Maravot News of the World 11:30am San Francisco Wednesday 12.22.04 (last post)

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Faces of the Fallen – Iraq
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Metric Conversion kilometer: 0.6214 mile meter: 39.37 inches centimetre: 0.3937 inch millimetre: 0.03937 inch foot: 30.48 cm Br. stone: 14 pounds kilogram: 2.2046 pounds litre: 1.0567 US quarts hectare: 2.471 acres – 1 djerib (Turkey) – 1 jerib (Iran) – 1 gong qing (China) 0° Celcius: = 32° F

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IRIN News, Africa & Asia
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Osama bin Laden fatwas.
This monster's own words will
lead to his destruction
Definition of fatwa (fatwah)
Maravot News Comment
12.17.04
10.29.04
2.23.98
August 1996

Maps of interest

RIAN
Pravda.ru
kommersant.com

Newspapers

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Still in the news Trends: news to keep your eyes on Special concerns 12.14.04 -12.18.04 12.13.04 & earlier

News Headlines & Trends

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12.22.04 Cassini-Huygens mission set to launch probe to Saturn's moon Titan

A report from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory says, "The highlights of the first year of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn can be broken into two chapters: first, the arrival of the Cassini orbiter at Saturn in June, and second, the release of the Huygens probe on Dec. 24, 2004, on a path toward Titan.

Artist's concept of Cassini releasing the Huygens probe to Titan (JPL)

The Huygens probe, built and managed by the European Space Agency (ESA), is bolted to Cassini and fed electrical power through an umbilical cable. It has been riding along during the nearly seven-year journey to Saturn largely in a "sleep" mode, awakened every six months for three-hour instrument and engineering checkups. In three days, it will be cut loose from its mother ship and will coast toward Saturn's moon Titan, arriving on Jan. 14, 2005.

"As partners with ESA, one of our obligations was to carry the Huygens probe to Saturn and drop it off at Titan," said Robert T. Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We've done the first part, and on Christmas Eve we will release Huygens and tension-loaded springs will gently push it away from Cassini onto a ballistic free-fall path to Titan."

Once freed from Cassini, the Huygens probe will remain dormant until the onboard timer wakes it up shortly before the probe reaches Titan's upper atmosphere on Jan. 14. Then it will begin a dramatic plunge through Titan's murky atmosphere, tasting the chemical makeup and composition as it descends to touch down on its surface. [More>>jpl.nasa.gov]

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12.22.04 Iraqi children freezing; hospitals raising fees, have broken windows, no heat, no water, lots of corruption

At least 16 children in Iraq have died during one of the coldest spells hitting the country in years. In Baghdad a family of six froze to death on Monday night. Acute fuel shortages have exacerbated conditions for Iraqi families as temperatures drop below zero at night. The interim government, as has been the case during other crises, is oblivious to the suffering. Hospital sources say the number of casualties will rise dramatically if the spell continues and there is no immediate solution to the fuel crisis. Fuel is in short supply and heating fuel is getting scarcer and scarcer in a country endowed with the world¹s second largest reserves of oil. Government officials refused to comment on whether they had any plans in mind to provide emergency help.

U.N. and non-governmental organizations usually come to the aid of countries facing unprecedented cold spells. Local relief workers from the Red Crescent warn that the situation would deteriorate unless resources were made available to help vulnerable families prepare for this year¹s harsh winter. Those affected are some of Iraq¹s poorest people as well as the refugees from Fallujah who are in urgent need of blankets and warm clothes. Red Crescent doctors, who refused to be named, say respiratory diseases have spread among the refugees, particularly children. [azzaman.com]

In a separate story azzaman.com reports that Iraqi hospitals and clinics are worse than during Saddam Hussein's regime. There is wide-spread corruption, medical staff flee in fear for their lives, hospitals have no heat, no water and fees charged by private doctors and hospitals have soared and are currently beyond the reach of most Iraqis. [azzaman.com]

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12.22.04 US locks down Mosul after bombing of US mess tent

BAGHDAD, Dec. 22 – (AP) U.S. troops backed by armored vehicles swept through virtually empty streets of Mosul amid an undeclared curfew in Iraq's third largest city Wednesday, a day after an insurgent strike on a nearby base killed 22 people and wounded dozens in one of the deadliest attacks on American troops since the war began. The military was investigating whether a bomb was planted at the mess tent in Forward Operating Base Marez, where the blast sprayed shrapnel as U.S. soldiers sat down to lunch Tuesday. Initial reports said a 122 mm rocket ripped through the tent's ceiling. [Associated Press and Reuters]

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12.22.04 Saddam bids to challenge case in US

Robert Winnett reports that Saddam Hussein is preparing a legal challenge in America to his trial for war crimes, according to leaked papers prepared by his defence team...The leaked brief, entitled ³The Iraqi Special Tribunal as Victors¹ Justice – the Inherent Illegality and Bias of the whole Process," argues that US law should prevail in the case because the trial is effectively being taken at the behest of the Americans...It continues: ³Legally, the United States is bound to ensure that Saddam Hussein has counsel since the US has exclusive control over him, and the denial of such access to counsel leaves the US legally liable for the deprivation of his civil rights.² [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

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12.22.04 Microsoft to issue stripped-down Windows in Europe

Microsoft Corp. Wednesday said it will alter its Windows operating system sold in Europe and release more information about how its programs work after it lost a legal bid to postpone sanctions imposed by European regulators for allegedly violating antitrust laws. Revealing the inner workings of Microsoft programs could expose many of the world's computers to new attacks, lawyers for Microsoft had argued. Microsoft will market a stripped-down version of Windows, without its digital media player. [More>>latimes.com and reuters.com; for the court ruling, etc. see nytimes.com]

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12.21.04 Bush renews threats against Syria

US President George Bush has threatened to use new economic and diplomatic measures to pressure Syria over its suspected interference in Iraq before January elections. "We have sent messages to the Syrians in the past and we will continue to do so. We have tools at our disposal - a variety of tools, ranging from diplomatic tools to economic pressure. Nothing's taken off the table," Bush told a news conference. The president is reviewing a wide range of options, including freezing the assets of high-ranking Syrian government officials, US officials said. Bush said he had discussed with American generals "whether or not there are former Saddam loyalists in Syria ... funnelling money to the insurgents."

"We ought to be working with the Syrian government to prevent them from either sending money and/or support of any kind," he added. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

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12.21.04 UN General Assembly criticizes Iran's human rights violations

LONDON, Dec. 21 – The UN General Assembly on Monday criticized the human rights situation in Iran in a relatively close vote that lashed out at citing new restrictions on freedom of expression and the persecution of political and religious dissenters.

The assembly, which contains all 191 UN member states and is not legally binding but reflects global opinion, approved the resolution 71-54 with 55 abstentions. The measure was sponsored by Canada. [More>>IranMania.com]

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12.21.04 World Bank offers carrot to Palestinians

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Visiting World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said on Tuesday Palestinians could expect an extra $500 million a year in vital aid if violence stopped and there was progress towards peace with Israel. Outside funding currently runs at about $900 million a year. [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

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12.21.04 Terror victims sue Arab bank

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Terror victims filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday accusing Arab Bank of supporting Palestinian suicide bombings, lawyers said. Attorneys for plaintiffs said the Jordanian bank was complicit in a "campaign of genocide" by converting funds raised in Saudi Arabia into U.S. dollars and moving the money to branches in the West Bank and Gaza, where it is withdrawn by families of militants and by the militant group Hamas. The suit was the second lodged against the bank, based in Amman, Jordan, with more than 400 branches in 25 countries. [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

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12.21.04 Judge nixes guilty plea of AOL spammer

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge refused to accept a guilty plea Tuesday from a former America Online software engineer accused of stealing 92 million e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers. Judge Alvin Hellerstein of Manhattan federal court said he was not convinced Jason Smathers, 24, had actually committed a crime under new federal "can-spam" legislation that took effect earlier this year. [More>>seattletimesnwsource.com via topix.net]

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12.21.04 Yukos auctioned to 2-day-old company; owners unknown

Group MENATEP announced yesterday that it would prosecute the buyer of 77 percent of the shares of Yuganskneftegaz. But for the time being, the company cannot file a single suit – company representatives admitted they didn't know who was behind the winner of Sunday's auction. Government officials refused to disclose information on who is in fact the real owner of OOO Baikal Finance Group, and Yuganskneftegaz's new owner is in no hurry to publicize itself. [More>>kommersant.com]

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12.21.04 India joins the US and Russia in supersonic missile technology

New Delhi Dec. 21 – In a major technological feat, India today successfully carried out for the first time a test firing of the supersonic cruise land-to-land missile Brahmos in the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, becoming the only country outside the US and Russia to acquire the capability. The missile has a 290 km range. [More>>jang.com.pk]

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12.21.04 Four suspected al-Qaeda operatives arrested

LAHORE, Dec. 20 – Police on Monday claimed arresting four suspected Al Qaeda operatives, including a close associate of top terrorist Abu Fraj, allegedly involved in two attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf.

The arrested men belonged to banned organizations Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Harkat Al Jihad Islami and had been working for the Al Qaeda network for some years, Lahore police chief (investigation) Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmad said at a press conference.

One of the accused, Malik Tehsin alias Abdul Jabbar of Rawalpindi, had been a close aide to Abu Fraj, the mastermind of the two assassination attempts with a Rs250 million bounty on his head...The police chief also alleged that the four men had been working to reorganize the terror network in Lahore, and they had been on a looting spree to raise funds for their operations. [More>>dawn.com]

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12.21.04 United States attacking itself from behind

An article by George Monbiot - The Guardian, Dec. 22, makes a point not all Americans can see as easily as foreigners: a view of America attacking itself from behind. It's a progressive situation where America's monsters are invented in a lab and emerge from the lab to wreak havoc. I'd like to comment on his view.

Vietnam involved such a laboratory-invented device. Theorists devised the idea that Communism would spread like a virus from nation to nation, eventually bringing down Capitalism and the American democratic way of life. To counter this threat the United States espoused the "Domino Theory." Believing that the virus had to be stopped in Vietnam and failure to do so would result in Southeast Asia falling to Communism as falling dominos, the United States went to war in Vietnam. The US lost the war, after an eight-year struggle (1964-1972). There were no falling dominos, and we learned that each nation has its own identity and the nations of Southeast Asia have established their own forms of government and relationships to suit their needs. Vietnam not only cost America enormous sums of money ( $346.7 billion ) and 211,000 dead and wounded (see http://www.libraryspot.com/lists/listwars.htm), it ruined the American image. No longer was America a nation ruled by democratic values and Constitutional Law, it became something in conflict with those principles. For instance, it waged an eight-year war in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war, an Act of Congress, according to its Constitution; and it became a meddler in world politics, subverting nations that do not suit American needs. It became a nation that consumes and wastes the most energy, a nation that has the most deleterious effect on the earth's climate, and dominated by monstrous companies launches wars for oil. It conducts wars without regard to International Law and its own Constitutional Law.

During the Cold War era the United States invented nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to counter theoretical weapons of the Soviet Union and China. The race to develop weapons of mass destruction resulted in an American win. The Soviet Union collapsed, leaving missiles and weapons in the former Soviet republics. To appreciate the extent of this problem, Presidential candidate George McGovern (1972) complained that the United States had 3,000 nuclear warheads but only about 1,800 missiles to carry them. America back then had developed weapons of mass destruction on a scale that exceeded America's ability to deliver. Think of it: stockpiles of warheads that could never be delivered. Back then the United States assumed the worst case scenario, called then, "overkill." At the same time the Soviet Union – it has been assumed – had similar plans.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union weapons storage areas in former Soviet Republics have been discovered and now draw international concern that the weapons could get into the hands of terrorists. The former Soviet Republics – like Georgia – have expressed that they don't have the means to clean up what the Soviets left behind. What the United States is doing with regard to the identification and disposal of such weapons of mass destruction is unknown. In any event, what America helped create is now at our rear.

What Monbiot addresses in his article scratches the surface of the area where monsters created by the US are lurking. Monbiot begins:

"I have a persistent mental image of US foreign policy, which haunts me even in my sleep. The vanguard of a vast army is marching around the globe, looking for its enemy. It sees a mass of troops in the distance, retreating from it. It opens fire, unaware that it is shooting its own rear.

Is this too fanciful a picture? Both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were groomed and armed by the United States. Until the invasion of Iraq, there were no links between the Ba'athists and al-Qaida: now Bush's government has created the monster it claimed to be slaying.

The US army developed high-grade weaponised anthrax in order, it said, to work out what would happen if someone else did the same. No one else was capable of producing it: the terrorist who launched the anthrax attacks in 2001 took it from one of the army's laboratories. Now US researchers are preparing genetically modified strains of smallpox on the same pretext, and with the same likely consequences.

The Pentagon's space-based weapons programme is being developed in response to a threat which doesn't yet exist, but which it is likely to conjure up. The US government is engaged in a global war with itself. It is like a robin attacking its reflection in a window...In February, a leaked report from the Pentagon revealed that it sees global warming as far more dangerous to US interests than terrorism. As a result of abrupt climate change, it claimed, "warfare may again come to define human life... As the planet's carrying capacity shrinks, an ancient pattern re-emerges: the eruption of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies. The nuclear powers are likely to invade each other's territories as they scramble for diminishing resources." [More>>bignewsnetwork.com]
Mel Copeland

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12.20.04 2001 "Yoo memo" justifies war on Iraq & unlimited presidential power

Justice Department lawyer John Yoo wrote a 15 page memo outlining the President's powers against terrorism that became the framework under which President Bush launched the war in Iraq. Yoo is now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. The title of the memo says all: "The President's Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations against Terrorists and Nations Supporting Them." According to a Dec. 18 article by Newsweek, The memo was only recently posted on an obscure portion of the Web site of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. The memo argues that there are effectively "no limits" on the president's authority to wage war – a sweeping assertion of executive power that some constitutional scholars say goes considerably beyond any that had previously been articulated by the department. [More>>Newsweek]

A link to the John Yoo article is at: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/2001opinions.htm. For other opinions go to the Office of Legal Council index: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/opinionspage.htm. The actual article, The President's Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations against Terrorists and Nations Supporting Them, dated September 25, 2001, can be read at: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/warpowers925.htm. Later arguments in expanding the President's powers are experessed in a Yoo-Delahunty December 28,2001 Philbin/Yoo memo on Possible Habeas Jurisdiction over aliens held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a January 9, 2002 memo, in four parts, entitled, Application of Treaties and Laws to al-Quaeda and Taliban Detainees. The December 28 and January 9 memos are in pdf format and may be read at: http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2637.

Many of President Bush's statements post-9/11 – and leading up to his invasion of Iraq – reflect conclusions proffered by the Yoo memorandums which give unlimited power to the President of the United States. Bush is above all governments – including the US government – and all international law, according to the Yoo advocacy; as confirmed in President Bush's and his administration's statements and behavior. President Bush has been recognized by Time magazine as "Man of the Year," and it is anticipated that historians will remember how Bush trashed the US Constitution and International Law in this context.

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12.19.04 Indo-Pak delegation to South Asia from West to deliver peace message

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – A 30-member Joint Indo-Pak Peace and Goodwill Mission of expatriate Pakistanis and Indians living in the US, Canada and Britain, will embark on a visit to Pakistan and India, from December 27. "It is for the first time that such an effort is being undertaken by individuals of Indian and Pakistani origin living outside their homelands, who passionately feel for South Asia's peace, prosperity and stability," Coordinator of the visit, John Prabhudoss, chairman, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, told newsmen at a local hotel... Our purpose, he stated, is to interact at the grass roots level and stimulate understanding.

The mission statement said: "we, the people of Indian and Pakistani origin living in the western countries, take this responsibility seriously, and travel to the region to create goodwill, promote friendship, mutual understanding, peace and harmony between the people and the governments of India and Pakistan."

The composition of the delegation is: 15 from each side, and it includes Tufail Ahmad, John Prabhudoss, Ali Nawaz Memon, Samuel Mall, Jos Anthony Puthenveetil, Raju Rajgopal, Mohammad Rasheed Ahmed, Nilofer Ahsan, Tavishi Alagh, Dr. Tariq Cheema, Kartikeya Desai, Mohammad Imtiazuddin, Muhammad Shams Kazi, Shrikumar Poddar, Pritam Rohila, Rajseelan Sampson, Faizullah Khan, Suleman Mehtab, Dr. Nizamuddin, Vanita Sharma, Rati Tripathi, Azmat Yusuf and Mohammad Zeena. [More>jang.com.pk]

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12.19.04 China to build nuclear power plant in Pakistan; stronger economic ties

KARACHI, Dec. 18 – China will install a nuclear reactor at the Chashma-II nuclear power plant early next year, officials accompanying Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his visit to China told Dawn on Saturday...Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz flew back to the country on Saturday, concluding his four-day visit to China. Talking to newsmen aboard a special PIA plane, he said that China had agreed to establish large regional manufacturing bases in Pakistan.

"Previously, the economic relationship between China and Pakistan was based on the donor-recipient model. Now our ties have upgraded to partnership level." [More>>Dawn.com]

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12.19.04 EU moves to more independent role

BRUSSELS, Dec. 19 – As the world's largest regional bloc, the European Union (EU) has scored significant achievements in 2004 in building up its independent military capability, a process at the expense of US influence in the transatlantic military alliance. The EU's decade-long drive to develop its military muscle to back up its diplomatic weight took visible form as 7,000 peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina replaced their NATO shoulder tags with the EU's blue and gold colors.

The mission, which started on Dec. 2, marks the 25-nation bloc's largest and most complex operation to date. Now, the EU's military aspirations stretch much further as it seeks to erase its enduring image as an economic giant and a military midget. The military operation is seen as a crucial test of the military capabilities of EU nations, as well as their ability to act in unison, as the EU seeks to develop its own coherent military force independent of NATO.

If successful, it could pave the way for other such missions in areas where NATO has long borne the brunt of responsibility for collective security on the continent, for example in neighboring Kosovo... EU plans are under way to set up 13 battle groups, which are military units that can be deployed rapidly to deal with crisis around the world, by 2007, each with 1,500 troops. Also in the pipeline is a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force for bigger peacekeeping operations. "The battle groups are at the forefront of capability improvement, providing the EU with credible, rapidly deployable, coherent force packages capable of stand-alone operations, for the initial phase of larger operations," said an EU statement.

Besides, the EU announced in September that it will set up a gendarmerie force which will be operational in 2005. The force, to be headquartered in Italy, will be made up of 900 military policemen from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, and be financed by the contributing countries.

Although the EU has done a lot in enhancing its independent military role and capabilities, EU leaders have come to realize that Europe has lagged far behind the United States in armaments, intervention capabilities and abilities to cope with crisis. [More>>Xinhaunet]

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STILL IN THE NEWS

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TRENDS: NEWS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON

11.22.04 (11.26.04; 11.30.04; 12.08.04 Updates) US twin deficits are causing Japanese jitters: the story behind the collapse of the dollar

This is an ongoing article. We received a response from Senator Diane Fienstein which we cuddled midst a general review of the historic repeat of Deficits from father to son: Bush I to Bush II.

While this story has been breaching for several weeks, it will continue to be a big item in the news until the world press loses interest in the money others are losing. So we're keeping it at the top of the page.

The Bush administration's deficits in both trade and fiscal budget – the Twin Deficits –are dragging down world economies. Both deficits are largely responsible for the plunge in the value of the dollar. In Japan the plunge has lasted 55 months. The Bush administration's policies have caused the yen to appreciate for the past 55 months. While the Bush administration publicly supports a strong dollar, it is reportedly accepting the weakening dollar, since a weakened dollar makes US goods and services better buys on the foreign market.

Says Yomiuri Shimbun, [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm] "The yen's sharp appreciation is fueling concerns over the nation's economic recovery. But the market direction is unlikely to change soon as the recent yen appreciation is closely related to U.S. trade and fiscal deficits...According to estimates of the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute Inc., Japan's gross domestic product will drop by 0.4 percent annually if the 100 yen-to-the-dollar level continues for a year."

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Decline in dollar to the Japanese yen and euro
* January 1, 2002 the euro was first put into circulation.
© 2004 Mel Copeland

President	Jan. year	yen to dollar / ($)	euro to dollar / ($)
George H. W. Bush	1990	146.25 ($.0068)	x
George H. W. Bush	1991	124.5 ($.0075)	x
George H. W. Bush	1992	125.4 ($.0080)	x
William J. Clinton	1993	112.5 ($.0079)	x
William J. Clinton	1994	112.5 ($.0088)	x
William J. Clinton	1995	100.52 ($.0099)	.816 ($1.22)
William J. Clinton	1996	103.92 ($.0095)	.780 ($1.28)
William J. Clinton	1997	115.49 ($.0086)	.807 ($1.25)
William J. Clinton	1998	132.4 ($.0075)	.913 ($1.10)
William J. Clinton	1999	112.15 ($.0089)	.846 ($1.18)
William J. Clinton	2000	101.7 ($.0098)	.984 ($1.01)
George W. Bush	2001	114.26 ($.0087)	1.05 ($.95)
George W. Bush	2002	132.02 ($.0076)	1.11 ($.90) *
George W. Bush	2003	119.86 ($.0083)	.96 ($1.04)
George W. Bush	2004	106.95 ($.0093)	.79 ($1.26)
George W. Bush	Nov. 18, 2004	104.23 ($.0097)	.77 ($1.29)

In general, based upon the complaints coming in from overseas concerning the decline in the value of the US dollar and comparing rates since 1990 we can see a trend, where the Bush economics (Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush) have not been healthy for the United States, Europe and Japan. The former Bush, in fact, caused a major world-wide recession, beginning in Europe and surfacing in Indonesia. While we experienced years of economic stability under Clinton, the irresponsible deficit spending policies now continued from father to son (George H. W. to George W.) give no promise of prosperity in the coming years.

The US deficit, being the source of the declining dollar, perpetuates further debt and increases interest rates and inflation. About half of the US $6 Trillion debt is owned by foreign investors (primarily banks). When investors redeem their bonds in a period when the dollar is declining, as is the case in the two Bush administrations, they lose money on their investment in US bonds. This causes potential buyers of US bonds to back out of the US bond market. When buyers back away from the US bond market, the US has to raise interest rates to draw them back into the market. Following the increase in the prime rate, mortgages and other loan rates increase.

The greatest fear in international exchange is inflation. Foreign interests who own the US public debt – who cash in five year bonds today– will lose about 35% on their investment. Historic yen and euro rates compiled in the "Decline in dollar to yen" table are from http://www.x-rates.com.

The National Debt is an exponential debt. The adding of interest, plus continued borrowing / sales of US Bonds, compounds the debt. The debt takes on the form of a "J" curve. President Bush claims that he will "halve the debt," presumably in the next four years. The Clinton years, 1993-2000, represented the most fiscally responsible administration since Nixon (see "Running a government with a credit card" below). During Clinton's term Congress had adapted and applied a "pay as you go" process, preventing further borrowing to fund the government and actually paid down the National debt through their diligence. The dedication of Congress and the President during the Clinton years is not present in the current administration of Bush II, and reducing the deficit, let alone the National Debt, would seem improbable. It appears that the National Debt has reached a point of no return, where interest on the debt alone will consume any efforts to retire the debt. The debt from 1974 through 2009 (the data are current as of 11.22.04, from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); the years 2004 - 2009 are OMB estimates) look like this:

"J" Curve of the National Debt through 2009. Years 2004 through 2009 are estimated by the US Government: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/, and listed below. Inserted in this table is an "Annual Deficit and Surplus" chart (the image curiously resembles a dragon). For charts on expenditures and deficits from President Wilson to the present click here, "Review of the presidencies." The National Debt above can be compared to my 1993 J Curve projection from Duty & Profit, a conversation with Wm. F. Buckley Jr. Total receipts in 2004 were forecasted at just less that $2 trillion – the US income is about 27% of expenditures, using Federal data. Note that a large part of the deficits during the Reagan-Bush I and Bush II years comes from interest on the debt! This compounding debt can only be resolved by paying down the principal of the debt – which Clinton recently attempted and Bush II cannot do. A government that borrows without the intention to pay off the principal of the loan can only be headed one way: the interest on the debt will consume budgeted outlays and represent an ever larger part of expenditures, eventually causing the government to default on the loan. This results in a decline in public and private investment, as happened in the years of Bush I. An example of interest consuming outlays was during the Bush I administration in 1992: the Department of Defense was budgeted ~$270 billion. Interest paid out that year exceeded $292 billion. A comparable situation exists today. Another issue involves "Debt vs % of GDP." The issue is distracting, in my opinion, since all debts reduce to one principle: if one does not pay off the principal of a loan one will be bankrupted. A comprehensive review of the Debt vs percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is at: http://www.marktaw.com/print/culture_and_media/TheNationalDebt.html. A good chart on the Federal deficit vs percent of GDP is at: http://www.harvardmagazine.com/lib/04jf/images/budg.jpg. Links on the Public Debt are at the Federal Bureau of Public Debt site: http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opd.htm#history.

The National Debt data are as follows: US Office of Budget & Management – National Debt

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A forty-year amortization table on a loan of $5 trillion (double everything for a loan of $10 trillion) at 7% interest:

Amortization Table for a loan of $5 trillion over 40 years @ 7% interest. Double the amount for the Bureau of Budget forecast of a $10 trillion debt by year 2009. (Click on chart for larger image.) On $5 trillion the annual payment would be about $1 billion per day; $2 billion per day on $10 trillion. Compare to the actual interest paid on the US debt, i.e., year #1 @ $375,045 billion principal & interest versus the actual interest only payments in 2004 of $321,566 billion. Perhaps the principal that was not paid over the years should be collected from the Bush family and Regean estates who ripped us off so to put a stop to this kind of irresponsible financial leadership.

Interest on the Public Debt. Compare interest paid against the Amortization Table on the left. www.publicdebt.treas.gov/

It is no wonder that foreign governments are concerned about the decline in the dollar. Americans should have studied some basic fundamentals in home financing It is no wonder that foreign governments are concerned about the decline in the dollar. Americans should have studied some basic fundamentals in home financing and not allowed their spendthrift President to get out of hand. Then again, there is hope that Americans will start to pay attention to their accounts and those they elected to manage them. Total receipts estimated in the Federal Budget for 2004 are just short of $2 trillion." Growth in receipts. – Total receipts in 2004 are estimated to be $1922.0 billion, an increase of $85.8 billion or 4.7 percent relative to 2003. Receipts are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.0 percent between 2004 and 2008, rising to $2,520.9 billion. This growth in receipts is largely due to assumed increases in incomes resulting from both real economic growth and inflation." [2004 FEDERAL RECEIPTS AND COLLECTIONS, p. 57]

Actual interest on the US debt since 1996 averages just short of $1 billion per day. While in the administration of Bush I, the deficit each year was essentially the same amount as the interest on the debt (they were borrowing to pay the interest on the debt), under Bush II the $400 billion + yearly deficits exceed the interest on the debt.

Mel Copeland

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In the beginning....

Bush taking too long to read "My Pet Goat" reader on 9/11. Read full text.

Running a government using a credit card

This year's deficit caused by Bush will be a record deficit since Richard Nixon showed a surplus (in 1969). Bush calls Democrats "tax and spend liberals" when he and his father spent other people's money to run their governments! Who is it that has to pay for the deficit run up each year by a fiscally irresponsible President ? You do. You pay in several ways, since borrowed money is a worse tax on you and the economy than a legitimate tax. The National Debt is $7.4 Trillion as of 10.27.04. That debt is financed by the bond market. While the interest rates on bonds go up and down, generally the rates are affected through the Federal Reserve and supply and demand. Most of the debt during George Bush's administration (1989-1993) was carried by the G-7 Central Banks and a few others who could take large positions in the Bond Market like George Soros. Since supply and demand affect prices of bonds, the greater the supply of bonds, as in a period of excessive government borrowing, would ordinarily depress the price of bonds. To attract buyers, the Federal Reserve must raise interest rates. So when your mortgage loan goes up, owing to an increase in interest rates, its because of the Bush Borrowing: running a government on a credit card.

Since the government runs on borrowed money, the amount of the original loan (new in 2001) grows exponentially, in a curve called a "J" curve. During George Bush's years the deficit was essentially equal to the interest accumulated each year on the debt. That interest debt is added to the original loan amount causing the debt to grow [unpaid] until an effort is made to reduce the debt, paying down both principal and interest. Fearing a crash Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich announced in May 1995 that there would no longer be any borrowing on the debt. We would "pay as we go," a concept George W. Bush recently derided with reference to Kerry's attempt to restore the years of responsible government under President Clinton. Although Clinton was initially following the Bush Borrowing program – of running the government using a credit card – he converted to the Republican plan and paying down the debt became the great cause of his administration. The response from the economy was plain: it grew, became healthy, wealthy and wise. When you have savings you feel secure. When you have no savings and have trouble finding people to loan you money you feel insecure. Clinton stopped the insecurity of the Bush administration.

In 1993 I prepared a mortgage amortization table for the then $5 Trillion debt inherited from George Bush. At 7% interest a 40 year loan of that amount would result in the payment after 20 years of $6.4 Trillion in interest and $90 million in principal. After 40 years the debt would be paid off and total interest paid would be $10 Trillion.

Who makes money from Bush Borrowing are the wealthy. [More>>]

Why the Crusade & Jihad?

Without rehashing the history of Western Civilization in one paragraph, we can ascribe Christian and Jewish sentiments to defend Israel and to view America as the anointed of God (Allah, (2) in the Koran) to perceptions of pastors who spend more time feeding on the flock than feeding them. If the flock were fed properly it would not believe that it is just to kill on behalf of God. The Christian and Jewish scriptures all agree that vengeance belongs to God (i.e., as in Psalm 94.1), that the Warrior of God is a man of peace, just and charitable. I have always believed (and I know Jesus adhered to this old teaching) that if God wants to kill someone let him kill them himself. You don't need to be his agent, in my opinion. But you can assist in bringing peace to the world.

Sealed Golden Gate with the Dome of the Rock behind and a Muslim cemetery in the foreground may be the gateway to Peace in Jerusalem. It was where the priests and prophets of Israel gathered; called the Gate of Righteousness by the Prophets.

There is no doubt that during the Axis Age (600 B.C.) the great sages, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Buddha and Jeremiah – later followed by Socrates – agreed that doing good and avoiding evil towards your fellow man was the answer. They all believed in the Golden Rule: Don't do to others that which you would not want done to you. Upon this one teaching all the teachings of the Bible rest.

Good news! The Koran says that everything in the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) and Gospel (New Testament) are true! As I pointed out many years ago in a conversation with Wm. F. Buckley Jr. in a series of books, including Philistia triumph thou because of me, there are points in the Koran upon which the Jews, Christians and Moslems can reconcile their disagreements, such as:

Koran, The Cow: And now that a Book confirming their own book has come to them from Allah, they deny it, although they know it to be the truth and have long prayed for help against the unbelievers...when it is said to them, 'Believe in what Allah has revealed,' they reply, 'We believe in what was revealed to us.' But they deny what has since been revealed, although it is the truth, corroborating their own scriptures.

Koran, The creator 36.24: Your only duty is to give warning...What we have revealed to you in the Book is the truth confirming previous scriptures.

Koran, Kneeling 45.16 We gave the Scriptures to the Israelites and bestowed on them wisdom and prophethood.

Koran, AL-AHQAF 46.12 Yet, before it the Book of Moses (Torah) was revealed, a guide and a blessing to all men. This Book confirms it.

Koran, Women 4.47 You, to whom the Scriptures were given! Believe in that which we have revealed, confirming your own scriptures...

Koran, The Cow 2:116 The Jews say the Christians are misguuided, and the Christians say it is the Jews who are misguided. Yet they both read the Scriptures. And the pagans say the same of both. Allah (5) will judge their disputes on the Day of Resurrection.

We can see, therefore, that Moslems are taught via the Koran to honor the scriptures and teachings Christians and Jews honor. Also, with respect to the Koran's teachings on Moslem behavior, it is clear that a Moslem cannot wage war against another Moslem, as is currently going on in Iraq and has been so throughout history:

To dispel any confusion on the Koran's view of people who do not believe in the Koran (notwithstanding the verses cited above) Mohammed went a bit too far, in my opinion, when he listed the following which confute the Bible (I know on the Day of Resurrection noted above my reading will be upheld).

There are several verses that endorse Jesus – some calling him a prophet of God (as they would have to once they accept the Gospels as truth). But this one is the gem of the lot, since it acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah. The Messiah means "anointed one" and the term was created and applied only in the Bible. Christians know the term as Christ, which is the Greek translation of the word. The fact is, based upon what we have seen in the Koran above, all Moslems must honor the teachings of Jesus the Messiah. If there is any confusion on those teachings it can be simply resolved by opening the Gospels and reading them. They all reduce down to the Golden Rule. And it is not important that you be a Christian, Jew or Moslem to practice the Golden Rule. If you practice the Golden Rule you satisfy the teachings. For if you know those teachings you know God and if you do them you are one with God. The scripture asks, can two walk together except they agree?

The gem in the Koran of Jesus the Messiah, beyond the other verses endorsing the teachings of Jesus, which is a good foundation for some kind of reconciliation:

The Imrans, 3.45, 47 The angels said to Mary: 'Allah bids you rejoice in a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. He shall be noble in this world and in the next, and shall be favoured by Allah. He shall preach to men in his cradle and in the prime of manhood, and shall lead a righteous life."

The term Messiah first appeared in the Bible. It means Anointed One and in Greek the term is Christ. Knowing this, then, we should endeavor to find a place of agreement and learn to walk together. A good part of the Old Testament has to do with the Messiah and what is expected of him.

One cannot walk blindly through scriptures and take them for granted however. Applying them for good becomes an art. It takes practice. One cannot apply scripture, for instance, through a rush to judgment. After all is said and done, when understanding has ruled over boiling sentiments, we can point to our results: charity, justice and mercy. Unfortunately, we are a long way from achieving those things in this current age. It may be, in order to achieve a higher level, to at least remove ourselves from a state of chaos, that we need to take account of our leaders. Then we must ask ourselves how it is that we let them lead us into this chaos. This is called, confronting your own failures. Until both sides come to grips with the goodness that is in them, and do some good in order to gain in goodness, the Jihad will probably continue.

Now President George W. Bush would lead us to believe that we can kill off the Jihadists. I don't subscribe to his program and know that an invitation to reasoning together should bear more fruit. Who in the world would ever refuse this offer:

Mel Copeland
10.28.04