ides of June 2010

6-15-2010—setbacks cloud plans to get out of Afghanistan—NYT A1
6-14-2010—US discovers mineral riches in Afghanistan; NYT A1
6-12-2010—Karzai is said to doubt West can defeat Taliban—NYT A1

6-15-2010—BP focused on cost, not risk, in well work, lawmakers say;;. WSJ A1
September 2001--On September 16, [2001, Frank] Rich’s NEW YORK TIMES colleague economist Paul Krugman observed that our U.S. airport security personnel are paid and trained about as much as hamburger flippers. By contrast, European bag screeners receive about $15/hour, plus benefits, plus extensive training. In Europe, airport security is considered law enforcement and the airports or governments pay their airport security personal. “In the United States, however, airport security is paid for the airlines; not surprisingly, they spend as little as possible.” In 1996 “a government advisory committee on airline security recommended spending $1 billion per year—about $2 per passenger—on improvements,” but rejected the idea of a special airport tax. Krugman concludes: “I hope we bring the perpetrators of last week’s attack to justice. But I also hope that once the rage has died down, Americans will be willing to learn one of the key lessons of last week’s horror: there are some things on which the government must spend money, and not all of them involve soldiers. If we refuse to learn that lesson, if we continue to nickel-and-dime crucial public services, we may find—-as we did last week-—that we have nickel-and-dimed ourselves to death.” [Bachmann, SIMULATING SEX p.190]

6-25-2010—Ninty-two percent of Rwandans pay $2 a year for basic [health] coverage ... A Rwandan found it “absurd” that an American he met had no insurance.” NYT D1, D6
6-12/13-2010--...a local church [in Lakeland Florida] stocked a [school] resource room with $5000 worth of supplies. It now caters spaghetti dinners at evening school events, buys sneakers for poor students, and sends in math and English tutors. The principal is delighted. So are the church pastors. “We have inroads into the public schools that we have not had before,” says Pastor Dave McClamma. “By befriending the students, we have the opportunity to viist