scannerclearly.org
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Bit-wise exploration of global and local issuesTue, 12 Apr 2011 07:41:01 +0000http://backend.userland.com/rss092enLoss of prison privilegesYesterday, I visited a group at an in-prison drug rehab programme. One of the prisoners asked me: "Is it true that they can ban smoking in prison?" I had to say, yeah they can, and they have (No smoking in prisons from 1 July 2011) He said, "How come? Could ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2011/04/12/loss-of-prison-privileges_25/
Systematic Pressures behind US military and covert action (Part 4)(This is the 4th and final part of a series of posts on this topic)
Are there any institutions that reduce the ability of a relatively peaceful public majority to counter the influence of the relevant special interests?
I discuss three institutions here – lack of democratic accountability; the poor performance ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2009/05/28/systematic-pressures-behind-us-military-and-covert-action-part-4_23/
Systematic pressures behind US military and covert action (Part 3)Are there any institutional features that increase the likelihood of a significant component of military and covert intervention in US foreign policy?
There are three institutional factors to discuss – the proliferation of US military bases abroad, US training of foreign militaries and pressure from the defense industry.
The US ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2009/05/28/systematic-pressures-behind-us-military-and-covert-action-part-3_22/
Systematic pressures behind US military and covert action (Part 2)Through which institutions are these interests able to have disproportionate influence on foreign policy?
(This post follows on from the discussion in Part 1 of this four part series)
This is a matter of the means by which a special interest group X identified in Part 1 can influence the relevant foreign ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2009/05/28/systematic-pressures-behind-us-military-and-covert-action-part-2_21/
Systematic pressures behind US military and covert action (Part 1)A military or an intelligence agency embodies a concentration of power. At times, concentrations of power and their deployment may be necessary. However, a cautionary acknowledgement is that there is a potential for concentrations of power being used for unjust purposes. I take it to be an uncontroversial precautionary principle ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2009/05/28/systematic-pressures-behind-us-military-and-covert-action-part-1_20/
How did US mass media perform in assessing the Bush Administration’s case for invading Iraq?By 2006 alone, over 655,000 Iraqi civilians are estimated to have died in excess of normal death rates (Burnham et al. “Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey”, Lancet vol 368, Oct 2006). One of the initial reasons given for the invasion involved members of the ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2009/01/06/how-did-us-mass-media-perform-in-assessing-the-bush-administrations-case-for-invading-iraq_19/
October 15 2007 arrests in Aotearoa[The one year anniversary is fast approaching for the media-grabbing arrests of October 15 2007. In connection with that, here is an article written around that time (almost a year ago) summarising some of the issues. The article originally appeared at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00330.htm and appears here with the author's permission]
The Solicitor-General’s ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2008/10/08/october-15-2007-arrests-in-aotearoa_18/
Debt relief programs for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs)The IMF and WB launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative in 1996 to reduce the debt burden of bilateral and multilateral debt for some of the poorest and most heavily indebted countries. Forty one countries are eligible for debt relief under the program. Another program, the Multilateral Debt Relief ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2008/10/08/debt-relief-programs-for-the-highly-indebted-poor-countries-hipcs_17/
Why are so many developing countries in such substantial debt?There are some specific historical factors behind the large debt of developing countries today. Let me note some of these.
Several factors in the 1970s contributed to a substantial rise in sovereign debts owed by developing countries. Non-oil producing developing countries experienced a rising overall trade deficit. The largest share of ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2008/10/08/why-are-so-many-developing-countries-in-such-substantial-debt_16/
The basics of Sovereign Debt (debt acquired by countries)Types of lenders and of loans in sovereign borrowing
The external debt burden of a country is the money owed by private debtors (companies) and by the government to foreign creditors. Roughly 62% of external debt in 2004 was owed publicly and 38% owed privately (CADTM 2005). There are various reasons ...
http://scannerclearly.org/blog/2008/10/08/the-basics-of-sovereign-debt-debt-acquired-by-countries_15/