Maravot News was created as a record of world news trends. Traditionally, newspapers reported news and saw themselves also as a record of the news. Thus, many newspapers carry the words, "record" or "chronicle" in their names, as in the case of the San Francisco Chronicle. Other newspapers define themselves as "reporters, heralds, etc. In reporting and recording the news, news media will focus on their niche market and carry other news as they may have room to report. It is the orientation of the news that determines the headlines and stories read in any given news media.
Today the news media have competition from many sources beyond the traditional newspapers of the past. The competition in turn has spread the advertising resources across a broader market, even world news media, such as the BBC, causing former major media giants to suffer economic decline and even extinction. Of great interest is the impact the internet has on media publishing and its advertising resources. Many are turning to the internet for their news, and what is significant about the news on the internet is the ability of internet news media not only to report a story, but to post the story within minutes of its occurrence. Many news media, in fact, have a date and time stamp attached to each story. The news media linked on Maravot News, in fact, are selected by their currency and depth of coverage.
Since news media relate to their own experience and readership, stories carry a slant towards their interests. Although media may claim to be unbiased, the fact is there is a built in bias in all news media. You, as a reader, may be offended, for instance, if your favorite resource for information carries stories supporting "causes" contrary to your values. Every news event, of course, has a cause. Global Warming is an ongoing event that has a cause. Your position on its cause may affect whether an article is read by you or not. President George W. Bush, for instance, is noted for his hostile policy towards the environment. Stories about melting glaciers around the world, the movement of south seas turtles to British shores, etc., are not stories that appear to catch his interest. And if one is not interested in a particular subject one does not learn much about it.
Since Maravot News records world trends and since those trends are reported by the news media in the Maravot News sidebar, the criteria for the recording of a story has only one test: whether it represents a trend that will appear in world history books. The main Trend we have seen at Maravot News is that Bush's hostile policies worldwide have created new alliances among the EU, China, India, Russia, the Middle East and South America, with realignments away from the US. His mismanagement – in diplomacy, wars, disasters and economics – reflects an incompetence perhaps unparalleled in US history.
A tide rising against Bush's hostility has spread around the world and surfaces in many forms, the worst of which is being expressed through violent Islamists, such as al-Qaeda. Bush is a leader who proclaimed a crusade and invaded Iraq. The invasion of Iraq has not only consumed Iraq since March 2003 but also the world.
Mel Copeland
10.08.06
05.21.05 British lawmaker: Iraq war was for oil
LISBON, May 21 – Adam Porter reports: Labour politician and former UK environment minister Michael Meacher has slammed Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush for starting a war, he says, to secure oil interests.
Speaking on Friday on the sidelines of the fourth International Workshop on Oil and Gas Depletion in Lisbon, Portugal, Meacher, a member of the British parliament, said: "The reason they attacked Iraq is nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, it was nothing to do with democracy in Iraq, it was nothing to do with the human rights abuses of Saddam Hussein."
..."It was principally, totally and comprehensively to do with oil," Meacher continued. "This was about assuming control over the Middle East and over Iraq, the second largest producer and also over Saudi Arabia next door.
"It was about securing as much as possible of the remaining supplies of oil and also over the Caspian basin, which of course is Afghanistan." [More>>aljazeera.net; See also gregpalast.com, article March 17, 2005, "Secret US plans for Iraq's oil."
Editorial note: For articles relating to Bush's lying to Congress and the American people with regard to his war on Iraq and other complaints that relate to his abuse of power see:
08.09.05 Understanding terrorists' use of the Koran – what constitutes extremist activity
August 9 – (Maravot News, Mel Copeland) A trend in combatting terrorism has to do with what constitute's extremist activity, including teachings by immams, publication of books and retail book stores, etc. Statements like (8.09.05) Bakri Mohammed's, "...it would be 'against Islam' for him to inform the police of any terrorist attacks that he knew were being planned in Britain..." are better understood through an examination of modern scholastic trends in reinterpreting the Koran. See:
08.07.05 Inside the sect that loves terror with Editorial note: An interesting site by an Islamic scholar defines what "kuffar" (disbelievers) means. His site, renaissance.com.pk – Arguments and Rational – details the Koran's verses and traditional and modern applications of the verses dealing with disbelievers: identifying them, punishing them, preaching to them and "'displaced directives." His argument refers heavily to Old Testament verses that set the foundation for verses of the Koran involving the punishment of disbelievers...
08.07.05 UK to deport 500 Muslim extremists and article, "Diary of British jihadi unearthed in Pakistan," ...the diary wonders how Muslims can live in London, the "vital organ of the minions of the devil," now that the "kufr," or unbelievers, have transformed the world into "a battlefield for the Muslims."
11.24.05 Why the Crusade & Jihad?
10.01.06 Why is the national debt out of control?
September 9 (Commentary by John W. Schoen) – With the federal government beginning a new fiscal year Monday, the national debt now stands at about $8.5 trillion — or about $540 billion bigger than it was a year ago. Like a number of readers, Charley in Alabama wants to know: who's to blame for this big pile of debt? And how are we ever going to clean it up?
The Republican Party has been the party of fiscal conservatism. Why now is the Republican administration willing to increase the national debt? Will the national debt eventually have to be paid?
— Charley, Magnolia Springs, Ala.
Yes, just like your credit card, the national debt eventually has to be paid. And, just like your credit card, the interest has to be paid now.
But the blame for this mess is shared by both political parties. Now, with midterm elections approaching, you have an opportunity to fix the problem — by choosing a candidate that supports the tough decision process that a solution will require. (More on how to do that on the next page.) And if you donšt vote carefully on this issue, you, too, can share the blame for the debt mess.
The problem starts with the government not being able to live within its means — just a like a shopaholic with a shiny new credit card and an untapped credit line. To fund this overspending (aka federal budget deficits), the US Treasury makes up and sells a fresh batch of IOUs every quarter. Then it uses the cash from the sale to pay off old Treasury debt that's come due and keep up on the interest payments on the rest of the paper that's still out there. [More>>msnbc.msn.com ]
Editorial note: See Maravot News National Debt Chart in sidebar. The OMB Budget of the US FY2007 shows receipts at $2.285 Trillion, outlays at $2.709 Trillion, with a deficit for FY2006 of $423 Billion. Interest on the debt for FY 2006 was $385 Billion. Most of the deficit was interest! The Reagan, Bush I and Bush II administrations published propaganda sufficient to produce a common myth expressed by Legislators to the effect that "the debt was being put on our children." Ergo, we don't have to pay for anything. But that myth was not true, since we have been paying interest on the debt each year, and interest on the debt itself adds to the debt (as we see that of the $423 Billion deficit $328 Billion is interest), and the addition is exponential. Also, since interest debt is linked to interest rates, when the Feds increase interest rates "to curb inflation" they also increase the interest on the US National Debt. Reagan and the two Bush presidents have put blinders on the people, causing them to believe that no one has to pay for the National Debt. In fact those presidents believed they could promise the people anything and never have to pay for it.
Mel Copeland
Editorial note: We began our record of trends with the December 25, 2004 Southeast Asian tsunamic which resulted in the loss of 250,000 lives or more from Indonesia, Maylasia, Thailand to Sri Lanka. We focused on trends appearing between Iran, Syria and Israel, the Iraq War, and the US Debt which affects the world economy. We compiled a large list of related trends in our first segment, but because of the work involved in maintaining the list we suspended that activity. However, Maravot News is constructed so that a list of links telling a particular trend can be done fairly easily, if necessary, by scrolling through the current issues of Maravot News and the archives.
 Historical trend on the New Orleans debacle
First segment of News Trends: Maravot News Trends.html
Launched: 10.25.04 / 11.02.04
Updated:
10.08.06
Copyright © 1981-2006 Maravot. All rights reserved
Copyright © 1981-2006 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Painting of Apple by Mel Copeland, early 70's
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)
|
|
