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By Joshua, June 28, 2010 4:14 am

I wrote the following one year ago, when I went to the Auschwitz museum near Krakow.  I emailed this to friends and family, but never posted it on-line.  I am going again to the museum as part of a summer school program I help run/teach here in Poland.  For those who have never been to Auschwitz, or are planning on going, you might find this of interest.

These are notes and reflections on the Auschwitz-Birkinau (hereafter “Auschwitz”) trip.  These are designed as a practical guide, plus my observations on the museum and other aspects of the trip.

Continue reading 'Notes on a Trip to Auschwitz'»

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By Joshua, June 24, 2010 5:48 am

Don’t be stupid, folks: send those cribs back to the store:

More than 2 million cribs from seven companies were recalled Thursday amid concerns that babies can suffocate, become trapped or fall from the cribs.Most of the cribs were drop-sides, which have a side rail that moves up and down so parents can lift children from them more easily. That movable side, however, can malfunction or detach from the crib, creating a dangerous gap where babies’ heads can become trapped, leading to suffocation or strangulation.

The companies involved in the recall were Evenflo, Delta Enterprises Corp., Child Craft, Jardine Enterprises, LaJobi, Million Dollar Baby and Simmons Juvenile Products Inc.

No deaths were associated with the cribs, but there were reports of at least 16 entrapments of infants. In one case, a child was found unconscious and later hospitalized.

In the announcement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, all seven companies recalled drop-side cribs. Delta and Child Craft also acknowledged problems with fixed-side cribs.

Drop-sides have increasingly come under scrutiny, with several warnings from the CPSC in the last year that the cribs can be deadly. CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum has pledged to ban their manufacture and sale by year’s end.

“This new recall announcement is part of a larger effort by CPSC to clean up the marketplace from many of these unsafe cribs,” said Tenenbaum. “Most of these recalled cribs have dangerous drop-sides, while the Delta crib can pose a danger to babies if the mattress support is installed incorrectly.”

CPSC urged parents to stop using the cribs and contact the manufacturers for repair kits to immobilize the drop-side or information to make the cribs more secure.

The recalls involved about:

_750,000 Jenny Lind drop-side cribs distributed by Evenflo Inc.

_747,000 Delta drop-side cribs. Delta is also urging parents to check all fixed and drop-side cribs that use wooden stabilizer bars to support the mattress. The company says the bars can be installed upside down, causing the mattress platform to collapse. CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said Delta “was not cooperative with providing the full number of units involved in the mattress support assembly problem.”

_306,000 Bonavita, Babi Italia and ISSI drop-side cribs manufactured by LaJobi Inc.

_130,000 Jardine drop-side cribs imported by Toys R Us.

_156,000 Million Dollar Baby drop-side cribs.

_50,000 Simmons drop-side cribs.

_40,000 to 50,000 Child Craft brand stationary-side cribs and an unknown number of Child Craft brand drop-sides. Child Craft ceased operations last summer and sold its name to Foundations Worldwide Inc., which did not manufacture or sell any of the recalled cribs but will offer rebates for some of them.

With Thursday’s recall, 9 million drop-side cribs have been recalled in the past five years. Drop-sides have been blamed in the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers since 2000. The cribs are suspected in another 14 infant fatalities during that time.

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By Joshua, June 24, 2010 1:52 am

A Rolling Stone article convinced President Obama to fire Gen. McChrystal and hire Gen. Petraeus.  Petraeus faces an uphill climb, and The New York Times is very, very optimistic:

In late 2008, shortly after he had helped pull Iraq back from the brink of catastrophe, Gen. David H. Petraeus prepared to turn to that other American war.  “I’ve always said that Afghanistan would be the tougher fight,” General Petraeus said at the time.

Now the burden falls to him, at perhaps the decisive moment in President Obama’s campaign to reverse the deteriorating situation on the ground here and regain the momentum in this nine-year-old war. In many ways, General Petraeus is being summoned to Afghanistan at a moment similar to the one he faced three years ago in Iraq, when the situation seemed hopeless to a growing number of Americans and their elected representatives as well.

But there is a crucial difference: In Iraq, General Petraeus was called in to reverse a failed strategy put in place by previous commanders. In Afghanistan, General Petraeus was instrumental in developing and executing the strategy in partnership with Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who carried it out on the ground. Now General Petraeus will be directly responsible for its success or failure, risking the reputation he built in Iraq.

General Petraeus, 57, brings an extraordinary set of skills to his new job: a Boy Scout’s charm, penetrating intelligence and a ferocious will to succeed. At ease with the press and the public, and an adept negotiator, General Petraeus will probably distinguish himself from his predecessor with the political skills that carried him through the most difficult months of the counteroffensive in Iraq known as the surge.

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By Joshua, June 22, 2010 1:59 am

First, The New York Times reports the non-story of allegedly untold mineral riches in Afghanistan, buying the Pentagon war propaganda hook, line and sinker (NYT wasn’t the only ones).  Now, an inflammatory piece the other way:

U.S. Said to Fund Afghan Warlords to Protect Convoys

American taxpayers have inadvertently created a network of warlords across Afghanistan who are making millions of dollars escorting NATO convoys and operating outside the control of either the Afghan government or the American and NATO militaries, according to the results of a Congressional investigation released Monday. The investigation, begun last year by the House Subcommittee for National Security, found that money given to these Afghan warlords often amounts to little more than mafia-style protection payments, with some NATO convoys that refused to pay the warlords coming under attack.

The subcommittee, led by Representative John F. Tierney, Democrat of Massachusetts, also uncovered evidence suggesting that American taxpayer money is making its way to the Taliban. Several trucking company supervisors told investigators that they believed the gunmen they hired to escort their convoys bribed the Taliban not to attack.

The warlords who are paid with American money, the investigators said, are undermining the legitimate Afghan government that Americans soldiers and Marines are struggling to build, and will most likely threaten the government long after the Americans and NATO leave.  The source of the taxpayer money is a $2.1 billion contract called Host Nation Trucking, which pays for the movement of food and supplies to some 200 American bases across this arid, mountainous country, which in many places has no paved roads.

The 79-page report, entitled “Warlord Inc.,” paints an anarchic picture of contemporary Afghanistan, with the country’s major highways being controlled by groups of freelance gunmen who answer to no one — and who are being paid for by the United States.

One might think that using the terms “American taxpayer money” and “mafia-style” is over-compensating for using the terms “Saudi Arabia of lithium” and “distract from generations of war” in their war propaganda piece of June 13, 2010.

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By Joshua, June 21, 2010 3:01 am

Presented by The New York Times as a major event, a potential turning point in the Afghanistan War, the story has virtually disappeared from the news.  Was it a mirage?

Some say the story was war propaganda:

Reading this week’s New York Times headline — “U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan” — many probably wondered how this information was being presented as “news” in 2010. After all, humanity has long been aware of the country’s vast natural resources. As Mother Jones magazine’s James Ridgeway said after recalling past public accounts of the ore deposits, “This ‘discovery’ in fact is ancient history tracing back to the times of Marco Polo.”…

… Now, under President Obama, we get leaked Pentagon memos cheerily promising that Afghanistan will become “the Saudi Arabia of lithium” and generals touting the minerals’ “stunning potential” — the implication being that America is morally obligated to exploit such potential through armed occupation.

The Guardian reports that the mineral deposit is worth 3 trillion, not just a paltry 1 trillion:

Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth is worth at least $3tn – triple a US estimate made this week – according to the government’s top mining official. 

They also suggest war propaganda:

Geologists have known for decades that Afghanistan has vast deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and other prized minerals, but a US briefing this week put a startling$1tn price tag on the reserves. Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said today that he had seen geological assessments and industry estimates that the minerals were worth at least $3tn.Critics of the war questioned why the country’s mineral wealth was being promoted at a time when violence was on the rise and the international coalition was under pressure to prove its counterinsurgency strategy was working. US officials argued that if Afghanistan was seen to have a bright economic future, it could help convince people that securing the country was worth the fight. It could also give Afghans hope, they said.

Reportedly, Afghan President Karzai gave “priority” to Japan to develop the minerals:

During an appearance at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, Karzai focused on his country’s mineral deposits. He pointed to Japan’s status as Afghanistan’s second-biggest donor, and reasoned that Japan should enjoy special access to Afghan resources with estimated values that range from $1-3 trillion dollars.  “Morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years,” Karzai told the institute.  “What . . . we have to reciprocate with is this opportunity of mineral resources, that we must return at the goodwill of the Japanese people by giving Japan priority to come and explore and extract,” Karzai said.

If it’s U.S. war propaganda, then the Canadian press has bought into it, too.  Note the tone of this Montreal Gazette piece on “Golden Opportunities”:

A landlocked country the size of Manitoba or Texas, with nothing but rocks to fight over, turns out to be a treasure house of minerals. The initial conservative estimate is that Afghanistan has $420 billion of iron deposits, $275 billion of copper, $50 billion of cobalt, and $25 billion of gold. If the $3 trillion estimate proves out, there could be more than $1.2 trillion of iron alone, more than the size of the initial estimate and nearly equivalent to the GDP of Canada, one of the richest countries in the world. And our wealth derives precisely from our abundance of natural resources -including the very minerals discovered in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is rich. Who knew? Well, it seems the Soviets had some inkling during their occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s, and U.S. geologists stumbled across some of their charts and data, but have only recently put all the pieces of the mineral deposits together…

Who knew, indeed?  The story seems suspicious, and considering that not much more has been reported on the topic from the U.S. government, it could very well be a piece of war propaganda designed to bolster U.S. business and ordinary citizen support for the war that never seems to end. 

How could the Soviets, whos spent 10 years fighting in Afghanistan, not know about this?  This could be read as post-Cold War anti-Soviet propaganda: the USSR was too dumb to know they were sitting on 1-3 trillion dollars worth of minerals.  Does this sound right to you?  The USSR government was many things, but stupid is not one of them. 

For a good history on the “mineral deposit riches in Afghanistan” story, see The Atlantic :

…a simple Google search identifies any number of previous stories with similar details.  “The Bush Administration concluded in 2007 that Afghanistan was potentially sitting on a goldmine of mineral resources and that this fact ought to become a central point of U.S. policy in bolstering the government.”  The Soviets knew this in 1985, as a 2002 history of the region’s economy shows…

The way in which the story was presented — with on-the-record quotations from the Commander in Chief of CENTCOM, no less — and the weird promotion of a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense to Undersecretary of Defense suggest a broad and deliberate information operation designed to influence public opinion on the course of the war.

The Obama administration and the military know that a page-one, throat-clearing New York Times story will get instant worldwide attention. The story is accurate, but the news is not that new; let’s think a bit harder about the context.

True story, truly war propaganda.

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By Joshua, June 21, 2010 2:32 am

Toothy condom invented, has to be seen to be believed:

South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers was on call one night four decades ago when a devastated rape victim walked in. Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse.  “She looked at me and said, ‘If only I had teeth down there,’” recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. “I promised her I’d do something to help people like her one day.” Forty years later, Rape-aXe was born.  Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man’s penis during penetration, Ehlers said. Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it — a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.  “It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it’s on,” she said. “If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter… however, it doesn’t break the skin, and there’s no danger of fluid exposure.”

Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.  “I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe,” she said.

After the trial period, they’ll be available for about $2 a piece. She hopes the women will report back to her.

“The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she’s going out on some kind of blind date … or to an area she’s not comfortable with,” she said.

Here it is:  THE MANGLER.

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By Joshua, June 14, 2010 3:33 am

Or, it may escalate it, as I’m sure the Taliban would like to get control of it:

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.  An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.  “There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

This could be major news or, if it turns out to be les than expected, not much news at all.  I don’t know of a similar story: untapped mineral deposits substantially altering war.  Some things about it are suspicious.  How did the Soviets not find it in 10 years of war?  How did no one else in Afghanistan but the Americans find it?  If the Chinese are so interested in mining Afghanistan, how did they not find it earlier?

Imagine the future, if this turns out to be true: this is the biggest “mineral rush” in the history of the world, in a time of intense warfare, in an undemocratic country with an enemy such as the Taliban determined to stick it out for as long as it takes.  Even if mines could be made, the Taliban, if they don’t control the country, will be sure to target the mines in their attacks.  Karzai could be sitting on the world’s largest battery-producing empire in a time when batteries are becoming the New Oil.

Continue reading '1 Trillion Dollars Worth of Minerals in Afghanistan May Turn Tide of War'»

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By Joshua, June 11, 2010 1:48 am

Shades of 1980-era Poland, when Solidarity helped form a large strike at Gdansk and, later, across Poland, in order to demand concessions from the communist state: they wanted to form an independent trade union (independent from the state, that is).  They were smart, well-disciplined, and well-organized against a state used to strikes and labor unrest.

And now, 2010 China:

ZHONGSHAN, China — Striking workers at a Honda auto parts plant here are demanding the right to form their own labor union, something officially forbidden in China, and held a protest march Friday morning.  Meanwhile, other scattered strikes have begun to ripple into Chinese provinces previously untouched by the labor unrest.

A near doubling of wages is the primary goal of the approximately 1,700 Honda workers on strike here in this southeastern China city, at the third Honda auto parts factory to face a work stoppage in the last two weeks.

A chanting but nonviolent crowd of workers gathered outside the factory gates on Friday morning and held a short protest march before dissolving into a large group of milling young workers who filled the two-lane road for more than a block outside the factory.

The strikers here have developed a sophisticated, democratic organization, in effect electing shop stewards to represent them in collective bargaining with management. They are also demanding the right to form a trade union separate from the government-controlled national federation of trade unions, which has long focused on maintaining labor peace for foreign investors.

“The trade union is not representing our views; we want our own union that will represent us,” said a striking worker, who insisted on anonymity for fear of retaliation by government authorities or the company.

Geoffrey Crothall, the spokesman for China Labour Bulletin, a labor advocacy group based in Hong Kong that seeks independent labor unions and collective bargaining in mainland China, expressed surprise when told how the Honda workers here in Zhongshan had organized themselves. “It does reflect a new level of organization and sophistication” in Chinese labor relations, he said.

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By Joshua, June 8, 2010 4:35 am

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, French researchers into personality disorders  had too much time on their hands and made a joke:

The manipulations of  Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars”  saga, have long been ascribed to the Dark Side of the Force. Now, psychiatrists suggests that the actions of the Jedi Knight could be used in teaching about a real-life mental illness.

A letter to the editor in the journal Psychiatry Research explores just what is wrong with Vader. French researchers posit that Vader exhibits six out of the nine criteria for borderline personality disorder. Unstable moods, interpersonal relationships, and behaviors are all characteristics of this condition, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. It affects 2 percent of adults, mostly young women.

The young Anakin Skywalker was separated from his mother at an early age, and his father was absent, factors that could have contributed to borderline personality disorder. His “infantile illusions of omnipotence” and “dysfunctional experiences of self and others” are also indicative of this condition from an early age.

The researchers argue that Vader experienced two “dissociative episodes,” one when he exterminated the Tuskan people after his mother’s death, and the other when he killed all of the Jedi younglings. He often showed impulsive behavior and had difficulty controlling his anger. He also may have showcased a disturbance in identity by turning to the dark side and changing his name.

Darth Vader may thus be used to educate the public about borderline personality disorder and help combat stigma associated with mental illness.

But Emory psychiatrist Dr. Charles Raison, CNNhealth.com’s mental health expert, has a different take. In the original three movies – which are the last three chronologically – Vader appears to be under the control of an evil emperor, making his character difficult to ascribe to a psychiatric disorder.

You can hear Darth Vader’s response here.

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By Joshua, June 8, 2010 1:35 am

Anti-Israel (and anti-Jew) comments spell the end of the era of Helen Thomas:

Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas announced her retirement Monday following an uproar over comments she made last month about Jews in Israel. 

Hearst Corporation, which employed Thomas as a columnist, put out a brief story via Hearst News Service announcing the retirement “effective immediately.” 

The controversy escalated quickly over the weekend after the video surfaced online showing Thomas last month saying Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine,” suggesting they go instead to Germany, Poland and the United States. The video, shot by New York Rabbi David Nesenoff, was posted on several prominent websites and prompted a swift apology from Thomas on Friday.

“I deeply regret my comments,” she said in the statement, claiming they “do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance.” 

The apology did not satisfy her critics. 

Lanny Davis, former special counsel to and White House spokesman for President Bill Clinton, said the apology “was not direct and didn’t address the merits of her belief in the stereotype that Jews are aliens in Israel and don’t belong there.” 

You can watch the video here.

UPDATE: