http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1219-10.htm http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan06/Berkowitz07.htm
The Exotic Adventures of Neil Bush by Bill Berkowitz OAKLAND, California - These days, while President George W. Bush is all about convincing the U.S. public that he has a "Plan for Victory" in Iraq, his younger brother, Neil, is all about taking advantage of the family name. Neil Bush As the president was trumpeting a 35-page National Security Council document titled "Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq", Neil has been touting his company's prospectus. Over the past six months, Neil Bush has been shepherded around several former Soviet republics by a man wanted for fraud by Russian authorities, and has showed up in the Philippines and Taiwan at the side of a self-styled messiah. If people know anything at all about the star-crossed Neil Bush, it likely relates to either his role in the failed Silverado Savings and Loan scandal during the 1980s, which cost taxpayers more than one billion dollars, or, more recently, the lurid details of his divorce from his wife of 23 years. After a brief hiatus from the public spotlight, Neil Bush is back. Within a three-month period, Bush has shown up in Latvia, Ukraine and Georgia with Russian fugitive Boris Berezovsky, and has appeared at the side of the Unification Church's Rev. Sun Myung Moon in Taiwan and the Philippines. In September, Bush visited Latvia with Boris Berezovsky, described by The Washington Post as "a fugitive Russian tycoon who made millions in the violent scramble for control of Russian government assets after the fall of communism". Bush and Berezovsky, who currently lives in London where he has received political asylum, were toodling around the former Soviet republics to promote Ignite! Learning, the Texas-based interactive education software company Bush founded in 1999. Berezovsky took Bush "on a tour of countries from the former Soviet Union that have spun out of Moscow's sphere of influence", the St. Petersburg Times reported. In June, it was Ukraine, then Georgia, "where Berezovsky's longtime partner and Tbilisi power broker Badri Patarkatsishvili was on hand to wine and dine the U.S. president's brother". The Russian newspaper also pointed out that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow had disavowed any knowledge of Bush's activities, while the State Department denied any "involvement in, or any role in arranging, the activities of these two private individuals in Riga". More recently, Bush showed up in the Philippines and Taiwan at the side of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the head of the controversial Unification Church. In the Philippines, Bush attended the inaugural convocation of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Manila, the Manila Bulletin reported. Bush, along with other "peace leaders", joined with Moon in meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The president "praised Moon for his global peace efforts and God-centered, family- centered economic and social initiatives in various parts of the world, including projects in a number of Philippine cities", the Manila paper reported. Moon's Philippines trip, one stop on a 100-day tour that is taking him to 100 cities in 67 nations and covering nearly 100,000 miles, was aimed at building momentum for his idea of developing a faith-based path to peace by revamping the United Nations. Veteran investigative reporter John Gorenfeld told IPS that, "Moon speaks in parables from the Book of Genesis. He says the U.N. is like Cain, but he wants to build a second entity that is like Abel. Ideally his 'Abel U.N.' -- a body fusing all religions -- would be embraced by the U.N. But if not, he wants to set up his own alternative diplomatic machine to outshine the U.N." During a May 2003 meeting with President Bush at the White House, Philippines President Arroyo suggested that the United States might consider co-sponsoring the proposal, the conservative online news magazine, NewsMax.com reported. According to that report, the president "expressed deep interest and asked his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to study the matter". Neil Bush is no stranger to showing up at out of the way places searching for business: One month after the 9/11 attacks, Bush showed up at an international technology conference in Dubai where he was hunting for investors for Ignite!. A few months later, he was in Saudi Arabia, where he delivered the keynote address on the concluding day of the three-day Jeddah Economic Forum. Bush told conferees that the best way to change perceptions in the United States about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was to expand their political lobbying. Stained by his involvement in the savings and loan debacle, Neil Bush's reputation was further soiled by revelations contained in a deposition that was part of his divorce from his wife Sharon. In those documents, Bush revealed details about rewarding business deals and a series of sexual encounters with women in Asia. Sharon Bush's lawyer, Marshall Davis Brown, questioned Bush about an August 2002 contract with Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a firm backed by Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, that would pay him two million dollars in stock over five years: "You have absolutely no educational background in semiconductors do you?" "That's correct," Bush responded. "And you have absolutely over the last 10, 15, 20 years not a lot of demonstrable business experience that would bring about a company investing two million dollars in you?" Brown persisted. In the deposition, Bush also admitted to having had a series of sexual encounters with Asian woman, while on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong. According to Bush, the women knocked on his door, entered and engaged in sex with him. According to a CNN report, Bush "said he did not know if they were prostitutes because they never asked for money and he did not pay them". Last month, Bush took time away from his busy schedule to attend a White House dinner in honour of Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla. Rev. Moon has been a longtime friend to the Bush family. After supporting Bush's election in 2000 through his flagship publication, The Washington Times, the newspaper's foundation sponsored a prayer luncheon attended by some 1,700 religious, civic, and political leaders the day before Bush's inauguration. In 1995, former President George H. W. Bush received 10,000 dollars to speak at a Moon-sponsored Buenos Aires banquet that launched the Reverend's Latin American publication, "Tiempos del Mundo" (Times of the World). "A lot of my friends in South America don't know about the Washington Times but it is an independent voice," the former president said. "The editors of the Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington, DC." Copyright © 2005 IPS - Inter Press Service On Apr 14, 10:23 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > "I now direct you to agree to a proposal which includes the following > terms and conditions," Wolfowitz instructed. "You should accept > immediately her offer to be detailed to an outside institution of her > choosing, while retaining bank salary and benefits." > > The Wolfowitz memo went on say that Riza should receive a promotion, > draw a salary of 180,000 dollars (£90,000) and get annual pay > increases of 8%. > > Before the job change, Riza was believed to be getting paid close to > 133,000 dollars (£67,000). After the transfer, she received 193,590 > dollars (£97,000), according to the Government Accountability Project, > a watchdog group. > > Riza remains on the World Bank's payroll though she left the State > Department job last year and now works for Foundation for the Future, > an international organisation that gets some money from the > department. > > On Apr 7, 9:33 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >http://counterpunch.org/rahni04072007.html > > > Test Tube Zealots: The American Chemical Society Terminates the > > Membership of Chemists from Iran > > > By DAVID N. RAHNI > > > The American Chemical Society (ACS) has once again led the way, with > > its "zealot" interpretation of "embargo" by the Department of > > Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control, by terminating the > > membership of its long-standing members in Iran, many of whom are post > > Ph.D. Alumni of American Universities. Several years ago, the ACS > > undertook a similar unprecedented action, under the same law. Then, it > > unilaterally stopped accepting scholarly and research manuscripts from > > Iranian scientists for its three dozen periodicals in the publication > > division. However, later, under embarrassing pressure from the > > American scientific community and its membership, the ACS retracted > > its decision and agreed to take it up instead with the federal > > government. Paradoxically and notwithstanding rhetoric, such ill- > > conceived measures are against the current U.S. Administration policy > > of promoting people-to-people contact as enunciated by the Assistant > > Secretary of State Nicholas Burns at the March 29 hearing of the > > Senate Foreign Relations Committee. > > > Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, in Science Magazine, reported that the ACS > > Assistant General Counsel, David Smorodin when "re-reading the embargo > > rules, made the recommendation to terminate Iranian membership(Science > > Magazine, Vol. 315, 30 March 2007). One can not help but speculate > > whether or not such decision is truly serving the interests of member- > > based ACS or enforcing the laws to the limit as he has served as a > > U.S. Assistant District Attorney before joining the ACS. Nonetheless, > > despite the abrupt termination of individual membership of Iranian > > chemical scientists with no due process, the ACS has stated that while > > they [Iranians] can continue to purchase journals and other "non- > > sensitive products at full-rate, the ACS might apply for a special > > license from the Treasury Department to reinstate their memberships. > > This has in the meantime deprived American chemists to learn about the > > scholarly contributions of their Iranian peers. > > > It should be noted that as in the past, the American Physical Society > > (APS), in contrast, stated, "We have NO plan to do anything similar, > > and continue to serve our members in Iran." Judy Franz, a director at > > the APS further stated that, "We would resist having to obtain a > > license to the extent we can." > > > When interviewed by Science Magazine, the official publication of the > > American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), David > > Rahni an Iranian-American chemistry professor in New York stated, "I, > > like most ACS members and peers in the scientific community, strongly > > question the ACS motive on this issue, and expect ACS,s leadership to > > refrain from allowing politics to taint the high stature the > > Organization has achieved." Rahni further stated that this has > > personally concerned him gravely since he has served the ACS with > > distinctions in the past thirty years, as typified by his positions as > > the chair of the ACS New York, the chair of the Middle Atlantic > > Regional Meeting, and the chair of Nichols Medal. 90% of the ACS > > projects, publications and activities are run by a huge cadre of > > volunteer professionals who, with no expectations, give their time, > > energy, money and intellects and talents to the advancement of the > > chemical sciences worldwide. It is painfully ironic to many, > > especially the ACS American members to witness the politicization of > > their disciplines through the ACS as they continue to register their > > grave concerns with the ACS lucratively remunerated executive > > directors. As a chemistry professor with having given fifty years of > > his life to the ACS and the profession so eloquently put it, "Never > > mind the Iranians as one may not give a darn about them and their > > plights, what, I am bewildered to speculate the ulterior motives of > > the ACS paid "professional leadership is to embarrass us as > > freethinking science. ACS is US and not its DC staff as they are > > required by our mandate to serve our interests and not create problems > > for us. > > > The consensus among the nearly one million Americans of Iranian > > ancestry is to reaffirm their yearning commitment to the attainment of > > justice, security, stability, equity, transparency and human rights > > through "home-grown", indigenous and democratic reforms in Iran, but > > not at the expense of isolating the scientific community in their > > motherland from their peers worldwide. They further deplore any > > possible unilateral military action against Iran, as they firmly > > believe this is counter-productive to the organic, slow, but steady > > evolution of Iran through educational benchmark, cultural reforms and > > communication with the rest of the world. They further consider > > military action and/or isolation counter-productive to the credibility > > of their American homeland which would inevitably lead, once again, to > > the priceless loss of human life and loss of credibility for our > > nation in the international scene. > > > Iran's chemist/chemical engineering professionals/scholars numbers > > tens of thousands. They are, by and large, members of the Iranian > > Chemical Society. However, many of them hold at least one overseas > > membership, mostly in the Royal Societies in the UK. There are > > currently 36 Iranian members in the American Chemical Society. The > > strong position of chemistry/chemical engineering in Iran is due to > > the oil and gas explorations by the petrochemical industry during the > > past 100 years, and due to some of Iran,s renowned past and > > contemporary chemists, scientists, and philosophers. The contributions > > of Americans of Iranian background to the chemistry and sciences, > > engineering and medicine, is unparalleled by other recent immigrant > > communities. There indeed exists an <http://www.ica-acs.org/ > > news.htm>Iranian Chemists' Association of the ACS that since its > > inception in the 80, has reached out to over a thousand chemists of > > Iranian ancestry in the U.S. alone. It is well substantiated that as > > long as the diplomatic relations between the two nations remain at a > > hostile stalemate, a political cloud hovers over the personal and > > professional aspirations of Iranian-Americans. Specifically, senior > > and executive level professional opportunities for Iranian-Americans, > > particularly in government, higher education and the corporate world, > > remain chronically undermined. > > > Iran, a multiethnic country of 70 million, traces its heritage to a > > long and illustrious history, 10,000 years in the making, with 2500 > > years of a continuous form of government. There are two million > > students in her higher education system, 60% of whom, especially in > > the sciences, engineering and medicine, are women. Its literacy rate > > is 90%, unprecedented in that part of the world. Iran or Persia as it > > was formerly known by the outside world until 1935, has indeed > > contributed immensely toward the advancement of science, technology > > and society for millennia. Rhazes, Avicenna, Algorithm, Omer Khayam, > > Farabi, Biruni, Hayyan, and many others are some of the epics that > > come to a western scholar,s mind. > > > Despite the tremendous burden imposed on the Iranian students and > > scholars as they struggle to obtain a US visa (mostly denied) for > > doctoral studies, some of the brightest graduate students in Ivy > > League Universities (e.g., Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, and MIT) are > > Iranians. Increasingly, however, they opt to pursue their doctoral > > studies in Australia, Canada and Europe. Iranian high school students > > have continuously ranked among the top few of the nations in the > > International Chemistry and other Science Olympiads, and Robotics and > > Computing Competitions. > > > Isn't it ironic that when the ACS claims to be an international > > professional society, 130 years old, with a membership of 160,000, 10% > > of whom are from overseas, and an additional 20%, are naturalized > > Americans or permanent residents, that it forces the nationals of Iran > > out, deprives them from maintaining scientific communications with > > peers worldwide, and does not let them contribute toward the > > advancement of science worldwide? > > > Notwithstanding the rhetoric and provocations leading to a possible > > disastrous confrontation by governments, a true scientist, or a > > credible organization of scientists such as the ACS, which does not > > recognize the boundaries of the world, should be capable to transcend > > all political barriers for the advancement of science. > > > David N. Rahni, Ph.D. is a Professor of Chemistry at Pace University, > > in Pleasantville, New York and Adjunct Professor of Dermatology, New > > York Medical College. He is also an Adj. Prof. Envirnonmental Law at > > Pace U. He can be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
