Posted by
Curt Day on Sunday, June 01, 2008 8:09:29 AM
Best
Why is that much of the best news of the week regards holding others accountable? We had the release of Scott McClellan's book which provides another witness to the intentions of the Bush Administration, the Pentagon's announcement that they will investigate their own propaganda program, Chile's effort to arrest those associated with US installed ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet, a Grand Jury hearing Iraqi witnesses tell of their experiences with Blackwater, and ArchBishop Tutu's probe of killing of 19 Palestinians in Gaza in 2006. But accountability was not only good news as American Mathematician, David Mumford, is donating all of his $100,000 prize from the Wolf Foundation Prize in Mathmatics to both Birzeit University in the West Bank and to the the Israeli group Gisha. Gisha works for Palestinian rights.
But the best news is the agreement by over 100 countries to ban the use of cluster bombs. A little bit of bad news here is that those who not only did not sign on in banning these weapons that keep on killing but even boycotted the talks include the United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel. But despite that, hopefully this agreement will change both the availability of and the willingness to use this weapon.
Worst
The candidates for the worst news of the week include Iran's withholding of information regarding its nuclear program, the Marine Corps' clearing of the troops involved in killing 19 Afghanistan civilians in an incident in March of 2007, the harsh sentences for immigrant workers who were arrested in Iowa, the Burmese Junta interfering with relief efforts, the evacuation of what could be over 1 million Chinese to avoid possible flooding, the 46% rise of PTST in American troops, the announcement that children are being sexually abused by UN peacekeepers, and the attacks on immigrant workers in South Africa.
But the worst news affects people everywhere. Food prices are expected to remain high for at least 10 years according to the UN. Reasons for the high prices include increases in the price of oil, the weakening of the dollar and the diversion of crops into biofuels.