International

Hostage Situation Ends in Tragedy

Justin Velez

On Sunday, October 31, Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic Church in Baghdad where gunman held worshipers as hostages. The security forces demanded that the Iraqi government release detainees and prisoners inside Iraqi and Egyptian prisons The U.S. military spokesman said that as many as 120 people were taken hostage. The standoff ended as thirty-seven people were killed in the operation. Most of the hostages were killed after the gunman set off explosives planted within the Church. The Islamic State of Iraq later claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement posted on a radical Islamic website. The umbrella group includes a number of Sunni extremist organizations and has ties to al-Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. forces provided reconnaissance assistant to Iraqi forces, but stayed out of the dispute otherwise.

• Islamic State of Iraq: An umbrella organization of a number of Iraqi insurgents groups that seeks to protect the Iraqi people from United States attacks and defends Islam.
• Al-Qaeda: A militant Islamist group founded sometime between 1988-1989. Al-Qaeda operates as a network comprising a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad. Al-Qaeda operatives were behind the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, and the main target of Bush’s War on Terror.

Additional Reading:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/31/iraq.violence/index.html

United States

Overview of Election Results

Julia Newman

• Senate: The Republicans gained six seats, going from 41 seats to 47. Although the Democrats lost seats, they still retain a majority with 52 seats (51 is needed for control)
• House of Representatives: The Republicans gained 60 seats in the House. This brought the Republicans seat total to 239, giving the Republicans control over the House. Due to this change Nancy Pelosi will be replaced as Speaker of the House by the Ohio Republican Representative, Joe Boehner.
• Issues: In exit polls done throughout the country, the economy was overwhelmingly voted the most pressing issue facing the country. Other issues include healthcare, wars, the deficit, education, and illegal immigration.
• This election has created the following scenario. A Democratic President and Senate, but a Republican dominated House of Representatives, this could potentially make passing legislation difficult.

Additional Reading:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/main.results/

http://www.cbsnews.com/election2010/

The Hill

Reid Camp Optimistic About Surge in Voter Turnout

Tess Wafelbakker

A few weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D) of Nevada and his campaign seemed to be in serious trouble. National polls showed the incumbent senator behind his Republican opponent and Tea Party favorite, Sharron Angle. The outcome of this high profile race could have had a significant impact on the expected shift in power from Democrats to Republicans in Congress. During Nevada’s first week of early voting (Oct. 16- Oct. 22), Republican voters outnumbered the Democrats, despite a higher Democratic voter registration in the state. However, Democratic voting surged in the final week of early voting, which ended this past Friday. The margin between voters of both parties is not nearly as large as previously projected, and it seems that the only way Reid would have been ousted from the Senate was if a large number of registered Independents who support the Tea Party Movement voted in this pivotal midterm election. Pollsters claimed that regardless of these numbers, the race would be very close and that the results would rely heavily on Independent voters, as well as other turnout factors. Either way, this race was a controversial one. However, Reid eventually proved successful in his bid to retain his Senate seat.

Additional Reading

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/126637-reid-campaign-heartened-by-democratic-turnout-during-early-voting-in-nevada

California

Corruption in Governmental Pensions

Mckenzee McCammack

As a result of the Bell Scandal, there has been more intense scrutiny of the problems and corruption, involving the pension system allotted to governmental workers. For instance, the Bell administrator, Robert Rizzo, was given an annual pension of $1 million. There has been a twenty-year trend of raising pensions for government and union workers. However, Governor Schwarzenegger has asked the unions to limit higher pensions for newly hired workers since it is a strain on the taxpayer. The problems began to arise when such cities as Bell began abusing the pension system. However, it has been an ongoing issue. Both legislators and governors were approving pension-raises that have ultimately inflated long-term costs. At the end of Gray Davis's term as governor, he approved a 50% pension increase for the California Highway Patrol and other public safety workers. After this, there was a 33% increase in civilian government workers’ pensions. When the pensions began to increase, so did the demands from governmental workers for other unnecessary benefits. It wasn't until recently that the idea of rolling back pensions became tangible. However, this battle does not come without a fight. For instance, when Governor Schwarzenegger proposed putting a measure on the ballot to lower pensions, television ads from firefighters and police unions defeated it in the polls before the ballot went to a vote. With all of the new awareness regarding the pension issues, hopefully legislators will begin putting their foot down to stop abuses in the system.

• Bell scandal: where city council members were determining their own income
• Pensions: payment given to government workers in addition to their salaries

Recent actions against pension corruption:

• Mayor Villaraigosa proposed a potential pension reform program that would cut taxpayer cost by $1.5 billion in Los Angeles.
• It was discovered that 10 San Diego city employees were found splitting $61 million in pension payouts
• Measure B on the San Francisco ballot proposes a pensions reform measure. This would raise the amount that workers pay into their own pensions from their salaries from 7.5 to 10%.

Additional Reading:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=7672719

http://www.californiapensionreform.com/2010/09/democrats-dividing-over-san-francisco-pension-reform-measure/

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pensions-20101101,0,7326104.story

Los Angeles

Two New Elephants for the L.A. Zoo

Claire Goldberg

The San Diego Zoo is relocating two female Asian elephants, Tina and Jewel, to the Los Angeles Zoo. Tina and Jewel are estimated to be in their mid-40s and were moved to the San Diego Zoo 14 months ago, after spending years with a Texas circus trainer who was cited for mistreatment by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Tina and Jewel will become charter members of the zoo’s Elephants of Asia program, which exhibits Asian elephants of all ages and shows visitors what is needed to protect the endangered species. There is mixed sentiment about whether or not a zoo can replicate the habitat of wild elephants. These elephants are known to roam for miles daily and stay within intact family groups. The L.A. Zoo is repudiating these feelings by creating six acres of sandy hills, bathing pools and other natural attractions to their new exhibit, as well as adding medical care. Additionally, the L.A. Zoo policy will allow only protected contact between elephants and zookeepers. With Tina and Jewel, the L.A. Zoo will have a total of three elephants, though they hope to acquire up to two more in the next few years.

• Protected contact: ensures that a zookeeper will only use positive reinforcement to coax an elephant into doing something, rather than a threat of punishment

Additional Readings:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elephants-20101030,0,3246798.story?track=rss

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/kswb-san-diego-zoo-to-loan-2-eleph-102910,0,7273409.story?track=rss

Local Cultural Events

Florence + the Machine

Tina Pixler

Looking for new music? What about finally seeing an act about which you have been hearing a lot of buzz. Florence and the Machine will be performing at The Wiltern on Nov. 6th and 7th. Tickets are affordable, ranging between $29 and $35. Florence Welch has already won several awards in the U.K. for her powerhouse voice. It is only a matter of time until her music has the same affect in the U.S. Check out her debut album, “Lungs”!

For more information see http://findlocal.latimes.com/listings/florence-and-the-machine-los-angeles

The Wiltern is located at 3790 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010.

Directions from the front gate of LMU:

Turn right onto Lincoln

Turn right onto Jefferson

Get on the 405 N

Take the 10E

Exit Western Ave and turn left

Turn right on Wilshire and arrive at The Wiltern

International

Dispute Over Drug Raids in Afghanistan

Paulina Slagter

On October 29, 2010, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai has claimed violation of national sovereignty and international law as the United States and Russia join together to suppress the drug trade, rooted in Afghanistan. This operation by the United States and Russia is intended to destroy the drug laboratories that produce heroin and opium. Officials in Russia blame Afghanistan’s lax policy towards drugs as a cause of the estimated 2.5 million heroin addicts in Russia. Russia was able to destroy 32kg (2,055lb) of high-grade heroin, 156kg (345lb) of opium, and a large amount of technical equipment. Russia’s unilateral drug raids, without the consent of Afghanistan’s government, have angered President Karzai. This is a sensitive issue after Russia’s occupation in Afghanistan 21 years ago. Afghani officials have called the raids ‘illegal’ but Russia’s joint efforts are seen as crucial in suppressing the drug trade and protecting the international community against narcotics. There is controversy as to whether Afghanistan’s interior ministry and elite narcotics officials were assisting the Russian officials in the raid. Afghanistan's interior ministry said it is believed that only Russian observers, rather than Russian troops were to take part, but President Karzai maintains that he was not notified of this and that Afghanistan’s national sovereignty has been infringed upon.

• National Sovereignty: independent rule over a geographic area with the freedoms to make political, economic, military decisions without foreign influence.
• Unilateral: an action or position performed by one actor without the consent of others.
• Narcotics: Term can refer to any illegal drugs but it especially characterizes things like morphine and heroin.

Additional Reading

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11659814