Funny, America is the LEAST peaceful nation between Iran and Yemen, how Ironic

USA: An UNPEACEFUL Nation

Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 by Reuters

New Peace Index Ranks US Among Worst Nations by Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON- The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.

"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy.

He said the inaugural effort proves "peace can and has and will continue to be measured."

The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.

Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.

The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.

"We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace," said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine.

He said they found in general the most peaceful countries were the smallest, the most politically stable and democratic.

"Democracy didn't actually correlate with peace, but a well-functioning democracy did. Efficient, accountable government seems to be the leading determinant of peace. Beyond that, income helps."

Fifteen of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, and countries with higher income appeared to lead to higher levels of peace, he said.

The United States ranked 96th out of 121 nations, just worse than Yemen and just better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa.

Abruzzese said the United States' score was pulled down by the number of wars it is involved in, large numbers of soldiers killed on the battlefield and high defense spending.

He said the fact the United States has the world's largest prison population per share of overall population also pulled down the score.

"It also has relatively high levels of violent crime,"
he added.

McConaghy said the index would be revised each year and increase the number of countries included. Some countries like Afghanistan and North Korea were not included in the first index because reliable data for all 24 indicators was not available.

121 GPI rankings

Countries most at peace ranked first
Rank/Country/Score
1 Norway 1.357
2 New Zealand 1.363
3 Denmark 1.377
4 Ireland 1.396
5 Japan 1.413
6 Finland 1.447
7 Sweden 1.478
8 Canada 1.481
9 Portugal 1.481
10 Austria 1.483

22 Oman 1.641

25 Australia 1.664

30 Qatar 1.702

37 Malaysia 1.744
38 United Arab Emirates 1.747
39 Tunisia 1.762

46 Kuwait 1.818

48 Morocco 1.893
49 United Kingdom 1.898

58 Libya 1.967
59 Cuba 1.968
60 China 1.980
61 Kazakhstan 1.995
62 Bahrain 1.995
63 Jordan 1.997

73 Egypt 2.068

77 Syria 2.106
78 Indonesia 2.111
79 Mexico 2.125

89 El Salvador 2.244
90 Saudi Arabia 2.246

92 Turkey 2.272
93 Guatemala 2.285
94 Trinidad andTobago 2.286
95 Yemen 2.309
96 United States of America 2.317
97 Iran 2.320
98 Honduras 2.390

109 India 2.530

114 Lebanon 2.662
115 Pakistan 2.697

119 Israel 3.033
120 Sudan 3.182
121 Iraq 3.437

Who is this famous Qur'an Reciter?

Cindy Sheehan "Resigns"

FORT WORTH, Texas - Cindy Sheehan, the soldier's mother who galvanized an anti-war movement with her month-long protest outside President Bush's ranch, said Tuesday she's done being the public face of the movement.

"I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush," Sheehan told The Associated Press while driving from her property in Crawford to the airport, where she planned to return to her native California.

"I'm going home for awhile to try and be normal," she said.

In what she described as a "resignation letter," Sheehan wrote in her online diary on the Daily Kos blog: "Good-bye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it.

"It's up to you now."

Sheehan began a grass roots peace movement in August 2005 when she camped outside Bush's Crawford ranch for 26 days, demanding to talk with the president about her son's death. Army Spc. Casey Sheehan was 24 when he was killed in an ambush in Baghdad in 2004.
. . .
When Sheehan first took on Bush, she was a darling of the liberal left. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used," she wrote in the diary.

She said she sacrificed a 29-year marriage and endured threats to put all her energy into stopping the war. What she found, she wrote, was a movement "that often puts personal egos above peace and human life."

She said the most devastating conclusion she had reached "was that Casey did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think."

Read the full story at: Yahoo News

How Do You Like Your Coffee?

Workers of the World Unite Against Starbucks
Last week Starbucks faced legal and political trouble from its own workers. On the third anniversary of the founding of the IWW Starbucks Union, baristas in Chicago marched into a shop and told the manager they were signing up. (Starbucks workers have chosen to organize without government-mediated elections, through an interesting model called "solidarity unionism.")
. . .
The baristas are asking for better wages (some make as little as $8.75 an hour even in costly Manhattan), guaranteed hours with the option to work full-time and more affordable health insurance. (Despite widely-believed corporate spin to the contrary, Starbucks insures a smaller percentage of its workforce than Wal-Mart.)

Read on at: AlterNet

Lead in Kohl !!

In recent months, the Health Department has investigated five lead poisoning cases among children and pregnant women who used these products. They can cause lead poisoning when accidentally ingested. Children are at special risk because they may put hands in their mouths after touching these cosmetics on their faces. Lead is a toxic metal that damages the brain, nervous system, kidneys and reproductive system. Lead poisoning can also cause problems in pregnancy and can lead to learning and behavior problems in young children.

For complete press release, please check out: NYC Health

In the year that ends with a "6"

Immigration has been a hot button issue. 1776...we saw the creation of the United States and an effective immigration policy began (yeh, being sarcastic). 1846, the US declares war on Mexico and a peace treaty is signed where the US buys what is now California, Nevada, New Mexico, parts of Colorado and also Texas from Mexico for what is now an estimated 276 million dollars- that was a bargain deal! In 1946 over half a million European displaced peoples were allowed into the US with no hold bar...The Immigration Act of 1966 ended the Chinese Exclusion act which barred any Chinese from entering the US and also opened the doors to my parents and many other skilled and well educated immigrants to come to the United States...1976 Amnesty program offered by Carter and once again in 1986 Reagan thought he could solve the program...fed up in 1996 Clinton militirized the border by building a forty mile fence starting at the Pacific Ocean and heading 40 miles inland...then we got 2006 where the immigrants take to the streets, so is this going to be a lucky year this year in 2007 are we going to have immigration reform? Not certain, the bill is far from reasonable, but the Senate has began to debate the issue.

Stanford and Davis students need your help!

I received an email with the below calls of action. Stanford and UC Davis students, if you have more details on the situation please keep us updated. MSAs, please represent.

Students, Alumni, and Community Members are Sitting In at UC Davis!

Today at noon, 15 students, alumni, and community members fromUniversity of California Davis entered their Chancellor's office,refusing to leave until UC Davis commits that both career and studentworkers currently contracted out will become directly employed by UCDavis. These students are still there, and they need our support.Please call and email the Chancellor of UC Davis, Larry Vanderhoef,and tell him that UC Davis needs to give the workers direct UC Davisemployment and refrain from taking any disciplinary action against the15 students.

Take action: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/davissitin

Support Arrested Students at Stanford!

Yesterday, 11 students at Stanford were arrested for peacefullydemonstrating inside of their president's office. Instead of listeningto their students, and taking steps to ensure that the rights ofworkers producing for their university were respected, theadministration responded by silencing students and having them removedfrom the building. Please call and email President Hennessy to letStanford know that silencing students and condoning sweatshopexploitation is unacceptable.

Take action: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stanfordarrest

SICKO

While the movie has met with high praise at the festival in France, Moore himself is quite aware of the trouble brewing back home.

''I know the storm awaits me back in the United States,'' said Moore to journalists and critics at Cannes after the film's screening.

Moore may now be legally liable for the trip undertaken to Cuba for the purposes of the movie. The director is under investigation by the US Treasury Department for possible violations of the US trade embargo on Cuba.

While some argue this is good publicity, Michael Moore takes a different view, ''I'm the one who's personally being investigated, and I'm the one who's personally liable for potential fines or jail, so I don't take it as lightly,'' he said.

Moore expects that audiences are "not going to focus on Cuba or Fidel Castro" but are going to be more interested that "al Qaeda detainees are receiving better health care" than 9/11 rescue-workers, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.

Yet the trip itself is only a small part of the documentary that questions why 45 million people in the richest country in the world cannot afford health care.

Read on at IslamOnline.com

Food Update

Frito-Lay
Earlier this month, Frito-Lay updated their website. Check this out for a list of their products that are free of "porcine enzymes." The products listed are essentially free of ingredients derived from pork, not all animals. So if you are a Zabihah adherent, this information is of no use to you!

(Please note: certain favorites like the Flaming Hot Cheetos are NOT on the pork free list. So make sure to read carefully.)

Masterfoods

"Some of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, such as Mars and Twix, will no longer be suitable for vegetarians.

Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.
. . .
Masterfoods said it had started using rennet from 1 May and non-affected products had a "best before date" up to 1 October."

Read on at: BBC News - Mars Starts Using Animal Products

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream

PewResearch Center today published on their website a survey on American Muslims. The results shows that "Muslim Americans are a highly diverse population, one largely composed of immigrants. Nonetheless, they are decidedly American in their outlook, values and attitudes. This belief is reflected in Muslim American income and education levels, which generally mirror those of the public." If you are really curious, check out the full 108 page report.

The full report is sliced and diced so many different ways, I will have to get back to this to comment.