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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Oct-2010
25-Oct-10 News -- Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election

Web Log - October, 2010

25-Oct-10 News -- Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election

H1N1 swine flu virus mutates in Australia

Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election

Observers are breathing a sigh of relief that Bahrain's parliamentary election on Saturday went smoothly, and that there are no threats of violence in the aftermath, so far.

Persian Gulf region. Bahrain's 33 small islands are a tiny dot in this map

Persian Gulf region. Bahrain's 33 small islands are a tiny dot in this map

Bahrain is an important American ally because it houses America's Fifth Fleet, and because it's a major financial center in the Mideast.

However, the country is governed by Sunni Muslim officials, while 2/3rds of the population are Shia Muslim. Iran has been stirring up trouble recently, and claims Bahrain is part of Iran, as I described last month in "20-Sep-10 News -- Unrest grows in Bahrain over Shia 'terror network' arrests."

The election has been closely watched in the Arab community, and the verdict seems to be that it was a great success, according to the Arab News.

According to the article, "The international media had access to all election booths on Saturday and the journalists were free to speak to anyone they wanted. The whole exercise was quite transparent and beamed live on state television. All key ministers were at hand and more than willing to answer difficult questions from the media, indicating the government's confidence in carrying out this important democratic exercise."

The opposition party Al-Wefaq, which represents the Shia majority, gained an additional seat in the National Assembly, though they're still in the minority.

Although the election was successful, severe sectarian divisions remain, according to Geopolitical Monitor and Global Research, and Iran is certain to continue to exploit them.

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Since it broke out in March, 2009, and spread around the world, the H1N1 swine flu virus has been very stable, with almost no mutations. However, it may now be starting to mutate, as a new form has begun to predominate in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, where the winter flu season is just ending. Fox News

However, as the flu season begins in the northern hemisphere, the number of deaths from pneumonia and flu has spiked much higher than usual in the U.S. The H1N1 swine flu virus normally targets younger people, since older people are protected by antibodies made during the H1N1 flu outbreaks in the 1950s. Thus, a peculiar thing happened in 2009: The H1N1 flu virus "crowded out" the normal seasonal flu, and the result is that fewer old people died from flu in 2009. This means that old people are at higher risk in the new flu season, and this might explain the spike in deaths. Recombinomics

Anti-Japan protests in China continued on Sunday. The police broke up demonstrations by hundreds of protestors unfurling banners and demanding a boycott of Japanese products. There was no violence. Reuters

For 17 days after the Chile miners were trapped, nobody knew whether they were dead or alive. Then one of the miners attached a note to a probe. The note read, "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33" ("We are okay in the refuge, the 33 of us"). This note is being declared a work of art, and the phrase has been copyrighted in the name of its author, Jose Ojeda. BBC

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 26-Oct-10 News -- Observers breath sigh of relief at Bahrain election thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (25-Oct-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Oct-2010 25-Oct-10 News -- Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election

Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Oct-2010
25-Oct-10 News -- Observers breathe sigh of relief at Bahrain election