Wednesday-Night

Last Wednesday Night’s discussion encompassed lunar-based solar technology, reports by Kimon of exciting developments in the New School of Athens global governance initiative, the environment, the economy and, of course, acclamation of the publishing achievement that has given birth to The Metropolitain. It was a full and challenging evening which we […]

(Reuters)FACTBOX: Facts about Lebanon’s Hezbollah
(Al Jazeera) Timeline: Crisis in Lebanon

May 11
Fighting spreads east of Beirut
Fighting between rival militias in Lebanon has spread to the mainly Druze mountains just south of Beirut.
Hezbollah and its anti-government allies, using heavy weapons and small arms, attacked areas held by followers of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.
May 10
Hezbollah Begins to […]

“Israel for ever” Magnificent Photos
Israel through my lens: Sixty Years As a Photojournalist
by Shimon Peres (Foreword), Ruth Corman (Contributor),
David Rubinger (Photographer)

The June 10, 1967 iconic David Rubinger photo above of three Israeli paratroopers who had reached the Western Wall has very special significance to us. David gave us a signed copy […]

See also The Economy - What went wrong and what’s next? and Global Monitoring Report and World Hunger

US blights Asia outlook
Emerging Markets - 5th May 2008
By Steve Garton
The credit crunch has not yet played itself out, and Asian economies are not immune from the effects of falling export revenues, leading financiers insisted this weekend. […]

See also Iraq 5 years later
Nuri al-Maliki, a dogged survivor
Apr 24th 2008 | BAGHDAD AND CAIRO
From The Economist print edition
Recent military and political developments offer a gleam of hope that Iraq’s government can start building a stronger consensus towards an eventual peace
In a reversal of fortune, Iraqi government troops took control of districts of […]

First, we would draw your attention to last Wednesday’s discussion of China, Tibet & the Olympics - a number of points worth pondering.
NB:
Those of you who were with us last week heard about the Spring Concert to be performed on April 26th by Octet Plus, a choir that includes David Oliver and Holly Jonas. […]

World Bank IMF
IMF’s Global economic prospects for 2009 (.pdf)
April 11
Climate Change Rises On World Bank Agenda
(Reuters Planet Ark) WASHINGTON - Climate change is now one of the World Bank’s top concerns because of its expected impact on health and economic growth in developing countries, the bank’s lead environmental economist said.
Latin […]

This Wednesday, it is a somewhat random-access agenda. Despite (or perhaps because of) our careful monitoring of topics of interest, we find that many are in the category of “been there, done that” too recently and there is little obvious progress in the files. However, there are others that have been somewhat neglected in […]

March 24
The War, The Media, and Ahmed Chalabi

As the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War is marked, and the 4,000th U.S. troop death is reported, an NBC News investigative producer is taking a look back at the man who aided the American cause for war.
In The Man Who Pushed America to War, NBC News investigative […]

February 28, 2008
(NYT) Cash-Rich, Publicity-Shy, Abu Dhabi Fund Draws Scrutiny
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Abu Dhabi has about 9 percent of the world’s oil and 0.02 percent of its population. The result is a surfeit of petrodollars, much of which is funneled into a secretive, government-controlled investment fund that is helping to shift the balance of power […]