Comparatively speaking, this second full week of July was a little calmer than previous weeks. Maybe the scorching heat wave on the east coast, maybe the distractions from the World Cup (or at least Larissa) or maybe just the calm before the storm (there is that Sarkozy scandal brewing in Paris). In any event, the world still had its share of dramas and no doubt there will be more, as there always are.

(Everyone, it seems put in their two cents for the Polish elections)

Recovering from the shock the tragedy in April, which took the life of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and most of the Polish government, elections were held this past week. The winner was Bronislaw Komorowski, defeating the bid of Jaroslaw Kaczynski (twin brother of the late President) to take over the top spot. Polski Radio's Overseas Service offered a breakdown of the election returns - July 5th.

(first China, now Turkey . .will the wonders ever cease?)

The latest Government versus Internet fracas is taking the form of a squabble between Turkey and Google. Hot from their skirmish with China, Google are now dealing with a rather cantankerous Turkish Parliament who feels that Google, who have been available to Internet users in Turkey, should set up shop in Turkey and pay Turkish taxes. BBC Radio 4's Today Program ran a report on the latest rundown on July 5th.

(oh . . .the Euro again!)

It seems this 8 year old experiment in monetary stability isn't destined to last much longer. As was pointed out in this episode of the BBC World Service's Analysis Program from July 5th, the fallout from the current financial crisis has put quite a dent on the stability of the Euro. Despite proclamations to the contrary, it wouldn't surprise me at all if mattresses are stuffed all over Europe with Pounds, Lire and Francs - just in case.

(Denial on de Nile)

When Mahmoud Taha Swellem told his employers masked gunmen came aboard the bus he was driving in a Cairo neighborhood and started shooting, killing 6 and wounding at least 12, they believed him and quietly said nothing to anyone for the next seven hours. It was only when police started wondering what all the body bags were doing did the story begin to unwind and Mahmoud was accused of mass killing in the deaths of six construction company workers. As the BBC Africa Service' Africa Today program explained on July 6th, part of the denial came as a result of the shock over the unusual nature of the crime.

(In lieu of the Lovefest . . . )

This week also saw the return of Bibi Netanyahu to the White House and a considerably warmer reception with President Obama than just weeks before. What all this means can be taking a million different ways, and Israel National Radio's Tamar Yonah wasted no time speculating. This broadcast from July 8th features a lengthy and very interesting interview with American Journalist Edwin Black on just what might be in the cards in the coming weeks. You can grimace, shrug your shoulders or place bets - it's up for grabs like that.

(Larissa Riquelme - singlehandedly responsible for the massive rise in interest in football among teenage boys)

And finally, with the final of the World Cup set for Sunday, Spain is now poised to pull off a first. Whether it happens or not is purely up for speculation. The real winner is the game itself, having made millions of new converts to a challenging and rewarding sport that's been around for a long time, but just coming of age here in the States. With Larissa Riquelme around, the sport may never be the same again. Here is a wrap up of the Spanish win from Thursday Juuly 8th by BBC Five Live's World Cup Daily.

And then there's next week . . .

This February 24th in 1941 was marked by continued German bomber raids over London and various other cities in Britain overnight with casualties reported as "light". Britain responded with RAF raids over the German occupied port cities of Calais and Boulogne in France.

Meanwhile - Britain labeled as untrue reports of diplomatic proposals to Japan about the Far East. Both London and Tokyo denied any sort of overtures, although it was reported Britain did issue a warning if Japan made any moves on Indochina or the Dutch East Indies there would be trouble.

News from Bulgaria reported German troops were on the border, poised to move in, but nothing had been confirmed - only the waiting game. Turkey pledged alliance with Great Britain over the looming Bulgarian crisis.

London labeled as unconfirmed reports of increased U.S./UK collaboration in the war effort and Russia adamant about maintaining neutrality in light of the Bulgarian situation, despite the fact that German troops were massed on the Russian Border and Russian troops were massed back. Some neutrality, that.

Reports from Berlin announced Hitler was getting ready for an address to the German people. This on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the founding of the National Socialist Party (established Feb. 24, 1920).

And on Capitol Hill - The Dies Committee (precursor to HUAC) reported claims that Russia had been secretly acting as an agent for the German government, with apparent evidence of a dramatic spike in goods shipped to Russia that just so happened to be on the German short-of-supply list. The State Department immediately called for an investigation over the allegations that America had been increasing its shipment of Cotton and Oil Drilling Parts to Russia in recent weeks.

There was also news of a Senate inquiry over Union strikes in the Defense industry and debate was about to begin on the latest Lease-Lend Bill.

For a war, it was a rather calm day, considering.

All reported on the morning roundup of news from NBC broadcast on February 24, 1941.

More ominous news, this 3rd day of April in 1941. The War in Europe continued. News of the apparent suicide of Count Teleki of Hungary leads to speculation the suicide was helped along by the German Government. The war was taking its toll in other ways. Captured German troops reveal large quantities of sedatives and sleeping pills in their kits, suggesting stress is high everywhere.

Italy suffers numerous setbacks in the Middle East with the report of substantial air losses for the month of March and a growing amount of dissatisfaction among the Italian populace for the war. The prediction in London was that Germany would be forced to occupy much of Italy sooner or later.

The signs from Yugoslavia were ominous on this day, with the Yugoslav Army preparing for a German invasion and German diplomats packing and leaving the country, quickly.

The U.S. got drawn closer to the conflict with the seizure of several German and Italian ships in American Ports. With no plans to release the vessels, Congress was faced with the task of what to do with the ships. In the meantime, the Navy was keeping guard.

As retaliation, it was reported that several Americans living in Germany were rounded up for question in Berlin the previous night. Several students, a member of the Trade Commission and a Priest were brought in and later released via intervention of the Foreign Office. But the feeling was high that the Welcome Mat was going to be pulled at some point.

And on Capitol Hill, all the strikes going on this day were leading some members of Congress to call for a Federal curb on strikes in anticipation of increased War production. And a Congressional tour of Military bases brought about a stinging report of graft, corruption and incompetence and a call for further investigations and courts martial for the offending Military personnel and arrests for their civilian counterparts.

A nervous day, all around as reported on the NBC News Of The World for April 3, 1941.

News for this March 15th in 1947 was about reconstruction, Foreign Aid, the creeping Cold War and grumblings of discontent.

Starting with news of the upcoming Big Four Conference and Russia's criticism via Pravda and Izvestia (the government Press) of President Truman's plan for assistance to Greece and Turkey, and a general blast of the Marshal Plan on the grounds of "Imperialist meddling". Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marshal and Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov were huddled in Moscow debating the word Democracy. The nits were being picked clean. Discussions were also underway as to what Moscow was planning on doing in the area of repatriation for the hundreds of thousands and German Prisoners of War, still held in Russian camps.

In other International news: Britain was making plans to toss the Palestine question over to the United Nations to sort out in the coming week. The Japanese War Crimes Tribunal was meeting in Tokyo and the latest from the Japanese Defense team was Japan's fear of a Communist takeover from Russia that made it do what it did. Not much of a defense. Fighting was intensifying in China with Communist forces making gains and serious advances against Government forces. And the Civil War in Paraguay was taking a huge turn for the rebels, who were now outnumbering government forces three to one. Following suit, but with not much success, was a revolt brewing in Ecuador meeting with heavy resistance from the government there.

And blizzards were churning around in Wales while East London was underwater from floods.

On Capitol Hill: Debate was going on regarding the Foreign Aid question and, as usual, where was all this money going to come from. On the Good News domestic front - new housing construction was hitting its highest point in history.

And President Truman was in Key West, fishing. It seemed like a good time to take a vacation.

All this and so much more via Roy Porter and The NBC World News Roundup for (Friday) March 15, 1947.

Back when mainstream Media had a certain amount of Public Interest attached to it, the airwaves were filled with shows asking questions, looking for answers, prodding and probing.

One such show ran on CBS Radio in the mid-late 1950's called The Great Challenge. Usually hosted by a member of CBS News, this panel program posed a warehouse full of pertinent questions over what was going on with our society.

This episode, subtitled "Individual Relationships In A Mass Society" played host to a number of distinguished figures in the psychiatric and sociological professions, including Dr. Brock Chisholm, Dr Lawrence Kubie, Dr. Ralph W. Tyler, Dr. Erich Fromme, Dr. Lionel Trilling and Dr. William Foote Whyte, all pondering what was going wrong with America and why were we going so . . .well . . .crazy.

Dr. Ralph Tyler: “The point is, that you cannot be as an individual, free and able to express all the potentialities you have, to think and act in various ways, unless you have an opportunity to get stimulation from other people. We want variety in our society because it makes society interesting. If you have to sit with Joe and you know fifteen minutes ahead of time exactly what Joe’s going to say and how he’s going to say it, and many people at their homes or at work find just that relationship that there’s nothing novel, nothing exciting, nothing interesting. Other people bore you and you bore other people. And our concern here is that it’s through human relations of an individual sort an original, a creative sort, that life itself becomes interesting, it’s worth living.”

Dr. Brock Chisholm: “I suppose that there’s a lot wrong with this generation as there has been a lot wrong with all previous generations. But it’s more important now that it used to be. Because even while a lot of people in the past couldn’t get along together at all, and fought each other as they did, the results were usually fairly local. Only a few thousand or occasionally larger numbers of people were killed, but the human race was itself never threatened. In this generation there is required a whole new attitude that is appropriate to a new kind of world about which our ancestors knew nothing, and the requirements for adjustment to that changed world will probably, I would say I believe quite certainly, produce more neurosis, or at least liberate or motivate more neurosis or provide channels for the neurosis that is there already and encourage it to show.”

Bear in mind we're talking about a period of time, smack in the middle of the Cold War, where visions of obliteration were almost daily ruminations brought on by media and the practitioners of fear at the time. No wonder the 1950's were often considered "the dawn of Miltown".

At any rate, CBS Radio assembled a group of the best minds at the time and kicked it around. Maybe not offering solutions, but certainly letting everyone know they weren't alone in this - some comfort for sure.

Here is the April 22, 1956 installment of The Great Challenge, hosted by Howard K. Smith.

BTW - the "youth" they are referring to are in fact your parents and in some cases, your grandparents. Remember that, and perhaps giggle.

With the latest hearings in the Lord Justice Leveson Inquiry concluding yesterday, and new hearings scheduled shortly which will include a re-appearance of Rebecca Brooks, the wheels continue to turn. As of today a new arrest was reported in connection with the "for Neville" e-mails and a reporter for The Guardian has been questioned in connection with leaks from Scotland Yard. Although not arrested, reporter Amelia Hill was questioned "under caution" in what has become an industry wide concern that may have serious consequences down the road.

And as was reported yesterday, there are grumblings from this side of the pond with revelations that our own Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) may have been given information regarding phone hacking by News Corp's operations in the U.S. and that staffers for Senator Grassley failed to follow up on the tip from the whistle-blower. Sen. Grassley, as you may know, was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 2006 and was handed alleged evidence of phone hacking from Robert Emmel, a former account executive for News Corp's subsidiary News America. For his troubles, News Corp effectively silenced Emmel by suing him into bankruptcy.

The pot may be boiling in the UK, but it has yet to achieve simmer status in the U.S. - but that will undoubtedly change.

As I've said over and over, the phone hacking scandal isn't exclusive to the UK and anyone thinking it is clearly hasn't been paying any attention to the state of our own mainstream media in recent years. The "Murdoch Style", as I call it - that fast and loose with facts and Smear School of journalism, has become Standard Operating Procedure throughout much of our Fourth Estate for a while now. Since News Corp have gotten away with phone-hacking as a method of news gathering for so long, it is viewed as perfectly okay with others to follow suit. And if you've noticed, American mainstream media have been suspiciously silent over this entire scandal, giving scant details only when the ominous glare becomes unavoidable.

But for now it's confined to the UK. In a recap and commentary on yesterdays hearings, BBC Radio 4's weekly program The Media ran a segment earlier today, discussing the latest revelations and their implications for the hearings yet to come.

Stay tuned.
(h/t Digby)

This day in 1945 the San Francisco Peace conference was getting underway, laying the groundwork for what would become the United Nations Charter. With war still going on in the Pacific, delegates from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America met to establish a means of working together as a Post-War world was coming into view.

But even then, even as the war was continuing, suspicions were raised over the future relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Was all this euphoria going to last? Some didn't think so. And even Assistant Secretary of State Archibald MacLeish made mention of it in this broadcast, part of a radio series devoted to the San Francisco Conference and our Foreign Policy.

Archibald MacLeish (Asst. Sec. of State): “Political events in Europe are regarded in some quarters not only as denying the promise of San Francisco but as qualifying the hope that the continuing collaboration between the great powers, upon which San Francisco is based, can continue. Certain commentators have even spoken openly of an inevitable conflict of interest between the Russians and ourselves, and have debated the question whether Russia, our present ally in this war, is our enemy or our friend. A curious debate, one would think, with our soldiers living side by side in conquered Germany and our common dead but freshly buried.”

Interesting when you consider the Cold War became a reality not that long after these suspicions were cast. Interesting too, when you consider many members of the State Department at the time, including Alger Hiss, were hounded out of the State Department and labeled Communist operatives, triggering the Witch Hunts and Red Scare that permeated our National psyche for the better part of four decades.

But it all started out so optimistically.

Here is "Report From San Francisco - Part 5" as broadcast on May 26, 1945.

(As always, China looks at things a teensy bit differently than we do)

I've been working on getting a world overview of the Healthcare situation. Earlier this week I ran a debate over Health Care in Australia, hearing about issues we only hear rumors about. I kept wondering if in fact, the U.S. was the only country in the civilized (or even semi-civilized) world that didn't have some form of National Health, even as an option to private insurance. Hard to believe, but it's true - we are completely backwards in our relationships to health and healthcare.

Thanks to the BBC, I was able to locate a documentary done in 2008 which asked that very question - and did some exploring in Britain, the U.S. and China and came back with some interesting and very informative answers.

John McDonough (Director: Health Care For All): “All of the incentives, right now in our system reward Health Care providers for the volume of services they provide. So you get more money by doing more and more and more at a higher technological level. And we know the real secret comes from doing the lower complexity level of care much better than what’s being now. So all the rewards come from more procedures. And the more talking you do, the more time you waste and the less money you make. The incentives are completely upside down”.

The one thing I have noticed that's most disturbing about the current Health Care debate is the total lack of knowledge of what the issues and what the alternatives are. Clearly, ignorance is far from bliss and finding out how the vast majority of people on this planet handle things like doctor visits and emergencies is absolutely imperative if we're going to make crucial choices. Having ignorant people dangle the fear card in front of you doesn't do you or anyone else any good. Useful, factual information and knowledge of something your life and peace of mind depends on may save your ass in the long run.