Israel's Unilateral Actions Continue

Even while condemning any Palestinian attempt to bring about statehood by going to the UN (although the Zionists employed that strategy themselves in the 40s) as a unilateral action, Israel will cede a village that is actually Syrian to Lebanon without consulting the villagers themselves.

Blitz Chess in the West Village

Each Saturday, the Village Chess Shop on Thompson Street in New York City's Greenwich Village holds a blitz chess tournament. This Saturday, I ran into #6 ranked UK Grandmaster Nick Pert, who shared his thoughts on speed and romance in this insular, specialized world.

Machida Vs. Rampage

It's the least surprising surprise ever! After a series of unconfirmed, unofficial statements from both fighters, their managers, and well placed but somehow shadowy figures in the MMA world, the match we all knew was going to happen since Rashad Evans beat Rampage Jackson is set for November 20th. Only the location and the undercard remain mysteries.
The outcome is not. Rampage Jackson, for all his strength, aggressiveness, and takedown abilities, cannot beat Lyoto Machida if The Dragon shows up in form - by which I mean, in strategic form.
Machida is a karate based counter fighter, and though he has KO power in both hands and some serious damage potential with his feet, his greatest advantage is his mind. Rampage is no thinker. He is a mouth, a sense of humor, and a lot of muscle.
If Machida can keep himself under control and not look for a KO, he can easily create a situation for his opponent to get himself into trouble.
My prediction: Machida, unanimous decision.

Odd Traffic Ventures

Man gets ticket. Man tries to pay ticket. Ticket does not show up on website. Man forgets ticket. Ticket does not forget man.
I work off of a truck. Each morning, I wake up around six and head down to a parking lot in Chelsea. I walk over to a decently sized Mitsubishi Fuso painted a lurid shade of lime green and wait for my partner. Together, we drive around four of the five boroughs and relieve people of their unwanted junk, a service for which they are exorbitantly overcharged and we are grossly underpaid. Often, our labors require us to pass over bridges and through tunnels, and our glorious nation's current security culture means that the police often wave us into security checkpoints. (Not as often as truckers who happen to have light brown skin though).
Usually, our conversations with police officers on these occasions are practically scripted.

"What's in the truck?"
"Just junk. Furniture and shi - I mean stuff."
"Open the back."
"OK."
"And your license and registration please."
"Here you go."
(five minutes pass, we strategize the rest of our day and bitch about our bosses while the cops watch porn in their car, pretending a license check takes five full minutes)
"OK. You can go on."
"Thanks."

Imagine my surprise when this insipid script suddenly went off the rails.

"Are you aware you're driving with a suspended license?"
"...No. Why is it suspended?"
"Unpaid ticket in Brooklyn."
"...What?"
"Get out of the car. You're being arrested."

Cops, incidentally, do not read you your rights. They have guns. You don't. That's the extent of your rights, as far as I can tell after being arrested twice.
Apparently, if you are driving with a suspended license, the police are under an obligation to arrest you. In full view of everyone on 35th street at rush hour, a policeman pulled me off of my truck and put me in handcuffs. ("Are those really necessary, officer?" "Yes they are, you're being arrested.") I spent the next four hours in jail while the police ran my prints on a computer that looked like it was from the 80's.
While in the cell, I thought a lot. It was not the first time I'd been in jail for a ridiculous offense, so I was pretty calm. I came up with many questions.
1) Why should a bureaucratic oversight lead to a morning in jail?
2) Why did this ticket only show up now, and not when I tried to pay it on the Traffic Violation Bureau's website?
3) Who was in this cell before me, and why did he draw centaurs all over the walls?
and
4) When will someone come to take care of the man in the next cell, who has bad gas and is complaining of severe chest pains and clamminess (heart attack, in other words).
The police were nice to me once I was in custody, and I had to fight the urge to think of them kindly. It's something that happens a lot to people who've been arrested. They forget that the man who is now concerned for your safety ("Watch your head," or"I'm gonna hold your arm so you don't fall," or "Are you thirsty? Hungry?") put you in handcuffs and is looking to keep you away from freedom for as long as he can. Or she. (When did the NYPD start hiring remotely attractive females?)
Instead, I tried to figure out the logic behind spending money, paper, and manpower on putting people like me - non-violent, unaware violators of a law or sanction they didn't know existed - in jail for 4 - 48 hours.
I couldn't.
My court date is on August 20th. I have been to the DMV, which was not half as painful as expected thanks to my girlfriend who played chess with me while waiting and the unexpected speed with which the civil servants there addressed my concerns, and my license has been restored.
But after my court date, I plan to focus my energies on what happened to me. Why was I arrested? Why are the police required to arrest people like me? What does our culture's obsession with jailing mean?
By circumstance, I find myself increasingly interested in what's happening with our security and imprisonment cultures.

Honey: Yemen's Liquid Gold

No one considers Yemen an agricultural or trading powerhouse today. Though it is the most densely populated Gulf country, Yemen imports most of its food and raw materials and, unlike its neighbors to the North and East, does not have large oil reserves. In the past, however, travelers and traders referred to the area as “Arabia Felix” – Happy Arabia – as a result of Yemen’s incredible agricultural wealth, trading savvy, and commodity production. Yemeni coffee, incense, and honey, together with its strategic position along East-West trade routes, formed the basis of this famed wealth.
Yemen no longer exports incense. The coffee trade remains negligible, despite a recent resurgent interest in Yemeni coffee. Qat cultivation has almost destroyed the region’s former agricultural versatility. As a result, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the UN.
One Yemeni product remains just as famous, rare, and expensive as always, however. Connoisseurs consider Yemeni honey the best in the world, and Yemeni apiculture strives to maintain and develop this reputation.
Honey has a long history, not only in Yemen, but all over the world. Ancient Egyptian art sometimes depicts beekeeping, several historical works mention the practice, and one even finds reference to honey in the Quran. “And your Lord inspired the bee: build homes in mountains and trees, and in (the hives) they build for you. Then eat from all the fruits, following the design of your Lord, precisely. From their bellies comes a drink of different colors, wherein there is healing for the people. This should be (sufficient) proof for people who reflect.” (16:68-69).
Yemeni apiculture remains traditional. The best Yemeni honey comes from Hardamawt, and harvest occurs in the winter months. Yemeni beekeepers harvest their honey using an ancient, all natural method - they smoke the bees out of a hive, then scoop out and prepare the honey by hand. Many beekeepers are nomadic, following their swarms, moving to places where flowers and trees known for yielding quality honey abound. Not only are the beekeepers nomadic, but they refuse to use modern techniques to protect and nourish their hives. Western apiculturists often introduce chemicals or pesticides into hives that destroy parasites, and at times supplement a hive's natural diet of nectar with sugar water. The idea of using such techniques is anathema to Yemen's beekeepers.
Ali, who runs the Beit a-Nahl shop in the Tahrir area, looked disgusted when he spoke of supplementing a bee’s diet. The reason, he explained, is purity. Yemeni honey comes directly from flowers – the beekeepers provide no supplements for their bees, nor do they use pesticides to control the parasites that might easily decimate a hive. Yemeni honey, then, is completely unadulterated, and the Yemeni honey business is subject to the will of nature.
“Bee keepers cultivate bees, not flowers,” Ali told me as he indicated different honeys and where they are from. “They move around with the bees. It is a nomadic sort of business.” Ali has been working with bees for most of his life. “I became interested in apiculture because of my family,” he said. “They were beekeepers. I love this business because it requires patience,” he continued, scooping up some honey and watching it run slowly off of the spoon and back into the container. “One can’t rush honey.”
Entering a Yemeni honey shop, one is struck by the sheer variety of honey types and honey products. I asked Ali to explain the differences between honeys, and how they are classified. His answer shocked me in its similarity to how we classify Scotch.
“Different flowers yield different tastes, colors, and effects,” he said, indicating the row of different colored honey on the counter. “There are honeys that come from only one flower, and these are more expensive.” In other words, Yemeni apiculturists divide honey into single and blended malts, if you will, with a corresponding effect on price. They further classify the honey by flower and region, as well as medicinal properties.
Ali, along with every other person I spoke to, claims that the best honey is Sidr honey, Nobody hesitated a moment in giving this answer – it was an automatic response. “This honey comes from the Sidr tree,” he told me, “And we use it as medicine.” Its color is a deep, dark brown, and its flavor is complex, with a marked but not unpleasant medicinal aftertaste. A kilogram of Sidr, bought in the store, costs approximately sixty dollars. A quick internet search reveals that the price of Sidr honey can rise to two hundred dollars per kilogram when ordered from abroad.
What can honey cure? According to Ali, just about every minor illness. “We use it for indigestion, for infection, for breathing problems, as an aphrodisiac.” One of the oldest medical papyri ever discovered concerns the preparation of a poultice for burns, and the main ingredient is honey. Folk medicines the world over include honey, and modern research suggests that honey does indeed have health benefits, as honey has natural antibiotic properties. Honey’s Ph hovers around 3.8, making it about as acidic as orange juice and preventing bacteria from colonizing. It is also more easily digestible and less deleterious for one’s health than glucose. “The simplest fact is that table sugar is a disaccharide, while honey is a monosaccharide, so that is one step in digestion already taken care of…honey [also] includes a number of digestive enzymes,” said Dr. Sally Chapman, head of the chemistry department at Barnard College. In 1985, the British Medical Journal published a study on the use of honey in treating juvenile intestinal conditions. The study found that “honey shortens the duration of bacterial diarrhea, does not prolong the duration of non-bacterial diarrhea, and may safely be used as a substitute for glucose in an oral rehydration solution containing electrolytes.” Additionally, honey is high in Vitamins A and B, and darker honeys are rich in minerals such as Potassium.
Beyond its taste and medicinal attributes, honey holds potential growth opportunities for Yemen. Unlike qat or coffee cultivation, apiculture requires little water, and, given its nomadic nature, is entirely sustainable. The cost of honey means that, on a small scale, it can compete with qat. Yemeni honey’s deservedly high price makes it a lucrative commodity for export as well, yet only about fifteen percent of locally produced honey finds its way into international markets. However, though Yemeni honey remains a commodity known only to a few, there is hope that it will assume a larger role in Yemen’s economy in the future. Scotch, for example, has grown from a niche market to an obsession in the West in a staggeringly short time. Yemen needs a natural product of the same quality and uniqueness, if not the same effect, and honey seems to fit the bill.

Rand Paul: But Let's Not Get Ahead of Ourselves

Rand Paul, the darling boy of Tea Party activists, has won the GOP nomination in Kentucky, and will be running as the Republican candidate for Senate. His opponent, Trey Grayson, was a GOP favorite, touted by high level Republicans and formally endorsed by Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell. Major media outlets such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times are portraying Mr. Paul's victory as a major victory for the Tea Party, and suggest that his arrival in Washington may stir things up.
There is one problem with this analysis. Rand Paul hasn't really won the election yet. I am not suggesting that a Democrat will pose much of a threat to him, but hailing Paul's coming to Washington as anything but a possibility does seem a bit like putting the cart before the horse.
And anyway, what would it mean? Republicans, from old-school conservatives like McCain to idiots like Sarah Palin to intriguing libertarians like Rand Paul, vote as a block. They maintain discipline, and Republican politicians show an almost disturbing ability to shake off personal convictions in the name of blocking any Democratic initiative. This is how a minority party in Congress has held up much needed social, economic, and environmental programs introduced by the Obama administration. I, for one, doubt that Rand Paul - who espouses legalizing marijuana, opposes the war in Afghanistan, and seems quite reasonable on immigration - will be an exception to the invariable block of "No" that is the GOP.
But I do hope he will be.

UFC 113: What Next for Lyoto Machida?

UFC 113 saw Mauricio Shogun Rua "redeem" himself with a stunning knock-out of reigning light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. After a technical and interesting start to the first round, which show-cased Machida's adaptation to Rua devastating leg and body kicks and, all told, was going well for the champ, Shogun connected with an oddly angled right hand to the side of Machida's head during a short, close quarters exchange. Machida fell down, and Rua's killer instincts took over. He followed The Dragon to the ground, immediately assuming mount position and connecting with several strong punches to Machida's head. The fight ended with Machida unconscious on the ground. He had never before lost a fight, let alone suffer a knock-out.
Rua's victory is as legitimate as they come, and puts to rest the questions surrounding the controversial decision awarding Machida the win last time the two met. However, up until that right hand, the fight was going The Dragon's way. He was checking the low kicks that had to hurt him in their last fight with ease, and even took Rua down to the ground twice. (Though seen primarily as a striker and extolled for his "elusive" karate style, Machida is a black belt in BJJ and holds several victories by submission.) Machida "got caught," as they say, and while he has lost his first match and his sheen of invincibility, he showed in only a few minutes that he is capable of adapting to others who believe they have found the answer to his unorthodox, mysterious technique.
The biggest question in my mind is: What comes next for Lyoto Machida? He will not have an immediate shot at regaining the title. The winner of Evans vs. Jackson will most likely be Shogun's first challenger. Meanwhile, look for Machida to face a second tier contender, perhaps Forrest Griffin. Machida vs. Griffin would be an excellent match, allowing both these fighters a chance to reestablish themselves and giving us a longer, better look at how Machida has learned to deal with low kicks. Griffin could also face Jon Jones, the Endicott native who's been making waves with his ruthless striking (he broke Brandon Vera's face) and his exquisite takedowns. At some point, I hope to see Jones face Machida, with the winner going on to fight for the title, most likely against Shogun, who is unlikely to lose to Rashad Evans (I mean, come on) or Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, whom he has already defeated. Most likely, both Jones and Machida will have to fight once more before facing each other.
This is all assuming that Machida has not suffered too much psychological damage from his defeat. Touted as almost unhittable, Machida has now suffered a loss of consciousness due to strikes. This must have a horrible effect on his confidence and his faith in his training. Remember Cro-cop? And if he does come back, will we still see him looking for finishes or victories as a striker? After GSP suffered a freak KO loss to Matt Serra, he turned to wrestling and BJJ as his primary weapons. Machida could perhaps pull the same maneuver, though I, for one, hope he doesn't.
Ultimately, I expect to see Lyoto Machida compete for the championship again. But he has a long, hard road ahead of him.

The Mind Boggles

Even as they accuse President Obama and the Democrats of trying to ruin the country, rightists, tea party afficionados, even some Southern Democrats, and of course Republicans seem hell-bent on destroying themselves. Literally.
This week, Virginia's General Assembly passed a law. One of the effects of this law is striking in its idiocy. Evidently, one will soon be able to walk into a bar in old Virginny, order a drink, then another, then another, then another, etc., all the while carrying a concealed, loaded weapon.
This is just one of the many actions taken by states to protect those who can obviously protect themselves - gun owners. Even Wyoming, proud possessor of the "I'll shoot you in the face" former Vice President, has passed laws loosening gun control. However, the federal government has not really been too concerned with tightening gun laws. They've been far too busy dealing with Afghanistan, health care reform, education and tax overhaul, and attempting to help the economy recover from the last disastrous eight years of policy. In other words, gun owners and their lobby seem to be acting preemptively. Now imagine a drunk man with a concealed weapon acting preemptively. Right?
Frankly, I am not pro gun control. I see gun control as the equivalent of putting a band-aide on a severed limb. I do, however, support bans on: automatic weapons (unless you're hunting zombies), carrying guns into a school, library, or religious establishment (unless it's filled with zombies), and certain other instances, always allowing for a zombie exception. I would think that a ban on concealed weapons in a bar would just be common sense, though. Whiskey and weapons don't mix, and often miss, hitting bystanders. And given that we're talking about the home state of the Virginia Tech massacre, I am doubly perplexed at the VA GA's lax attitude towards weapons.
Meanwhile, in Utah, it might become, for all intents and purposes, a crime to have a miscarriage. "The Sranger" reports that "A bill passed by the Utah House and Senate this week and waiting for the governor's signature, will make it a crime for a woman to have a miscarriage.... In addition to criminalizing an intentional attempt to induce a miscarriage or abortion, the bill also creates a standard that could make women legally responsible for miscarriages caused by "reckless" behavior. Using the legal standard of "reckless behavior" all a district attorney needs to show is that a woman behaved in a manner that is thought to cause miscarriage, even if she didn't intend to lose the pregnancy."
Utah preggers - DO NOT GO TO VIRGINIA!!!
I find it interesting that the very same people who are always talking about wanting a smaller government pass laws like the one above. An official injunction on what is usually a natural bodily function (25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage) seems a far greater invasion of individual rights and liberties than Obama's increasingly feeble attempts to make sure we don't go into crippling debt every time we visit the doctor. And once again, where were these people when the government allowed the NSA to spy on private citizens without a warrant?
The Utah bill in question also raises the issue of just who may call an action reckless, and what recklessness is. Is it reckless for a pregnant women to go down a flight of stairs? Drive? Fly? Laugh?
Take a loaded weapon to a bar?
Hypocrites and idiots. No wonder Obama's reasoned, rational, and conciliatory tone doesn't work.

Hamas: "Abbas no longer represents the Palestinian people."

Hamas, the Palestinian political party and paramilitary group that controls the Gaza Strip, claims that President Mahmoud Abbas "no longer represents the Palestinian people, and is not qualified to express Palestinian hopes and ambitions." The statement comes as Abbas announces his willingness to restart negotiations with Israel should the latter commit to a three month settlement freeze. Abbas also stated his opposition to armed resistance. Hamas calls his mindset "defeatist."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nitenyahu has often indicated he would be willing to discuss a settlement freeze. However, he also said the freeze should only apply to the creation of new settlements, and that construction of houses, schools, and other buildings would continue in preexisting settlements. Hamas sees any such freeze as pointless and an attempt to "judaize Al-Quds."
Paranoid as they sound, Hamas' members and leaders are not far off the mark. Israeli policy has long included the practice of creating facts on the ground - settlements, people, synagogues, and other phenomena - in an effort to claim more and more territory as part of Israel. Most recently, Nitenyahu confirmed Israeli plans to retain large swathes of territory in the West Bank, even if a peace accord is reached.
Nitenyahu's truculence mirrors that of Hamas. However, Hamas is the legitimate leader of Palestine, having won a majority in Parliamentary elections. Fatah's refusal to relinquish power has led to a schism within the Palestinian community. Hamas picked up on this schism in their statement as well, saying it was absurd for "Abbas [and his colleagues] to negotiate with Zionists while simultaneously refusing a debate within Palestine."
If Israel and the USA want a viable solution in Israel/Palestine, they must cease talks with Abbas and begin focusing on Hamas. It may be unpalatable, but the fact of the matter is that Hamas commands more respect and legitimacy than Abbas and his cohorts in Fatah.

Salinger and Zinn Dead

Each will be missed.

Sana'a to London: No Foreign Boots

As world leaders gather in London to discuss security concerns originating from the failed bombing on Christmas of a jet bound for Detroit, al-Jazeera investigates what some Yemenis are saying. The message is fairly clear.
Two of the most prominent Yemeni tribal leaders, Sheiks al-Ahmar and a-Zidani, have expressed the fear of and opposition to foreign intervention in Yemen, claiming that the presence of outside troops on their soil will lead to another Iraq or Afghanistan "or even Somalia." They stressed that Yemen is capable of dealing with the threat from al-Qaeda on its own, as well as with the ever worsening situations in the North and South of the country.
"We don't want a conference that could lead to a reoccupation or division of Yemen," stated al-Ahmar. Part of Yemen was under British control for most of the 2oth century, and reunification of North and South Yemen took place less only twenty years ago. Foreign troops, particularly western troops, would be dangerously reminiscent of Yemen's time as a colony and client state.
The statements support the Yemeni government's natural inclination to reject direct foreign intervention and seek instead economic support. The government's widespread and well known corruption, however, means that increased financial aide won't necessarily lead to an improved situation.
Intervention is not an option, though. Yemen is one of the most rugged countries on earth. Most of the land is desert, and where there is rain there are also impressive mountains. Almost the entire population is heavily armed - there is a joke in Yemen that for every person there are three guns, and this is not far off the mark. In addition, while many Yemenis are not particularly loyal to the government or the state, they are fiercely protective of their land, culture, and history. Yemen is, according the anthropologist and Yemen specialist Paul Dresch, one of the only Arab countries that the Europeans did not fabricate after WWI. That is, people living in Yemen had a sense of identity as Yemenis clearly connected to a particular land area, unlike, for example, Jordanians, who are mostly Palestinian. These factors mean that intervention would most likely be doomed to costly failure.
Thus, the governments meeting in London have something of a dilemma on their hands. They cannot intervene, and what support they do give the Yemeni government is not guaranteed to wind up in the right place. Given that many Yemenis, particularly in the South, where there is a strong secessionist movement, are demonstrably opposed to President Saleh and his cronies, courting the government could backfire. Yemenis who feel themselves ostracized from the political process will see any aide to the government as a de facto attack on their interests.
I believe that the safest route for interested nations is to reach out to Yemen's numerous and powerful tribes. This means an academic mobilization more than anything else, as there are few in government who can rightly lay claim to the title "expert" when it comes to Yemen. The tribes have, mostly, been opposed to al-Qaeda, and both al-Ahmar and a-Zidani have called for the maintenance of national unity. Tribal leaders tend to be seen as more legitimate in many circles than governmental officials, and so could be excellent bargaining and strategic partners in the quest for peace and security not only in Yemen but in the international community.

GPS

These days, when I get lost, I use the GPS on my cell phone. It gives me turn by turn instructions and directions. I no longer have to talk to other human beings around me. I don't have to look up and around me. I don't have to remember where the sun rises or sets, because I no longer have to consider North, South, East and West. There's no risk of my meeting anyone, seeing anything, or learning any lesson. Yep. GPS has certainly made my life a lot better.

From Osama to Obama

Al-Jazeera today released an audio tape that allegedly records Osama Bin Laden's message to the United States. The terrorist leader and "world's most wanted man" warns the USA of continuing attacks should the Obama administration fail to address and resolve the situation in, of all places, Palestine. "From Osama to Obama...It is not fair," states Bin Laden, "that you enjoy peace and security while our brothers in Palestine are suffering."
Though the occupation of Palestinian land has always been a rallying cry for both violent and non-violent movements throughout the Arab and Muslim world, it is somewhat odd that Bin Laden chose to focus on the issue now. Al-Qaeda has no real presence in Palestine; in fact, Hamas, which holds the most legitimacy in the Palestinian political realm, dislikes al-Qaeda and has almost diametrically opposing goals. Al-Qaeda wishes to wage war on the West in general, seeing Western influence as a corrupting and weakening factor in the Middle East. Bin Laden's organization targets American, Israeli, Spanish, British, and other Western powers and their interests, and therefore has no geographic focus. Hamas, on the other hand, has a much more specific, localized goal - the liberation of Palestinian territory from Israeli control. As a Hamas spokesman told al-Jazeera, "At this moment, we know who our enemy is - the Israeli occupation." (Hamas often refers to Israelis as Jews. This is unfortunate, as there are many Jews who are not Israeli or Zionist. However, as the Israeli government often claims to act on behalf of world Jewry, Hamas' rhetoric, while factually incorrect, is understandable.) Hamas sees itself as the only true defender of Palestinian interests, and thus sees al-Qaeda as both a threat to legitimacy and also as waving the Palestinian flag in rhetoric only.
Many, including myself, believe that Bin Laden's statement is meant not so much as a warning as a tool to garner fresh recruits. The Palestinian situation is one of the most polarizing and volatile questions out there, one that compels both Israelis and Arabs to shameful acts of violence.
There could be other goals in Bin Laden's statements, however. One may be to distract attention from Yemen, where al-Qaeda is indeed seeking refuge in tribal areas. American bombings in Yemen do little to deter al-Qaeda there, and probably help mobilize and radicalize locals, but are costly in lives and morale. Bin Laden's reference to Abdulmuttab, the would be Christmas bomber, indicates an awareness and interest in Yemen's current disarray. The questions now are, why does Bin Laden want attention directed elsewhere, and how best to counter al-Qaeda's influence in Yemen.
Thus far, the Obama administration has supported the Yemeni government against al-Qaeda, sending it weapons, logistical advice, funding, and possibly even man-power. In doing so, the administration attempts to make clear that we are not at war with the Yemeni people or government, but with terrorists and those who threaten the nation's stability. This attitude, however, presumes that the Yemeni people are, in fact, represented by their government. Given the Saleh, the current President of the Yemen Arab Republic, has been in power for 31 years, the legitimacy of his government seems questionable. Most people who have been to Yemen and stayed there for an appreciable amount of time can attest to the government's ineffectiveness and corruption, as well as its lack of credibility.
In addition, it is vaguely absurd to expect people in a country such as Yemen, where literacy, schooling, and the general infrastructure are highly lacking, to be altruistic enough to excuse civilian deaths as by-products of an allied country's strikes against domestic enemies, especially, when the Yemeni government commands so little trust and respect.
The US government, and the American people, might be better served by an attempt to court Yemen's tribes, the same tribes that now harbor al-Qaeda. Many of these tribes are not particularly political in an international sense, and use their relationship with al-Qaeda as a bargaining chip. They believe that their interests are best served because they can threaten the authorities' security. Instead of throwing aide at the Yemeni government, aide that officials will quickly pocket, the US should attempt to ameliorate life in the tribal hinterlands directly, working alongside Yemenis. The paradox is that this will further weaken the Yemeni government. However, in this case, the Yemeni government serves as an obstacle to national cohesion and therefore domestic security.
Bin Laden does not want a stable Yemen. He does not want prosperous tribes. Abdulmuttab aside, safe, financially secure people are not likely to become suicide bombers. Stability robs al-Qaeda of recruits. Palestine is indeed an important, perhaps the most important, issue, but the US should not allow these threats to divert attention from Yemen.

Poor Decisions

This week witnessed two regrettable decisions in the United States. The first was the election of Republican Scott Brown to the senate seat once occupied by Ted Kennedy, a Democrat. With Brown's election, hopes for even limited health care reform go out the window. It is tragically ironic that Brown now sits in Kennedy's seat, as Kennedy considered health care reform of the utmost importance. Brown's victory is hailed as a massive upset and defeat for the Obama administration's agenda, and so it is. However, it is a bigger tragedy for the 47 million uninsured Americans, and will prove, in my opinion, a horrible decision economically. Many addressed the cost of Obama's health care bill, and many bemoaned that it would lead to "big government." (I wonder where these complaints were when the PATRIOT Act became law, or when the NSA wire-tapped citizens.) Few, however, have examined the effects of a large portion of the American work force unable to seek medical treatment. I believe that a healthy work force leads to a healthy economy, and my question to those who oppose universal health care is the following: Why do you want Americans sick? Why are you against every American's right to seek treatment?
The voters of Mass. already have health insurance provided by the state. Perhaps it was too much to expect them to be a little altruistic.
The second decision occurred today, when the US Supreme Court decimated years of bipartisan campaign finance reform, ruling that corporations and trade unions may spend freely on candidates during campaign season. The court also struck down the McCain-Feingold finance bill, which prevented groups with deep war chests inundating private citizens with campaign ads during the final phases of campaign season.
I foresee two results of this decision. First and foremost, candidates will continue to court corporations, unions, and other large groups, not all of which serve the public interest, instead of voters themselves. We regular citizens cannot offer the same ad money, but we can provide an audience for those ads, and have proven ourselves highly prone to manipulation and suggestion. Secondly, this decision continues the disturbing trend of corporations, unions, and other groups claiming individual, citizen rights, even though they are by definition not private citizens. Paradoxically, by defending their right to act as free individuals, these groups erode our rights and abilities as actual private citizens.
Republicans may rejoice at the Supreme Court's ruling, claiming that it protects the right to free enterprise, private property, etc. However, the ruling threatens campaign finance laws enacted by more than twenty states, and so insults another pillar of Republican though, state's rights.
Obama should have pushed health care reform through the senate in the euphoric days after his inauguration, along with myriad other good ideas that will never see the light of day now that Republicans smell blood in the water.

Sana'a's Dehydration Issues

Water, according to almost anyone involved in Yemen’s future, is the single biggest problem facing the country today. One need only look at statistics in order to glean an appreciation for the severity of the water shortage – according to the UNDP, Yemenis, with a per capita yearly water allotment of 198 cubic meters, fall far below the water poverty line of 1000 cubic meters. The reasons politicians, journalists, and interested citizens give include the high birth rate, rampant qat cultivation, the drilling of illegal wells that pollute what groundwater there is, a lack of appropriate damming and rain water retention systems, and myriad other sociological, industrial, and political factors.
All the above issues are real threats to Yemen’s water stability and therefore to Yemen’s future. All played and continue to play a role in the water crisis. However, no investigation would be complete without an exploration of the geological factors involved. While it is true that qat cultivation and illegal wells exacerbate the water problem, these and similar issues are interwoven with the sheer geological truth that Yemen, and Sana’a in particular, is a dry country, with limited means of recharging the aquifers that have kept it alive.
Aquifers are underground repositories of water, and the reason why places without access to rivers or lakes – such as Sana’a – are viable and, indeed, have flourished in the past. There are various types of aquifers. According to Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, “There are two [basic] types of aquifers: replenishable and non-replenishable (fossil) aquifers.” Replenishable aquifers have methods of recharge, often thanks to the flow of groundwater, such as in the Midwestern United States, and sometimes thanks to significant rainfall. Fossil aquifers, on the other hand, are “aquifers with no appreciable modern recharge and which cannot discharge naturally…they cannot be utilized sustainably as any withdrawal eventually will exhaust the resource,” writes Gabriel Eckstein, director of the International Water Project. In short, fossil aquifers are “dead” aquifers. Neither rainwater nor groundwater flow can recharge these aquifers to any significant degree; the water is old and, though sometimes potable, stagnant. Most importantly, fossil aquifers have an expiration date.
Sana’a rests on a plateau in the mountains, the same mountains that block the majority of the clouds that might supply the city with rainwater. Sana’a’s main supply of water is, unfortunately, a fossil aquifer, albeit a large one. Moreover, Sana’a’s own geological history works against its water supply. This area was formed long ago in part by volcanic activity and “the older the volcanic rocks, the less permeable they usually are,” writes J.C. Nonner in his text Introduction to Hydrology. Though southern Arabia has seen quite a lot of geological activity through the ages, Sana’a itself has seen comparatively little, and thus the igneous (volcanic) rock that constitutes the aquifer is fairly old. Therefore, not only is the aquifer cut off from recharge, it is difficult to utilize, wells must be deep, and recharge by artificial means is close to impossible, especially for a country as poor as Yemen.
One might ask how, if the Sana’a aquifer is a fossil aquifer, the city has managed to survive and even grow throughout its long history. Sana’a is, after all, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The answer lies in demography and the speed with which Sana’a developed from a small though famous city – Ibn Batutah gave the place rave reviews, saying “Sana’a is not to be missed” – into the busy, dense metropolis that it is today.
Water use is very clearly connected to the number of people who need water. Until the 1960’s Sana’a was a city of under 100,000 people. Water use was correspondingly low, whether for agricultural, industrial, or simply drinking purposes. Even though rain is not common in Sana’a, the inhabitants made use of the precipitation there was, cultivating cisterns of the types one finds in Thula and other assorted cities and villages throughout Yemen. Farmers in the area were particularly adept at using rainwater, and as there was not such a high demand for water thanks to the small population, did not have to drill deep wells to find water. There was a balance between the number of inhabitants and the amount of available water and, perhaps most importantly, a limited number of wells.
Since 1959, Sana’a’s population has expanded by a factor of twenty to approximately 2.3 million residents. The country itself has also developed at a similarly rapid rate, resulting in poor urban planning, the drilling of myriad illegal wells to meet the city’s water needs. In addition, the city’s area has expanded and with it, paved streets. This means that what little water does fall on the area cannot be absorbed into the earth. Anyone looking at Al-Zubaydi Street outside the Old City on a rainy day can see that the water has nowhere to go. The UNDP, the World Bank, and several other organizations involved in Yemen’s water crisis point out that the damming techniques currently in use, both above and under ground, are inadequate as well. As a result, says Lester Brown, “the estimated annual water extraction of 224 million tons exceeds the annual recharge of 42 million tons (even fossil aquifers experience some recharge) by a factor of five, dropping the water table 6 meters per year.”
Naturally, qat cultivation (agriculture, and specifically qat, account for the overwhelming majority of water use), Sana’a’s high birth rate, rapid modernization, and illegal wells have severely deleterious effects on the water crisis facing the capital. The lack of discussion surrounding the actual geological aspects of that crisis, however, is frightening, and does nothing to ameliorate the situation.
In spite of concerted efforts by several countries, including Germany and The Netherlands, and considerable international investment, Yemen still faces a disaster. Many agree that the Sana'a Basin Aquifer will run dry by 2025, making life in the capital close to impossible and adding yet another crisis to the myriad problems already facing the country's leaders and inhabitants. According to one graduate student at Sana’a University who requested anonymity, the only thing that can save the city in its current form is "awareness, education, and an immediate, enforced reduction in water usage for anything not absolutely necessary to life. But that," he continued, "was needed yesterday."