The Two Weeks You Missed

[Woodmonkey]

NATIONAL political conventions, critics complain, have devolved into stage-managed infomercials offering little more than cynical sloganeering, phony displays of party unity and dorky delegates bopping to the Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder.

This is not entirely true. We’ve learned a lot of critical information in the past two weeks. We now know, for example, that Bill and Hillary Clinton think that sometime in August, Barack Obama acquired the necessary experience to be president, and that Sarah Palin can gut a moose, presumably with her bare hands. We also know that every single delegate, party official and candidate in both the Republican and Democratic Parties is 100 percent committed to change.

While the news media were preoccupied with the wind storms in Denver, Minneapolis and New Orleans, here are some stories you may have missed, and will probably be hearing about again:

PAY FOR STUDENTS Public middle-school students in the District of Columbia have some of the lowest test scores in the nation. So in a pilot program this fall, about 3,000 of them will be paid for showing up at school, behaving well and getting good grades.

The idea of giving students financial incentives is starting to gain traction throughout the nation, with schools in New York City and five states experimenting with cash-for-grades. The district’s schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, says the rationale is simple: “This is exactly what life is about. You get a paycheck every two weeks. We’re preparing children for life.”

INTERNAL G.P.S. First, tracking devices were installed in cars so they could be found if stolen. Then, pet owners began putting chips in their dogs and cats. Now it’s human beings who are being “chipped.” An epidemic of kidnappings has led wealthy and even middle-class Mexicans to pay $4,000 to have tiny transmitters implanted that can pinpoint their location by satellite.

Chipping people has already begun in the United States, where VeriChip has inserted chips in 200 Alzheimer’s patients for a pilot program. Future Big Brother applications are not hard to imagine, like chipping prisoners, the mentally ill and teenagers who lie about where they’re really spending Friday night.

IRAQIS TAKE THE WHEEL If you want to know the future of Iraq, keep your eyes on Anbar Province. Two years ago, Anbar was the most violent region in Iraq, controlled by Islamic extremists who killed more than 1,000 American soldiers. This week, the United States military formally handed control of Anbar over to the Iraqis. The handover marked a stunning turnaround that began when Sunni tribal leaders rebelled against the domination of the foreign fighters of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Since then, insurgent attacks have dropped 90 percent.

The peace in Anbar is fragile, though. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s Shiite-run government says it will now take command of the Sons of Iraq, the 100,000 armed men who have been policing Sunni regions. But members of that group say that the government is simply disarming and arresting scores of their leaders. If the Sons of Iraq can be integrated into the army or government, Anbar may serve as a model for a new Iraq. If they’re excluded, Anbar may fall back into chaos and violence.

A THREAT IN VENEZUELA Hezbollah, the radical Shiite militia sponsored by Iran, has a new base of operations in the Americas: Venezuela. Western intelligence officials told The Los Angeles Times that President Hugo Chávez has formed “a strategic partnership” with Iran, and that Hezbollah is exploiting the new ties. The group intends to create a special terrorist cell to kidnap Jewish businessmen in Latin America and take them back to Lebanon, the intelligence officials said. Another danger, they say, is that Hezbollah could use Venezuela as a base from which to insert terrorists into the United States.

GOING WITH THE FLOES Last summer, warming temperatures melted more of the Arctic ice cap than at any time since measurements have been taken. This summer’s data indicate that 2007’s melt was not a one-year anomaly. With the ice still melting, the total amount of Arctic sea ice was approaching last year’s low, and polar bears, which use ice floes as platforms on which to fish and rest, were spotted swimming in the open sea. Some were headed toward the edge of the ice shelf, 400 miles away — far beyond their endurance.

In as little as five years, said a NASA scientist, Jay Zwally, the North Pole in summer will be ice-free. “Climate warming is also coming larger and faster than the models are predicting,” Dr. Zwally said. “Nobody’s really taken into account that change yet.”

Change? Did the man say change? He must be a Democrat. Or a Republican.

The Source