While You Were Sleeping

The gist of what you may have missed

by Francis Cruz, October 24, 2007

Rising cocaine prices indicate progress in Mexican and American anti-drug operations. Since March, 37 US cities have experienced significant jumps in the price of cocaine, nearly doubling the cost of the narcotic in some cities. Between January and June the average cost of a gram of cocaine rose 24 percent ,to $118.70. Street supplies of cocaine and methamphetamine in America are at an unprecedented low. Mexico has cracked down on cartels and the US has extradited high-level cartel members. Mexican president Felipe Calderon sent 10,000 soldiers and federal agents into cartel-run cities to restore order since taking office last December. The federal efforts resulted in a late-September arrest of the so-called Queen of the Pacific, Sandra Avila Beltran, mastermind of the Sinaloa cartel, and Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez, a top Colombian drug trafficker.
Source: New York Times

Following a September 16 incident that left 17 Iraqis dead and 24 wounded, the Iraqi government demanded that the private security contractor Blackwater USA be ejected from Iraq. According to the State Department, Blackwater USA was involved in 56 shootings during 1,873 convoy runs in Iraq during 2007 while guarding American diplomats. Blackwater USA employees have fired their weapons at a rate at least twice as high as competitors. In 2006, DynCorp International reported only 10 cases of weapons use in 1,500 convoy runs.
Source: Reuters

A second US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that threatened to withhold $300 million in federal funding to Yale prompted Yale Law School to back down from policies that prevented the military from recruiting on campus. Since 1978, Yale Law School has required recruiters to sign a pledge of nondiscrimination. The Pentagon would not sign the pledge because of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward homosexuals, resulting in the military’s exclusion from recruitment activities. In 2002, the military challenged the law school by use of the Solomon Amendment, a congressional statute allowing the government to withhold funding to colleges and universities that impede military recruitment on campus. The university complied, although 45 faculty members filed suit. In 2005, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled Yale had the right to deny the military participation in the interview program. Last year, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against 36 colleges and universities fighting to keep military recruiters off campus, a decision that brought about the latest appellate ruling against Yale. “The judges that hold office at the moment disagree with us,” said professor Robert Burt, the lead plaintiff in the case. “We must wait for history to vindicate our position.” Without the federal funding, the university’s medical research into cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses would suffer. The military argues that it needs to hire lawyers for projects related to Afghanistan and Iraq and their inability to recruit law students is hindering that process.
Source: Associated Press

Despite varying figures, government and independent groups agree civilian casualties in Iraq have decreased since August. The Iraqi Interior Ministry recorded a 29 percent drop from August’s 2,318 deaths to September’s 1,654. A British-based nongovernmental group, Iraq Body Count, monitored 1,280 deaths, an even larger reduction from its 2,575 August count. Reuters reported a 50 percent plunge in deaths making September’s numbers the lowest for 2007 with 884 casualties. Another indication that violence in Iraq is on the decline: Casualties for American troops decreased from 84 in August to 63 in September.
Source: New York Times

Common chronic health conditions plague more than half of Americans and cost the US economy more than $1 trillion a year, not only in treatment expenses but loss of productivity in workers through sick days and reduced performance, according to a Milken Institute report. Left unchecked, the economic blow could rocket to nearly $6 trillion annually by 2050. In 2003, $277 billion was spent on the treatment of chronic diseases but lost productivity cost $1.1 trillion. If steps are taken toward prevention, early detection, and improved lifestyles, $1.6 trillion may be saved and 40 million Americans may be spared chronic illness by 2023. The institute studied seven chronic diseases: cancer, asthma, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and mental disorders.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle