Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Eurasia Review: News & Analysis

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• Romney’s Policy On Latin America: Not Much To Look At – Analysis
• Mauritania: Salafists Renounce Al-Qaeda, Seek Release
• Greece: “An Unsafe Environment For Migrants”
• Can US Media Find Common Ground In Religion, Politics? – OpEd
• Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Paulos Dies
• Kachin Refugees Fear Ouster From China
• Silk Cocoon: New Vaccine And Antibiotic Stabilisation Technology
• US Realists, Neocons And The War In Syria – OpEd
• Can The Empire Strike Back?: US, China And U-Tapao – Analysis
• Maoist Organisational Upheaval In Odisha: Some Implications – Analysis
• Uprising Against Taliban: Has It A Future? – OpEd
• Arab Spring Derailed – OpEd
• US Exports To Iran On The Rise
• Preparing The Public For The Attack On Hezbollah – OpEd
• Paul Ryan’s Faux Populism – OpEd
• Brotherhood Under Attack: Fears For Free Expression In Egypt – OpEd
• Mitt’s 13% Tax – OpEd
• Burma: Government Forms Commission To Investigate Arakan Violence
• Afghanistan: Taliban Claim To Have Infiltrated Security Forces
• Georgian Dream Parties’ Bank Accounts Levied
• South Africa: Police Acted To Defend Themselves, Says Commissioner Phiyega
• Apple Stock Hits $644.13 After Four-Month Swoon
• Integration Vital For Asia’s Energy Future – Analysis
• Decoding Romney’s Worldview – Analysis
• Pakistan Taliban Targets Airborne Early Warning Aircraft Of PAF – Analysis
• Class Struggle In Present Day Globalized Capitalism – Analysis
• Mass Shootings Reignite US Gun Control Fight
• Uncle Sam Of The Middle East – OpEd
• The BlackSmith Tax Credit (BS-TC): A Victim Of Politics – OpEd
• Freedom And Bondage In North Korea – Interview

Romney’s Policy On Latin America: Not Much To Look At – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:47 PM PDT By Veronica Salas GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has amassed a collection of headlines impugning his foreign policy credentials since his speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) convention and overseas trip. This publicity he has received all too characteristically crops Latin America from forecasts about what a Romney White House would mean for [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Mauritania: Salafists Renounce Al-Qaeda, Seek Release Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:30 PM PDT By Jemal Oumar A group of salafist prisoners accused of terrorist acts made an appeal Monday (August 13th) for their release, saying they renounced al-Qaeda’s ideology. The 10-prisoner group asked Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to pardon them on Eid al-Fitr, according to statement by the prisoners obtained by Magharebia. The group also appealed [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Greece: “An Unsafe Environment For Migrants” Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:28 PM PDT Human rights groups have condemned recent police crackdowns in Greece on undocumented migrants, inhumane detention conditions, and hate crimes committed with impunity. The Greek authorities began a crackdown on irregular migrants in the capital, Athens, in early August, when the police arrested 7,754 migrants, 1,656 of whom were taken to detention centres for being in the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Can US Media Find Common Ground In Religion, Politics? – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:21 PM PDT By Nadia S. Mohammad For the United States, a country that prides itself on religious pluralism, media coverage of religion continuously factors into political discourse and the voting booth. When it comes to election coverage, religion — particularly Islam and Mormonism — has been treated as a “wedge issue” that divides Americans or a political [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Paulos Dies Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:18 PM PDT By Fredrick Nzwili The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Abune Paulos, died on 16 August at the age of 76, according to his private secretary. The secretary told the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) that Paulos died following medical treatment. According to news reports, Paulos had been admitted to the hospital in Addis [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Kachin Refugees Fear Ouster From China Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:15 PM PDT By John Zaw Chinese authorities near the border with Myanmar are pressuring Kachin refugees who have fled fighting to return home, according to a local Church source. Members of the Kachin Independence Organization this week approached refugees in six camps in the Nongdao district of China’s Yunnan province and urged them to relocate to camps [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Silk Cocoon: New Vaccine And Antibiotic Stabilisation Technology Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:12 PM PDT International health experts estimate that nearly half of all global vaccines are lost due to breakdowns in the “cold chain.” Even in industrialised nations, loss of drug efficacy at body temperature is a serious problem for advanced pharmaceutical delivery systems such as implantable drug-coated devices. World Health Organisation estimates that unregulated temperatures at gaps in [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US Realists, Neocons And The War In Syria – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:09 PM PDT In US political circles, the Syria conflict is increasingly being presented as a discussion pertaining to Israeli interests. This attitude is not substantially different from the way US politicians and media weighed in on the Egyptian January 25 revolution and its aftermath. Egypt mostly matters because of the US-brokered Camp David treaty of 1979, which [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Can The Empire Strike Back?: US, China And U-Tapao – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 10:07 PM PDT By Narayani Basu Details of a recently unveiled strategic review by the Pentagon have revealed the direction of the Obama administration’s rebalancing in the Asia-Pacific. While some have taken the news fairly positively, it is certainly raising concerns from others, including China – undoubtedly one of the growing military powers in the region, though it [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Maoist Organisational Upheaval In Odisha: Some Implications – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:36 PM PDT By Rajat Kumar Kujur Recent developments within the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which led to the expulsion of senior Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, is being seen as something which could significantly affect the future course of the Maoist movement, not only in Odisha but also in different parts of the country. One needs to [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Uprising Against Taliban: Has It A Future? – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:27 PM PDT By Boris Pavlishev An uprising against Taliban has engulfed the Gazni province in south-east Afghanistan, and the local people have pushed Taliban militants out of 50 villages. Schools and bazars started functioning in the liberated areas. According to experts’ forecasts, the uprising might spread to other provinces such as Kandhar, Helmand and Khost in the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Arab Spring Derailed – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:19 PM PDT By Jamal Kanj Last week’s defection of the Syrian prime minister was a public relations blow to the regime of Bashar Al Assad, but had no other significance. In Syria, power is in the hand of a security apparatus controlled by the Assad clan. Despite months of street protests and archetypal autocratic systems, the regime [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US Exports To Iran On The Rise Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:18 PM PDT The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. exports to Iran are increasing despite the rising enmity between the two countries. Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola have faced no restrictions in dealing with Iran, and U.S. wheat exports to Iran, which resumed this year after a two-year halt, are still going strong. The majority of U.S. [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Preparing The Public For The Attack On Hezbollah – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 09:11 PM PDT When the rhetoric starts to ratchet, the bombs are ready to explode. Before the assault the attacking nation unleashes a propaganda offensive that shapes the public mind to regard the soon to be attacked nation as wanton killers, who must be eliminated before they eradicate every woman, child and baby seal in the universe. Commentators [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Paul Ryan’s Faux Populism – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:53 PM PDT On Friday, Paul Ryan, the presumptive Republican vice-presidential nominee, made the most populist speech of this campaign season. “It’s the people who are politically connected, it’s the people who have access to Washington that get the breaks,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of over 2,000 at a high school gym in Virginia. “Well, no more. [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Brotherhood Under Attack: Fears For Free Expression In Egypt – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:49 PM PDT By Shahira Amin The month-long suspension of a privately-owned Egyptian TV channel for “defamation and incitement to violence” has triggered an outcry in Egyptian media circles amid fears of regression in freedom of expression gained after the country’s January 2011 revolution. Al-Faraeen was closed down last week as Egyptian authorities threatened to revoke its license [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Mitt’s 13% Tax – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:47 PM PDT Mitt Romney says “every year I’ve paid at least 13 percent [of my income in taxes] and if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, why the number gets well above 20 percent.” This is supposed to be in defense of not releasing his tax returns. Assume, for the sake of the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Burma: Government Forms Commission To Investigate Arakan Violence Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:26 PM PDT By Hanna Hindstrom Following weeks of international pressure, President Thein Sein today formed a commission to investigate the deadly sectarian violence in Arakan state, which controversially pitted Buddhists against the Muslim Rohingya minority in June. The 27 member commission, headed by former director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Dr Myo Myint, is mandated “to [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Afghanistan: Taliban Claim To Have Infiltrated Security Forces Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:24 PM PDT The spiritual leader of the Taliban said the group’s insurgents have succeeded in foisting the ranks of the Afghan security forces, allowing them to attack their fellow NATO service members. The admission comes amidst a rise in friendly fire attacks. ­“Mujahideen have cleverly infiltrated the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Georgian Dream Parties’ Bank Accounts Levied Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:20 PM PDT (Civil.Ge) — Bank accounts of four political parties united in six-party Georgian Dream election bloc, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, have been levied by the authorities to collect the fine imposed on the opposition coalition in late June. The authorities fined all six parties within the coalition, plus Ivanishvili’s public movement, with GEL 2.38 million for [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

South Africa: Police Acted To Defend Themselves, Says Commissioner Phiyega Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:19 PM PDT Police officers deployed to monitor protests at the Lonmin Platinum mine in Marikana, Rustenburg, were forced to use maximum force to defend themselves, says National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega. Addressing the media a day after 34 protestors were killed in clashes with police, Phiyega said a militant group stormed towards police, firing shots and wielding [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Apple Stock Hits $644.13 After Four-Month Swoon Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:16 PM PDT Apple’s stock has hit a new high after a four-month swoon, as investors are looking ahead to the release of a new iPhone model, and possibly a smaller iPad, AP reported. Already the world’s most valuable company, Apple Inc. saw its stock hit $644.13 in morning trading Friday, August 17 before retreating to $642. The [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Integration Vital For Asia’s Energy Future – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:10 PM PDT By Sunjoy Joshi Over the next two decades, more than 90 percent of incremental growth in energy demand is expected to come from developing countries. Asia, in particular India and China, will account for a significant part of this growth. According to the BP Statistical Review, China and India accounted for 14.5 percent of the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Decoding Romney’s Worldview – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:04 PM PDT By Monish Tourangbam A speech at the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a week-long trip to England, Israel and Poland opened a window to the worldview of the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Though he wrapped up the trip with a relatively successful speech in Warsaw, analysts could not stop [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Pakistan Taliban Targets Airborne Early Warning Aircraft Of PAF – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the Pakistani Taliban is known, has claimed responsibility for a successful raid into the Minhas base of the Northern Command of the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) early on the morning of August 16, 2012. According to the “Dawn” of Karachi, Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed that nine heavily armed TTP [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Class Struggle In Present Day Globalized Capitalism – Analysis Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:54 PM PDT An examination of the social science scholarship over the past 60 years reveals few, if any, publications discussing ‘the class struggle’ in anything but theoretical expositions. By James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer Numerous books and professional articles have been written about ‘class’ – inequalities, culture, internal differentiation (gender, ethnicity etc.). Labor specialists have discussed strikes, [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Mass Shootings Reignite US Gun Control Fight Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:47 PM PDT Despite a recent stroke, Bill Badger was determined to show up in court this month to see with his own eyes the man who shot him in the head in a mass shooting 19 months ago at a supermarket in Arizona, one in a series of murderous armed rampages in the United States in recent [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Uncle Sam Of The Middle East – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:45 PM PDT By Andrei Smirnov Washington does not exclude the possibility of a military attack on Iran in order to force it to stop its nuclear program. Such was the statement of the US Under Secretary for Political Affairs who supported Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in his positive views on active preventive measures against Teheran. At the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The BlackSmith Tax Credit (BS-TC): A Victim Of Politics – OpEd Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:41 PM PDT An important centuries-old industry is again forced to play the waiting game By John Droz The following article was inspired by a recent magazine story about the difficulties faced by the wind turbine industry, as it deals with further delays in gaining yet another extension of the 20-year-old Production Tax Credit (PTC) for generating electricity [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Freedom And Bondage In North Korea – Interview Posted: 17 Aug 2012 05:33 PM PDT By Paul Mutter Nearly 200,000 people are thought to live in North Korea’s forbidding labor camps. The camps were modeled on the Soviet Gulag, though they have long outlasted it. The camps have several distinct divisions, with some reserved for prisoners serving life sentences and others for those who might be “rehabilitated” for reentry into [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.