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| Expect More Fukushimas |
 The
gung-ho nuclear industry is in deep shock. Just as it and its
cheerleader, the International Atomic Energy Agency, were preparing
to mark next month´s 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl
accident with a series of self-congratulatory statements about
the dawning of a safe age of clean atomic power, a series of
catastrophic but entirely avoidable accidents take place in
not one but three reactors in one of the richest countries of
the world. Fukushima is not a rotting old power plant in a failed
state manned by half-trained kids, but supposedly one of the
safest stations in one of the most safety-conscious countries
with the best engineers and technologists in the world. Chernobyl
blew up not because the reactor... |
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| THE IKE PHASE |
| ON January 20, 1961, John Kennedy delivered
his rousing Inaugural Address. But this speech was preceded,
as William Galston of the Brookings Institution has reminded
us, by an equally important speech: Dwight Eisenhower´s
farewell address. Kennedy´s speech was an idealistic call
to action. Eisenhower´s speech was a calm warning against
hubris. Kennedy celebrated courage; Eisenhower celebrated prudence.
Kennedy asked the country to venture forth. Eisenhower asked
the country to maintain its basic sense of balance. While Kennedy
gloried in the current moment, Eisenhower warned the country
to "avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering,
for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of
tomorrow... |
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Obama calls Bahraini, Saudi kings over army crackdown
AFP
WASHINGTON US PRESIDENT Barack Obama called the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud and king Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa of Bahrain on Wednesday to express “deep concern” about a crackdown on Shiite-led opposition protests in Bahrain.
“The president expressed his deep concern over the violence in Bahrain and stressed the need for maximum restraint,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
“The president also stressed the importance of a political process as the only way to peacefully address the legitimate grievances of Bahrainis and to lead to a Bahrain that is stable, just, more unified and responsive to its people.
“The president reiterated his support for the national dialogue initiative led by Bahraini Crown Prince Salman,” Carney said.
Obama’s telephone call came after Bahraini authorities launched a crackdown on opposition demonstrators in Manama, killing five people, days after a Saudi-led force marched into Bahrain to bolster the Sunni minority government.
It also coincided with signs of tension and disagreement on the implications of revolts sweeping the Arab world between Washington and its crucial Middle Eastern ally Saudi Arabia.
Leaders of the Shiite-led opposition in Bahrain have described the situation as “catastrophic” with hospitals closed off and Shiite villages surrounded.
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