According to the CIA, Monaco has the highest life expectancy at almost 90 years old. Countries with a good healthcare system, low rates of violence, and democracy, among other factors, are more likely to have a higher life expectancy. Certain places in Asia, such as Macau, Japan, and Singapore, range between 84 and 83 years.

Asia’s relative advantage is related not only to genetics, but also its universal healthcare system and better diet. The United States, with an average life expectancy of 77.49, ranks fiftieth, which is below middle income countries such as Gibraltar, Denmark, and Portugal. At the bottom of the list is the African country, Chad, with an average life expectancy of 49 years.

Why are Monacans expected to live so much longer than anyone else? Monaco borders the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of France, near the border with Italy, and is the second-smallest independent state in the world (after Vatican City). Monaco is home to 30,510 people and became independent in 1419 by the House of Grimaldi. Monaco is a popular resort, attracting tourists to its casinos and pleasant climate.

The state has no income tax and low business taxes and thrives as a tax haven both for individuals who have established residence and for foreign companies that have set up businesses and offices. Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas. Monacans have access to good water, sanitation, and healthcare, and zero percent of the population has AIDS or HIV.

In contrast, Chad faces many health problems, such as malaria, Hepatitis A, and meningitis. The Chad government estimates that 11,000 people died due to AIDS or HIV in 2009. Currently, 210,000 Chadians are living in the country with AIDS or HIV. Residents of Chad have less access to healthcare than Monacans, mostly because of poverty.

Animals with diseases are another factor of risk for Chadians that sometimes consume poisonous foods due to the lack of regulations. Chad relies on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects. At least 80 percent of Chad’s population relies on subsistence farming and raising livestock for its livelihood.

Transnational issues do not help the life expectancy of Chadians. There is a lot of crime and violence on the cross-border with Cameroon, Sudan, and Nigeria. Moreover, Chadian children are trafficked to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria for forced labor and forced prostitution.

Image Courtesy of   jbor / Shutterstock.com

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The September 11 terrorist attacks brought more than the loss of American lives, they brought considerable impact on internal affairs of the United States. The CIA’s involvement with the NYPD is considered, by many, another stain on the Agency’s long history of scandals.

The CIA has been accused of infiltrating the police department and using its resources to conduct spying operations on a domestic level, mainly targeting the Muslim community in New York City. After a thorough investigation, the Associated Press has published an article revealing the relationship between the Agency and the NYPD in the past ten years.

Work have been done on two main levels. First, a veteran CIA officer was assigned to be in charge of training a police officer who would put into practice new espionage techniques inside the police units. This action allowed the CIA to influence and reorient NYPD towards serving intelligence instead of fulfilling its normal duty as a law enforcement institution.

Secondly, a senior CIA officer was sent to work as a clandestine operative inside the police headquarters, with the main goal of supervising and watching the progression of the project. Bookstores, cafes, bars and nightclubs are some of the public places targeted by the program which consisted of citizens’ surveillance, also referred to in the AP report as “human mapping.”

The same reports said that the NYPD has sent “rakers” into minority neighborhoods to spy and gather data. Police have also used informants, referred to as “mosque crawlers,” to report on religious sermons or gatherings in mosques, even in the absence of suspicious activity.

In his comments on the issue, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, admitted that NYPD is working with the CIA, but defended its practices saying, “If there are threats or leads to follow, then the NYPD’s job is to do it. The law is pretty clear about what’s the requirement and I think they follow the law. We don’t stop to think about the religion. We stop to think about the threats and focus our efforts there.”

In a response to the report, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights organization, asked the Justice Department for an investigation into the case. CAIR attorney, Gadeir Abbas, believes that “the first amendment protects our right to associate freely with one another.”

“An investigation of a community [rather than of a crime or a particular person] unlawfully chills the rights of persons within that community. Furthermore, the Establishment Clause requires NYPD to maintain neutrality between all religions. Their intelligence unit appears to be failing to maintain that neutrality by institutionalizing suspicion of all things Islamic,” Abbas said.

Police involvement in CIA activities has blurred the lines of domestic and foreign affairs as well as the limits between local and federal jurisdiction.

Some say that the CIA’s dependence on the help of the NYPD is because of the the agency’s inexperience dealing with a domestic environment. The lack of diversity among the CIA’s personnel may also play into its inability to conduct operations independent of the police department. The NYPD has both features; a direct contact with citizens, as well as a culturally and linguistically diverse staff that more easily blends into the community.

Others are questioning why the CIA doesn’t try collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instead of NYPD. Whatever the reason, the issues surrounding privacy and freedom is not only found in the U.S. Many Arabs are currently fighting against regimes, where spying on citizens is routine. Meanwhile, many New Yorkers are unaware of the spying efforts of the CIA and police department.

Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com

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Panama City, Wednesday, March 23rd,10 p.m

My dear Amora,

Finally I have reached Panama City alive, can you believe that?  Alive! Well, my words are apparently counted, so no time for bollocks!

So Panama «riecht von oben bis unten nach Bananen!», but I will start telling you about what really happened in this country, a little lesson of history would not be out of context, I guess!

I think you already know the general story of Panama : CIA, Dictators, USA, etc. But that is the common known story in South America in the second half of the twentieth century! But for once,  France have something to do with it ! Panama got the canal, whereas the other countries used to have nothing else but some Batista or Somoza. But I won’t begin to talk about this, otherwise I might spit so much on the U.S.A and seem so European that I could lose the opportunity to continue writing for the nice people in New-York!

The French were the first to show up here and build the canal, after the success of the one of Suez. But I have learn today, that the French were trying to dig through the «Gold Hill» ( a famous place over here) the thing is that this hill is situated in a place where it is impossible to dig ( something about the tectonic plates, quite interesting).

Any-road, they spent five whole years trying, which turned out to be totally pointless. In the meantime, they were loosing money, so monkey business settled in. A lot. The cost of the construction was too high and then they (politicians) began ( as usual) to do craps with money. When this came out to light, many of them disappeared, or committed suicide, or were fired. And the construction work was abandoned, until the Americans ( bless them!) arrived to take it over, whom continued and finish the work. During the first and second World War, the Panama canal was the most defended place in the entire world. The one who was controlling this passage, was controlling the world.

Anyway, back in the eighties, an ex-CIA agent named Noriega, was on power for ten years. During this period, mister Reagan was complaining that his ex-citizen didn’t respect his engagement toward the United States. So in 1989 Bush father (with his legendary wisdom) organized the Operation «Just Cause». To be short, they  invaded Panama and re-enforced the American control over the canal until 1999. Whereas from taht date on the Canal return to the power of the Panamanian people

Well, I have so much to talk further about, but I already pass the «dead words line».

As usual, I hope that everything is going muy perfecto por ti, mi amorcita. Hasta mañana Linda !

Your panaman boy!

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