries and corporations who all share the same concerns vis-a-vis China’s trade and investment practices and who all want to see their intellectual property protected.

Worse than that, he failed to appreciate that the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a trade pact designed to comprise 12 Pacific Rim countries under the leadership of the US with the notable absence of China — was intended by the Obama administration to box in China’s pre-eminent position in the Asia Pacific. Trump tore up TPP on his first day in office. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe understand the issue only too well and created the comprehensive Progressive TPP among the remaining 11 TPP countries — without the US. It was signed on March 8 in Chile.

All of the above were missed opportunities. It comes, therefore, as little surprise that the protectionist measures that Trump announced were ill thought through. When he announced tariffs on steel and aluminum they might have been intended to hit Chinese overcapacity, but Chinese steel imports to the US comprise less than 1 percent. So the measure hit the Canadians, the Brazilians, the Mexicans and the European allies of the US.

When Trump then made further announcements to slap a 25 percent tariff on 106 categories of Chinese imports, he again failed to think things through carefully enough. Many of these goods are part of the supply chain of US manufacturers, hence making their goods more expensive and less competitive in the international markets. Stock markets across the globe reacted swiftly and went into negative territory. They recovered some since, but are still jittery.

President Xi Jinping, on the other hand, is playing the long game. He did retaliate where it hurts Trump’s and Republican voters in key constituencies, in states such as Wisconsin (pomegranates) and Kentucky (bourbon) and farmers in the Midwest (soy beans). This must be unsettling so close to the mid-term Congressional elections.

President Xi also won the PR war internally as well as externally. In China he is in control of the media and is portrayed as the defender of free trade and Chinese prosperity. Externally he also portrays himself as the advocate of global free trade, which in reality he is not. Nonetheless he had made the case at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017. The world’s elites and media gobbled his message up.

So far this has been a war of words and tariffs still need to be imposed. We may see the issue resolved before long, because both US industry and the Chinese economy have a lot at stake. The balance in terms of numbers still is in the US’ favor. In 2017 it imported $506 billion worth of Chinese goods, whereas the Middle Kingdom imported a mere $130 billion worth of US goods over the same period.

Trump’s willingness to undermine the fragile global trading system is nonetheless dangerous. Since World War II trade has lifted billions of people out of poverty. Since then the US has been the underlying guarantor of the free trade system. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is unimaginable without strong US support. The failure to conclude the Doha round has chipped away at the WTO’s credibility, which does not mean that the organization does not have a vital role to play devising and executing fair trade rules at the supra national level — which is, by the way, the relevant level. A global trading system has to be multilateral. It will become unstuck if we revert to bilateralism.

Why is this trade controversy relevant for the GCC? The reform programs of the council are dependent on bringing manufacturing, tourism and services to the region. These industries will depend on trade for their supply chains as well as for bringing the finished goods to the global markets. The KSA joined the WTO as early as 2005, precisely because the country wanted to have access to global markets. The GCC economies are also still reliant on exporting oil and petrochemicals. Oil is the prime fuel of transport. Global trading volumes have a direct correlation to global oil demand. More trade means therefore more demand for Saudi, Kuwaiti and Emirati crude.

  • Cornelia Meyer is a business consultant, macroeconomist and energy expert. Twitter: @MeyerResources

Iranians Reportedly Killed, Wounded In Israeli Strike On Syrian Airbase

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The missile strike by Israeli warplanes on Syria’s T-4 military airport on early Monday, April 9 morning has resulted in the death and wounding of on-site Iranian military personnel according to the Russian Federal News Agency, Al-Masdar News reports.

Claiming to be quoting journalists on the ground, the Russian Federal News Agency has reported that two Iranian servicemen were killed and another 7 injured has a result of three missiles striking the Syrian airbase.

Sources report that a total of eight missiles made up the volley that was launched at the T-4 site but that 5 of them were intercepted by Syrian air defense units before reaching their targets.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that 14 military personnel were killed in the Israel missile strike, Iranians among them.

According to the Russian military, the strikes were carried out from Lebanese airspace.

Five out of eight strikes, carried out by the Israeli F-15 jets, were destroyed by Syrian air defenses, the ministry said.

Russia Puts Army On High Alert As Anglo-American Axis Readies To Attack Syria – OpEd

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Russia has put their forces on high alert as the Ango-American axis are readying for potential military action against Bashar Al-Assad by maneuvering attack ships and fighter jets into position off the coast of Syria.

Following yet another chemical weapons hoax, this time in Douma on Saturday, the USS Donald Cook, a guided missile destroyer is in position for any military action within Syria, while the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer which was previously deployed to Libya after the Benghazi attack, is also in close proximity as is the USS Georgia submarine.

Meanwhile, an RAF operated KC2 tanker, which is used to refuel fighter jets, is also lurking off the coast of Lebanon.

In a related story, Russia has reportedly put its armed forces on a heightened state of alert in response to increasing tensions over Syria and the ongoing fallout over the Skripal poisoning hoax perpetrated by British Intel.

“Starting to hear isolated reports from within #Russia that the nation has put her armed forces on a heightened stage of alert,” tweeted the Intel Crab account, which is an aggregator for Strategic Sentinel, a national security analysis group.

“Command and control systems have been deployed to major military installations,” a source told TASS, adding that the Russian Air Force is closely monitoring the presence of U.S. warships and submarines from the Russian naval facility in Tartus, Syria.

Meanwhile, Russia has launched massive combat drills across the country.

“Russia’s Defense Ministry said in an online statement Monday that it had launched drills stretching from Siberia to the Urals and the Volga region, as well as in Russian military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” reports the Moscow Times.

According to the report, Russian soldiers will put their combat skills they learned in Syria to the test during the nationwide exercises.

President Trump commented on the tensions today when he told the press, “We are studying that situation extremely closely. We are meeting with our military and everyone else that will be making some major decisions over the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Urban Growth Leads To Shorter, More Intense Wet Seasons In Florida Peninsula

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New research from Florida State University scientists has found that urban areas throughout the Florida peninsula are experiencing shorter, increasingly intense wet seasons relative to underdeveloped or rural areas.

The study, published in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, provides new insight into the question of land development’s effect on seasonal climate processes.

Using a system that indexed urban land cover on a scale of one to four — one being least urban and four being most urban — the researchers mapped the relationship between land development and length of wet season.

“What we found is a trend of decreasing wet-season length in Florida’s urban areas compared to its rural areas,” said Vasu Misra, associate professor of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science and lead investigator of the study.

According to Misra’s research, changing land cover over the past 40 to 60 years has resulted in a decrease in wet-season length by 3.5 hours per year in Florida’s most urban areas compared to its most rural areas.

However, the linear trends of seasonal rainfall accumulation over that same period were found to have remained relatively stable across Florida’s diverse land cover regions.

“In other words,” Misra said, “the urban areas experience the same amount of rainfall as the rural areas but in a shorter amount of time. Therefore, the hourly rain rate is stronger in urban regions. This suggests that urban areas are receiving the rainfall in shorter, more intense bursts — particularly during the summer months.”

This study adds to a growing body of research supporting the contention that urbanization and changing land cover in rapidly developing areas can directly affect local climatological systems. Previous research has found that factors such as increased surface temperature, roughness of urban land cover and abundant aerosols in urban areas can all influence rainfall rates.

Misra’s findings demonstrate the symmetry between trends in increased urbanization and abbreviated wet seasons.

“The strong relationship between land cover and these trends in rainfall seems to suggest that land cover has everything to do with changing wet seasons,” Misra said. “I think this has some very strong implications for urban planning in Florida as well as for Florida’s hydroclimate.”

While researchers have not yet determined precisely why urban areas are experiencing progressively shorter and more intense wet seasons, they do have their suspicions.

Some researchers posit that in urban areas shorn of vegetation, rain that would otherwise be recycled into the atmosphere as evaporation is carried away as runoff. Others have observed that thunderstorms approaching urban areas are often split and made more diffuse by disruptive circulation from developed land cover.

Researchers have also noted that warmer temperatures in urban regions lead to higher concentrations of water vapor in the air column, which could result in more intense episodes of rainfall as that water is squeezed from the atmosphere.

“We have theories,” Misra said, “but whether those theories are actually representative of what’s happening in nature has not been investigated intensively in the context of what we are observing in Florida. We don’t have enough data available at our disposal.”

Whatever the cause, Misra’s study suggests that sustained rates of urban growth in Florida’s metropolitan areas will mean even shorter and more intense wet seasons in the future.

Catholic Church Attendance Drops – OpEd

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We knew that younger Catholics were going to church in fewer numbers than in the past, but what is new about this Gallup poll is the decline among older Catholics. Overall, only 39 percent of Catholics say they attend church weekly, and among those aged 60 and over the figure is 49 percent. This means that “for the first time, a majority of Catholics in no generational group attend weekly.”

In 1955, 73 percent of those aged 21-29 attended church weekly, but now the figure is 25 percent. Among those 60 and over, 73 percent attended church weekly in 1955, but now the figure is 49 percent.

The number of young people professing no religion, nationwide, was only 1 percent in 1955. Today it is 33 percent. That is an increase of 3200 percent!

The Gallup poll reports the data, but offers no explanation.

There are many reasons for the decline in church attendance. Here are seven core reasons.

1) The declining role of religion in elementary and secondary education has been dramatic.

2) Higher education has become increasingly hostile to religion, especially Christianity.

3) The pop culture, as manifested on TV, the movies, and music, is marked by a libertinism that is at odds with Christianity.

4) The ascendancy of moral relativism—the denial of moral absolutes— has engulfed society. The nation’s cultural elites are responsible for this outcome, including, sadly, some religious leaders.

5) Declining marriage rates, and birthrates among married couples, has made it easier for parents to neglect their religious duties, including  obligations to their own children.

6) Those over the age of 60 are the baby boomers, a generation that in their youth experienced the decadence of the 1960s and 1970s. Many of them entered their senior years without a strong religious background.

7) The Catholic clergy, which in the 1950s expected the faithful to attend church—and they did—lowered their expectations in subsequent decades, yielding predictable results.

There is no iron law of history, except on the blackboard of ignorant professors, so a reversal of events is possible. But a culture doesn’t change by happenstance: it takes a determined effort on the part of the nation’s elites to reverse course. Regrettably, that day has yet to come.

The Flaws In CNN’s Episode On Pius XII – OpEd

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For the past month, CNN has been running weekly episodes of a series called Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History. Each episode focuses on an era and lays out issues that faced the papacy at that time. On April 8, the episode was on the World War II-era popes, Pius XI (1922-1939) and Pius XII (1939 to 1958). The episode focused on the Vatican’s response to the Holocaust. I participated as a commentator.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to properly lay out and evaluate all the facts and circumstances of this era in an hour-long program (minus time allotted for commercials). My book Hitler, the War, and the Pope is over 600 pages long, and I wrote two other books on the topic just to analyze some of the issues raised by these facts. The episode did not come close.

CNN avoided the pop journalists who too often populate such debates, but even among serious scholars, there is debate and confusion. Given the time constraints, it was necessary for the producers to make cuts and avoid many details. Of course, when that happens, the tendency is to raise the controversial point, ignore the details and the nuance, and leave the viewer to assume the worst. That happened quite a bit in this episode.

One such instance related to the 1929 agreement between Italy and the Holy See, the Lateran Treaty. This agreement reconciled a difficulty that had existed since the fall of the Papal States in 1870. In it, the Vatican recognized the kingdom of Italy, received compensation for property that had been seized, and defined the rights and obligations of the Church and State. According to CNN, it also set a precedent that the Vatican would be willing to negotiate with dictators for sovereignty. That is simply not correct.

Fascists from around the world viewed this treaty as a betrayal by Mussolini and thought he sold out to the Church. Perhaps regretting that he had gone so far, in the month following its signing Mussolini stated: “Within the State, the Church is not sovereign, nor is it even free… because it is subordinate… to the general law of the State. We have not resurrected the Temporal Power of the Popes, we have buried it.” For his part, Pius XI noted that Catholicism was in significant ways inconsistent with Fascism. He explained the agreement by saying: “Where there is a question of saving souls, We feel the courage to treat with the Devil in person.” A few years later he issued the encyclical, Non Abbiamo Bisogno (We Have No Need) in Italian to make it accessible to the Italian people. He released it, however, in Paris rather than the Vatican because otherwise Mussolini might have prevented its distribution.

In reaching accord with Italy, Pius XI treated it the same way he treated other nations. Even if a state might stand to gain in the short term, governments do not last, and eventually the Church would be better positioned if it had a relationship with the people. Moreover, the Lateran Treaty provided that the Church reserved “the right to exercise her moral and spiritual power in every case.” So, while the Holy See was officially neutral, it did not relinquish the right to speak on moral truths. None of this was seen on CNN.

Similarly, the 1933 concordat with Germany was portrayed as a capitulation to Hitler. In reality, it was a defense mechanism that permitted the Church to save souls. Naturally, the Church insisted on a provision permitting it to speak to moral issues. Hitler, who first thought he could exploit the concordat, soon saw it as being used by the Church to protect Jews (with real or forged baptism certificates), and he vowed to end it immediately after the war. That was not mentioned on CNN.

The show did a nice job of explaining the importance of Pius XI’s anti-Nazi encyclical, Mit brennender Sorge, but it ended by saying that this was the only time he spoke to all of Germany about the Nazis and the horror faced by Jews. Not only does that overlook numerous statements by the Vatican’s radio and newspaper, it also fails to explain that the encyclical was immediately suppressed, doing no actual good for the victims; only leading to more persecution. In fact, two other messages – one from Poland and one from Holland – urged the pope not to speak, lest he cause more suffering. Neither was mentioned on the show.

CNN gave Pius XII credit for his significant role in drafting Mit brennender Sorge. Unfortunately, it suggested that the wording was diplomatic and not sufficiently forceful. No mention was made of the numerous drafts that were recently discovered. Some were more forceful while others were less so. Obviously, the pope and his assistants were struggling to hit the right tone. One might quibble, but they got it about right.

CNN mentioned an encyclical that Pius XI was working on at the time of his death. Fortunately, it did not call this a “hidden encyclical,” as is often done. There was, however, no mention of Pius XII’s first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which drew the same research while eliminating anti-Semitic passages from the earlier draft. Summi Pontificatus is essential to understanding Pius XII’s approach to a wartime papacy. I devoted a chapter to it in my book, but CNN did not even mention it.

CNN told of Pius XII’s 1942 Christmas message, but omitted the most important passage in which he said mankind owed a solemn vow “never to rest until valiant souls of every people and every nation” arise and “devote themselves to the services of the human person and of a divinely ennobled human society.” Mankind owed this vow to “the hundreds of thousands who, through no fault of their own, and solely because of their nation or race, have been condemned to death or progressive extinction.”

Listeners on both sides of the war understood that this was a direct reference to the Jews. A Christmas Day editorial in the New York Times praised Pius XII for his moral leadership in opposing the Nazis: “No Christmas sermon reaches a larger congregation than the message Pope Pius XII addresses to a war-torn world at this season. This Christmas more than ever he is a lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent.” The Nazis also understood. According to a report by Heinrich Himmler’s Superior Security Office:

“In a manner never known before, the Pope has repudiated the National Socialist New European Order…. It is true, the Pope does not refer to the National Socialists in Germany by name, but his speech is one long attack on everything we stand for…. God, he says, regards all people and races as worthy of the same consideration. Here he is clearly speaking on behalf of the Jews…. [H]e is virtually accusing the German people of injustice toward the Jews, and makes himself the mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals.”

CNN included Mark Riebling and his important work showing Pius XII’s involvement with the plot to assassinate Hitler. Unfortunately, the show suggested that this was an unsettled proposition because there was no written evidence. As Mark explained, there are tape recordings proving his involvement!

Similarly, after explaining that the pope knew that written evidence could get people in trouble with the Nazis, a commentator questioned the papal role in sheltering Roman Jews because there are no surviving written papal orders. Some mention should have been made of the numerous eyewitnesses who testified to receiving or overhearing orders from the Vatican.

Near the end of the program, one commentator, Suzanne Brown-Fleming, receives much attention as she assesses whether Pius XII deserves to be called a saint. As an initial matter, that seems a particularly internal matter for the Church, not for commentators. She, however, professes to speak not only as a historian but also as a Catholic, so perhaps she has standing. Her analysis, however, is weak.

First of all, without any context (which may be due to editing by the producer), she quoted from a 1919 letter written by the future Pope Pius XII. It used some offensive-sounding language while referring to certain “Jews.” Left unexplained was that this was a grossly distorted translation, with pejorative words that are not faithful to the original Italian. When this letter was first published in its original Italian, no one suggested that it was anti-Semitic. The tone of anti-Semitism was introduced only by a calculated mis-translation by a noted papal critic. I included an accurate translation in the second edition of Hitler, the War, and the Pope (2010).

Moreover, any disrespect reflected in the language did not stem from racial or even religious differences, but from the Bolshevik activity in Munich. There was animosity between the Church and the revolutionaries, and they were the focus of the comment, not all Jewish people. This letter described the leaders of a rogue government that had persecuted the people of Bavaria. It was written 14 years before Hitler came to power and the Jewish persecution began. Its misuse in the television program was offensive.

Brown-Fleming also suggested that Pius XII’s diplomatic response to the Holocaust may have been influenced by anti-Semitism. Earlier in the program, however, I had noted that 2,500 Catholic priests were interned at Dachau. The diplomatic approach that Pius used toward these leaders of his own church was the same that he used for Jewish victims. Priest or peasant, the pope did not vary his approach to the problem. One might legitimately question whether he made the right call, but one cannot honestly question his intent.

Brown-Fleming says that one must wait until the remaining archives are opened before a decision can be made on Pius XII’s sainthood cause. She is wrong. It is probably time to open the archives, and whether prudential judgments were correct can be debated, but that is not the issue. One can make a reasoned decision about Pius XII’s intent and motivation on the basis of the evidence that is already available. In fact, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has done that. It has concluded that Pius XII led a life of heroic virtue. The bishops and theologians have also approved him for canonization. The work continues only to verify a miracle.

CNN should have noted that Jewish groups from around the world praised Pius at the end of the war and at his death. Also unmentioned was that Pope Francis – an apparent favorite of the producers – has often praised Pius XII. Just last June he asked: “How many, beginning with Pius XII, took risks to hide Jews so that they wouldn’t be killed, so that they wouldn’t be deported? They risked their skin!”

While there is much to learn about the popes of World War II, viewers should not think that they have learned the full story just by watching this series, much less a single episode. Even well-intended producers and commentators are limited by the constraints of the clock.

University of Mississippi professor Ronald Rychlak, one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Catholic Church’s role during the Holocaust, was included in last night’s episode of the CNN series on the papacy. He serves on the board of advisors of the Catholic League. 


The Unsung Virtues Of Regulation: The Clear Foolishness Of Libertarianism – OpEd

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Libertarianism opposes all economic regulations. Robert A. Levy, of the libertarian Koch brothers’ Cato Institute, has written that, “Libertarians are not opposed to reasonable safety regulations, sensible compromises of civil liberties to enhance national security, or even selective gun controls,” but whenever a ‘libertarian’ advocates that way, and (like there) fails to define what determines those adjectives “reasonable” and “sensible,” and “selective” (on what basis?), he or she is merely begging the issue (faking it), so as to avoid dealing with the reality of their own ridiculous philosophy. Libertarianism has accurately and commonly been described as anarchism, the repudiation of government, which is actually at the very foundation of libertarian philosophy. The way that Grover Norquist most famously phrased it was “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” But what “size” is that, and how is it to be empirically determined? And why that particular size and shape, and none other? They never say, because their philosophy is too ridiculous to address the real issues in a way that will make it attractive to intelligent people, and so it’s all a game to them, a game of deceit to themselves (for whatever psychological reason) and to others (for whatever reason they want to spread their faith). Libertarianism is a repudiation of government, but it pretends not to be anarchic. Essential to libertrianism is its repudiation of regulation.

Nobody credibly denies the fact that, in actual practice, libertarians are especially fighting against regulations of corporations. However, in the case of sellers in the gun-control debates, libertarians — who tend to be very much on the pro-gun side as a reflection of their repudiation of government — fight for gun-owners’ rights (the rights of the consumers, instead of the gun-makers), and against gun-sale regulations that reduce consumers’ rights to purchase guns.

But the vast majority of the anti-regulatory thrust of libertarianism, particularly as reflected by the mega-corporate funders of libertarianism and their most broadly influential fundees — people such as the funders Kochs, and such as the fundees Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman — are for (as much as possible) unfettered corporations. Libertarians are for corporations’ rights, against governments’ rights, and against governments’ obligations to their citizens — those citizens being the real persons, instead of fictitious collective “artificial persons” that are no “persons” at all but instead collections of financial assets —- mere property, not real “owners” (except in the legalistic fiction). So: libertarianism is against regulations that restrict the rights of corporations (i.e., that restrict the rights of owners, most prominent of which are corporations). As between producers (including corporations) and consumers (including everybody), libertarians are especially concerned to protect the rights of producers.

However, economic regulation lowers, not just raises, prices; and it raises efficiency by introducing and enforcing standardization, so that consumers can reliably know what they’ll get for what they pay — for example, “500 mg” of x will then far likelier be 500 mg of x. Of course, if the government is corrupt, then the regulation and its enforcement will be, too, but that’s a corruption-problem, not a problem of regulations that shouldn’t exist at all (according to libertarian dogma); so, keeping one’s conceptual categories clear is important, when discussing regulation (or anything else).

Take, for example, drugs — all types, regardless of whether they’re now legal, or, to the exact contrary, are altogether prohibited. Any drug should be taken in the dose suitable for the intended purpose — neither more nor less — but if there is no reliably enforced legal penalty for dishonest labeling of potency, etc., then the consumer (again, regardless of whether the drug itself is legal or not) can be victimized by a dishonest or sloppy vendor, who can be careless or else shortchange that consumer on potency or even include toxic impurities, without that seller’s having any other concern than that perhaps the consumer will change vendors or perhaps die from what the vendor did and will thereby reduce the seller’s customer-count by one, but cannot be subjected to legal or regulatory penalties that would be disincentives above and beyond that of perhaps merely losing a customer.

Furthermore, in all types of consumer-rights cases, not just drug-related ones, only the existence of government enables the consumer to hold accountable a manufacturer or seller of dangerous and misrepresented products, such as of tobacco products, insecticides, or food-ingredients such as hydrogenated oils, if and when those products or services turn out to be vastly more dangerous than their consumers assume (and such as their news-media have been paid by the producers of these products and services to promote or to advertise).

For example, Janet Bufton, co-founder of the libertarian Institute for Liberal Studies, has written against regulations of tattooists, because:

I’m considering getting a tattoo of ama-gi, the earliest known writing of the word “freedom” and was trying to find out if the Ontario tattoo industry was regulated or not, since if it was I would go to Michigan, where the industry is unregulated. [A friend challenged her preference to buy tattoos in a country where it’s an unregulated industry and asked her, “So, on principle you want to get hepatitis?”]

Finally, I had an epiphany. I texted her: “It’s important to me that where I go is being safe because they think it’s important to be safe, and not because they’re doing the absolute minimum the government says they have to do.”

And I think that’s at the heart of the libertarian argument against regulation.

Government regulations take away our vigilance for our own well-being and the rewards that should be enjoyed by people who are willing to go the extra mile with their business through a declaration that all businesses are acceptable in their eyes. It’s a terrible injustice; in fact the epiphany probably put me one step closer to a pro-tattoo decision.

Buffoon wanted “to get my freedom tattoo in an unregulated tattoo parlour” so as to be totally ‘responsible’ for the outcome (after all: in an anarchic world, it’s every person on his own and for herself, no laws restraining his or her ‘freedom’), so that if she’d become diseased from it, she would blame only herself, and not the corrupt system in which she functions and which she wants to love — craves to love the “state of nature” — and not to blame it for whatever bad might come to her from its being corrupt. Only the consumer is to blame, in that system (libertarianism). (Like she said: “Government regulations take away our vigilance for our own well-being and the rewards that should be enjoyed by people who are willing to go the extra mile.”)

Of course, aristocrats, who have enormous wealth, might reasonably self-identify with the supply side in all economic transactions, because they’re much more on that side (the side of the producer and seller) than on the side of the consumer (the purchaser and user), and so they reasonably might fund such operations as the Cato Institute or perhaps the Institute for Liberal Studies — in order to maximize the freedom of corporations.

But, for anyone else to welcome the increased danger to themselves that will result from such a corrupt system, is to self-identify with the corruption, and self-identify against anyone who would seek to change it so as to attach legal accountability to irresponsible or evil unconcern regarding suppliers’ meeting the most basic and legally enforced standards of safety in the provisioning of the given product or service.

Such buffoons — suckers of the corporate propaganda — are unfortunately assisting the corrupt to victimize the public. They’re thus dangers not only to themselves, but also to non-buffoons, who recognize the foolishness (if not evil) of libertarianism. They thus harm the entire body-politic, by their foolishness. To the extent that they influence government, they reduce everyone’s safety.

*Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010

Ways US Health Care Systems Can Learn From The World

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Millions of Americans have the same life expectancy as the American national average in the 1970s, according to a new task force report from the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. But surprisingly, there are lessons to be learned by the United States in improving community health from low- and middle-income countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Brazil that have seen dramatic gains in life expectancy, according to The Task Force on Global Advantage findings.

The Arnhold Institute convened the Task Force, which included health care leaders from the United States and the world, after receiving support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with a goal to produce a report that clearly identifies a set of global approaches that could yield breakthroughs in the health of America’s most vulnerable communities.

Task Force findings distilled global best practices into five components:

  • Cover & Define: Coverage and access gaps should be mapped at the community level.
  • Anchor & Embed: Primary care health practices should be local anchor institutions that are embedded in the communities they serve.
  • Shared & Actionable Goals: Communities and health systems should track progress and act based upon common goals.
  • Simple Protocols & Accountable Care: A local integrator organization should foster ownership for health management in community settings.
  • Train & Organize: A network of community-based workers should be developed to organize community members, with the goal of identifying the most pressing community health needs.

“The findings hold great potential to improve the health of struggling communities in America. As global experience shows us, struggling communities can achieve breakthroughs if they are included in the design of their care. To equitably improve health outcomes in the United States, we have to find the world’s best solutions and then make them our own,” said Prabhjot Singh, MD, PhD, Chair of the Task Force and Arnhold Institute for Global Health Director. “The Arnhold Institute is committed to advancing the important findings of the Task Force.”

Agnes Binagwaho, MD, PhD, the Vice Chancellor for the University of Health Equity and former Minister of Health in Rwanda, said, “The foundation for a healthy population is community health. As the Task Force found, it is paramount that efforts to improve health are informed by the needs of our communities. The lessons we have learned through rebuilding Rwanda’s health sector have demonstrated how critical it is to equitably invest in our communities to improve health, a sense of well-being, trust, and social cohesion. These efforts have inspired us to create more health solutions with less. We are eager to share these lessons with the world.”

Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System, said, “We at Mount Sinai are committed to identifying and embracing the strongest models for community care, regardless of the country of origin. We look forward to working with the Arnhold Institute to advance this important work.”

Pakistan: Declining Terror, Rising Instability – Analysis

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By Ajit Kumar Singh*

10 people, including six Policemen, were killed and another 35 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a check post outside the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Raiwind town of Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, on March 14, 2018.

11 Pakistani Army soldiers were killed and 13 were wounded in a suicide bombing near a Pakistani Army camp in the Kabal area of Swat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 3, 2018.

Seven people, including five Policemen, were killed and another 16, including eight Policemen, were injured in a suicide blast at Zarghoon Road in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on January 9, 2018.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since the beginning of 2018, at least 150 terrorism-related fatalities [46 civilians, 51 Security Force (SF) personnel and 53 terrorists] have been recorded across Pakistan (data till April 8, 2018). In the corresponding period of 2017, the country recorded 449 terrorism-related fatalities (184 civilians, 55 SF personnel, and 210 terrorists).

Through 2017, Pakistan had recorded a total of 1,260 fatalities, including 540 civilians, 208 SF personnel, and 512 terrorists in 2017; as against 1,803 fatalities, including 612 civilians, 293 SF personnel, and 898 terrorists in 2016.

The number of major attacks (involving three or more fatalities) and the resultant fatalities, fell from 172 and 1,369, respectively in 2016, to 132 and 1,047, respectively, in 2017. In the current year, 17 major incidents have already been recorded, resulting 90 fatalities.

The number of sectarian attacks also declined from 35 in 2016 to 16 in 2017. However, the related deaths from such incidents marked a 68.61 per cent increase, from 137 in 2016 to 231 in 2017. The most deadly sectarian attack in 2018 came on February 16, when a suicide bomber attacked the crowded Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif town of Jamshoro District in Sindh, killing at least 88 people and injuring 343 others. It was the worst attack, in terms of fatalities, recorded in Pakistan since the December 16, 2014, Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, attack, which had claimed 150 fatalities, including 143 civilians.

Meanwhile, the number of suicide attacks increased from 19 in 2016 to 22 in 2017. However, the resultant toll decreased from 401 fatalities in 2016, to 369 in 2017.

The relative respite from terror through 2017 was primarily due to Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad (Elimination of Discord), launched by the Pakistan Army across the country on February 22, 2017. On December 18, 2018, Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), briefing the Senate on action taken by SFs under Operation Radd-ul-Fassad, disclosed that 17,685 operations had been conducted across Pakistan: 13,011 in Punjab; 2,015 in Sindh; 1,410 in Balochistan; and 1,249 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

However, Islamabad’s continuing policy of supporting ‘state-owned’ terrorist formations has created an environment where numerous individuals and groups engage in terrorism, even as terror outfits operating out of Pakistan thrive. As on April 7, 2018, at least 134 individuals and 23 entities with Pakistani connections were included in the Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List. These included at least 83 individuals who were believed to be in Pakistan or in areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan. Another 29 of these individuals were Pakistani nationals. All the 23 entities listed were operating from Pakistani soil.

Many of these individuals and entities continue to enjoy a free run in Pakistan. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks and carries a bounty of USD 10 million on his head, is the most ‘prominent’ among them. Saeed heads both the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) (both listed entities), but continues to enjoy open support from all sections of the Pakistani establishment. For instance, in a statement released on December 30, 2017, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) justified Hafiz Saeed’s participation in a pro-Palestine rally, also attended by the Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan, Walid Abu Ali, in Rawalpindi on December 29, 2017, declaring,

This public rally was attended by thousands of people from all walks of life. More than 50 speakers addressed the rally, including Hafiz Saeed. Contrary to the impression being created, UN proscription does not place any restrictions on the freedom of expression.

Interestingly, the Lahore High Court on April 3, 2018, ordered the Governments – Provincial and Federal – not to ‘harass’ Hafiz Saeed and to allow him to continue his ‘social welfare activities’ until further orders. The Court was hearing a petition filed by JuD against Governmental obstructions curtailing JuD’s ‘social welfare activities’.

According to media reports, the Punjab Government had started taking over all the moveable and immovable assets of JuD and its front, the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), in the Province on February 14, 2018. The action was being taken in pursuance of an ordinance issued by President Mamnoon Hussain on February 12, 2018, amending the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, and allowing the state to take action against individuals and organizations proscribed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).However, an unnamed Punjab Government official was later quoted as stating, on March 6, 2018,

Since the Government has taken over the control of JuD headquarters in Lahore in mid last month [February], Saeed delivered three Friday sermons in three successive weeks there in the presence of a large number of his supporters. The Government could only deploy its administrator at Al Qadsia while the JuD men are operating from there the way they used to… A similar arrangement was made at JuD’s Muridke headquarters. The Government has not barred Saeed and activists of his charities from using the JuD headquarters in Lahore and Muridke, and other offices of the two organizations [the other being FiF, Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation].

Since his release from ‘house arrest, in November 2017, Saeed has held at least two major rallies in Pakistan, in addition to a large number of other public appearances. Apart from the December 29 pro-Palestine rally, he also held a rally in Lahore (Punjab) on the occasion of ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ on February 5, 2018.

Another individual in the list and one of world’s most wanted terrorist, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, a person of Indian origin, enjoys Pakistani state immunity and has resided in Pakistan since 1993. His Pakistani addresses have been confirmed by the United Kingdom as well. The revelations were made in a latest report released by UK Treasury department’s Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK. An interview with Dawood Ibrahim and his aide published in Firstpost on August 11, 2017, also confirmed his presence in Pakistan.

Radicalized groups across Pakistan have received further encouragement from recent events, when the Federal Government bowed down before violent Islamist protesters. On October 2, 2017, the National Assembly passed the ‘Election Bill 2017’, making changes in the Khatm-e-Nabuwat [finality of Prophet-hood] clause of its earlier Bill. Soon after, countrywide protests led by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLP), an Islamist party, erupted against the change. Other pro-Muslim parties, such as the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat (Movement for the Finality of Prophet-hood) also lent their support, demanding the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid and the removal of the offending clause which, according to these groups undermined Islamic beliefs and amounted to blasphemy. Mounting pressure, the protestors began camping at Islamabad’s Faizabad Traffic Interchange from November 6, 2017. The Government restored the original clause on November 17, 2017, but the Islamists continued with their protest. Eventually, on November 25, 2017, bloody clashes took place just outside Islamabad in which at least six people were killed and another 200 were injured. Speaking from the site of the clashes, TLP ‘spokesman’ Ejaz Ashrafi declared, “We are in our thousands. We will not leave. We will fight until end.” Clashes also took place elsewhere in the country and continued on November 26 as well.

On November 29, 2017, the Islamabad Police told Pakistan’s Supreme Court that the November 25 clashes were primarily caused because “they had hurt the religious sentiments of security forces with their inflammatory speeches.” A nine-page report submitted by the Islamabad Police stated that the protesters were religiously motivated and that their speeches were targeted at hurting religious sentiments of SFs keeping vigil. It also said that close to 2,000 protesters, mostly armed with stones, pistols, axes, and rods, were present at the protest site.

The protests came to an end after the Army mediated between the protestors and the Government, and the Law Minister Zahid Hamid was forced to resign on November 27, 2017. Hamid stated, “The decision to resign was taken in a bid to steer the country out of the prevailing critical situation.” The resignation was part of an agreement reached between the Government and the protesters.

Pakistan’s export of terrorism continued, primarily targeting its neighbours, India and Afghanistan. Mini Devi Kumam, a Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations (Geneva), speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), noted, on March 8, 2018, “We urge the Council to call on Pakistan to end cross border infiltration; to dismantle special terrorist zones, safe havens and sanctuaries, to take verifiable actions, including on terror financing.” Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on February 2, 2018, similarly accused Pakistan of failing to move against the Afghan Taliban declaring, “We are waiting for Pakistan to act”.

Corroborating India’s and Afghanistan’s concern, Daniel R. Coats, Director of US National Intelligence, categorically stated on February 13, 2018,

Militant groups supported by Islamabad will continue to take advantage of their safe haven in Pakistan to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, including against US interests.

Meanwhile, there appears to be little prospect of political stabilization in the country, corruption remains all-pervasive, and has afflicted the highest offices of the land. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), continues to face serious problems in the aftermath of the ouster of Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Panama Papers case. The seat he vacated was won by his wife and PML-N candidate Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, who secured 61,745, ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate Yasmeen Rashid, who bagged 47,099 votes in a total of 126,46 votes cast (including 1,717 votes which were declared invalid), in what has long been the Sharif’s family burough. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of PML-N replaced Sharif as Prime Minister, but is widely viewed as a puppet of the Sharifs. With a General Election just around the corner (scheduled for July 2018), and patterns of political disruption escalating, the Army continues to push the boundaries of its authority, and particularly to dominate the export of terrorism into the neighbourhood. Inevitably, this creates some spaces for the continuation of domestic terrorism as well, including sectarian terrorism, which often receives implicit support from the state establishment.

*Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

India: Another Accord In Mizoram – Analysis

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By Giriraj Bhattacharjee*

The Mizoram Government and the H. Zosangbera faction of the Hmar People’s Convention-Democratic (HPC-D-Zosangbera) on April 2, 2018, after six rounds of talks, signed a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) at the State Guest House in Aizawl. The MoS was signed by Chief Secretary Arvind Ray on behalf of the State Government; and HPC-D-Zosangbera ‘president’ H. Zosangbera. The talks began on August 10, 2016.

According to the MoS, a statutory body named the Sinlung Hills Council (SHC) will be formed through an Act of the State Legislature. The SHC will comprise 14 members of whom 12 would be elected and two nominated, to be headed by the Chief Executive Member (CEM). The proposed body will reportedly have more administrative autonomy to carry out developmental works in 31 villages across three Assembly Constituencies in Mizoram: Chalfilh, Tuivawl and Serlui.

A similar statutory body, the Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC), had been formed on May 8, 1997, after the signing of the accord between the original Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) and the Government of Mizoram on July 27, 1994. However, the provisions that were listed in that accord were never fully implemented by the State Government. Lalparkunga, the Secretary of the SHDC’s Implementation Demand Committee, had thus observed on February 12, 2016,

22 Years have lapsed since the signing of Mizoram-HPC accord in 1994 but no measures have been sincerely taken to implement terms of the peace accord and we are dismayed at the Government’s indifference.

Earlier, the founding ‘president’ of HPC-D, Lalhmingthang Sanate, reportedly signed a “Deed of Agreement” and merged HPC-D with the Kuki National Organisation (KNO).

Subsequently, in an ‘emergency meeting’ held on September 29, 2011, those opposing the decision, decided to ‘impeach’ and replace Lalhmingthang Sanate with H. Zosangbera as its ‘president’.

The HPC-D thus split into two: HPC-D-Zosangbera and HPC-D-Sanate. Lalhmingthang Sanate was arrested by the Assam Police on February 21, 2018, on charges of murder of Darthang aka Nobar Sanate, ‘finance secretary’ of HPC-D- Zosangbera. Darthang was killed on January 27, 2018, at Lakhipur in the Cachar District of Assam.

The April 2, 2018, MoS, however, does not guarantee complete respite from the Hmar problem. HPC-D-Zosangbera has no doubt expressed satisfaction with the MoS, but in a statement released on April 4, 2018, in noted:

Initially HPCD movement was confined to Mizoram, but the need to safeguard the interests of Hmars in Manipur and Assam has propelled the organisation to cross the State boundaries and the HPCD operatives have to work as per the interests of Hmars settling in the three States…

Significantly, according to the 2011 census, a substantial Hmar population resides in Manipur (48,375), Assam (15,745) and Meghalaya (1,797). Mizoram has 29,587 Hmar people.

The Mizoram Government had initiated talks with both the factions of HPC-D who were demanding an Autonomous District Council (ADC) for Mizoram’s Hmar population in the Hmar-dominated areas, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. However, the Government had decided that no new Autonomous District Councils were to be created in the State, and made this a precondition for any talks with insurgent formations. While the HPC-D-Zosangbera, after initial opposition, reportedly accepted the precondition, HPC-D-Sanate rejected the precondition and walked out of the talks. An unnamed State Home Department official on September 4, 2017, thus stated,

The Mizoram Government has decided not to constitute any more autonomous District Council for any tribe in the State. We are holding peace talks with the HPC-D’s major faction led by H. Zosangbera. This faction had abandoned its Autonomous District Council demand before talks were started with the State government last year.

The initial phase of the Hmar insurgency, led by the Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) started in the late 1980’s in the Hmar inhabited areas of the States of Mizoram, Assam and Manipur, initially demanding a ‘Hmar homeland’. On July 27, 1994, after nine rounds of talks, the first MoS with HPC was signed at Aizawl. The Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC) was agreed upon, as part of the MoS, and was later constituted in 1997. At least 308 HPC militants had then surrendered along with their arms.

In the meantime, a disgruntled section within HPC parted ways and formed HPC-D, led by Lalhmingthang Sanate. The main demand of the group was Sixth Schedule status to the Hmar areas. The formation of HPC-D led to the rise of another violent movement in the region, and fuel was added to the fire by the failure to implementation the MoS with HPC.

HPC-D entered into a Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Government of Mizoram on November 11, 2010, for six months. However, the SoO agreement expired on May 11, 2011, and was not extended by the Mizoram Government on the grounds that HPC-D was violating SoO ground rules. Thereafter, the HPC-D split occurred in September 2011.

On January 31, 2013, HPC-D-Zosangbera signed another SoO, but this was, again, not renewed as talks ended in a deadlock. Talks were revived again in 2016, culminating in the signing of the MoS on April 2, 2018.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 66 insurgency-related fatalities linked to the undivided HPC-D (37 civilians, five Security Force personnel, and 24 militants) have been reported from three States – Mizoram, Manipur, and Assam – between 1999 and September 29, 2011. 49 of these fatalities (29 civilians, one trooper, and 19 militants) were reported from Assam, followed by Mizoram with 11 fatalities (seven civilians and four militants) and Manipur with six fatalities (one civilian and five militants). Since September 30, 2011, another five fatalities linked to HPC-D have been reported: four fatalities linked to HPC-D-Zosangbera and one linked to HPC-D-Sanate.

The April 2, 2018, MoS is a significant step forward, but does not entirely resolve the Hmar imbroglio in Mizoram. In the implementation of the MoS, great care will be needed in accounting for the arms with the rebels, and the identification and rehabilitation of the surrendered militants. It is also crucial that the State Government push the Sanate faction to accept the MoS as well. Crucially, the Government needs to accommodate the concerns of minor tribes within the State in order to reduce social tensions.

 

*Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

‘Facebook Didn’t Do Enough’: Zuckerberg

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Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to arrest Facebook’s slide from public favor has brought him to apologize to the US Congress for a series of scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

The Facebook CEO is due to field questions before Senate and House committees on Tuesday, about how a British political consulting firm was able to gain access to thousands of people’s private information.

On Monday, Zuckerberg admitted his company didn’t do enough to prevent the social media platform “from being used for harm”.

“It’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy,”Zuckerberg said.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

In the seven page statement, the billionaire entrepreneur outlined plans to inform users better about apps on Facebook, as well as intentions to increase investment in security. Shares in the social media giant plunged by about US$50 billion in March, in the wake of the scandal with Cambridge Analytica, which used an online quiz to harvest and collate Facebook users’ information online.

Facebook has faced calls that the platform should be regulated, following suggestions it lacks transparency in terms of information dissemination and advertising.

Referencing claims that Russia used Facebook ads to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, Zuckerberg said his network will now strive to protect “democracy everywhere.” Russia is dismissing allegations of involvement.

“We were too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference, and we’re working hard to get better,” Zuckerberg said.

“We will continue working with the government to understand the full extent of Russian interference, and we will do our part not only to ensure the integrity of free and fair elections around the world, but also to give everyone a voice and to be a force for good in democracy everywhere.”

First Human Migration Out Of Africa More Geographically Widespread Than Previously Thought

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A project led by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History has discovered a fossilized finger bone of an early modern human in the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia, dating to approximately 90,000 years ago. The discovery, described in Nature Ecology and Evolution, is the oldest directly dated Homo sapiens fossil outside of Africa and the Levant and indicates that early dispersals into Eurasia were more expansive than previously thought.

Researchers conducting archaeological fieldwork in the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia have discovered a fossilized finger bone of an early member of our species, Homo sapiens. The discovery is the oldest directly dated Homo sapiens fossil outside of Africa and the immediately adjacent Levant, and indicates that early dispersals into Eurasia were more expansive than previously thought.

Prior to this discovery, it was thought that early dispersals into Eurasia were unsuccessful and remained restricted to the Mediterranean forests of the Levant, on the doorstep of Africa. The finding from the Al Wusta site shows that there were both multiple dispersals out of Africa, and these spread further than previously known.

Oldest directly dated Homo sapiens fossil outside of Africa and the Levant

The results, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, detail the discovery made at the site of Al Wusta, an ancient fresh-water lake located in what is now the hyper-arid Nefud Desert. Numerous animal fossils, including those of hippopotamus and tiny fresh water snails were found at Al Wusta, as well as abundant stone tools made by humans.

Among these finds was a well preserved and small fossil, just 3.2 cm long, which was immediately recognized as a human finger bone. The bone was scanned in three dimensions and its shape compared to various other finger bones, both of recent Homo sapiens individuals and bones from other species of primates and other forms of early humans, such as Neanderthals.

The results conclusively showed that the finger bone, the first ancient human fossil found in Arabia, belonged to our own species. Using a technique called uranium series dating, a laser was used to make microscopic holes in the fossil and measure the ratio between tiny traces of radioactive elements. These ratios revealed that the fossil was 88,000 years old. Other dates obtained from associated animals fossils and sediments converged to a date of approximately 90,000 years ago. Further environmental analyses also revealed the site to have been a freshwater lake in an ancient grassland environment far removed from today’s deserts.

Lead author Dr. Huw Groucutt, of the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, states, “This discovery for the first time conclusively shows that early members of our species colonized an expansive region of southwest Asia and were not just restricted to the Levant. The ability of these early people to widely colonize this region casts doubt on long held views that early dispersals out of Africa were localized and unsuccessful.”

Modern deserts of the Arabian Peninsula were once lush grasslands that humans were able to colonize

Project Lead, Professor Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History adds, “The Arabian Peninsula has long been considered to be far from the main stage of human evolution. This discovery firmly puts Arabia on the map as a key region for understanding our origins and expansion to the rest of the world. As fieldwork carries on, we continue to make remarkable discoveries in Saudi Arabia.”

The international consortium of researchers involved in this project is headed by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. Additional partners include the Saudi Geological Survey, King Saud University, the University of Oxford and other key institutions in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Pakistan: Survivor Recounts Horror Of Gun Attack

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By Kamran Chaudhry

Kinza Emmanuel was on the doorstep of her home when four of her family members were gunned down in a Christian colony of southern Pakistan.

“We were going to eat ice cream and my mother and three uncles were already inside the tuk-tuk. Suddenly two men, whose faces were covered in a white cloth, riding a motorcycle arrived in our street,” the 16-year-old Catholic told ucanews.com

“After taking a turn, they opened fire at us. I rushed my siblings inside and locked the gates. My father ran outside but they had died. We could not do anything.”

The attack happened on April 2 in the Shah Zaman area of Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province.

The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.

Kinza was visiting her relatives in Quetta when the attack happened. Her uncle, the tuk-tuk driver, was buried on April 3 in Quetta. The bodies of her mother and two uncles, aged 30 and 26, were flown to Lahore and buried in Gharyal Kalan village.

More than 300 worshippers attended a memorial service on April 8 in Lahore. Prayers were also offered for the conversion of the hearts of terrorists in Pakistan.

A delegation from the Pakistan Christian Action Committee (PCAC), an ecumenical advocacy group for persecuted Christians, expressed solidarity with the family.

In his address, Reverend Amjad Niamat, the PCAC convenor, assured the family of the support of bishops. “Both Catholic and Protestant church leaders are very much concerned for your safety. We are holding regular meetings and protests to demand justice. Pray for our unity,” he said.

According to the PCAC, this was the third targeted killing of Christians in Quetta.

Hendry Masih, a member of the Balochistan Assembly, was shot dead by his security guard in June 2014.

The province, near the Iranian border, has also witnessed increasing attacks on the ethnically distinct Persian-speaking Hazara minority.

Pastor Riaz Malik of Isaac TV, the first Christian satellite television based in Pakistan, claims the latest attack was originally planned on a church in Quetta.

“The investigating agencies claim the terrorists, failing to find a chance, opted for a soft target. We were encouraged by the presence of several Muslim villagers at the funeral of Catholics,” he said.

Kinza and her two younger siblings resumed their schooling on April 9.

“I am trying to be strong for them. We often cry at nights. We were visiting Quetta for the first time to seek a marriage proposal for my uncle from Dubai. I shall never forget this Easter vacation,” Kinza said.


Ron Paul: Progressives Should Defend Gun Rights – OpEd

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Last week’s shooting at YouTube’s California headquarters is certain to add momentum to the push for more gun control. Even before the shooting, YouTube was working to undermine gun rights by banning videos promoting firearms, including videos teaching safe gun usage.

As is usually the case, this latest shooting took place in a state with restrictive gun laws. In fact, California’s gun laws may be the nation’s most onerous. California not only registers all firearm purchases, but California residents must obtain permission from their local police before they can legally concealed carry guns. Among the things a Californian must do to obtain permission to legally concealed carry a gun is show “good cause” why the government should allow him to concealed carry.

California’s Mulford Act prohibits lawful gun owners from openly carrying legal firearms. This law was passed in the late 1960s and signed into law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The impetus for the law was the Black Panthers’ armed patrols aimed at protecting the residents of African-American neighborhoods from police brutality.

The Mulford Act is hardly the only example of a gun control law motivated at least in part by racial animus. As Tiffany Ware of the Brown Girls Project, an initiative that teaches African-American women responsible firearms ownership and usage, says, “Throughout much of American history gun control was a method for keeping blacks and Hispanics, ‘in their place.’” One of the earliest examples of gun control was laws prohibiting slaves from owning guns. After slavery was ended, Jim Crow laws denied African-Americans respect for their Second Amendment rights.

While the modern gun control movement is not explicitly racist, it is still likely that new gun control laws will disproportionately harm African-Americans and other minorities. Concerns about this are increased by cases like that of 32-year-old Philando Castile. A police officer who had stopped Castile’s car shot Castile after Castile told the officer he had a firearm in his car.

Those behind the new gun control push ignore how gun control has been used against African-Americans in the past and how new gun control laws will disproportionately harm racial minorities. This may seem ironic since many gun control supporters are progressives or cultural Marxists who specialize in finding racism in every aspect of American politics and culture. However, considering that may other policies favored by progressives — such as minimum wage laws that limit job opportunities and occupational licensing that makes it impossible for many to start their own businesses — negatively impact minorities and lower-income Americans, perhaps progressive support for gun control is not so ironic.

What is indisputably ironic is that many of those working to give the Trump Administration new authority to ban guns are the same people who regularly and vigorously oppose President Trump. These so-called “never Trumpers” no doubt cheered when President Trump endorsed taking an individual’s guns away without due process. These “never-Trumpers” also cheered when Attorney General Jeff Sessions banned bump stocks. A bump stock increases the speed at which a rifle fires. By banning bump stocks, Sessions is taking an action President Obama’s anti-gun rights Attorney General Eric Holder said he refused to take without explicit congressional authorization.

History, including American history, shows that the right to keep and bear arms can be especially valuable to racial and other minorities. Therefore, progressives who are sincerely concerned about protecting minorities from oppressive government should join libertarians and constitutional conservatives in defending the Second Amendment.

This article was published by RonPaul Institute.

Robert Reich: The Truth About An Untethered Trump – OpEd

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The petulant adolescent in the White House – who has replaced most of the adults around him with raging sycophants and has demoted his chief of staff, John Kelly, to lapdog – lacks adequate supervision.

Before, he was merely petty and vindictive. He’d tweet nasty things about people he wanted to humiliate, like former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Now his vindictiveness has turned cruel. After smearing FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe with unfounded allegations that he lied to investigators, the new Trump made sure McCabe was fired just days before he would have been eligible for a pension after more than twenty-one years of service.

Before, he was merely xenophobic. He’d call Mexicans murderers and rapists.

Now his xenophobia has turned belligerent. He’s sending thousands of National Guard troops to the Mexican border, even though illegal border crossings are at a record low.

And he’s starting a trade war against China.

China has been expropriating American intellectual property for years. But Trump isn’t even trying to negotiate a way out of this jam or build a coalition of other trading partners to pressure China. He’s just upping the ante – and, not incidentally, causing the stock market to go nuts.

But the most dangerous thing about the new Trump is his increased attacks on American democracy itself.

Start with a free press. Before, he just threw rhetorical bombshells at the Washington Post, CNN, and other outlets that criticized him.

Now he’s trying to penalize them financially, while bestowing benefits on outlets that praise him.

Last week he demanded that Amazon, the corporation headed by the man who owns the Washington Post, pay higher postal rates and more taxes, and that the Post should register as Amazon’s lobbyist. Amazon stock wilted under the attack.

They’re absurd charges. Amazon collects and pays state sales taxes on its products, and the Postal Service is losing money because of the decline in first-class mail, not package deliveries.

Presumably Amazon can take care of itself. Trump’s attack was intended as a warning to other companies with media connections that they’d better not mess with him

Trump is trying to hurt CNN, too. The day after the Justice Department moved to block AT&T’s purchase of Time-Warner, parent of CNN, he said the deal wasn’t “good for the country.” Few missed the connection.

Meanwhile, he’s praising Trump-adoring Sinclair Broadcasting, signaling to the FCC it should approve Sinclair’s pending $3.9 billion purchase of Tribune Media’s TV stations.

We’re entering a new and more dangerous phase of Trump’s “divide and conquer” strategy, splitting the nation into warring camps – with him as the most divisive issue.

Even Trump’s tweets have become more brazenly divisive. Last week he called his predecessor “Cheatin’ Obama.” When was the last time you heard a president of the United States disparage another president?

He’s more determined than ever to convince supporters that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is in cahoots with Democrats and the FBI to unseat him.

This might give him some protection if Trump decides to fire Mueller, or if Mueller’s investigation turns up evidence that Trump collaborated with Russia to win the election, and Congress moves to impeach him.

“Try to impeach him, just try it,” warned Roger Stone, Trump’s former campaign adviser, last summer. “You will have a spasm of violence in this country, an insurrection like you’ve never seen.”

But Trump’s strategy might just as easily extend beyond Mueller. What happens if in 2020 a rival candidate accumulates more electoral votes, but Trump accuses him or her of cheating, and refuses to step down?

“He’s now president for life,” Trump recently said of Xi Jinping, adding “maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.” Some thought Trump was joking. I’m not so sure.

Democracies require leaders who understand that their primary responsibility is to protect the institutions and processes democracy depends on. The new Trump seems intent on maintaining his power, whatever it takes.

Democracies also require enough social trust that citizens regard those they disagree with as being worthy of an equal say, so they’ll accept political outcomes they dislike. The new Trump is destroying that trust.

Trump untethered isn’t just a more petty, vindictive, and belligerent version of his former self. He’s also more willing to sacrifice American democracy to his own ends. Which makes him more dangerous than ever.

Moscow May Recognize Breakaway Somaliland Republic To Open A Base – OpEd

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Russia hopes to open a 1500-man naval base in the breakaway republic of Somaliland in the horn of Africa, a region where numerous countries have done so in recent years because of its strategic location. But in exchange, Africa sources say, the Somaliland leadership expects Russia to recognize its independence from Somalia.

If that happens, Moscow, which under Vladimir Putin has recognized two breakaway republics on the territory of the former Soviet space and promoted secessionist movements in Europe and the United States, would send a powerful signal that it is now prepared to get involved with secessionist groups in Africa, which are both numerous and troublesome.

And that more than the extent to which such a base would challenge other countries including the United States and China which have military facilities in the horn could open the way to even greater Russian adventurism, especially coming on the heels of Russian intervention in the Central African Republic.

According to reports in the Moscow media this week, Russian diplomats began talking with the breakaway government at the end of last year about the possibility of establishing a base in Somaliland and are close to an agreement (newizv.ru/news/society/09-04-2018/rossiya-razmestit-voennuyu-bazu-v-nepriznannom-gosudarstve-na-territorii-somali and iarex.ru/news/57044.html).

The base would be home for two minesweepers, four frigates, and two submarines, a reflection of Russia’s inability to build larger ships. It would also have two long runways capable of handling up to six military transport jets and 15 fighters, the Russian media say. Moscow reportedly has offered 250 million US dollars in investment.

Somaliland in turn wants official Russian recognition and has not been shy about talking about that in the media. Whether the republic will get that remains to be seen, especially as one country – the UAE – already has a base there but has not officially recognized the breakaway republic.

Moscow, however, has shown itself more than willing to violate the international rules of the game; and consequently, it may be quite prepared to shake things up by taking this step, especially as that likely would allow Russia to claim a military presence there without having to spend money it does not now have.

Move Over Fake News: Hostile Neighbors Pose Big Threats To Governance

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Propaganda by way of “fake news” is one way a nation can wage war without firing a single shot. Another is through tactics of subversion and coercion, in which a country intentionally keeps neighboring countries weak in order to advance its own foreign policy interests, according to a new study published by Princeton University.

For example, without taking over any territory in Eastern Ukraine, Russia made Ukraine undesirable and ungovernable by fomenting dissent and aiding in separatism. This is a form of subversion used to disrupt governance in a weak country.

The study, published in the journal International Organization, employs a statistical analysis of 78 countries over a 50-year timeframe. The findings reveal that a number of countries have degraded state authority of their neighbors, keeping weak countries frail since the Cold War. The actions of these “hostile neighbors” have severe consequences for weak states in terms of security, economic growth and human well-being.

The paper urges policymakers and analysts in the intelligence, diplomatic, and military communities to think beyond conflict in purely country-to-country terms. The reality is more complex, as local actors, like the separatists in Ukraine, often serve as proxies for another country, like Russia. This form of statecraft doesn’t involve force or war. Further, given the external players involved, approaching state weakness as solely a domestic issue is limiting.

“Think of this as a replacement for direct force and warfare of another kind. Countries can advance their own interests without using direct force or taking over territory,” said lead author Melissa M. Lee, assistant professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The research stemmed from Lee’s doctoral dissertation, which she completed at Stanford University. She was interested in determining why certain countries failed to govern their own territories. The field of international relations suggests that state weakness persists because of the absence of war. Comparative politics points to domestic factors like geography — how far certain places are from the state capital, which would make them harder to govern. Departing from the two theories, Lee delved into a statistical analysis to see whether bordering states or outside actors also played a role.

Using a cross-national, within-country design, Lee examined the levels of state authority between provinces that border another state. Her sample included 78 countries with 710 unique border provinces between 1960 and 2012. She controlled for such domestic factors that could affect state authority including terrain ruggedness, distance from the capitol, population density, whether ethnic groups are split across a border, and so forth.

As expected, Lee found that being next to a rival country has a profound effect on the country’s ability to govern itself. This is especially true in the case of countries where ethnic groups are split across a border.

The paper concluded with a qualitative examination of Malaysia’s role in undermining domestic sovereignty in the 1970s in Mindanao, a region of the southern Philippines. The data, as well as this case study, all support Lee’s theory that third-party countries use subversion and coercion to advance their own interests.

“From Ukraine to Pakistan to the Philippines, ungoverned spaces are breeding grounds for crime and illicit economic activity, all of which pulls resources away from the state,” Lee said. “It is in these quiet places where you can’t always go, like Georgia, where outside actors like Russia can have a supremely powerful influence. And, in some ways, once you no longer have the violence, it’s actually more insidious.”

South Asian Ministers To Meet In Islamabad At Conference On Sanitation

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The Ministry of Climate Change of Pakistan has made arrangements to host the 7th South Asian Conference on Sanitation and it will be attended by governments of the SAARC regions along with donor community ,development partners civil society, private sector community based organizations, researchers, professionals schools children and grassroots activists.

SACOSAN (South Asian Conference on Sanitation) is a government led biennial Convention held on a rotational basis in each SAARC country which provides a platform for interaction on sanitation. SACOSANs are intended to develop a Regional Agenda on Sanitation, enabling learning from the past experiences and setting actions for the future. The SACOSAN process is instrumental in generating the political will for better sanitation in the Region.

Sanitation has become the most challenging social service priority in the South Asian Region. 1 in 3 people worldwide lack adequate sanitation facilities. The total population practicing open defection in Asia exceeds 700 million. In 2003 South Asian countries met in Dhaka Bangladesh for the first ever major conference on sanitation. Realization that the South Asian Conference on Sanitation is a great opportunity to inspire grass root level activists and to mobilize political will in narrowing the sanitation gap in the region. SACOSAN influenced has spread to the other regions in the world and as a results similar movements have been established such as EASAN for East Asia, AFRICASAN for Africa and LATINOSAN for the South America.

In addition Pakistan, India and Bangladesh conduct their own national conferences for sanitation namely PAKOSAN, INDOSAN and BANGLASAN so SAN is a well known brand name in the region to promote the importance sanitation through mobilizing commitment of stakeholders including government, political, civil society private sector and donors.

The process of South Asian Conference on Sanitation SACOSAN is the Collaboration amongst SAARC countries to accelerate progress in ensuring access to adequate sanitation in the region. SACOSAN started in 2003 with the realization that a large number of un-served people lacking proper sanitation are living in South Asia.

At the first South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) held in 2003 in Bangladesh declared that SACOSAN to be introduced to SAARC countries in the South Asian region as a process in order to review progress achieved in the sanitation sector in each country. With the realization that large number of un-served people living in South Asia SACOSAN used as the plat form for resolving regional sanitation issues. This is a biennial government led process and attended by relevant ministries of the governments of South Asia. First conference was organized in Bangladesh in 2003, second in Islamabad Pakistan in 2006 and third in 2008 in Delhi, India. 4th in Sri Lanka, 5th in Nepal and SACOSAN has returned to Bangladesh in 2016 to host the 6th conference. The conference has been able to mobilize political will, donor support and commitment of all stakeholders in mobilizing resources to address one of the pressing issues of South Asia.

The SACOSANs have been a great platform for the governments, regional partners, support agencies, practitioners and professional agencies to engage in constructive dialogue and in agreeing commitments and collective effort to foster regional collaboration in pursuit of meeting the sanitation challenge in the region.

The outcomes of much significance from these conferences have been recommendations emerging from the deliberations which were then embodied in Ministerial Declarations to add the weight required for political commitment and action for moving ahead.

The objective of such conferences is to accelerate the progress in sanitation and hygiene promotion in South Asia and to enhance the quality of people’s lives. In order to evaluate the progress in SACOSAN, the Inter Country Working Group (ICWG) has been established in the Region, to maintain a dialogue and thrust on fulfilling thecommitments made at every conference .

The Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Hon Rauff Hakeem will lead a delegation of 35 Sri Lankans representing key stakeholders engaged in improving sanitation in Sri Lanka including government , civil society, donors national experts and community organizations, to participate in the SACOSAN VII in Pakistan. The conference will be held from 10th to 14th April 2018 and Sri Lankan professional will engaged in conducting technical session on Financing Sanitation. The session will be chaired by Hon Rauff Hakeem and 4 research papers on financing sanitation will be presented for discussion. New challenges have emerged in the financing of sanitation with the commitment to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation under the Sustainable Development Goals. Investment decisions on sanitation has to depend on many factors as there is no clear picture on the existing situation unlike water supply

On the 13th of April a ministerial summit with the participation of sector ministers of the SAARC region will be held to sign the Islamabad declaration on agreed commitments based on the outcomes of the conference deliberation over the past 3 days. The South Asian countries take every efforts to implement the commitments made at the conference in the next few years until the next SACOSAN conference at which progress on implementation will be reviewed by all stakeholders including political authority.

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