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Qat joins al Qaeda as Yemen threat By Andrew Quinn (Front Row Washington)
it has become a failed state.” Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman, who spent most Submitted at 2/3/2010 9:56:13 AM of the morning outlining U.S. U.S. lawmakers, convening a plans to help Yemen improve meeting on Wednesday to both security and governance to discuss the threat posed by al fight off the al Qaeda threat, Qaeda in Yemen, found conceded that there were no themselves focused on another quick fixes in the offing for the problem stalking the qat problem. impoverished Arab country: the “Qat is depriving income from mild drug qat, which permeates families. It is preventing people Yemeni society. from effective employment. It is Rep. Howard Berman, the using up precious water chairman of the House Foreign resources,” Feltman said, noting Affairs Committee, launched the that the U.S. Agency for discussion of Yemen’s drug International Development problem in his opening remarks, supplies. widespread use of qat, which he (USAID) was working with the noting that qat was “a narcotic The focus on qat continued with called “grotesquely disfiguring” World Bank and others to plant that produces feelings of Rep. Gary Ackerman, who as Yemenis plugged big wads of develop agricultural business euphoria and stimulation, but mused that Yemen’s drug habit the plant into their cheeks to initiatives in Yemen in hopes of ultimately undermines individual m i g h t b e u n d e r c u t t i n g i t s chew. spurring farmers to start growing initiative — sort of like being in readiness to sign on to a more “These weren’t just young kids. more productive crops. Congress.” forceful campaign against al They were police officers, they But he said qat use in Yemen Berman noted that many people Qaeda militants within its were businessmen,” Scott said, was a “severe problem” that still chew qat regularly in Yemen — borders. adding that the water demands of needed to be addressed. pushed close to the top of the “ T h e s e p e o p l e s p e n d t h e Yemen’s qat industry were “I don’t think there’s any shortU.S. security watchlist after the afternoon getting away from helping push the country to term fix to the long-term qat Christmas Day bombing attempt reality, getting high…it’s like, economic ruin. problem,” he said. on a U.S. airliner by a Nigerian wow,” Ackerman said. “It is the driving characteristic of Photo credit: REUTERS/Ahmed with Yemeni links – and that Rep. David Scott told the panel that economy, of that culture,” Jadallah (Yemeni farmer sells cultivation of the drug consumes that on a recent trip to Yemen he Scott said. “That is not only qat from truck in Sanaa) about 40 percent of Yemen’s fast h a d b e e n a p p a l l e d b y t h e making Yemen a failed state — diminishing agricultural water
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Murdoch's Daughter Recognizes That 'Piracy' Can Be Good By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 2/3/2010 10:52:00 PM
Even as Rupert Murdoch is calling aggregators and other sites "pirates" and claiming that fair use can be blocked, it seems his daughter has a more enlightened view. Copycense points us to a recent talk by Elisabeth Murdoch, who owns a TV production house, where she basically admits that blocking what people want to do is a bad idea:"Fans remain the best salesmen of our content, even if that behavior is on the borderline of piracy. Danger of the new world is that we must concede that we'll lose some control." Nice to hear. Now, if only her Dad would listen to her before he pisses off a bunch of his best content salesmen. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story