Comparing Israel’s and Iran’s Nuclear Programs

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By John Steinbach

John Steinbach, an educator and author, has written extensively on environmental, economics, energy, social justice and nuclear energy issues.

2011-06-20T102531Z_1917747365_BM2E76K0YAS01_RTRMADP_3_IAEA

Iran’s Head of Atomic Energy Organization Fereyoun Abbasi-Davani attends the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety in Vienna in Vienna June 20, 2011.

REUTERS/Herwig Prammer

Despite being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), since its 1979 revolution and especially over the past 10 years, Iran has come under unprecedented scrutiny by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program. Meanwhile, Israel—one of only four NPT non-signatories (Pakistan, India and North Korea are the others) and the only state in the Middle East actually possessing nuclear weapons—has remained free  from any meaningful international oversight. While Iran has suffered debilitating economic sanctions over unproven suspicions that it might have a clandestine nuclear weapons program, Israel, with an arsenal of hundreds of modern nuclear weapons and a sophisticated delivery system capable of targeting the entire Middle East and Europe, is permitted to act with impunity.

Not only has this blatant double standard over the Iranian and Israeli nuclear programs been recognized by many observers as weakening the international nuclear non-proliferation agenda, but it raises the specter of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Shortly before stepping down as IAEA director general in November 2009, Mohammed Elbaradei declared, “This is not really sustainable that you have Israel sitting with nuclear weapons capability there while everyone else is part of the non-proliferation regime.” As Joseph Cirincione, former director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, points out, “The world does well to remember that most Middle East weapons programs began as a response to Israel’s nuclear weapons—It should be obvious that Israelis are better off in a region where no one has nuclear weapons than in one where many nations have them.”

The Shah’s Nuclear Program

Iran’s nuclear program had its beginnings in the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup that deposed Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadegh and installed Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to power. That same year President Dwight Eisenhower gave his “Atoms for Peace” speech promoting the civilian uses of nuclear technology, including the promotion of nuclear power.

Under the aegis of a civilian nuclear cooperation program established under the Atoms for Peace program, Iran sent students abroad to study nuclear engineering in the United States and in 1967 established the Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) run by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The TNRC’s centerpiece was a U.S.-supplied 5-megawatt reactor fueled with Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). The following year, Iran signed the NPT, making its nuclear program subject to IAEA verification inspections.

In the early 1970s, Tehran approved plans for 20 commercial power reactors, with the shah stating in 1974, “Petroleum is a noble material, much too valuable to burn—We envision producing, as soon as possible, 23,000 megawatts of electricity using nuclear plants.”

With its substantial oil revenue, Iran proceeded to order its first two nuclear power reactors at Bushear from Germany in 1975. It also signed a contract with France to construct two more reactors at Darkhovin. To supply the reactors with fuel, Iran invested in a uranium enrichment factory in France, with the shah lending the Eurodif consortium (including France, Sweden, Belgium and Spain) more than $1 billion for the right to purchase 10 percent of the production of enriched uranium.

In 1976, the U.S. offered Iran a reprocessing facility for extracting plutonium from used reactor fuel. “Introduction of nuclear power will provide for the growing needs of Iran’s economy,” Washington stated, “and free remaining oil reserves for export or conversion to petrochemicals.” This argument supporting nuclear power continues to be the basis of Iran’s current nuclear power rationale.

In addition, Iran signed an agreement with the apartheid regime in South Africa whereby Iran helped finance the development of nuclear fuel technology in return for guaranteed supplies of enriched uranium.

By the late 1970s, concerns about nuclear proliferation and a potential Iranian nuclear weapons program resulted in erosion of U.S. support for Iran’s nuclear ambitions. American pressure on France and Germany led to cancellation of the Bushear and Darkhovin reactors. France refused to deliver the enriched uranium purchased under the Eurodif partnership. The plutonium-reprocessing offer was withdrawn. By the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian nuclear program was in disarray.

Iran’s Nuclear Program Since 1979

For the first few years after the revolution, Iran’s nuclear program was at a standstill due to the confluence of several influences:   withdrawal of Western support; the mass exodus of Iranian nuclear scientists; the opposition to nuclear technology of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; and Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s nuclear facility at Osiraq. This began to change in the late 1980s, especially after Khomeini’s death in 1989. In 1995, Iran signed a contract with Russia to complete the two Bushear reactors, which had been damaged during the Iran-Iraq war. The first reactor is now scheduled to go online sometime this year. Officials also announced resumption of work on the Darkhovin project, with plans for an operational 360 megawatt reactor by 2016. To fuel these reactors, Iran has initiated an ambitious integrated program of uranium mines, uranium processing and enrichment facilities, a heavy water production facility, and research reactors.

As it is legally entitled to do under provisions of the NPT, Tehran has proceeded with a uranium conversion and enrichment program. Primarily focused on low enriched uranium for the power reactors, Iran has also produced smaller amounts of 20 percent enriched uranium to fuel a reactor for producing medical isotopes.

Despite the fact that Iran allowed unprecedented inspections of its nuclear facilities by the IAEA, which found no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, the Security Council has imposed several sets of sanctions against Iran. The reason given for these sanctions is Tehran’s delay in declaring the existence of several nuclear facilities, and a lack of transparency about former nuclear and missile-related programs. Iran has responded that it has complied with the legal requirements of the NPT and that the sanctions have been politically motivated. As recently as February 2011, the IAEA has continued to state that there is no evidence that Iran is currently pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a finding that conforms to a 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE).

The History of Israel’s Nuclear Program

Israel’s nuclear program had its inception with the establishment of the state in 1948. Profoundly influenced by the horrors of the Holocaust, Ernst David Bergmann, “father” of the Israeli bomb program, and David Ben-Gurion began a program to develop nuclear weapons because, in the words of Bergmann, “The State of Israel needs a defense research program of its own, so that we shall never again be as lambs led to the slaughter.” In 1952, the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission was established, and the Israeli bomb project initiated.

Like the Iranians, Israel eagerly signed up with Washington’s Atoms for Peace Program and, like the Iranians, was rewarded by the U.S. with a 5 megawatt highly enriched uranium research reactor. By the mid-1950s, Israeli nuclear and computer scientists began collaborating with their French counterparts in the French bomb project, and were integral partners with Paris in the Algerian atomic bomb tests. For its part, France reciprocated by building Israel a natural uranium heavy water moderated plutonium production reactor and reprocessing plant at Dimona. Israel also forged a nuclear partnership with South Africa’s apartheid regime, providing it with technical and economic assistance in return for access to uranium and missile launch test facilities.

Despite Israel’s assurances to Washington that Dimona was a peaceful research facility, extreme security measures—including shooting down one of its own Mirage fighters, and a civilian Libyan airline, killing 104 civilians—told a far different story. Dimona went online in 1964 and plutonium production began shortly thereafter. By 1966 Israel had built its first nuclear weapon, and by the 1967 war two nuclear weapons were ready for use. During the 1973 war, Israel possessed several dozen nuclear weapons and threatened to use them in order to coerce the U.S. into providing a massive airlift of weapons.

By the 1970s, U.S. intelligence agencies had become aware of Israel’s nuclear bomb program, but it was generally thought that its arsenal consisted of no more than a relative handful of primitive devices.

These estimates were demolished in 1986, when a Dimona nuclear technician, Mordechai Vanunu, smuggled out hundreds of photos published in the Sunday—London Times. Analysis by senior nuclear weapons designers Frank Barnaby and Ted Taylor showed that Israel possessed approximately 200 highly sophisticated nuclear weapons, including boosted fission and, perhaps, hydrogen bombs. Barnaby concluded, “The acquisition by Israel of lithium deuteride implies that it has become a thermonuclear-weapon power—a manufacturer of hydrogen bombs—Israel has the ability to turn out the weapons with a yield of 200-250 kilotons.”

Although Israel maintained—and still maintains—a position of “nuclear ambiguity,” neither acknowledging or denying its nuclear arsenal, the Israeli “bomb in the basement” was now an open secret.

Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal

Most estimates of Israel’s current nuclear arsenal range from about 100 to over 400 weapons, making it comparable in size to the British, French and Chinese arsenals. However, given the sophistication of the weapons and their delivery systems, and the immense power of these weapons, the actual size of the Israeli arsenal is largely moot. Even at the lowest estimates, Israel possesses enough nuclear weapons to destroy every major Middle Eastern city several times over. Like the U.S. and Russia, the Israeli nuclear threat is based on a triad of delivery systems: long-range bombers, ballistic missiles and submarines, with which it can target all of Europe and the Middle East, and much of Asia and Africa.

The Israeli nuclear bomber fleet consists of 25 F-15-E and 102 highly modified F-16-I fighter-bombers with a reported range of nearly 4,500 kilometers—enough to fly from Israel to Iran and back. The Israeli ballistic missile arsenal consists of approximately 100 Jericho-1 and 50 Jericho-2 missiles. The Jericho-1 missile has a range of over 500 kilometers and can reach Damascus or Cairo. According to the widely respected Jane’s Intelligence Review, the Jericho-2 has an extended range of approximately 5,000 kilometers carrying a 2,500 kilogram payload. A more powerful missile called Jericho-3 is under development.

The third leg of the triad consists of five Dolphin-Class submarines (three currently deployed and two more scheduled for deployment in 2011 or 2012). These super-sophisticated diesel-powered subs, built for Israel by the Germans, have an extended range of about 8,000 kilometers. The two new subs scheduled for delivery during the coming year have an extended range of 10,000 kilometers.

In 2000, an Israeli submarine successfully launched a cruise missile that destroyed a target more than 900 miles away. Israel currently is stationing its submarines in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea—targeting Iran.

Washington Report

13-29

Why the 21st Century Will Not Belong to China

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Editor’s Note: The following is an edited transcript of Fareed Zakaria’s opening and closing statements at the Munk Debate where he joined Henry Kissinger in arguing against the proposition: “The 21st Century will belong to China.”

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

China is not going to be the dominant power of the 21st century for three reasons: economic, political and geo-political.

Economic

One thing we’ve realized over recent years is that nothing goes up in a straight line forever. China looks like it is about to inherit the world, but Japan looked like that for a while. Japan was the second largest economy in the world. We were told that one day the world would be run by Japan. It didn’t turn out that way.

Most Asian Tigers have grown at about 9% a year for 20-25 years and then shifted downward to 6% or 5% growth. I’m not predicting any kind of Chinese crash. I am simply saying that China will follow that law of large numbers and regress at some point to a slower growth rate – perhaps a little bit later than the others because it is a much larger country.

But it is also worth pointing out that there are massive inefficiencies built into the Chinese economic system. They have a huge property bubble. Their growth is highly inefficient. In terms of foreign direct investment, China attracts every month what India takes in every year.

Still China only grows two percentage points faster than India.

In other words, if you think about the quality of Chinese growth, it’s not as impressive as it appears. They are undertaking massive investments – huge numbers of airports, eight-lane highways and high-speed rail. But if you look at what you are getting in terms of the return on investment it is not as impressive.

China has another huge problem. The UN just came out with a report that pointed out that China is going to have a demographic collapse over the next 25 years. It is going to lose 400 million people.

There is no point in human history in which you have had a dominant power in the world that is also declining demographically. It simply doesn’t happen. And if you want to look at what a country in demographic decline looks like, look at Japan.

Political

Let’s say that China does become the largest economy in the world: Does it have the political capacity to exercise the kind of leadership you need?

Remember, Japan was the second largest economy in the world for decades and I didn’t see any kind of grand, hegemonic design. You need to have the political capacity to be able to exercise that kind of leadership.

China is a country ruled by a political system that is in crisis.

It is unclear whether the next succession that China goes through will look anything like this current one. China has not solved the basic problem of what it is going to do when it creates a middle class and how it will respond to the aspirations of those people.

When Taiwan went through a similar process, what you saw was a transition to democracy; when South Korea went through it, you saw a transition to democracy. These were not easy periods. They were fairly bloody and chaotic.

Geopolitics

People like to talk about the rise of Asia. But there is no such thing as Asia. There’s China; there’s Japan; there’s India. And they don’t much like each other.

You are going to find that as China rises there is going to be a spirited response in India, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and others. You already have begun to see the stirrings of this. China is not rising in a vacuum. It is rising on a continent in which there are many, many competitors.

Bet on Freedom

We are going through a crisis of confidence in the Western world. This has been true often when we have faced these kinds of new and different challenges and when we have faced nations that seem on the rise and on the march.

George Kennan, the great American statesman, used to write routinely about how he thought the United States would never be able to withstand the Soviet challenge because we were weak and fickle and we changed our minds and they were far-sighted and strategic. We were tactical and stupid. But somehow it worked out all right.

I think there is a tendency to think the same of China – that they have this incredible long-term vision and we are bumbling idiots. There is a wonderful story that encapsulates this:

When asked, “What do you think of the French Revolution?” Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai is supposed to have answered, “It’s too soon to tell.”

Everyone thought, “Oh, my goodness, he’s such a genius; he thinks so long-term – in centuries.”

Well it turns out that in 1973, Zhou Enlai meant the French revolution of 1968 – a student revolution. It was perfectly rational at that point to say: “It’s too soon to tell.”

So don’t believe that the Chinese are these strategic masterminds and we are bumbling. We have managed to bumble our way to a rather advanced position despite the challenges from the Kaiser’s Germany, from the Soviet Union and from Nazi Germany.

In fact, I think what you will find is that the United States and North America are creating an extraordinary model in this new world.

We are becoming the first universal nation, a country that draws people  from all parts of the world – people of all colors, creeds and religions and finds a way to harness their talent and build a kind of universal dream. It happens over here and it draws together people from all over the world.

Don’t lose faith in free and open societies.

13-29

Garden of Peace Flint Cemetery Update

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By Adil James, TMO

Flint–July 10–The Flint Islamic Center’s Garden of Peace cemetery is slowly and inexorably growing, as one might expect.

Last year I wrote an article about the opening of the first Muslim cemetery in Flint, Garden of Peace (http://muslimobserver.com//?p=6191).  At the time the cemetery had only five people interred there–and at the time I wrote the article I had never visited the site.

Now I have visited the cemetery, and it has grown to about 29 people buried there. 

Most of the graves have stones lying horizontally on top, and stone markers saying the name and dates of birth and death of the deceased, however a few are only marked by dirt.

The cemetery itself is in very gently rolling hills–a very simple site has been prepared for use, of a few acres–of which only a small amount of space has been occupied.  The access is very adequate but very simple–perhaps the biggest investment other than buying the land was the fence and gate that enclose the cemetery–which is as advertised last year only a very short distance from the Flint Islamic Center mosque.  A simple asphalt driveway comes to a stop and cul-de-sac about a quarter mile from the gate, and from there the headstones are a short walk.

I looked at the headstones, and the graves are a testament to the unpredictability of death, with a few older people as one might expect, but also a few infants and some middle-aged people–a reminder to all of us that we cannot expect to stay on this earth for any guaranteed amount of time.

One WWII hero is buried at the cemetery, a Bronze Star recipient–and from this position of his grave it appears that he was one of the very first people interred–a convert to Islam.

The corporate name for the cemetery is the “Flint Islamic Cemetery,” and it is administered by the Flint Islamic Center.  Its policies have matured somewhat since its inception a year ago.

The policies follow:

1.  24 Hours advance notice should be given to arrange preparations for burial.

2.  A completed application form (available at the FIC office) must be filled out and duly certified by the respective Islamic Center. The following items should be submitted before the burial is accepted:

•    Certified check or money order in the name of Flint Islamic Cemetery or cash for the applicable amount (no personal checks are accepted).
•    Hospital release / death certificate must accompany the application.
•    Interstate transportation certificate (if applicable).

3.  Ladies attending the funeral must observe proper Islamic attire while in the Islamic Center and/or cemetery.

Unfortunately cemetery officials were not available for comment before this article went to print.

The cemetery is at 1310 South Morrish Road, in Swartz Creek, Michigan.  For more information, you can call Hossam Shukairy, 810-691-7738, Abed Khirfan, 810-877-1415; or Muhammed Saleem, 810-730-1776.

13-29

Musharraf to Partner with Political Parties Struggling Against the Pakistan Status-Quo

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Wife of President Musharraf Ms. Sehba Musharraf, Former President of Pakistan General Retired Pervez Musharraf, APML Patron Javed Anwar of Midland Energy, Inc., Coordinator of Houston APML Attorney Noami Hussain (speaking); and Coordinator of North America APML Dr. Naseem Ashraf…

Former President of Pakistan General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf addressed the local Pakistani media, his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) members & patrons in Texas USA at a posh Galleria Restaurant, where among others, his lobbyist in USA Stephen Prentiss Payne was also present.

Some of the notable APML members and patrons present were Javed Anwar of Midland Energy, Coordinator of North America APML Dr. Naseem Ashraf, Coordinator of Houston APML Attorney Noami Hussain, and Secretary of Houston APML Saeed Sheikh.

Talking to the media directly, Musharraf said when he took over the administration of the government, there used to be only Pakistan Television (PTV) mic in front of him, but now politicians and others have 70s of mics: “Do you think a dictator would have ever done that?”

He said dictatorship is not in the uniform that one may be wearing: It is a mind set and his policies of opening up the society and making media independent, clearly show that he was and is not a dictator.

Musharraf said there is a word “Niyah” in Urdu and Arabic, and intentions is not the word to explain it: He said true meaning of Niyah is very difficult to explain in any language: It is a very deep word and good Niyah for a strong Pakistan is the driving force for him to consider entering politics; otherwise he is leading an excellent life, delivering lectures, getting well-paid of that, where his interest for his speaking tour circuits are protected by the famous Harry Walker Agency, Inc.: With this good Niyah for better Pakistan, he is going to abandon his present easy life and return to Pakistan, where in the past, there have been attempts against his life and recent years have seen political figures and other Pakistanis being killed.

He said all media outlets need to support any leader in Pakistan for the sake of Pakistan’s future, whomever they think is the person who truly believes in “Pakistan First”, but if the media is opposing someone, they need to do that in respectful and responsible manner.

Dr. Naseem Ashraf informed that during his recent trip to Washington DC, Musharraf met with around 25 Congress-persons.

Musharraf said that after meeting with many political figures from Pakistan in Dubai & London, he has decided to return to Pakistan, landing in Lahore on March 23rd, 2012.

According to schedule, the Elections in Pakistan are in January or February of 2013, which would mean that as per the rules & regulations the present government to be dissolved in October or November 2012 and then an interim government conducting the elections with hopefully an independent election commission.

Musharraf said he is willing to make alliances with parties that are against the status-quo.

People over there while discussing this point, had general feeling that most interestingly those parties, which did not take part in the last elections like Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Jamat-e-Islami, and some others, are the most well known and vocal parties now-a-days against the status-quo.

So question is will he try to establish an alliance with these parties or will these parties ever like to have an alliance with APML?

As they say, in politics and life, everything is possible.

May be the alliance will not be done during the elections, but most likely after-wards with one or more such parties.

Among these parties, Tehreek-e-Insaaf although has been very much against Musharraf’s Administration policies, but recently Tehreek-e-Insaaf has openly admired his power devolving policy of taking government to the grassroots levels in Pakistan, which was abolished by the present Government.

Also recently Musharraf was on a talk show, where the host Umer Sharif said that in Pakistan, PMs do not have long term tenures, while Presidents always do better in terms of at least having long-term tenures.

Plus Musharraf does not have a good constituency to run for a seat in the parliament.

As such his best bet will be to have enough people of credentials from Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam & Nawaz Sharif Groups joining APML (people like Marvi Memon), who at local levels can win elections and then his party getting enough seats to make a coalition government with some other party or parties, where he will try to be accepted as the President and other party candidate becoming PM.

However all this is extremely difficult to happen, with so many arrest warrants against Musharraf Sahab. Can he get any clemency?

Again in politics and life, especially in a country like Pakistan, where things like NRO can happen, anything is possible?

In the mean time, it seems the way things are being handled in Karachi and elsewhere, the PPPP Government is trying very hard that their government gets dissolved sometimes this year, so that they can go back to people and get the sympathy vote saying it always happen with PPPP that the hidden hand(s) never let them finish their tenures.

Lets’ see if all this will at all happen, in a most complex Pakistani society and political arena.

13-29

Community News (V13-I29)

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Sohail Mohammed sworn in

NEW JERSEY,NJ–Indian born Sohail Mohammed was sworn in on July 1st as a Superior Court judge in Passaic County. He is the first Indian-American judge in New Jersey. He is also probably the first Muslim judge in the state.

Born in Hyderabad, Mohammed came to the U.S. with his parents when he was 17. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1988 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and then worked full-time for GEC-Marconi Electronic Systems in New Jersey.

At the same time, he worked on his law degree at the Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, N.J. doing evening classes.

In 2009, he was named among the 101 most influential people in New Jersey by the New Jersey Monthly magazine. He was on the New Jersey “Super Lawyer” list six years running from 2006 to 2011.

Faheem Zaman bags Thiel Fellowship

NEW YORK,NY–Paypal founder Peter Thiel’s Thiel Foundation has announced its first batch of 20 under 20 fellows. The fellowship awards $100,000 to teenagers to drop out of higher education for two years and invest the time in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Among the fellows is Faheem Zaman who  has shot the moon on nearly every SAT test he’s ever taken: 5580 points across 5 tests. He wants to decentralize banking in the developing world with a mobile payment system. Because savings are difficult in poor countries—including in some regions of South Asia where many have to hoard and protect cash—Faheem believes mobile financial services will help bring prosperity to these areas. Before he introduces his technology to the developing world, Faheem’s initial plan is to gain a foothold in the U.S. market for mobile financial services.

Ayman Khan wins water scholarship

LONG ISLAND,NY–Lynbrook High School students Ayman Khan wAS awarded a $2,500 scholarship in a recent ceremony in Albany by Long Island American Water. She is one of the two local winners of the National Association of Water Companies New York Chapter (NAWC-NY) Scholarship program.

Both students  showed a bold passion for the environment and the water industry through their applications and essays,” said William Varley, chairman of the NAWC-NY and President of Long Island American Water. “These students displayed great potential, and we are excited to award each of them a scholarship to help in their pursuit to achieving success in the water industry.”

The NAWC-NY launched this scholarship program for high school seniors interested in pursuing a career in the water utility industry or related fields.  As a member of NAWC-NY, Long Island American Water offered two scholarships to high school students in its service area who will be attending a university or college in New York and pursuing a degree related to the water utility industry or related field.

Ayman Khan will be attending the City College of New York in the fall. She has held leadership roles in numerous organizations, including serving as President of Students Taking Active Roles (START) and Secretary of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). She has also received numerous awards including the Long Island Science Congress Merit Award, Discus Award and President’s Volunteer Award

Khan leaving Samsung for Citibank

NEW YORK,NY–The Chief Technology Officer  at Samsung Mobile’s USA group, Omar Khan, has announced that he is leaving the company for a position at Citibank heading up the financial company’s global mobile efforts. Khan led the unveiling of the revised Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 tablets on stage at CTIA for Samsung earlier this year, as he has done for many of Samsung’s mobile devices over the past three years. Khan formerly worked as a VP for Motorola before joining Samsung. In the recent past Khan often introduced the company’s tablets and Galaxy phones at events.

At Citibank he will reportedly be leading its mobile initiatives.

Dr. Maha Hussain leads study on prostate cancer drug

A study led by Dr. Maha Hussain shows that a prostate cancer drug may prevent bone metastatis, reports the Renal and Urology News.  The  promising results for cabozantinib, a new therapeutic agent for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), particularly against tumors that have metastasized to the bone. In a phase 2 study of men (median age 68 years) with metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) who were followed for a median of four months, 47% of the 100 evaluable patients had undergone prior treatment with docetaxel. Seventy-eight percent had bone metastasis. Among the 65 patients evaluable by bone scan, 56 (86%) experienced complete or partial resolution of bone lesions as early as week 6 of cabozantinib treatment. In addition, 64% of the 28 men receiving narcotics for bone pain had improved pain relief, with narcotics reduced or halted in 46%. By week 12, the disease control rate was 71%. Cabozantinib, an inhibitor of the MET and VEGF pathways, showed clinical activity regardless of prior docetaxel therapy.

13-29

Kassim Living the Dream

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By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

KassimOuma4Kassim Ouma is a Ugandan boxer who is the current North American Boxing Association middleweight champion.  His life has been so interesting that he was the subject of a documentary entitled “Kassim the Dream” which was made in 2008. It went on to become an official selection at several film festivals.

Born the seventh of 13 children, he started out in poverty, and at the age of six he was kidnapped and forced to join the National Resistance Army in Uganda. As a result he did not see his family for the next five years. Ouma started boxing after leaving the army. He racked up an impressive 62 and 3 amateur record and subsequently made the Ugandan national boxing team and was selected to fight at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. However, he did not attend due to financial difficulties.

On a Ugandan national amateur team trip to the United States, Ouma decided to stay to undertake a career as a professional boxer to support his family in Uganda. Ouma later won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Junior Middleweight world title.

Ouma has been a champion and top-level contender in the Light Middleweight division, ultimately earning the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Light Middleweight title. He later lost this title in a unanimous decision defeat against Roman Karmazin. However, on September 25, 2010, Ouma defeated Joey Gilbert in the 6th round of their 10-round bout for the vacant North American Boxing Association middleweight title at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

Among the twists and turns in his life chronicled by the documentary, Ouma was shot twice in Florida in December 2002. Among the violence in his life, Ouma also reports that his father was beaten to death by the Ugandan army in retaliation for his leaving the country. Ouma’s younger brother, Hamza Wandera Ouma, is also a professional boxer. So, Kassim Ouma hopes that, moving forward, his dreams, and the dreams of his family, are only happy ones.

13-29

Gambian Striker Joins Vancouver

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By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Bildnummer: 04293885 Datum: 31.07.2008 Copyright: imago/Reporters Mustapha Jarju (RAEC Mons) - PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxHUNxONLY; Vdig, hoch Jupiler League 2008/2009, Ligue, 1. Belgische Liga, Präsentation, Pressetermin, Porträttermin Fußball Herren Mannschaft Belgien Porträt Randmotiv Personen Image number 04293885 date 31 07 2008 Copyright imago Reporters Mustapha Jarju RAEC Mons PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxHUNxONLY Vdig vertical Jupiler League 2008 2009 Ligue 1 Belgian League Presentation Press call Portrait session Football men Team Belgium Portrait Rand motive Human Beings Don’t call him Jar Jar Binks, the regrettable Star Wars character. His name is Mustapha Jarju. He is the newest signing for Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps. Ironically, Jarju goes by the nickname, Toubabo, which is the Mandinka word for “white person.”

“I got it when I was very young,” he told The Province. “I don’t know. I started playing well and they just give me that name. Maybe I played like a white man when I was young.”
Jarju had 25 goals and 13 assists in 41 games last season for Mons in the Belgian second division. He turns 25 years old next week. The six-foot striker helped Mons earn promotion this season but his contract was up and the Whitecaps beat out offers in Europe and the Middle East to secure his services. Jarju is also alternate captain of the Gambian national soccer team, and he has been capped 25 times.

He is also MLS’s first African to be a designated player, referring to players who can sign bigger contracts at ownership’s expense with only a portion counting against the cap. Jarju is now one of five Gambians in MLS. “For me, the most important thing is the players, the team, we are all the same,” Jarju told The Province. “I hope I’m going to have success in MLS and a very good six months in Vancouver, then come back ready for pre-season.”

Toubabo hasn’t played a game since the end of May, so immediate expectations of stamina should probably be tempered. Tuesday’s practice included the dreaded beep test, which involves shuttle runs in progressively shortened intervals and generally ends in a wasteland of weariness. Toubabo was one of the first to drop out. “I hope [Wednesday], not the beep test again,” he said.
Toubabo is well aware of the team’s struggles, and the expectations that will follow him. “I scored a lot of goals in the past season,” he said, “and I hope on Saturday I’ll start scoring again. But we have to do it as a group. One man can’t do it.”

“Being at the age he is, we’re excited where he can get to,” said Caps’ coach and director of soccer operations Tommy Soehn, who first saw the player on DVDs, then live in Belgium. “The thing that drew us to him was his nose for the goal, and his ability to set up goals.”

13-29

Nigerian Boxer Brings Power

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By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

004 IMG_8291 Kayode Lateef “Power” Kayode  recorded an impressive 10-round unanimous decision victory on an exciting night of fights on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME®. The unbeaten cruiserweight Kayode (17-0, 14 KOs) proved too much for Matt “Too Smooth” Godfrey (20-3, 14 KOs) Friday night at the Chumash Resort Casino. Kayode controlled the entire fight and sent Godfrey to the canvas a total of three times, eventually winning by scores of 98-90, 97-90, 98-89.

With Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, Kayode has officially “graduated” from ShoBox, according to ShoBox color commentator and boxing expert Steve Farhood. “Kayode is what he is,” Farhood said. “Boxers are always going to give him trouble, but he graduated tonight. And now he can aim for bigger things than ShoBox, which is a compliment.”

Kayode, of Hollywood, Calif., by way of Lagos, Nigeria, knocked Godfrey to the floor in rounds one, five and nine with a devastating display of body shots and power punches to the head of Godfrey. “I thought we would finish (Godfrey) off earlier, but he took some good shots,” Roach said. “It’s OK we went the distance. (Kayode) needs rounds. Overall I thought it was a good performance.”

Added Kayode, who won for the fifth time at Chumash and the third time in a row: “We said we were going to cut off the ring and that’s what we did. People here know what I can do now. They’ve seen what I can do. Now it’s on to bigger things.”

Kayode, 27, is now regarded as one of the sport’s elite prospects, which is quite a change from just a few years ago when he was stranded in New York. Accompanied by two friends, he came to the United States from his home in Lagos, Nigeria, to fight in a pre-Olympic tournament in Chicago.

Because of a miscommunication, when the three Nigerian men arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, there was no one there to meet them. They spoke no English and had no idea how to communicate to anyone whom they were, what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go.

Kayode met several unscrupulous people along the way, all of whom identified themselves as players in boxing who would help him advance his career. Each only served to make the matter worse; he bounced around the country from city to city, essentially chasing false dreams. “For me to tell you that story, it would take days to go through everything,” Kayode said in his deep baritone. “It was a very difficult time in my life.”

He was working at a gym in Los Angeles, expecting to meet another potential manager, when he became acquainted with Steve Feder. Feder’s only connection to boxing had been as a fan, though his father had briefly managed fighters years ago.They struck up a friendship and Feder eventually agreed to become Kayode’s manager. Feder saw Kayode as a talent with frighteningly good power, but he was also very raw. Kayode only began to box when he was in his late teens in Nigeria, and only then because he kept getting mugged by gangs in a rough section of Lagos.

Feder believed Kayode had the talent to succeed at the highest level, but he also needed to be taught the game. And so he directed him to Roach, the four-time trainer of the year and perhaps today’s leading trainer. “Lateef has been blessed with a natural gift of power,” Roach said.

Kayode is well known to the frequenters of Roach’s now-famous Wild Card Boxing Club on Vine Street in Hollywood. He’s as diligent a worker as there is at the gym, which is saying something since one of the fighters who works there regularly is Roach’s prized pupil, Manny Pacquiao.

Kayode promoter Gary Shaw, who is convinced that Roach will be able to lead Kayode to a championship, said that the two will get plenty of private time soon. That, Shaw added, will lead to a huge improvement in Kayode. Roach had been devoting most of his time to training Pacquiao and Amir Khan, the World Boxing Association super lightweight champion who will defend his title against Marcos Maidana on Dec. 11 in Las Vegas.

After the Khan-Maidana fight, Roach won’t have to split his focus and will be able to direct all of his wisdom toward Kayode. “Manny is in the Philippines and Freddie will be done with Amir soon, and then you’ll see a marked improvement in Lateef,” Shaw said. “Lateef is still very raw and needs a lot of time refinement, which he’ll get by working with Freddie.”

Shaw compared Kayode’s tools and raw power to one-time top heavyweight prospect Ike Ibeabuchi, who was perhaps the most gifted heavyweight in the world but couldn’t stay out of trouble. Ibeabuchi is now serving a long sentence in a Nevada prison, his boxing career over. Ibeabuchi was 20-0 with 15 knockouts. Many considered him the fighter who would be able to knock off Lennox Lewis.

Shaw said that Kayode has the kind of raw power and athleticism that made Ibeabuchi so big in the 1990s. “Lateef’s punching power is very much like Ike and is what I would call spectacular,” Shaw said. “After he’s with Freddie for a while, he’s going to be scary good.” And if that comes true, Feder will be rewarded for his faith in a guy who had almost run out of options. The two have forged a close bond and each says they’re looking forward to making a run at the championship together.

It might have been crazy that day at Kennedy Airport to view Kayode as an undefeated world champion, but no more. Now, Kayode is an elite prospect who is good enough that he may be less than a year away from a title shot. “Lateef is an amazing guy, and to be able to share this journey with him is my pleasure,” Feder said. “He’s in love with boxing. He’s in love with the gym. It’s hard to find a guy who cares about what he does and about improving so much. It’s his dream to win the title, and I’m just fortunate to be a small part of the process.”

13-29

American Muslims of Indian Origin Condemn Mumbai Blasts

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Press Release

FARMINGTON, MICHIGAN , USA —The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) condemned the deadly  bomb blasts in Mumbai which have killed twenty one and injured more than one hundred people, according to latest media reports.

“We condemn this despicable and dastardly act. Our hearts and prayers go out for the victims and their families,” said Mr.Ashfaq Quraishi, president of the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin.

“We urge the Indian government to take all necessary action to apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous act and bring them to justice promptly. At the same time we ask the government to not to target any specific community or indulge in any discriminatory activities.”

“We also appeal to to citizens of the great city of  Mumbai to maintain peace and calm and not to succumb to the machinations of divisive forces,” he added.
The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin, is a North American based grassroots organization, dedicated to socio-economic and educational development of Muslims and other underprivileged masses in India.

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSLIMS OF INDIAN ORIGIN

Contact: AFMI, 29008, West Eight Mile Road, Farmington MI 48336 , USA
Tel: 248-442-2364; Fax: 248-476-8926 Email: afmi11@aol.com; / www.afmi.org.

13-29

Corporate Employment Structure: A Way for Doctors to Reduce Income Taxes and Save Thousands…

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By Adil Daudi, Esq.

Whether you are a physician with a wealth of experience, or a new resident paying your dues, establishing and incorporating a structure to help lessen your income taxes is a concept widely accepted and beneficial to all. If you are currently employed within a Medical Office that also employs additional physicians, chances are you are not being given the opportunity to reduce your income taxes to the optimum level, meaning you are losing out on the opportunity to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in income taxes.

This concept, which is commonly referred to as the “Corporate Employment Structure,” (“CES”) is a concept that is not being utilized by many physicians, and that is partly because of the unfamiliarity with the topic. In this newsletter, physicians will learn the benefits of a CES and how it can be implemented as their current method of agreement.

What is the Corporate Employment Structure?

The CES is a very simple concept that requires limited additional documents to set up, but saves you thousands of dollars.

Under your current structure where your employment agreement is between your Medical Company (MC) and yourself, individually, the MC provides you with a W-2 salary, which you receive and deposit into your account. Therefore, if you decide you would like to implement a plan that helps reduce your income, your only option would be to seek approval from your MC. By seeking MC’s approval you will more or less be given the response you expect – “No”

The CES will help avoid you encountering such a problem, because under the CES, your company would be the one to implement your income reduction plans. Under the CES, you would be required to create a new Professional Corporation (PC) or a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) for the purpose of having it employed by your MC. The CES is where your current employment agreement with your MC would convert your personal name with your PC.

Therefore, instead of your MC providing you personally with an income, your MC would instead provide it to your PC, who would in turn write a check out to you.

Once your PC receives the money, you have the authority and control, as the owner, of deciding when and how that money will be used. The special benefit received through the CES is that it gives you the ability to write-off various expenses that would otherwise not be allowed.

These expenses can vary depending on how you have your PC structured. Nevertheless, some of the more common expenditures that are typically considered written-off are: cell phones, mileage, food, or possibly vehicle lease payments. Moreover, you will have the flexibility of writing off additional major expenses such as insurance premiums, e.g. Disability Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance. The advantage of a CES is that you would be able to implement your own tax reduction plans without the need of receiving your MC’s approval.

How do you set up a CES?

A common misconception with a CES is that many physicians feel it is too burdensome to set up. This could be true if the physicians attempted the set up process on their own, or had an inexperienced attorney guiding them.

With the proper help and guidance from your trusted advisors, there is no reason why this process should be difficult or complicated. As long as you follow the simple four-step process, your path to saving money should be ready in no time.

The Four-Step Process

Follow these four steps to ensure you have properly created your CES:

Creating a new company: If you are debating between a Professional Corporation (PC) or a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC), it is important to keep in mind that depending on how your PC is structured, there would not be a difference. However, it is advised to consult with an attorney to explain how to have a PC properly structured.

Cancel current employment agreement: Once your new Company is formed, your next step would be  to contact your MC and inform them (assuming you have already received their approval for allowing such a structure to take place) that your PC/PLLC has been created and you need to cancel the current employment agreement.

Creating new agreements: Once you have informed your MC about the cancellation, you must   move forward with drafting the new employment agreement between your MC and your PC/PLLC. Very simply, this will involve the MC changing your personal name to your PC/PLLC name.

Save money: At this point you are ready to receive your income from your PC/PLLC and begin to write-off whichever expenses you want through your company.

If you find yourself in an employment position that restricts your ability to reduce your income taxes, then a CES may be your gateway to saving money. Although an effective plan that helps physicians preserve their hard-earned wealth, it is still a plan that has yet to be fully utilized. Take advantage and see the savings grow!

Adil Daudi is an Attorney at Joseph, Kroll & Yagalla, P.C., focusing primarily on Asset Protection for Physicians, Physician Contracts, Estate Planning, Business Litigation, Corporate Formations, and Family Law. He can be contacted for any questions related to this article or other areas of law at adil@josephlaw.net or (517) 381-2663.

13-29

Farouk El Baz

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By Syed Aslam

FaroukElBozGRAYFarouk El Baz was born in 1938 in the Nile Delta town of El Senbellawein. He received B.Sc. in Chemistry and Geology from Ain Shams University. In 1961, he received a M.S. degree in Geology from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. In 1964 he received his PhD in Geology from  Missouri University. In 1989, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the New England College. Currently, El-Baz is Research Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University.

During the past 20 years in his research at Boston University, El-Baz utilizes satellite images to better understand the origin and evolution of desert landforms. He is credited with providing evidence that the desert is not man-made, but the result of major climatic variations. His research uncovered numerous sand-buried rivers and streams in the Sahara based on the interpretation of radar images. These former water courses lead into depressions in the terrain, which he theorized must host groundwater. His analysis of these data resulted in the location of groundwater in the arid terrains of Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates  and Darfur,  Sudan.

From 1967 to 1972, El-Baz participated in the Apollo Programs Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc., a division of AT&T that conducted systems analysis for NASA. During these six years, he was secretary of the Landing Site Selection Committee for the Apollo lunar landing missions, Principal Investigator of Visual Observations and Photography, and chairman of the Astronaut Training Group.  After the Apollo Program ended in 1972, El-Baz joined the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC to establish and direct the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum. At the same time, he was elected as a member of the Lunar Nomenclature Task Group of the International Astronomical Union. In this capacity, he continues to participate in naming features of the Moon as revealed by lunar photographic missions.

In 1973, NASA selected him as Principal Investigator of the Earth Observations and Photography Experiment on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint American-Soviet space mission of July 1975. Emphasis was placed on photographing arid environments, particularly the Great Sahara of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

13-29

Before You Judge, Stand in Her Shoes

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By Mike Mcgovern

New Haven–REVELATIONS about the hotel housekeeper who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault suggest that she embellished claims of abuse to receive asylum, fudged her tax returns, had ties to people with criminal backgrounds, had unexplained deposits in her bank account and changed the account of the encounter she gave investigators. Yet those who would rush to judge her should consider the context.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s accuser is from Guinea, also the home country of Amadou Diallo, the street peddler who was shot to death in the doorway of his Bronx apartment building by four New York City police officers in 1999. Guineans leave their country in large numbers, partly because of grinding poverty; 70 percent live on less than $1.25 a day , despite the fact that Guinea has almost half of the world’s bauxite (from which aluminum is made), as well as iron, gold, uranium, diamonds and offshore oil.

The same leaders whose theft and mismanagement have kept so many Guineans poor in the decades since independence from France, in 1958, have also been ferociously violent, massacring as many as 186 unarmed demonstrators calling for democratic reforms in 2007, and at least 157 demanding the same in 2009. After the latter massacre, members of the state security forces gang-raped dozens of women to punish them for protesting and to terrorize men and women into silence.

While the American government condemned the massacres, the bauxite kept shipping, supplying Americans with aluminum cookware and automobile parts. That’s no surprise; the biggest mining companies doing business in Guinea are based in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia.

People fleeing state-sponsored violence and extreme poverty will do anything to leave. I receive requests every few weeks to write expert-witness affidavits for West African asylum claimants. As a personal matter of conscience, I will not write in support of an applicant whose testimony I believe contains inconsistencies.

Yet asylum claimants are often asked to perform an impossible task.

They must prove they have been subject to the most crushing forms of oppression and violence — for this, bodies bearing the scars of past torture are a boon — while demonstrating their potential to become hard-working and well-adjusted citizens.

This is where the lies and embellishments creep into some asylum seekers’ narratives. Immigrants share tips and hunches about ways to outwit the system, even as immigration judges try to discover the claimants’ latest ruses. But I can say from experience that for every undeserving claimant who receives asylum, several deserving ones are turned down. So few Africans gain access to green cards through legal channels that the United States government grants about 25,000 spots annually to Africans selected at random through the diversity visa lottery.

Just as Mr. Diallo’s death resonated because it made the tribulations of many West African immigrants public, the case of Mr. Strauss-Kahn and his accuser has the aura of a parable. Many Africans feel the International Monetary Fund, which Mr. Strauss-Kahn led, and the World Bank have been more committed to the free flow of money and commodities like bauxite than to the free flow of people and the fulfillment of their aspirations.

Guinean press accounts, and recent conversations I’ve had with Guineans, suggest that they disapprove of the deceptions by Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s accuser. But given the poverty and systemic violence in their country, they understand the circumstances in which such deception could occur — and we should, too.

As the case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn seemingly disintegrates, he is enjoying a political renaissance at home, yet I keep asking myself: does a sexual encounter between a powerful and wealthy French politician and a West African hotel cleaning woman from a dollar-a-day background not in itself suggest a gross abuse of power?

Mike McGovern, an assistant professor of anthropology at Yale and the author of “Making War in Côte d’Ivoire,” is writing a book on Guinea.

13-29

Indian Envoy Conferred Top Saudi Honor

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By Nilofar Suhrawardy, TMO

RIYADH/NEW DELHI: Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmad has been conferred the King Abdulaziz Medal of First Class for his contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between India and Saudi Arabia. He is the first Indian diplomat to be conferred this honor. The medal, comprising a decorative badge and a certificate signed by King Abdullah, was presented by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal (July 10).

“This (King Abdulaziz Order of Merit – First Class) is a tribute from Saudi Arabia to Talmiz Ahmad for his contributions during both his tenures as Indian Ambassador in promoting bilateral relations between the two countries,” Prince Al-Faisal said after conferring the Saudi Award of highest order to Indian envoy.

Ahmad has played a significant role in strengthening Indo-Saudi ties and promoting them on a “strategic level.” On this, Ahmad said: “Indo-Saudi relations have been transformed into a strategic partnership with the signing of the Delhi Declaration during the landmark visit of King Abdullah to New Delhi in 2006, and the return visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year.”

The Indian envoy, whose term in Riyadh ends shortly, is also credited for promoting relations between India and Saudi Arabia at several levels, including cultural and economic. Describing his role as “modest” in progress of bilateral ties, Ahmad said: “Mine has been a modest role in this endeavor, in which a large number of people have contributed both from India and Saudi Arabia.”

Ahmad was first appointed ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia in January 2000. He has served as ambassador in several other countries, including UAE and Oman. He was appointed again as Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia last year ahead of Prime Minister Singh’s visit to the Kingdom.

In addition to being a career diplomat, Ahmad has written several books and papers on politics of West Asia and energy. The Arabic translation of his book: “Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarism” was released earlier this month in New Delhi. Ahmad was present on the occasion. His aim is to “promote Indo-Saudi ties in a number of areas on immediate, medium-term and long-term basis that include research and studies, energy discussions and advance guidance with regards to business imunity.”

13-29

Debt Talks Reveal Republican Apocalyptic War on Government

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By Harold Meyerson

As Default-on-Our-Debt Day creeps ever closer, America’s two major political parties have embarked on a round of ideological redefinition.

Republicans have subordinated even the appearance of concern for many of their historic priorities — reducing deficits and the debt, maintaining a passable system of roads, even reducing Medicare and Social Security payouts — to the single goal of blocking any tax increase on anyone ever again. Taking the adage that “that government is best that governs least” to an extreme, at least some seem to view a government shutdown as a consummation devoutly to be wished. GOP presidential candidate and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty is running ads hailing the shutdown of his state’s government, the result of the same kind of political impasse that threatens to shutter the feds’ doors.

If it was possible to give libertarianism a bad name, today’s Republicans would be doing just that.

On the Democratic side, President Obama has moved so far to the right that he has picked up many of the ideals the Republicans have jettisoned and embraced them as his own. It’s Obama who’s now the deficit-and-debt hawk and who has proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Congressional Democrats oppose the president’s proposed entitlement cuts, but in fact they’ve already voted to reduce Medicare spending (though not benefits) by passing health-care reform, and, as part of the current budget negotiations, have agreed to major cuts in domestic as well as military spending.
In Obama’s defense, the Republicans he has to deal with have moved so far right that they make even the Gingrich-era GOP with which Bill Clinton grappled look like the Berkeley City Council. The fiscal constraints on his presidency far exceed those Clinton confronted, too.

But if the factors that have pushed Obama rightward are at least intelligible, those that have prompted the Republicans to winnow their agenda to one-note opposition to taxes and spending are nowhere so obvious.

For one thing, federal tax revenue as a percentage of the gross domestic product is at its lowest level since 1950. The correlation between low federal taxes and job creation looks more inverse than direct. The economy generated far more net new jobs during the ’90s (approximately 22 million during Clinton’s presidency alone), before the Bush tax cuts, than it has since (approximately zero). Yet in opposing any tax increases on the rich as part of a debt-reduction deal, House Speaker John Boehner vowed Monday that “the House cannot pass a bill that raises taxes on job creators.”

Job creators? What job creators? Over the past two months, according to employment statistics, we seem to have completely run out of job creators, though American multinational corporations are having no trouble creating jobs in the cheap-labor nations of Asia. Small businesses, however, cannot expand until American consumers start buying more, and American consumers can’t start buying more until they work their way out of the debt they incurred during the recent decades of pervasive income stagnation.

The Republicans, that is, have embraced market libertarianism at the very moment that America’s market capitalism is functioning worse than at any time since the Great Depression. Their timing is so perverse that we have to seek explanations for their radicalism that go beyond those of economic philosophy.

Republicans, to be sure, have long waged a war on government, but only now has it become an apocalyptic and total war. At its root, I suspect, is the fear and loathing that rank-and-file right-wingers feel toward what their government, and their nation, is inexorably becoming:

multiracial, multicultural, cosmopolitan and now headed by a president who personifies those qualities. That America is also downwardly mobile is a challenge for us all, but for the right, the anxiety our economy understandably evokes is augmented by the politics of racial resentment and the fury that the country is no longer only theirs. That’s not a country whose government they want to pay for — and if the apocalypse befalls us, they seem to have concluded, so much the better.

Most Americans, thankfully, don’t share the right’s romance with cataclysm — something then-Senate Republican leader Bob Dole realized when he called off the shutdown of 1996, something that current Senate GOP chief Mitch McConnell realized Tuesday when he unveiled a cynical and circuitous plan to back off from the impending smash-up. Dole persuaded his fellow Republicans to stand down. It’s not clear, given the furies that possess today’s Republicans, that McConnell can do the same.

meyersonh@washpost.com

13-29

LA District Attorney Settles Case Against Nativo Lopez

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By Alexis Calvo

A settlement not totally to the liking of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office was finally reached after twenty-four months of attempting to bring to trial the case against Nativo Lopez, National President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana. Originally charging Lopez with eight felony counts of voter fraud and perjury in June 2009, District Attorney Steve Cooley finally conceded to eliminate seven counts and stand on one count of voter registration fraud, a felony wobblier, which will be reduced to a misdemeanor and expunged from the record (constituting a dismissal) after twelve months assuming Lopez complies with probation conditions of 400 community service hours.

The original case was filed by the district attorney in June 2009 with four felony charges and subsequently amended to include four additional felony counts for a total of eight. After one year the D.A. was unable to bring the case to a preliminary hearing, and actually came close to losing the case, Commissioner Kristi Lousteau, the first judge to hear the matter, was overheard to say by the eleventh month of the case. The D.A. then moved to convene the Los Angeles County Grand Jury to obtain an indictment, which it successfully did in June 2010. One year later, after three different judges ordered Lopez to be examined by court-ordered psychiatrists on six separate occasions and three incarcerations lasting from four hours to five days, including two instances of strict solitary confinement, and having been before six superior court judges, the case was finally set for trial on June 22nd before Superior Court Judge William Ryan.

Lopez sought to have private counsel engaged after defending the case himself for most of the two years with no previous legal court experience. However, two judges denied him the right to legal counsel of his choice and imposed on him the public defender over his repeated objections on the record. Judges George G. Lomeli and Patricia Schnegg also denied him additional time for private counsel to prepare for a trial.

With literally one day to prepare for a trial, review all discovery documents, interview prospective witnesses, and prepare pre-trial motions, the defense was inclined to offer a settlement in the interest of the defendant. At the end of the day, the district attorney’s office was motivated to drop seven felony counts, not seek any jail time, and settle for a plea on the one felony charge (defined as a wobblier – could be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor), which it conceded would be reduced to a misdemeanor and ultimately dismissed from the record once Lopez completes the community service hours. On the other hand, conviction of the eight felony counts was the equivalent of a 48-year prison sentence.

Lopez never conceded that he had not taken up residence in his Boyle Heights office during the height of the historic immigrants’ rights marches of 2006 thru 2008, the period under investigation by the D.A.’s office. Cooley conceded that Lopez had been registered to vote in only one location, not two, and that he voted only once in each of the elections – never in two jurisdictions and never more than once. To the prosecutor’s insistence that Lopez verbalize a plea of guilty to the one count, Lopez responded, “a plea of guilty has been entered because it is in my interest to do so based on the plea agreement reached with the district attorney’s office.” Judge Ryan immediately found this acceptable and so ordered.

Lopez was quoted as declaring, “I am happy to put this behind me, and ironically glad that District Attorney Steve Cooley brought the charges against me. Over the past two years I was forced to study the law, the judicial system, the common law, courtroom decorum and procedure, and the Uniform Commercial Code, like never before. Cooley put me on a course of study that I would not have otherwise pursued. With this knowledge I am now positioned to help literally tens of thousands of others to work their way through the legal system. I now intend to continue a serious study of law and commercial remedies for the layperson. I have turned lemons into lemonade.”

The offenses for which Lopez was charged are actually extremely common.

The most common occurrences of an individual registering to vote in a domicile where he does not live 100 percent of the time are college students living and studying elsewhere, but maintaining their voter registration address in the residence of their parents; business-persons who have a business address and a residence address elsewhere; and individuals who frequently travel and have multiple residences. Many people have made the observation that the prosecution by the D.A.’s office against Lopez was politically motivated and heavy-handed in terms of the multiple felony charges.

Dissimilar to other public officials charged with criminal offenses in the recent past, Lopez was not accused of texting pornographic photos of himself to women, soliciting sex from prostitutes, laundering money, trafficking arms, abusing drugs or alcohol, attempting to bribe a government official or soliciting a bribe for himself, sexual assault on a women, or other such felonious crime. He was accused of registering to vote from his office domicile and voting from that address and allegedly residing elsewhere – and because of that he received the wrath of Cooley’s office with eight felony charges.

Lopez was actually born in Boyle Heights and has maintained offices in East Los Angeles since the 1970s with the numerous organizations with which he has been affiliated over the past forty years, including the Center of Autonomous Social Action (CASA), Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, and the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). He has participated in multiple electoral and political campaigns throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan region, which have resulted in the election of many public officials, both Latino and non-Latino. His most prominent and recent activities in the region were the historic immigrants’ rights marches and economic boycotts.

ORIGIN OF THE CHARGES

The origin of the charges against Nativo Lopez stemmed from an internal dispute within the Green Party Los Angeles County Council. Old guard conservative leadership led by Michael Feinstein lost their power sway to a reform slate, which came to prominence in the primary elections of June 2006. Lopez represented the Senate District 22 as a county party delegate, encompassing the cities of Boyle Heights, Maywood, and parts of the city of Los Angeles, and immediately became a target of harassment, surveillance, and spying by the Feinstein faction.

Feinstein’s group refused to concede the reins of leadership to the reformers and launched attacks against a number of its leaders, including Lopez.

Court documents revealed that the source of the original complaint to the California Secretary of State’s Office, and subsequently to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, was the Feinstein cohorts. This party faction worked with state and county police agencies to run Lopez out of the Green Party. Lopez actually ceased any party activities in 2008 after concluding with other party activists that this party could not be a viable alternative to disaffected Democratic and independent Latino voters. State and county detectives and investigators conducted surveillance against Lopez in 2008 and 2009, with the connivance and cooperation of the Feinstein faction, prior to filing the criminal charges in June 2009. “Feinstein and his allies were not interested in a darker hue of green for the Green Party by way of recruiting thousands of new adherents of color to the party as we had intended and repeatedly proposed,” stated Lopez. “And the party has remained a miniature cult under the control of white party activists in the face of a colored tsunami of demographic shift throughout California, but especially in the Los Angeles metropolitan region,” he concluded.

ONLY REGRETS

At the conclusion of the case, Lopez expressed that, “I only regret that we did not have the opportunity to challenge the manner in which the county grand jury is convened by the district attorney’s office, which truly does not reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the surrounding community of Los Angeles – of the accused; and that we were not permitted the time to challenge the selective prosecution trajectory of the D.A.’s office over the years, which has been oriented against persons of color.”

He also expressed his deep gratitude to the many people that stood by him on some fifteen court appearances, and contributed to his defense, especially the hard-working immigrant workers who took days off from work to accompany him to the court.

*Reproduction of this article is permitted. Please credit the author.

calvoalexis@ymail.com

13-29

‘Student Terror Plot’ Suspects Released

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All suspects in ‘student terror plot’ released Nico Hines and Russell Jenkins All 12 suspects arrested in a security operation to thwart what the Prime Minister called “a very big terrorist plot” have been released without charge.

Eleven of the men – all Pakistani nationals – face being deported after they were transferred into the custody of the UK Borders Agency.

The failure to bring charges against any of the men came after police released the final two suspects they had in custody this morning.

Last night they freed nine men, aged between 22 and 38, after 13 days detention. An 18-year-old student was transferred to the custody of the UK Border Agency after three days in detention.
Mohammed Ayub, a lawyer for three of the men, called for an independent inquiry into Operation Pathway and said their deportation orders would be challenged.
“Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time,” he said.

“They are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a serious breach of their human rights. As a minimum they are entitled to an unreserved apology.”
Responding to criticism of the police operation, Gordon Brown’s spokesman said: “Both the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister believe they are doing an excellent job in continuing to protect the public from terrorist threats.

“The Government’s highest priority is to protect public safety. Where a foreign national poses a threat to the country, we will seek to exclude or deport them where appropriate.”
The investigation into alleged al-Qaeda activity in the North West involved 14 properties in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancashire, being searched by specialist teams.
Four uniformed police officers stood guard outside 36, Galsworthy Avenue, in Cheetham Hill where two of the terror suspects were arrested in an armed swoop two weeks ago.
The sunlit street was deserted apart from a few pressmen and one passer-by who shouted aggressively: “Go home – it all over now.”

There is, however, deep disquiet about the arrests in the neighbourhood among residents who say that the police has a record of making dramatic terror swoops, disrupting and upsetting the local community but subsequently releasing the suspects for lack of evidence.

Locals cited the the behaviour of Lancashire Police in February when nine men from Burnley and Blackburn on a humanitarian convoy were arrested on the M65 near Preston and later released without charge.

GMP distributed a letter to local residents in an attempt to explain their position.

Afzal Khan, the Labour councillor for Cheetham Hill, said: “I am deeply concerned. On the same day of the arrests people on the streets were saying straight away that they will find nothing and that is is all political. This has only reinforced that view”.

The arrests were brought forward by 12 hours after Bob Quick, Scotland Yard’s head of counter-terrorism, accidentally disclosed details of the raids to Downing Street photographers while on his way to brief Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.

Mr Quick, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, resigned, admitting that he had compromised a high-level security operation. Ms Smith told the House of Commons this week that the error had not damaged the operation and that the only impact had been that the raids had been brought forward “by a matter of hours”.

However, The Times understands that even before Mr Quick quit there were furious disagreements between Scotland Yard, which is supposed to have national responsibility for counter-terrorism, the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, led by Greater Manchester Police, and MI5.

Security sources said that the arrests were premature and complained that police had panicked after picking up intelligence “chatter” that appeared to discuss timings and targets. Some of the suspects were allegedly under surveillance while photographing and filming at Manchester shopping centres and a nightclub.

It was hoped that the arrests and searches would produce evidence of bomb-making activity or components.

At one point a block of flats in Liverpool was evacuated but no explosive material was found. Attention later turned to the forensic examination of the suspects’ computers, but sources say that nothing has been found which can incriminate the men.

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy, said this morning:

“I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty. There’s been no disagreement between us and the security services.

“This has been an extremely complex investigation that has involved officers working closely with other agencies to gather and examine large amounts of evidence.

“We had a duty to act on 9 April to protect the public and a subsequent duty to investigate what lay before us.”

Times Online

13-29

Libya Rebels Retake Village South of Tripoli

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By Peter Graff

2011-07-13T203734Z_1071071745_GM1E77E0CWJ01_RTRMADP_3_LIBYA

Rebels walk to take positions next to a main road leading to Al-Quwalish in the western mountains of Libya during an offensive by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi July 13, 2011. Forces loyal to Gaddafi on Wednesday retook a village south of the capital seized by rebels a week ago, a set-back to rebel plans for a march on Tripoli. The loss of the village of Al-Qawalish, about 60 miles from the capital, underlined the faltering pattern of the rebel advances that has led some of the rebels’ Western backers to push for a political solution to the conflict instead.    

REUTERS/Ammar Awad

ZINTAN, Libya (Reuters) – Rebel fighters said on Wednesday they had retaken a village south of the capital they lost to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi earlier in the day, boosting rebel plans for a march on Tripoli.

The retaking of Al-Qawalish, about 100 km (60 miles) from Tripoli, came at the end of a day of bitter fighting that killed five rebels and wounded 15, according to rebel sources and hospital officials.

The back-and-forth fighting underlined the fragile nature of the rebels’ advances in the west that has led some of their Western backers to push for a political solution to the conflict.

Rebel spokesman Abdurahman Alzintani said pro-Gaddafi forces had been pushed back to where they were before they took the village earlier on Wednesday, or perhaps even further.

“It is the same, maybe one or two hills further,” he told Reuters.

A Libyan government soldier taken prisoner by the rebels said that pro-Gaddafi forces were massing nearby, potentially setting the stage for renewed fighting soon, according to a Reuters team in the western town of Zintan.

The counter-attack to retake Al-Qawalish was carried out by hundreds of rebels in pick-up trucks, who fanned out into the hills about 10 km (6 miles) north of the village, under fire from mortars launched by government troops.

Rebel forces want to use Al-Qawalish as a staging post to take the nearby town of Garyan, which controls access to the main highway heading north to Tripoli.

On the other main battle front, near the western city of Misrata, a burst of missile and mortar fire killed five rebels and wounded 17, hospital spokesman Khaled Abu Talghah said.

“This is just a normal day’s work for Gaddafi,” he said.

The conflict in Libya started out as a rebellion against Gaddafi’s 41-year-rule. It has now turned into the bloodiest of the “Arab Spring” uprisings convulsing the region and has embroiled Western powers in a prolonged conflict they had hoped would swiftly force Gaddafi out of power.

The Libyan leader is refusing to quit and the rebels have been unable to make a decisive breakthrough toward the capital despite support from Western warplanes.

Libya charged the head of NATO with war crimes for killing innocent civilians and bombarding civilian targets in Libya.

Libyan General Prosecutor Mohammed Zekri al Mahjoubi described NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as a war criminal during a news conference in Tripoli on Wednesday.

DEAL ‘TAKING SHAPE’

France said on Tuesday a political way out of the conflict was being looked at and that Gaddafi’s emissaries had been in contact with NATO members to say he was ready to leave power.

“A political solution is more than ever indispensable and is beginning to take shape,” French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in Paris.

But it was not obvious how negotiations could persuade Gaddafi to quit, especially at a time when the Western alliance ranged against him is showing signs of wavering.

A report on Libya’s official JANA news agency described statements by Western officials about Gaddafi potentially stepping down or leaving the country as “elusive dreams.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under pressure to find a quick solution. He gambled by taking a personal role in supporting the rebels, but is now anxious to avoid costly military operations running into the start of campaigning for the April 2012 presidential election.

Washington expressed doubts about peace overtures from Gaddafi emissaries. A State Department spokeswoman said the “messages are contradictory” and there is no clear evidence “Gaddafi is prepared to understand that its time for him to go.”

Revealing fresh strains inside NATO about the cost and duration of the Libyan operation, British Defense Minister Liam Fox said other alliance members were not pulling their weight and described some states’ contributions as “pathetic.”

“The United States is willing to spend on defense, Britain is willing to spend on defense and deploy. Far too (many) of our European partners inside NATO are still trying to get a free ride, and they should regard Libya as a wake-up call,” Fox said in London.

The rebel National Transitional Council, based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, received a diplomatic boost on Wednesday when Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands recognized the council as Libyans’ legitimate representative.

The Benelux countries joined more than 20 nations that have already granted the council recognition.

At a meeting in Brussels, the European Union executive offered Libyan rebels help with democratic reforms once the war was over and said their Benghazi-based council was gaining credibility.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Nick Carey in Misrata, Justyna Pawlak and Christopher Le Coq in Brussels, John Irish in Paris, Souhail Karam in Rabat, Mohammed Abbas in London; Writing by Christian Lowe and Giles Elgood; Editing by Robert Woodward)

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The Pulse

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science 07-11-11Feeling the pulse is one of the hallmarks of the medical profession, and has been for many a century. As well as being informative, this action can give the doctor something physical to do while he takes time to think.

The pulse is most commonly felt where the radial artery lies near the surface on the thumb side of the wrist. It is made palpable by the ‘pulse pressure wave’ — initiated by each heart beat — reaching and expanding the artery. This wave is transmitted to the wrist at about 10 yards per second around forty times faster than the speed of the blood flow itself.

The information obtained from feeling the pulse is limited but important. The feel of the artery itself may suggest whether its wall has normal resilience, or is hardened and thickened by arteriosclerosis.

The pulse may feel, at one extreme, ‘strong’ and ‘full’ or, at the other, ‘weak’ or ‘thready’. These are indirect indications of the stroke volume of the heart. The impulse felt in the radial artery is related to the rise in arterial blood pressure generated by the heart at each beat — the pulse pressure. For any given stroke volume, this rise in pressure depends on the elasticity of the arteries: the more compliant they are the less the pressure rises; the stiffer they are with age and arteriosclerosis, the more sharply the pressure rises. These subtleties may be recognized by an experienced observer.

The rate may be faster or slower than normally expected in the circumstances. In healthy adults the rate at rest, although typically 60–70, can be anything from 40 per minute, say in an elite long-distance swimmer, to about 80 per minute. Even so the rate can, for example, be used to distinguish a simple faint (slow) from loss of consciousness caused by haemorrhage (fast).

The rhythm may be regular or irregular. In a person at rest an absolutely regular pulse is in fact unusual because of the phenomenon of respiratory sinus arrhythmia — an increase when breathing in and a decrease when breathing out.

An exaggerated sensation of the beating of the heart — palpitation — may or may not be associated with a faster than normal pulse rate; it is also a normal accompaniment of the increase in strength and rate of the heart-beat induced by strenuous exercise, or by the sympathetic nervous systems in stressful conditions, and can be a component of abnormal anxiety states.

Awareness of pulsation within ourselves, particularly when emotions are heightened — and even at the earliest in our mother’s womb — may well be inextricably related to the creation and appreciation of music.

In these areas, an artery passes close to the skin.

To measure the pulse at the wrist, place the index and middle finger over the underside of the opposite wrist, below the base of the thumb. Press firmly with flat fingers until you feel the pulse.

To measure the pulse on the neck, place the index and middle finger just to the side of the Adam’s apple, in the soft, hollow area. Press firmly until you locate the pulse.

Once you find the pulse, count the beats for 1 full minute, or for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. This will give the beats per minute.

To determine the resting heart rate, you must have been resting for at least 10 minutes. Take the exercise heart rate while you are exercising.

Measuring the pulse can give very important information about your health. Any change from normal heart rate can indicate a medical condition. Fast pulse may signal an infection or dehydration. In emergency situations, the pulse rate can help determine if the patient’s heart is pumping.

The pulse measurement has other uses as well. During exercise or immediately after exercise, the pulse rate can give information about your fitness level and health.

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Reservation & Indian Muslims

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By Nilofar Suhrawardy, TMO

NEW DELHI: How serious are the politicians and other leaders who have recently started voicing their concern about the need of reservation for Indian Muslims? Describing Muslims as socially and economically backward, they are demanding reservation to help them progress. Though some importance is being given to these demands, prospects of their being implemented remain fairly dim. This demands an analysis of the Reservation-issue for Muslims from several angles. What has prompted several leaders to start talking about it now in louder than before tones? Why are chances of it being implemented bleak? What has prompted “concerned” politicians to assure aggrieved sections that the issue is being considered?

Seriously speaking, greater importance is being accorded to making political noise about reservation for Muslims than actually assuring that their socio-economic grievances are dealt with constructively. With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for next year and the national parliamentary elections in 2014, electoral preparations are gaining political heat. The Congress is hopeful that by assuring Muslims a reservation quota in government jobs and education, it is likely to win their support in UP assembly elections. The UP assembly polls are also viewed as a “dress rehearsal” to national elections. Political victory in UP is expected to play a crucial role in helping Congress consolidate prospects of electoral gains in the subsequent parliamentary polls.

Against this backdrop, the timing is just perfect for Muslim leaders and various organizations to gain some political mileage by voicing their concern on the reservation-issue. This is one side of the political-hype made over reservation for Indian Muslims.

India is home to second largest population of Muslims in the world. Muslims constitute the largest minority in India. Twenty-five percent of UP’s population are Muslims. Statistically, thus, the Congress cannot afford to ignore the electoral importance of the Muslim vote-bank in UP as well as the whole country.

Not surprisingly, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said recently that the home ministry is expected to submit a “concrete proposal” for minority reservation soon. With the necessary formalities, including consultations, having been completed, he said: “The home ministry will now take it forward. There is a sense of urgency.”

The Congress-led coalition government is likely to push for a proposal on lines of the model adopted by the southern states, which have provided reservation for Muslims – out of the existing OBC (Other Backward Classes) quota. Suggesting this, Khurshid said: “We believe the OBC element of affirmative action must be rationalised and fine- tuned in the manner in which it is being done in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.”

But this is not an easy job. Questions have already begun being asked on the sudden sympathy being displayed by Congress to a commitment it made in 2004. The 2004-Congress-election manifesto said: “The Congress is committed to adopting this policy for socially and educationally backward sections among Muslims and other religious minorities on a national scale.”

Besides, while several leaders are not opposed to reservation for Muslims, they are against it being offered out of the OBC-quota. They fear that this political-card will create divisions in their OBC vote-bank. Janata Dal-United leader, Sharad Yadav, who is also a activist of OBC, said: “The government is trying to create divisions in the backward society.” Criticizing the government for not implementing the current OBC quota, he asked: “The rate at which the government fills the existing OBC quota is just two to three percent. The backlog is huge. With nothing on your plate, what will you offer the Muslims?”

“There should be a separate provision for Muslims if we are seriously interested in uplifting the backward sections of the community. It would be ideal, in my opinion, if a separate component of reservation is made for the Muslims to bring them on par with other sections of society,” according to Ram Kripal Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal Legislator in Upper House).

It maybe noted, the Ranganath Mishra commission recommended reservation for Muslims and Christians from within the 15 per cent quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the 27 per cent OBC quota. Set up in 2005, the commission submitted its report in 2007. The commission pointed out that caste system was prevalent among Muslims too. The commission recommended that Muslim Dalit groups, whose counterparts exist among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, should also be included in the central or state SC lists.

Several years have passed since reservation for Muslims was recommended by the Mishra commission and since the Congress committed itself to do so. The Indian Muslims have yet to benefit from the reservation-proposal. The manner in which the Congress has raised the issue at this juncture suggests that it is trying to play two cards at one go. The party is optimistic that this issue will help Congress win support from Muslims, particularly in UP. The Congress is also hopeful that the divisions created in OBC-vote bank will help it politically. Against this backdrop, politicking is more strongly linked with noise being made over reservation for Muslims than concern for their actual socio-economic progress!

13-29

Omar Ishrak New CEO–Medtronics

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omarishrak

Omar Ishrak this month took over as CEO of the pacemaker company Medtronics.

Ishrak spent 16 years at GE Healthcare, the world’s biggest maker of medical imaging equipment. He ran the largest portion of the Chalfont St. Giles, England-based business, which develops X-ray machines and MRI, CT, ultrasound and PET scanners, with 20,000 employees in 120 countries.

The ultrasound division under Ishrak rose to $1.8 billion last year from about $400 million a decade ago. Most recently, he led an effort to bolster efficiency and new products, with 80 slated for 2010 and 2011. Those achievements showed Ishrak’s leadership in research and development allocation as he increased profitability, wrote Vertical Research Partners co-founder Jeffrey Sprague, who follows GE and called the appointment “a loss for GE, a win for Medtronic.”

He has a Bachelor of Science degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of London, King’s College.

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