02/09 Morning Report

Well, the Palestinians are happy with each other again. A new peace deal has been worked out. At least the bullets have stopped flying. There are still a lot of issues left to deal with. First and foremost, there is the issue of how Israel will be treated by Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel—stopping all the aid desperately needed by the people.
(…personally, I hope it lasts…but, it’s all I can do not say “Here we go again”…)

Meanwhile, Hezbollah—and possibly Syria—have some serious egg on their face. It seems that Lebanese government troops a truck of weapons that Hezbollah claims is theirs.

An opposition alliance led by Hezbollah has vowed to bring down the government, and has demanded the formation of a new cabinet in which it has the power of veto.

In a statement, Hezbollah called on the government to respect a policy statement adopted two years ago that describes the group as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation.

But under UN resolution 1701, which ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel last summer, the militant group is banned from re-arming.

Since they aren’t getting their way, they brought in more weapons—with total disregard to their promises. The truck came from the Becca valley—a long time Syrian stronghold. Which leaves me wondering just how uninvolved Syria really was in this. Of course, it didn’t help the cause any when they accused Bush of pushing Isreal into invading. There are those who will think so, one way or the other. And, this is in spite of the evidence that enough bombs and rockets had been fired without any change on the horizon. (…and, Hezbollah wonders why so many in the West don’t trust them?...)

This was a scary announcement. A $1.5 Billion vaccine fund is being set up to help vaccinate people in poor nations. According to Jeffrey Mecaskey, head of health at Save the Children,

"However, despite the great strides from this investment, political and financial support must go beyond developing and buying drugs.

"Clinics need to be built, doctors and nurses trained and fees for medical treatment scrapped so people can afford to seek medical help in the first place.

And we thought a national socialist health care plan was bad? This plan is for a global one! And, for those who believe vaccines are the way to future global health, let me ask a question…why are there so many new flu strains if the vaccine is so effective? For the record, I think vaccines do have a level of positive effect. But, I also believe they are not tested thoroughly.

For example, take Gov. Rick Perry’s recently announcement a mandate that all sixth grade girls should be immunized for hpv. On the surface, that looks wonderful. But, there are problems. For starters, it takes some 10-15 years for the virus to develop. The vaccine has only been tested out 4 years. So, how do they know it really works all the way out? There has been a huge firestorm of protest to his announcement! From all sides, too. The legislature is hacked because they weren’t involved. Even some area media thinks he’s gone too far.
(…makes it pretty obvious there was some serious money at work here somewhere…doesn’t it?...)

In another statement on the times we live in, GPS equipped shoes will soon be available. I think it was about ten years or so ago, the new rage was Kevlar backpacks and jackets. That was brought on by rising school violence. (I seem to recall it even predated Columbine.) That particular fad died off due to high prices. They are still for sale, though.
(…it does make you wonder what will happen with these shoes…and where these will lead us next…)