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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Jul-2010
4-Jul-10 News -- From which country did the U.S. win independence?

Web Log - July, 2010

4-Jul-10 News -- From which country did the U.S. win independence?

United Nations warns of increased tension between Hizbollah and Israel

From which country did the U.S. declare its independence in 1776?

Was it France, China, Japan, Mexico or Spain? These are some of the answers give by Americans to the question, "On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day. From which country did the United States win its independence?" when asked by a Marist College poll.

Only 74% knew that the answer was Britain.

Here's the demographic breakdown of the percentage getting it right:

    USA Residents                   74%
    Region  Northeast               84%
            Midwest                 74%
            South                   68%
            West                    75%
    Household Income
            Less than $50,000       63%
            $50,000 or more         86%
    Race    White                   82%
            Non-white               56%
    Age     18 to 29                60%
            30 to 44                75%
            45 to 59                79%
            60 or older             76%
    Age     Under 45                67%
            45 or older             78%
    Gender  Men                     81%
            Women                   67%

Quite honestly, I would have thought that everyone over 50 would have known the answer, but I guess not.

UN warns of renewed war between Israel and Hizbollah

French soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon were attacked last week with sticks, rocks and eggs, causing several injuries, in the latest of a string of such incidents, according to AFP.

The peacekeeping force is known as UNIFIL, which stands for United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. UNIFIL was established in 1978 to keep Israel and Hizbollah apart, and its mandate was increased in 2006 after the summer war between Israel and Hizbollah. The mission of UNIFIL is to keep the two sides apart, and prevent another war.

This occurs just as the U.N. issued a report on Friday. AFP quotes the report as saying that tensions have risen considerably since April, when Israel accused Syria of supplying Scud missiles to Hizbollah, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and warns that a new war might start at any time.

The U.N. report agrees that Hizbollah's existing weapons are a clear violation, but added that it had no evidence that Syria supplied them.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the report blames both Hizbollah and Israel for violations. It said that Israel continues to violate the cease-fire by conducting daily overflights of Lebanon and refuses to withdraw from the disputed northern border village of Ghajar.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, there's no clear trend indicating whether or not a new Israeli-Hizbollah war is imminent.

Hizbollah and Lebanon are in a generational Awakening era, and Hizbollah fought the 2006 war in a "cool" fashion, with Hizbollah soldiers shooting missiles into Israeli territories, and returning home to their wives and families at the end of the day.

By contrast, Israel is in a generational Crisis era, and fought the 2006 war in a "hot" fashion, starting the war abruptly with no plans and no objectives. (See "How Israel panicked in pursuing the summer Lebanon war with Hizbollah.")

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The state of California is disastrously in budget trouble, but it turns out that there's another state that's even worse off: Illinois. The state is refusing to pay some of its bills, and has the most underfunded pension system in the nation. Businesses are closing because the state won't pay the money it owes them, and local governments have laid off 20,000 workers. NY Times

The war between the Turks and the PKK Kurds in Iraq is reigniting. BBC

China has invested tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan, mostly for energy projects that will allow China to import more oil from the Mideast. China's role as Pakistan's chief patron is consistent with the Generational Dynamics view that China and Pakistan will opposed the U.S. and India in the coming Clash of Civilizations world war. CS Monitor

Many ethnic Turks living in Germany are moving back to Turkey because it's more familiar and because they can often earn more money. Spiegel

Mexico goes to the polls on Sunday for an election heavily influenced by the increasing drug cartel violence across the country. Bloomberg

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 4-Jul-10 News -- From which country did the U.S. win independence? thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (4-Jul-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Jul-2010 4-Jul-10 News -- From which country did the U.S. win independence?

From which country did the U.S. declare its independence in 1776?

UN warns of renewed war between Israel and Hizbollah

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Jul-2010
4-Jul-10 News -- From which country did the U.S. win independence?