News Tidbits

Powell Tells Of Dysfunctional White House, ‘We Weren’t Aware Of The Advice Cheney Was Giving’

In First Full Term, Supreme Court Nominees Roberts And Alito Show True ‘Loyal Bushie’ Colors

Search for WMD in Iraq finally over.

145 lawmakers write to Bush: close Guantanamo. Today, a bipartisan group of 145 members of the House sent a letter to President Bush urging him to close Guantanamo Bay and move the detainees to military prisons in the United States. From their letter:

Special ops no longer a ‘giant killing machine.’ Under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. special operations became a “giant killing machine,” according to former Army colonel Douglas Macgregor, who anticipates a change when Navy Vice Adm. Eric Olson takes the helm of the operations. “The emphasis will be on, ‘If you have to kill someone, then for God’s sakes, kill the right people,’” Macgregor said. “That’s been lost over the last several years.”

Pew Research: What Americans Know - Still not much

There is 24/7 Cable News, and the Internet to search for information and yet people people haven't changed much as far as knowledge of National and International affairs. Pew Research did a survey which shows that people, today, know as much as they did in the 80's.

From the Pew Research web site:

On average, today's citizens are about as able to name their leaders, and are about as aware of major news events, as was the public nearly 20 years ago. The new survey includes nine questions that are either identical or roughly comparable to questions asked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, somewhat fewer were able to name their governor, the vice president, and the president of Russia, but more respondents than in the earlier era gave correct answers to questions pertaining to national politics.

In 1989, for example, 74% could come up with Dan Quayle's name when asked who the vice president is. Today, somewhat fewer (69%) are able to recall Dick Cheney. However, more Americans now know that the chief justice of the Supreme Court is generally considered a conservative and that Democrats control Congress than knew these things in 1989. Some of the largest knowledge differences between the two time periods may reflect differences in the amount of press coverage of a particular issue or public figure at the time the surveys were taken. But taken as a whole the findings suggest little change in overall levels of public knowledge.

The survey provides further evidence that changing news formats are not having a great deal of impact on how much the public knows about national and international affairs. The polling does find the expected correlation between how much citizens know and how avidly they watch, read, or listen to news reports. The most knowledgeable third of the public is four times more likely than the least knowledgeable third to say they enjoy keeping up with the news "a lot."

Here is the surprising part of the research. Pew breaks down the knowledge by the different news outlets:

There are substantial differences in the knowledge levels of the audiences for different news outlets. However, there is no clear connection between news formats and what audiences know. Well-informed audiences come from cable (Daily Show/Colbert Report, O'Reilly Factor), the internet (especially major newspaper websites), broadcast TV (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer) and radio (NPR, Rush Limbaugh's program). The less informed audiences also frequent a mix of formats: broadcast television (network morning news shows, local news), cable (Fox News Channel), and the internet (online blogs where people discuss news events).

Interesting that the Daily Show and Colbert Report have the most well-informed audience and Fox News Channel have the less informed audience.

Four Years of the Iraq War on March 19

It's been four years since Bush's ill-advised invasion of Iraq. Lots has happened in those four years. Think Progress will help you remember just what has happened. They have created a timeline and simply calls it the TIMELINE.

Here's a few excerpt:

MARCH 19, 2003: Bush launches invasion of Iraq

MARCH 30, 2003: Donald Rumsfeld: We know where the WMD are

We know where [the weapons of mass destruction] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat. [ABC This Week, 3/30/03]

APRIL 9, 2003: Saddam Statue Toppled

The Los Angeles Times later reported that the fall was “stage-managed” by the Army. [LAT, 7/3/04]
APRIL 11, 2003: Donald Rumsfeld: Stuff happens

Think what’s happened in our cities when we’ve had riots, and problems, and looting. Stuff happens! … Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They’re also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that’s what’s going to happen here. [DoD briefing, 4/11/03]

APRIL 16, 2003: Bush signs $79 billion supplemental spending bill for Iraq [DoD, 4/16/03]
MAY 1, 2003: Mission Accomplished

[M]y fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. [Bush, 5/1/03]

Let me skip here:

SEPTEMBER 3, 2003: Report shows Bush failed to plan

A secret report for the Joint Chiefs of Staff lays the blame for setbacks in Iraq on a flawed and rushed war-planning process that ‘limited the focus’ for preparing for post-Saddam Hussein operations. [Washington Times, 9/3/03]

OCTOBER 19, 2003: Bush ignored the experts

A yearlong State Department study predicted many of the problems that have plagued the American-led occupation of Iraq, according to internal State Department documents and interviews with administration and Congressional officials. [NYT, 10/19/03]

And another skip:

JANUARY 17, 2004: 500 U.S. soldiers dead in Iraq since the invasion [Commondreams.org, 1/19/04]

JANUARY 22, 2004: CIA officers warn of civil war

CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war, current and former U.S. officials said Wednesday, starkly contradicting the upbeat assessment that President Bush gave in his State of the Union address. [Knight-Ridder, 1/22/04]

JANUARY 28, 2004: Iraq Survey Group inspector David Kay reports

It turns out that we were all wrong, probably in my judgment, and that is most disturbing. [Kay, 1/28/04]

Remember Abu Ghraib:

APRIL 28, 2004: Images of torture at Abu Ghraib are revealed

APRIL 2004: Up to this point, the deadliest month in Iraq, and second highest total overall. 135 U.S. servicemembers lost their lives. [Washington Post, 11/1/05]

MAY 5, 2004: Appearing on Arab TV, Bush expresses sorrow over prisoner abuse

The American people are just as appalled at what they have seen on TV as Iraqi citizens have. The Iraqi citizens must understand that. [NYT, 5/5/04]

MAY 11, 2004: Video released showing Nicholas Berg, an American contractor, being beheaded by Iraqi militants. [USA Today, 5/11/04]

Things starting to go really wrong. More Iraqis killed and our troop loss climbs:

JUNE 28, 2004: U.S. transfers sovereignty to Iraq. Bush’s response: “Let freedom reign!”

AUGUST 27, 2004: Bush acknowledged for the first time that he made a “miscalculation of what the conditions would be” in postwar Iraq [Reuters, 8/27/04]

AUGUST 30, 2004: “Catastrophic Success”

BUSH: Had we had to do it over again, we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success–being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day. [Time, 8/30/04]

SEPTEMBER 7, 2004: Death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 1,000 [CNN.com, 9/8/04]

There's so much more, like the Downing Street Memo, Cheney's remark that Insurgency is in it's last throes, Joe Wilson's column...etc. This Timeline will be of great historic value. Take a look and maybe download and save or print. TIMELINE.

More on the Haliburton Move

Raw Story is reporting that "Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is calling on the U.S. Treasury to ensure that a controversial Houston-based multinational corporation, Halliburton, is not benefiting financially from the move of its headquarters to the United Arab Emirates".

Here's my comment from my post from March 11, 2006:

So is it that Haliburton is abandoning the Bush admin for greener pastures or is there a grander scheme? It's closer to Iraq and Iran. And I believe that Haliburton is already in Iran. I need time to dissect this move but it doesn't feel right.

Iran!

The Raw Story article goes on to say:

In response to the announcement that Halliburton's CEO is moving the company's headquarters to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on the Treasury Department to make sure Halliburton's move is not part of a larger effort to increase Halliburton's business with Iran by evading current U.S. sanctions laws prohibiting any U.S. company from doing business with terrorist states.

Also the no bid contracts that Haliburton received from our government is an issue in this as well as Congress's investigation of over charges to our government.

Read the rest of the Raw Story article that also shows the letter that Sen. Laughtenburg wrote to the US Treasury Dept.

More to come, I am sure!

Waxman looking into Haliburton Move

More on the Haliburton move to Dubai from the Time-blog
When I said earlier it doesn't sound right, I guess I wasn't the only one. There's also more of this story at the Financial Times

Is this about tax breaks? Getting beyond the reach of congressional subpoenas? And what about all that sensitive information that Halliburton has had access to? At a minimum, reincorporating in Dubai would mean that Halliburton will be paying less taxes to the U.S. Treasury, even as it collects billions from government contracts.

The last paragraph of the FT story begins to answer the questions about Halliburton's, uh, interestingly timed decision to move its corporate headquarters:

Dubai has long positioned itself as a regional business hub, with a laisser faire attitude to business regulations. The government has launched several free zones allowing foreign firms to circumvent laws barring foreigners owning businesses.

Karen Tumulty from Time-blog also has this UPDATE: Henry Waxman is likely to hold a hearing on this, an aide tells me.

I am sure there will be more to this story.

Haliburton HQ's is leaving Texas and setting up shop in Dubai

Haliburton is following the money. This is ominous for the US. Evidently, even Haliburton believes we are losing power in the world. Oh, they will keep their office in Houston but it will now become a regional office.

From the AP:

Halliburton will move HQ to Dubai
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
44 minutes ago

Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai, chief executive Dave Lesar announced Sunday.

"Halliburton is opening its corporate headquarters in Dubai while maintaining a corporate office in Houston," spokeswoman Cathy Mann said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "The chairman, president and CEO will office from and be based in Dubai to run the company from the UAE."

Lesar, speaking at an energy conference in nearby Bahrain, said he will relocate to Dubai from Texas to oversee Halliburton's intensified focus on business in the Mideast and energy-hungry Asia, home to some of the world's most important oil and gas markets.

"As the CEO, I'm responsible for the global business of Halliburton in both hemispheres and I will continue to spend quite a bit of time in an airplane as I remain attentive to our customers, shareholders and employees around the world," Lesar said. "Yes, I will spend the majority of my time in Dubai."

Lesar's announcement appears to signal one of the highest-profile moves by a U.S. corporate leader to Dubai, an Arab boomtown where free-market capitalism has been paired with some of the world's most liberal tax, investment and residency laws.

"The eastern hemisphere is a market that is more heavily weighted toward oil exploration and production opportunities and growing our business here will bring more balance to Halliburton's overall portfolio," Lesar said.

So is it that Haliburton is abandoning the Bush admin for greener pastures or is there a grander scheme? It's closer to Iraq and Iran. And I believe that Haliburton is already in Iran. I need time to disect this move but it doesn't feel right.

Market Correction - Will it continue?

There has been some good news in the, over night, Chinese market which was expected by many market experts. But some Asian countries and Europe are still down spooked by what happened in our market yesterday. Are we really in a correction? Will this down trend continue?

From the AP:

Asian, European markets drop for 2nd day Chinese stocks bounced back Wednesday after their biggest decline in a decade, but stock markets elsewhere in Asia and Europe fell for a second day amid investor jitters about possible slowdowns in the Chinese and U.S. economies.

Shares in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Australia and the Philippines all tumbled more than 2 percent after Wall Street suffered its worst day since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But as the day progressed, several Asian markets trimmed big early losses, and analysts said the sell-off was most likely a temporary correction to cool overheating markets, although they warned that markets would likely remain volatile for awhile.

"We don't need to worry about a big reduction from here, but this correction could continue for the next couple months," said Shinichi Ichikawa, an equity strategist with Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.9 percent Wednesday to close at 2,881.07, rebounding from its 8.8 percent plunge Tuesday — its biggest drop in a decade.

Bullish comments in China's state-controlled media appeared to reassure anxious domestic investors, who account for virtually all trading. China will focus on ensuring financial stability and security, the official Xinhua News Agency cited Premier Wen Jiabao as saying in an essay due to be published in Thursday's issue of the Communist Party magazine Qiushi.

Chinese authorities also denied rumors of a 20 percent capital gains tax on stock investments — speculation that had played a role in Tuesday's plunge.

Still, investors dumped stocks across much of Asia Wednesday, partly unnerved by the 3.3 percent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average overnight. Comments Monday from former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said a recession in the U.S. — a huge export market for Asian companies — was "possible" later this year, also worried some investors.

And from Bloomberg:

China's Market Sideshow Turns Into Main Event: William Pesek
Marc Chandler, New York-based global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., wasn't exaggerating when he called Tuesday's global slide ``a bloodbath in the equity markets.''

Here, it's impossible to overstate the Chinese and Japanese parts of the equation. China needs to be explored because there's as much hype involved in its outlook as potential; Japan because of the global bubble caused by the so-called yen-carry trade.

First, the China angle. ``Fueling interest in the emerging markets has been China itself,'' said Joseph Quinlan, New York-based chief market strategist at Bank of America Capital Management.

U.S. Investors

That's particularly true of U.S. investors. Over the past two years, Quinlan said, U.S. investors sank just over $10 billion into Chinese equities. The 9.2 percent plunge in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index on Tuesday came at a time when U.S. investors have never been more exposed to emerging markets.

In 2006, Quinlan said, U.S. purchases of emerging-market equities totaled a record $52.7 billion. That followed a stock- buying record of nearly $39 billion in 2005. In 2006 alone, U.S. purchases of Chinese equities jumped to $5.2 billion from $4.9 billion in 2005.

All this means that on a relative basis, China has become the key emerging market for the U.S. ``To a significant degree, as China goes, so go the emerging-market returns of U.S. investors,'' Quinlan said.

There you have it -- the world's most developed markets are more vulnerable than ever to the policies of officials in Beijing, regulators in Shanghai and companies throughout the most populous nation. Yes, China has vast potential. It boasts 10 percent-plus growth, $1 trillion in currency reserves and 1.3 billion people, many of whom are becoming richer by the day.

Brave New World

Yet it also has a banking system that's still a transmission mechanism to funnel money into politically connected companies, little transparency, negligible press freedom and a central bank that reports to the Communist Party. China censors the Internet, undermining innovation in an economy that badly needs it. It faces worsening pollution and widespread risks of social instability.

So welcome to the brave new world of global finance, one in which hiccups in Shanghai will increasingly shake up markets across the globe and raise prickly questions about how stable the No. 4 economy really is. China's stock market is no longer a side show, but a main event.

My suggestion is that you research before you invest.

Wolfowitz wants to bring the World Bank to Iraq

You just have to read this to believe it. h/t Jenise

From Electronic Iraq

Wolfowitz May Bring Bank Back to Iraq
Emad Mekay, Electronic Iraq, 23 February 2007

WASHINGTON (IPS) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq soon, a move that sources inside the Bank say could contradict the institution's policies on engagement in conflict-stricken areas and put his role in the 2003 U.S. invasion back into the limelight.

The move by Wolfowitz, the former number two official at the Pentagon and a main architect of the U.S.-led war, likely means the Bank would release new loans to the occupied Arab nation, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in reconstruction efforts.

"This is exactly what he shouldn't be doing and what the [World Bank] board was initially afraid that he would do, which is to use the financial resources of the World Bank to take some of the heat off the U.S. Treasury and U.S. policy," Bea Edwards of the Washington-based watchdog group Government Accountability Project told IPS.

In a previous statement, Edwards argued that "Wolfowitz's apparent determination to use the World Bank to further questionable American military goals in the Middle East is a fundamental distortion of the Bank's mission, a violation of its founding Articles of Agreement, and a reckless waste of donor resources."

The Bank has a policy called Procedure 2.30 ("Development Cooperation and Conflict"), which states that to operate in a country emerging from a conflict, the Bank must first prepare a "watching brief," develop a transitional support strategy, begin transitional reconstruction, then begin post-conflict reconstruction, and finally return to normal lending.

Unlike the Bank's Interim Office for Iraq, which is based in Amman, Jordan, the soon-to-be-named country director would exclusively manage Iraq for the Bank from Baghdad, according to GAP, which first leaked the information, citing inside sources.

This same article is also being posted by the Inter Press News Service here.

This is the reason Bush wanted him in this position.

Protests in Italy and the Czech Rep. on US Radar Bases

Two Countries, two protests, Italy and the Csech Republic. These bases that the US plans to build are part of the admin's plan to build missle defense systems. Have you heard this from the MSM?

From Italy:

Italians Protest Planned U.S. Base Expansion
Thousands of people are expected to protest in the northern Italian city of Vicenza Saturday against plans to expand a U.S. military base there.

The protest comes as relations between Italy and the United States are under some strain. Friday, a judge indicted 26 Americans accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric in Milan as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program.

And last week, another Italian judge ordered that a U.S. Marine should stand trial for the killing of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq.

And from the Czech Republic:

Some 300 people protest U.S. base in CzechRep
Some 300 people protested in Jince against the plans to station a U.S. radar station in the Brdy military district some 70km southwest away from Prague today.

They branded posters reading "No to bases in CR," "No to war," "No to imperialism."

Most of them signed a petition for a referendum to be held on the base.

A female participant in the protest action told CTK that people miss information about the radar base. She said she tried Freephone which the Central Bohemia Region has launched.

"I learned lies. For instance, that the radar will be built within the European Union," the woman told CTK.

She also said that information about the impact of the radar on people´s health is missing. In other countries similar facilities are built outside populated areas, here they should stand close to municipalities.

The esteem of the US has fallen throughout the world. We've become what we faught in the past.

Reaction to Cheney's trip to Japan and Australia

You won't hear this on the MSM but if you do a little googling and read some of the blogs, you can read what is really happening.

First Japan....
From the Times On Line (h/t Jenise):

From The TimesFebruary 21, 2007
Cheney hit by Tokyo chill
Richard Lloyd Parry in Tokyo

Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, landed in Tokyo last night for what promised to be a frosty series of meetings, after weeks of outspoken criticism of American policy from within the Japanese Government.

Japanese Cabinet Ministers have openly denounced US policy in Iraq as childish and accused the Bush Administration of being cocky. The latest blow was last week’s agreement on North Korea’s nuclear programme which is privately regarded by many in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Government as an American betrayal. Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, could hardly have been more dismissive of Mr Cheney’s visit. “Since the other party is coming over,” he said yesterday, when asked what was the point of Mr Cheney’s visit, “it must have some point for the other party.”

The surge of bad feeling towards Japan’s greatest friend and ally is symptomatic of the unease which has spread since Junichiro Koizumi stepped down last September after five years as the country’s most dynamic postwar Prime Minister. After an impressive first month, in which he began to mend strained relations with China and South Korea, Mr Abe’s popularity has gone into a slump, and he has appeared increasingly incapable of controlling his Cabinet.

And from Australia:

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Cheney visit prompts protests
Ten people have been arrested in Sydney during violent clashes between police and protesters at a rally ahead of the arrival of US Vice-President Dick Cheney.

The protest, organised by Stop the War Coalition at Town Hall, turned nasty when about 200 people attempted to break a line of police and march to the US Consulate in Martin Place.

The officers, supported by a line of mounted police, held their positions as activists attempted to break through.

Ten people were arrested in the scuffle with police which calmed after officers negotiated with organisers to allow the group to march on the footpath during busy peak hour traffic.

Superintendent Ron Mason, from The Rocks Local Area Command, said police supported the right to demonstrate as long as there was no disruption to the community.

He said an application from the demonstrators was received but it was unreasonable for demonstrators to block busy streets during peak hour.

"Police have been negotiating for days with this group and they agreed to hold a static demonstration at Town Hall,'' Supt Mason told reporters.

And more on how Australians feel about Iraq from the Australian:

Public loses heart for Howard's war
Matthew Franklin
January 23, 2007

PUBLIC opinion is hardening against the Iraq war, with 62 per cent of voters opposing John Howard's handling of the conflict.
The issue is looming as central to this year's federal election, with 71 per cent of voters saying the issue will affect how they vote.
The findings, in a Newspoll conducted at the weekend exclusively for The Australian, came just days after the Prime Minister offered unqualified backing for US President George W. Bush's escalation of the war.

The poll, among 1152 respondents, also found 56 per cent opposed the Government's treatment of alleged terrorist David Hicks, who has been imprisoned by US authorities in Cuba for five years without being put on trial.

Public support for the Iraq war has fallen steadily over recent months.

A Newspoll conducted in October found only 31 per cent of 1200 respondents wanted Australian troops to remain in Iraq for "as long as necessary" - down from 45 per cent in December 2004.

Last month, another Newspoll found more than 70 per cent of Australians believed the war was not worth fighting.

The new Newspoll found 44per cent of voters strongly opposed Mr Howard's performance on Iraq and 18 per cent partly opposed.

Only 9 per cent strongly supported the Government's handling of the war, while 19 per cent were partly in favour.

Tens of thousands protest expansion of US base in Italy

This from a nation that was an ally as Bush invaded Iraq! Now that Berlusconi is no longer in charge, the people speak. Italy! Not only did they charge CIA agents in a trial, but now they are marching against the expansion of US bases in Italy.

From dpa German Press Agency vis Raw Story:

Vicenza, Italy- Tens of thousands of people marched through
the streets of Vicenza on Saturday to protest against plans to expand
a United States military base in the northern Italian city.
"We came to say 'no' to war," said one participant.

Organizers said well over 100,000 demonstrators attended the rally
while authorities spoke of 80,000. Around 1,500 policemen in riot
gear were on standby. Several police helicopters flew over the
scene to monitor the largely peaceful demonstration, which was up to
six kilometres in length.

The march passed off without incident, Italian state television
reported afterwards.

The rally was organized by left-wing militants and local residents
who oppose the expansion of Camp Ederle, home to the US 173rd
Airborne Brigade.

Around 2,750 US soldiers are currently stationed at the base which
is to be enlarged by 2010 to accommodate a further 1,800 US soldiers
currently stationed in Germany under an agreement forged by US
President George W Bush with former Italian premier Silvio
Berlusconi.

The current government of Romano Prodi has endorsed that decision,
despite protests from part of the Vicenza population, backed by
far-left members of the premier's supporting centre-left coalition.

Read more here.

US Building New Secret Spy Base in Australia

From Raw Story again. What a great news site!! I reccommend it highly.

Secret new US spy base to get green light

AUSTRALIA'S close military alliance with the United States is to be further entrenched with the building of a high-tech communications base in Western Australia.

The Federal Government is about to approve the base after three years of secret negotiations with Washington.

The Age has been told the base, which will be built on defence land at Geraldton, will provide a crucial link for a new network of military satellites that will help the US's ability to fight wars in the Middle East and Asia. It will be the first big US military installation to be built in Australia in decades, and follows controversies over other big bases such as Pine Gap and North West Cape.

The deal has come to light amid heightened political debate over the alliance with the US and in the same week that the US finally told Australia it would not allow it to buy its best fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor.

Check out the rest here.

Today's News and Links

From Think Progress:

CNN: White House Now Blames Briefer For Going Too Far On Iran Intel

Today, CNN reported that the White House is now blaming the anonymous intelligence briefer who presented the information. According to CNN’s Ed Henry, the White House says the anonymous intelligence briefer went “a little too far” in stating the evidence. But, as Henry said, “that begs the question why the administration has taken so long to clarify those comments.” Watch it Here

And from Raw Story, plenty of news. Here are the headlines and the link:

Exclusive: Top Republican aide says leadership won't force members to vote in favor of Bush 'surge'

2008 candidate looks to revoke Bush's 2002 Iraq authority...

Justice Department leaks own talking points to reporters

Cheney ally blasts Pentagon's report on pre-Iraq war intel

Waas: Cheney's 2002 phone call set stage for CIA leak probe

And here's Raw Story's Link

The U.S. was 20th and Britain 21st in Child Welfare

This is a damning article, from the AP, about the US and Britain's lack of Child Welfare. This is what happens when Corporations rule. And it's what happens when you have a government that is more interested in war than talking care of it's children.

Here is some of the article:

The United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey of child welfare in 21 wealthy countries that assessed everything from infant mortality to whether children ate dinner with their parents or were bullied at school.

The Netherlands, followed by Sweden, Denmark and Finland, finished at the top of the rankings, while the U.S. was 20th and Britain 21st, according to the report released Wednesday by UNICEF in Germany.

One of the study's researchers, Jonathan Bradshaw, said children fared worse in the U.S. and Britain — despite high overall levels of national wealth — because of greater economic inequality and poor levels of public support for families.

"What they have in common are very high levels of inequality, very high levels of child poverty, which is also associated with inequality, and in rather different ways poorly developed services to families with children," said Bradshaw, a professor of social policy at the University of York in Britain.

"They don't invest as much in children as continental European countries do," he said, citing the lack of day care services in both countries and poorer health coverage and preventative care for children in the U.S.

United States questioned the comparisons made by the study, while Britain said it failed take into account recent social improvements.

The study also gave the U.S. and Britain low marks for their higher incidences of single-parent families and risky behaviors among children, such as drinking alcohol and sexual activity.

Shame! The most powerful nation in the world and our kids are ignored.

Here's the LINK

Other World Powers Meet to form a "Multipolar World"

From The Times, February 15, 2007

Giants meet to counter US power
Jeremy Page in Delhi

India, China and Russia account for 40 per cent of the world’s population, a fifth of its economy and more than half of its nuclear warheads. Now they appear to be forming a partnership to challenge the US-dominated world order that has prevailed since the end of the Cold War.

Foreign ministers from the three emerging giants met in Delhi yesterday to discuss ways to build a more democratic “multipolar world”.

It was the second such meeting in the past two years and came after an unprecedented meeting between their respective leaders, Manmohan Singh, Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin, during the G8 summit in St Petersburg in July.

It also came only four days after Mr Putin stunned Western officials by railing against American foreign policy at a security conference in Munich.

More Here