meehawl

The Republic [of Ireland] is extraordinary in that many of the people it now effectively deports are its own citizens. Some of the children are held in prison for days before they are sent back to the country of their parents’ birth. Under a loophole in its constitution (now closed), children born in Ireland were automatically granted citizenship until this year. However, a Supreme Court ruling in January of last year said that while an Irish-born child has a right to have the care and company of its parents, there is no right for this to take place in Ireland.

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International negotiators ruled yesterday that the United States can continue using methyl bromide, a pesticide set to be banned next year because it contributes to the destruction of the Earth’s ozone layer. The pesticide, which has also been linked to prostate cancer and neurological damage, is used widely by American tomato and strawberry farmers and was slated to be eliminated worldwide in 2005 under the Montreal Protocol.

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Charlie Bell, chief executive of fast food giant McDonald’s, has stepped down – after just seven months in the role – to focus on his battle with cancer. Mr Bell, 44, underwent surgery for bowel cancer two weeks after being named for the joint role of president and chief executive on April 19 … Mr Bell began his career at 15, flipping burgers at McDonald’s in Australia and has been with the firm ever since.

An association was found between consumption of red meat, particularly processed meat, and risk of colorectal cancer … High consumption of red and processed meat may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in various ways, including the formation of carcinogenic agents. Heterocyclic amines are formed on the surface of meat when it is cooked in direct flame or at high temperatures. N-nitroso compounds are found in foods containing nitrates, or which have been exposed to nitrogen oxides, such as processed meats.

You know, losing one CEO to coronary heart disease is unfortunate. However, losing another to colorectal cancer just seems careless. An increased occurrence of both diseases is linked with the consumption of red meat, especially processed red meat cooked or seared at high temperatures. Not exactly a good advertisement for McDonalds. Maybe time to recruit some people who haven’t been enjoying the free employee meals quite so much? Maybe someone who hasn’t been chowing down on their cancer burgers for decades?

More here. Earlier here.

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There’s been endless hot air and waffle about the shooting dead of prisoners by a Marine. Here’s the personal blog entry of the journalist who captured it on film.

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The officers said the exact number of extra troops needed is still being reviewed but estimated it at the equivalent of several battalions, or about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers … “Our assessment is that the insurgency remains viable,” a senior military intelligence officer here said. “One of the things we see the insurgents doing is moving to areas where we don’t have a lot of presence.” The number of daily attacks, which surged to about 130 at the start of the Fallujah operation, has declined to between 70 and 80 in recent days, roughly the level before the operation.

So it seems that after thousands dead and a city in ruins that the situation in Iraq is just about back to where it was… except for an escalation in US troop numbers. Stalemate.

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When Ghamer, 36, and his uncle, Mohammad, 52, walked up the street to the school, Ghamer held a wooden stock with a ragged white cloth tacked to it. He rolled up the white cloth as he came inside, and held out his hand to be dusted for signs that he had handled explosives, which security forces would consider a sign he was an insurgent. Once cleared, he was handed a white bag filled with candy and snacks and a microwaveable meal, even though the city’s electricity was cut more than a week ago.

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A relief convoy of ambulances and supplies Monday was turned back by Iraqi authorities or U.S. Marines from entering Fallujah … the Iraqi Red Crescent convoy of four ambulances and four trucks carrying supplies reached Fallujah General Hospital on the outskirts of the city, but was unable to go further. The Red Crescent and Red Cross have been unable to gain access to people inside Fallujah during more than a week of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi government forces and insurgents. The hospital itself was well-supplied, because no patients or wounded people have been able to reach it from the embattled city, Rawi said. “Regretfully, there was no patient in sight”.

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Troops have cut off all roads and bridges leading out of Fallujah and have turned back hundreds of men trying to flee the city during the assault. Only women, children and the elderly can leave. The military says keeping men aged 15 to 55 from leaving is key to the mission’s success. “If they’re not carrying a weapon, you can’t tell who’s who,” said an officer with the 1st Cavalry Division.

That’s the problem with fighting a resistance summed in a single sentence: everyone is a potential member of the resistance. Apparently the innovative solution is to kill or intern all males of fighting age. Concentrating the population into camps is probably what the “military” would like to do next. These were were called “strategic hamlets” in Vietnam. Worked in the Philippines, eventually, at the cost of up to a million civilian deaths.

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