Weekly Review
harpers.org/archive/2009...iew2009-10-13
As the United States marked the eighth anniversary of its
war in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal asked
President Barack Obama to send 40,000 more troops
there. Senator John McCain was in favor of the surge,
while Vice President Joe Biden argued for unmanned
drones. Within days of Pakistan's announcing a new
anti-Taliban offensive in Waziristan, the tribal area that
borders Afghanistan, a suicide bomber dressed as a
paramilitary officer blew himself up inside a U.N. aid
agency in Islamabad, two car bombs killed dozens in
markets in Peshawar, and ten gunmen disguised in army
fatigues attacked the country's military headquarters,
holding 45 hostages until a commando raid freed 42 of
them; the remaining hostages and nine of the militants
were killed. It was revealed that a young Afghan girl was
killed last summer when a box designed to break open in
mid-air and scatter public information leaflets fell
intact from a British plane and landed on her. A British
study found that children who are given too many sweets
risk becoming violent adults, possibly because they never
learn patience, and President Obama won the Nobel Peace
Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy," even though the deadline for
nominations was February 1st, ten days after he took
office. Searching for water, the United States bombed the
moon.

Government ministers in the Maldives, which rising sea
levels will make uninhabitable by 2100, were taking scuba
lessons and practicing hand signals so that they can hold
cabinet meetings underwater. The government of Ecuador was
expelling migrants in the Galapagos because
environmentalists fear that the human population, which
doubled to 30,000 in the past decade, and which has
introduced rats, cattle, and fire ants to the island,
threatens native species, among them giant tortoises and
brightly colored boobies. A Saudi man was sentenced to
five years in prison and 1,000 lashes for bragging about
his sex life in an interview on Lebanese
television. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed
not to step down after the country's highest court
overturned a law granting him immunity from
prosecution. "I am the best prime minister ever," said
Berlusconi, who is embroiled in corruption and bribery
scandals. "I am absolutely the politician most persecuted
by prosecutors in the entire history of the world
throughout the ages." He added that he had spent "200
million euros on judges... excuse me, on lawyers." The
Supreme Court convened its new term, and Justice Sonia
Sotomayor asked 36 questions in her first hour; Justice
Clarence Thomas had not asked a question for more than
three years. British entrepreneurs launched Internet Eyes,
a program that allows registered users to monitor live
feeds from some of the United Kingdom's 4.2 million
surveillance cameras in order to search for a crime in
progress, with cash prizes for viewers who spot the most
criminals. Insurgents in Somalia forced thousands of
people to watch as they amputated a foot and a hand from
each of two men accused of robbery. House Democrats
pledged to write into health-care-reform legislation a ban
on the practice whereby some insurers deny coverage to
battered women because domestic violence is designated a
"pre-existing condition." A Sioux City, Iowa, family found
a dead deer dressed in a clown suit and wig on their front
porch. British scientists reported that learning to juggle
can permanently increase brain function, and Cirque du
Soleil founder Guy Laliberte returned to Earth, after a
visit to the international space station, wearing a foam
clown nose.

Astronomers discovered the largest ring in the solar
system, a colossal circle of debris around Saturn caused
by the planet's moon Phoebe having been hit by wayward
space rocks. Archaeologists announced a new stone circle a
mile from Stonehenge that suggests the prehistoric
monument was part of a larger burial
complex. U.S. coroners were reporting a sharp increase in
the number of unclaimed bodies due to the
recession. Florida hospital officials advised more than
1,800 people to get screened for HIV and hepatitis after a
nurse was found to have re-used IV bags on multiple
patients. Scientists announced that they had developed a
vaccine that prevents cocaine users from getting
high. France's new culture minister, Frederic Mitterand,
was called on to resign after acknowledging that he "got
into the habit" of paying young boys for sex in Southeast
Asia. Egyptian lawmakers called for a ban on the
Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, which leaks fake blood,
and on National Coming Out Day, thousands of gay-rights
activists marched on the U.S. Capitol. Mary Cheney was
pregnant again. A teddy bear made of placenta was touring
England as part of an exhibit of sustainable toys. The
Mediterranean Sea was plagued by an outbreak of giant,
mucuslike sea blobs.

-- Margaret Cordi