WASHINGTON: Katrina was a natural disaster that turned into a political one for the Bush administration. Gustav, now on course for the Gulf Coast almost three years to the day since Katrina struck, could offer the chance for redemption or point-scoring in the presidential campaign. If the administration fumbles the response again, the Democrats will pounce, especially given that Gustav could make landfall during the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota. If the response meets the public's approval, Republicans can crow. And if the storm never reaches shore? Wait until next time. Since Katrina, which struck New Orleans Aug. 29, 2005, the public pays closer attention to government responses to hurricanes.
WASHINGTON: Katrina was a natural disaster that turned into a political one for the Bush administration. Gustav, now on course for the Gulf Coast almost three years to the day since Katrina struck, could offer the chance for redemption or point-scoring in the presidential campaign.
If the administration fumbles the response again, the Democrats will pounce, especially given that Gustav could make landfall during the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota.
If the response meets the public's approval, Republicans can crow.
And if the storm never reaches shore? Wait until next time.
Since Katrina, which struck New Orleans Aug. 29, 2005, the public pays closer attention to government responses to hurricanes.
Tropical Storm Gustav today drenched Jamaica and threatened the Cayman Islands as the US Gulf coast made preparations to be hit by a possible hurricane next week.Gustav ripped off roofs, downed power lines and pounded rain into Jamaica, triggering landslides and flooding but no reported deaths. At least 68 people died earlier when the storm hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic. If Gustav continues its current trajectory, the storm could hit Louisiana -- perhaps as a major hurricane -- by next Tuesday, although it could wind up almost anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said today.The storm was centred near Jamaica's western coast today, with its maximum sustained winds clocked at almost 65mph (100 kmph), the hurricane centre said.
Tropical Storm Gustav today drenched Jamaica and threatened the Cayman Islands as the US Gulf coast made preparations to be hit by a possible hurricane next week.
Gustav ripped off roofs, downed power lines and pounded rain into Jamaica, triggering landslides and flooding but no reported deaths. At least 68 people died earlier when the storm hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
If Gustav continues its current trajectory, the storm could hit Louisiana -- perhaps as a major hurricane -- by next Tuesday, although it could wind up almost anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said today.
The storm was centred near Jamaica's western coast today, with its maximum sustained winds clocked at almost 65mph (100 kmph), the hurricane centre said.
When a Loop Current Eddy breaks off in the Gulf of Mexico at the height of hurricane season, it can lead to a dangerous situation where a vast reservoir of energy is available to any hurricane that might cross over. This occurred in 2005, when a Loop Current Eddy separated in July, just before Hurricane Katrina passed over and "bombed" into a Category 5 hurricane. The eddy remained in the Gulf and slowly drifted westward during September. Hurricane Rita passed over the same Loop Current Eddy three weeks after Katrina, and also explosively deepened to a Category 5 storm. This year, we had another Loop Current Eddy break off in July. This eddy is now positioned due south of New Orleans (Figure 2), and this eddy has similar levels of heat energy to the 2005 eddy that powered Katrina and Rita. Should Gustav pass over or just to the left of this eddy, we can expect the storm to significantly intensify.
This year, we had another Loop Current Eddy break off in July. This eddy is now positioned due south of New Orleans (Figure 2), and this eddy has similar levels of heat energy to the 2005 eddy that powered Katrina and Rita. Should Gustav pass over or just to the left of this eddy, we can expect the storm to significantly intensify.
How likely is that?
And how insane is it to be using a hurricane strike as a campaign issue?
JERUSALEM, Aug 29 (IPS) - Israel continues to be a favourite destination for the trafficking of women for the sex industry, also known as the white slave trade, and for a form of modern day slavery where migrant labourers from developing countries are exploited.The U.S. State Department placed Israel in Tier 2 position in its 2007 Trafficking in Persons report. And an Israeli court ruled against the country's work visa policy, which forces foreign workers into indentured labour with a single employer. "Israel was only upgraded to Tier 2 last year," Romm Lewkowicz, a spokesman from Israel's Hotline for Migrant Workers, an advocacy group which defends the rights of foreign workers, told IPS. The U.S. State Department divides countries into three tiers. Tier 1 is for countries that have successfully implemented measures to control trafficking (most Western countries fall into this category). Tier 2 is for countries that are trying to eradicate this modern day slavery but still fail to meet the necessary standards. Tier 3 is reserved for countries that have not addressed the issue at the most basic level. In 2006 Israel was on the U.S. State Department's Watch List for people trafficking.
MW:When politicians or members of the foreign policy establishment talk about "integrating" Russia or China into the "international system"; what exactly do they mean? Do they mean the dollar-dominated system which is governed by the Fed, the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO? Do countries compromise their national sovereignty when they participate in the US-led economic system? Michael Hudson: By "integrating" they mean absorbing, something like a parasite integrating a host into its own control system. They mean that other countries will be prohibited under WTO and IMF rules from getting rich in the way that the United States got wealthy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only the United States will be permitted to subsidize its agriculture, thanks to its unique right to grandfather in its price supports. Only the United States will be free from having to raise interest rates to stabilize its balance of payments, and only it can devote its monetary policy to promoting easy credit and asset-price inflation. And only the United States can run a military deficit, obliging foreign central banks in dollar-recipient countries to give it a free ride. In other words, there is no free lunch for other countries, only for the United States. Other countries do indeed give up their national sovereignty. The United States never has adjusted its economy to create equilibrium with other countries. But to be fair, in this respect only the United States is acting fully in its own self-interest. The problem is largely that other countries are not "playing the game." They are not acting as real governments. It takes two to tango when one party gets a free ride. Their governments have become "enablers" of U.S. economic aggression.
MW:When politicians or members of the foreign policy establishment talk about "integrating" Russia or China into the "international system"; what exactly do they mean? Do they mean the dollar-dominated system which is governed by the Fed, the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO? Do countries compromise their national sovereignty when they participate in the US-led economic system?
Michael Hudson: By "integrating" they mean absorbing, something like a parasite integrating a host into its own control system. They mean that other countries will be prohibited under WTO and IMF rules from getting rich in the way that the United States got wealthy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only the United States will be permitted to subsidize its agriculture, thanks to its unique right to grandfather in its price supports. Only the United States will be free from having to raise interest rates to stabilize its balance of payments, and only it can devote its monetary policy to promoting easy credit and asset-price inflation. And only the United States can run a military deficit, obliging foreign central banks in dollar-recipient countries to give it a free ride. In other words, there is no free lunch for other countries, only for the United States.
Other countries do indeed give up their national sovereignty. The United States never has adjusted its economy to create equilibrium with other countries. But to be fair, in this respect only the United States is acting fully in its own self-interest. The problem is largely that other countries are not "playing the game." They are not acting as real governments. It takes two to tango when one party gets a free ride. Their governments have become "enablers" of U.S. economic aggression.
