Audit of Federal Reserve Inches Closer
U.S. Rep. Paul has been trying for review of transactions for years
A proposal on which U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has been working for much of the last decade is getting close to reality: an audit-the-Federal Reserve requirement that has been approved in the U.S. House and is pending in the Senate as an amendment to a piece of financial reform legislation.
“They’re still negotiating,” said a spokeswoman for the congressman’s office. “We’re very hopeful that it’s going to be included, maybe … by the end of next week.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Credit Union: Puh-lease Take Your Money
Members with only savings accounts viewed as costly
Nevada Federal Credit Union has a deal for big savers: Withdraw your money and you’ll get a bonus.
The credit union, one of the largest in Nevada, figures that deposits from members who don’t have a checking account, mortgage loan or any other products are expensive.
Brad Beal, chief executive officer of Nevada Federal Credit Union, estimates that about 1,600 of Nevada Federal’s 85,000 members only use the credit union for savings.
The financial institution typically uses member deposits, including certificates of deposit and money market accounts, to make loans, which typically bear higher rates than deposits.
Beal figures those interest-bearing accounts are a money-losing proposition in Nevada’s current depressed economy.
“We don’t have any loan demand right now,” Beal said.
The credit union is investing in short-term Treasurys and earns about one-quarter of 1 percent on those government securities on average, but it was paying 0.4 percent to customers with savings.
In addition, the credit union expects the National Credit Union Administration to boost deposit insurance premiums by 0.15 percent to 0.4 percent this year.
For each $100 million in deposits, that premium increase will increase Nevada Federal’s costs up to $400,000 yearly, Beal said.
While Nevada Federal is well capitalized, reducing deposits also will increase its net worth as a percent of assets. Beal said that is a secondary reason for reducing total deposits.
It’s an unusual strategy. Another credit union manager said the strategy makes good sense in the short term but Nevada Federal also may be unable to get the members back again when demand for loans resumes.
Starting Monday, the credit union has cut the variable interest rates on deposits held by members that only save money to zero.
“We’re losing money, and they are not making money,” Beal said.
So the credit union will pay these savers a $25 bonus for withdrawing amounts between $25,000 and $49,999. The bonus jumps to $50 for amounts up to $74,999 and goes to $75 for larger sums.
The credit union staff, he said, will help the savers find another place to park their money.
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Dodd Unveils Plans to Expand Fed Powers Over Banks
A new Democratic Senate bill to tame the financial markets would give the government new powers to break up firms that threaten the economy and would force the industry to pay for its failures.
Legislation unveiled Monday by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd falls shy of the ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations envisioned by President Obama or contained in legislation already passed in the House.
But the bill would still be the biggest overhaul of regulations since the New Deal. It comes 18 months after Wall Street’s failures helped plunge the nation into a deep recession.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: ECOFIN Discusses 25-Bln Euro Plan, Press
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 15 — This morning, the Greek press reports that a 25-billion euro bailout loan to cover the Greece’s needs in the coming two months drafted by European Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn has been proposed to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). Also according to the Greek press, several EU countries — Germany, Holland and Austria — are not specifically against the rescue plan, but do however have “reservations” and are calling for “very strict conditions”. “The EU is proposing a 20-25-billion euro support plan,” was the headline of economic daily Naftemporiki, according to which, Rehn “has completed the rescue plan” for Greece and will present it today to the European ministers. However, it was added that “reservations were expressed until yesterday particularly by Germany, Holland and Austria, while France strongly supports the plan”. Socialist daily To Vima reported along the same lines, writing that the ECOFIN meeting should “approve Rehn’s proposals” to guarantee Greece’s imminent needs “if the main objections” from several countries are overcome. Slightly less optimistic was another socialist daily, Ta Nea, which reports that Giorgio Papandreou’s government “does not expect spectacular results” from the ECOFIN meeting, and also pointed out that the possibility of resorting to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is still open. Economic online daily, Reporter, spoke about a “financial thriller” regarding the outcome of the ECOFIN meeting, with conflicting disclosures and statements in recent hours on the timeframes and forms of the rescue plan drafted by Rehn. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: 60% Families in Debt, Worry About Losing Home
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 15 — Six out of ten families in Greece are in debt and eight out of ten have problems paying back loans and credit card bills, according to a study by Kappa Research. According to the press, the study, presented during a seminar at the World Consumer Rights Day, revealed that 45% of those interviewed fear losing their home because they are not able to pay their mortgage. Greek Minister for the Economy Loukas Katseli announced the imminent implementation of a program to help families with serious financial difficulties. Labour Minister Andreas Laverdos announced that thanks to a special card, the unemployed will be able to obtain 20% discounts at stores and supermarkets. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Banks Look at Islamic Finance
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 15 — Islamic finance and its rules will be the focus of a round table discussion organised tomorrow in Rome at Palazzo Altieri by Banca UBAE and Italian bankers’ association ABI. During the encounter titled ‘Islamic Finance: commercial, regulatory and fiscal aspects for a rapid integration in Italy’, Claudio Porzio’s study on ‘Islamic Banking and Finance: contracts, managerial aspects, growth prospects in Italy’ will be discussed. Among the guests scheduled for the event are Biagio Matranga (Banca Ubae), Raffaele Rinaldi (ABI) and Senator Nicola Rossi (PD). Islamic finance, which absorbs more than 30% of the private sector savings in Muslim countries, today represents an “ethical” way to conduct financial operations, which due to the economic crisis, is gaining increasing attention from the international community. Various Western countries are working to promote Islamic financial instruments, not only to develop economically, but also to support social integration with the immigrant communities present in the country. This was confirmed by Marco Ferrario, the General Manager of Banca Ubae, who said that “the international financial community is increasingly interested in developing Islamic compliant products, from Islamic bonds issued in 2005 by the World Bank in Malaysian currency for 260 billion dollars, to the recent decision by British market officials of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which authorised both the Islamic Bank of Britain and the European Islamic Investment Bank”. In this context, Prozio’s study represents an analysis on Islamic banking, which explains not only the legal-economic mechanisms regulating its activity, but also compares the Islamic and Western financial framework, underlining similarities and differences. Created in the mid-1970s in the Middle East, Islamic banking is based on three fundamental rules derived from Sharia law: a ban on increasing capital with the application of interest rates, considered a form of usury; sharing risks and profits between the lender and the debtor, and the requirement for all financial transactions to be back with real assets. Increasing exponentially in recent years at a rate of 15%, this form of “ethical” finance, 20 years after issuing its first bond, has reached an overall turnover equal to1% of the global financial market. While the number of Islamic banks in European countries is on the rise — in Great Britain alone there are already five — and the issuing of sukuk bonds compliant with Islamic law by Western institutes, specialists are working to integrate the two systems, simplifying cooperation. A necessity that Muslim countries have been pushing for, but which presents several difficulties due to the ban on applying interests to loans, an essential element of the Western financial system. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 2009 Export -21.4%, Islands -39.5%
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 15 — In 2009, the value of Italian exports dropped by 21.4% on the year due to sizeable year-on-year reductions in trade flows both headed for EU countries (-23.7%) and, to a lesser extent, towards non-EU ones (-18.1%). All territorial divisions — reported Italy’s national statistics institute ISTAT in its statement on Italian regional exports — suffered a decline in exports, with reductions over the national average for Italian islands with -39.5% due to a sharp reduction in the value of sales abroad of refined oil products; for the southern part of the country (-23.5%) and for the north-eastern section (-22.6%). Declines lower than the national average were instead seen for the North-West (-20.4%) and the Centre (-15.2%). In the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, there was a positive variation for exports for Central Italy (+1.2%), overall stability for Italian islands and a decline for the North-West (-2%) and the North-East (-1.9%). Concerning regions, in 2009 — compared with the previous year — all saw a drop in exports except for Liguria (+9.5% due to a sharp increase in sales abroad of transport vehicles). Concerning the regions that contribute the most to foreign trade flows, the sharpest drops were seen by Sardinia (-43.9%), Sicily (-37%), Abruzzo (-31.7%), Marche (-24.5%), Veneto (-23.5%), Emilia-Romagna (-23.4%), Puglia (-22.9%), Piemonte (-21,8%) and Lombardia (-21,2%).(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam’s IOUs
The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
It’s time to start cashing them in.
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.
Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg’s municipal offices.
Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn’t be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S., U.K. Move Closer to Losing Rating, Moody’s Says
March 15 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and the U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The governments of the two economies must balance bringing down their debt burdens without damaging growth by removing fiscal stimulus too quickly, Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of sovereign risk at Moody’s in London, said in a telephone interview.
Under the ratings company’s so-called baseline scenario, the U.S. will spend more on debt service as a percentage of revenue this year than any other top-rated country except the U.K., and will be the biggest spender from 2011 to 2013, Moody’s said today in a report.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Welcome to the United States of Iceland
It’s time to start paying attention to the financial sinkhole that Iceland is trying to climb out of — the view from inside of it is eerily similar to our own.
An Icelandic savings bank, Icesave, had attracted billions in deposits from hundreds of thousands of British and Dutch citizens, due to the phenomenally high interest rates it offered. Icesave collapsed in 2008, for much the same reason Lehman Brothers, WaMu, and hundreds of local savings banks did: its bankers used their cash to make complicated, bad, leveraged investments, mostly on real estate.
The British and Dutch have made their citizens whole, bailing out Icesave after it became clear the Icelandic government didn’t have the resources to do the same.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
¡Obamanos! Hispanics, Blacks Bail on President
Minorities disappointed as ‘hope,’ ‘change’ fail to deliver
President Obama is losing his core constituencies as black and Hispanic minorities have begun charging that candidate Obama lied to them with his message of “hope and change,” Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert reports.
“Having raised expectations with a charismatic presidential campaign, the Obama White House is now under pressure to deliver results to the blacks and Hispanics who voted for him in record numbers,” Corsi wrote.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Are Islamic Forces Astroturfing for Obama?
Leaving America far behind in the Hell of Socialized Medicine, this Sunday Obama will cut and run on his Pacific trip heading for his alleged Indonesian homeland.
Americans will face the nightmare of socialized medicine with its chief architect having departed the arena.
[…]
Is there much more to the story of how Obama will remove himself from the scene of protest in America to go willingly into a scene of protest in Indonesia?
The Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir has been organizing protests in Indonesian cities against Obama’s pending trip to their country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Could This Ad be Reid’s Downfall?
Strategist who took down Dukakis targets senator’s link to Arab money
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will soon be facing a public-relations nightmare in his bid for re-election: a TV ad campaign produced by the same strategist whose “Willie Horton” commercial spoiled Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential hopes.
Floyd Brown, author and president of the Western Center for Journalism, created the infamous “Willie Horton” commercial accusing then-Massachusetts Gov. Dukakis of being soft on crime.
[…]
Brown’s ad, however, points to Murren’s business partner, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The ad claims Al Maktoum used slave labor to build similar structures in Dubai and that the slave-labor bosses and union-labor bosses are now working together to get their financial friend in Washington re-elected.
[…]
Brown responded in a statement announcing the new ads, “Education and other essential services are being cut in Nevada because of MGM and Al Maktoum’s unwillingness to pay the cost of gaming regulation. While at the same time they shortchange the Nevada budget, they are pouring resources into making sure that their favorite political protector, Senator Harry Reid, is re-elected. These connections begin to explain why Harry Reid, the so-called poor public servant from Searchlight, is now a multi millionaire.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Free World Lawyers Fight Back Against Islamist Lawfare
A groundbreaking conference was held on March 11, 2010 at the New York County Lawyer’s Association in downtown Manhattan, just half a block from Ground Zero. More than 200 people packed a standing room only space to hear legal experts define how jihadists are using both domestic and international laws to undermine the credibility of the free world’s legal structures so that they can be replaced by Islamic laws.
Our own laws and values become a tool of war for jihadists. Therefore, understanding lawfare, the use of the law as a weapon of war, is vital to protecting our liberty.
Here are the key points in the jihad campaign against our democratic legal system:
[…]
Go on the offensive. Seize the moral high ground. Expose fake “facts.” Expose the whole agenda. Lose the fear of appearing to be “Islamophobic” and bigoted. Capture the bad guys and support the good guys. Do not cede national integrity to international law, which must be understood as being based on a weaker set of agreements than national law, and therefore, less binding.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gitmo’s Indefensible Lawyers
Legal counsel to some of the detainees went far beyond vigorous representation of their clients. Doesn’t the public have a right to know?
On the evening of Jan. 26, 2006, military guards at Guantanamo Bay made an alarming discovery during a routine cell check. Lying on the bed of a Saudi detainee was an 18-page color brochure. The cover consisted of the now famous photograph of newly-arrived detainees dressed in orange jumpsuits—masked, bound and kneeling on the ground at Camp X-Ray—just four months after 9/11. Written entirely in Arabic, it also included pictures of what appeared to be detainee operations in Iraq. Major General Jay W. Hood, then the commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, concurred with the guards that this represented a serious breach of security.
Maj. Gen. Hood asked his Islamic cultural adviser to translate. The cover read: “Cruel. Inhuman. Degrades Us All: Stop Torture and Ill-Treatment in the ‘War on Terror.’“ It was published by Amnesty International in the United Kingdom and portrayed America and its allies as waging a campaign of torture against Muslims around the globe.
“One thread that runs through many of the testimonies from prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq, and from Guantanamo,” the brochure read, “is that of anti-Arab, anti-Islamic, and other racist abuse.”
How did the detainee get it? More importantly, who gave it to him?
Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi, the detainee in whose cell the brochure was first found, told guards he received the brochure from his lawyer. An investigation by JTF-GTMO personnel revealed that Julia Tarver Mason, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, had sent it to Al Joudi and eight of the firm’s other detainee clients through “legal mail”—a designation for privileged lawyer-client communications that are exempt from screening by security personnel. Worse, the investigation showed that Ms. Mason’s clients passed it to other detainees not represented by Paul, Weiss lawyers. In all, more than a dozen detainees received a copy.
At Guantanamo, “legal mail” is strictly limited to correspondence between counsel and a detainee that is related to representation of the detainee, privileged documents and publicly filed legal documents. But even “legal mail,” according to the rules mandated by Judge Joyce Hens Green in a 2004 protective order, prohibits lawyers from giving detainees information relating to military operations, intelligence, arrests, political news and current events, and the names of U.S. government personnel. Lawyers are forbidden from discussing other detainee cases not directly related to the representation of their own client.
The Amnesty International brochure, handed out at a human rights conference in London, was a political advocacy screed in clear violation of that order, which was formulated to protect force security. Maj. Gen. Hood made a command decision. He banned the Paul, Weiss lawyers from access to Guantanamo. The DOJ notified the firm.
Paul, Weiss immediately went on the offensive, backed by what one former Defense Department official, who requested anonymity, called “an armada of habeas attorneys.” They sued the government, demanding that it defend the decision to eject lawyers from Gitmo, making the straight-faced claim that the Amnesty International brochure was a legitimate “report” that was “directly related” to their clients’ defense. But their bottom line argument amounted to this: A military commander at a secure overseas military facility in a time of war couldn’t remove disruptive lawyers who were inciting captured enemy detainees and endangering the safety and security of military personnel unless he first got permission from a federal judge.
In a sworn affidavit submitted to the D.C. District Court and obtained by the writers of this article in a Freedom of Information Act request, Maj. Gen. Hood did not equivocate when it came to the Amnesty International pamphlet. “The very nature of this document gives tremendous moral support to those who would strike out against our country,” he stated. “It is not a factual report. Instead it is filled with second and third hand accounts, photos of protests that were staged, inflammatory photos from Iraq and provocative story captions.”
Maj. Gen. Hood noted that many of the captured al Qaeda terrorists held at the camp had been “specifically trained on the Manchester Manual [an al Qaeda training manual discovered at a safe house in Britain],” which “encourages detainees to claim torture and abuse.” He warned that “[e]xamples and vignettes of alleged abuse of other detainees” could be used “to fabricate their own claims of abuse and torture.”
In fact, from al Qaeda’s perspective, the Amnesty International brochure was better than the Manchester Manual. It cued detainees that the abuses at Abu Ghraib “were not an aberration.” The brochure told them that images from the Iraqi prison were consistent with “numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment reported from detention centres in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.”
The message to the detainees was clear: If you want to claim you are being tortured, here is a vast menu of examples from which to choose…
| — Hat tip: Paul Green | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Lawmaker: White House Job Offer to Sestak Would Have Been a ‘Crime’
A GOP lawmaker says that the White House committed a “crime” if it offered Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak a federal job in exchange for dropping his primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa.
“That would be a crime to offer anybody a federal job,” Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told Fox News on Friday.
For example, the California Republican said it would be a crime if he offered a staff job to anyone to help him win an election.
“It’s the same for the executive branch,” he said. “You can’t promise ambassadorships to contributors and even worse, you cannot manipulate the races by saying we’ll give you something else if you drop out. You can’t do it.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Ideology Threatens America
During what can only be hoped will be the final struggle between the socialist and capitalist approach to health care the debate is focused on the cost of Obamacare, its impact on the nation’s economy, its legislative over-reach, and the fact that it will ration care.
If Obama wins, America loses. The “reforms” will ultimately end up killing people who would otherwise have survived illness or injury if it is implemented. Beyond that, Obama’s efforts to control large segments of the economy will pick up momentum.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Toyota Hybrid Horror Hoax
“On the very day Toyota was making a high-profile defense of its cars, one of them was speeding out of control,” said CBS News—and a vast number of other media outlets worldwide. The driver of a 2008 Toyota Prius, James Sikes, called 911 to say his accelerator was stuck, he was zooming faster than 90 miles per hour and absolutely couldn’t slow down.
So why did he do it? Sleuth work at the Web sites Jalopnik.com and Gawker.com reveals that Sikes and his wife Patty in 2008 filed for bankruptcy and are over $700,000 in debt. Among their creditors is Toyota Financial Services for a lease on a 2008 Toyota Prius, with value at time of bankruptcy of $20,494. The Jalopnik Web site shows a copy of Toyota’s secured claims form, though when Jalopnik questioned Sikes by e-mail he denied being behind on his Prius payments.
Sikes also has a history of filing insurance claims for allegedly stolen items that are slowly coming to light. In 2001 he filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff’s Department for $58,000 in stolen property, including jewelry, a prosumer mini-DV camera and gear, and $24,000 in cash, according to Fox40 in Sacramento. His bankruptcy documents show a 2008 payment of $7,400 for an allegedly stolen saxophone and clothes.
For what it’s worth, Sikes owned and operated a Web site called AdultSwingLife.com. More salacious material on this man will continue to pour in.
But the press conference alone makes it clear Sikes’ story didn’t wash. Journalism schools are supposed to teach that skepticism is paramount. “If your mother says it, check it out,” goes the old adage. Yet comments on Web sites across the country reveal that practically everyone thought the Prius incident was a hoax—though they couldn’t prove it—except for the media.
They have been as determined to not investigate Sikes’ claims as Sikes was to not stop his car. It’s a Toyota media feeding frenzy and the media aren’t about to let little things like incredible stories and readily-refutable claims get in the way.
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Wake Up America! Democrats Hate ‘Democracy’
Among the many absurdities proffered by Barack Obama sycophants in the media and throughout the liberal establishment is the notion that Obama possesses great leadership qualities. Throughout his public life he has consistently proven himself to be the antithesis of leadership. And ever since the “healthcare” debate reached its present impasse, he has resorted to the manner of pettiness and bullying that would embarrass any truly great leader of the people.
Consider the contrasts between Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. Though Reagan advanced ideas that were initially met with skepticism by the public, his sincerity and ability to relate to the people eventually won them over. Of course none of his success could have been possible, had any issue in question been a truly bad idea. It was not merely Reagan’s power of persuasion (as grudgingly credited to him by the left), but rather the power of his ideas that prevailed.
Obama, on the other hand, has never had either a worthy agenda or a good presentation. His skill at reading from a teleprompter, while vastly overrated by the obsequious press, long ago became obvious in its reality, and quickly lost any luster with the American people. Likewise, the utopian “hope and change” claptrap on which he rode to victory in 2008 daily portends to be the doom of the nation if even a single putrid vestige of it prevails. After only fifteen months of the Obama Administration, any overrated bloom has vanished from this contrived “rose.”
Yet while his public approval poll numbers have plummeted, they remain significantly higher than those of the Congress, the image of which has been defined over the past two years by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-CA). Overwhelmingly, the American public regards them with suspicion and contempt, and for good reason.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McGuinty Sticks it to Ontario — Again
The new harmonized sales tax (HST) is set to take effect on July 1. It’s not so much a harmonized tax as it is a new tax on services and some goods. The “you won’t pay a penny more in taxes” premier is set to raise taxes again as Ontarians will be paying 8 per cent more on such things as haircuts, legal fees, veterinary care and a whole host of things that people won’t realize they have to pay until they see it.
[…]
Many of these employees will continue to work in the same office as they are working in now and at the same desk. Although they will hardly notice the transition, they will have “technically” lost their provincial government jobs. And this of course means severance pay. These employees will receive up to $45,000 each for giving up their provincial paycheck in return for a government of Canada one. Despite the fact that these employees will not lose anything, the taxpayers will fork over an estimated $25 million to Dalton McGuinty’s union buddies.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Crucifix: Malta to Join Italy in Appeal
(ANSAmed) — VALLETTA, MARCH 15 — Malta is to join Italy in appealing to the European Court of Human Rights against the decision to ban hanging crucifixes in classrooms at state schools. Speaking in Parliament, the Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that the country has already informed European institutions of its disapproval on the European Court’s ruling in the matter. The Maltese government has also formally asked Strasbourg for permission to take part in the hearing on Italy’s appeal. “We insist on the principle that no state that has maintained certain values and traditions for a number of centuries, can be forced to change them on account of one individual’s objection”, said Gonzi, repeating that the majority of Maltese citizens did not want crucifixes removed from public places. The Prime Minister’s words were also echoed by the head of the opposition Labour Party, Joseph Muscat. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Wants Protection for Red-Fin Tuna by May 2011
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS — The EU has come down officially in favour of placing red-fin tuna under protection and to monitor coral harvesting as part of the Cites Convention for the protection of endangered species. For this type of tuna, it would be matter of banning international trade before May first, 2011. The coral industry, which employs 4,000 in Italy, will come under EU control in 18 months’ time. Bpth cases have been subjected to delays and exceptions at Italy’s request and measures are to be taken to define compensation for loss of earnings for Europe’s fishing workforce and crafts-workers. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Regionals; Sarkozy Punished, PS and Le Pen Up
(ANSAmed) — PARIS — Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party suffered a harsh blow in the first round of regional elections held yesterday in France, with Martine Aubry’s Socialist Party (PS) and Jean Marie Le Pen’s extreme-right National Front making great strides in the polls marked by record levels of abstentionism. Socialists have raked in between 29.1% and 30% of votes, while the UMP party under the current president will have to make do with between 26.7% and 27.3%, according to estimates provided by the TNS-Sofres and OpinionWay institutes. In the second round of voting this coming Sunday, the PS will be able to count also on the votes of the Greens and the radical left, against a right which is running alone. The left, which has been governing 24 out of 26 French regions since 2004 (including overseas departments), hopes to bring in a sort of “grand slam” and win in the only regions still in the hands of Sarkozy — Corsica and Alsace — in order to regain credibility against a right suffering from Sarkozy’s decline in popularity, which over the past few months fell to its lowest level ever (60% had a negative view on him according to the latest public opinion poll). A noteworthy recovery has instead been achieved by Jean Marie Le Pen’s extreme-rightist party the National Front, which is now the fourth largest national party with over 10% of votes (between 11.2 and 12%), well above what was seen in the last general and European elections. According to the online edition of the Le Figaro daily, the National Front’s coming to the fore was what truly “spoiled the party” of the polls. Also MoDem, the centrist party under Francois Bayrou, has had to acknowledge defeat after the first round showed a large decline in popularity, raking in less than 5% of votes. Also down by almost 5 points compared with the EU elections in June were the Greens of Europe Ecologie, under Daniel Cohn-Bendit, which also achieved 11.4%. Another important element seen in this round of voting is abstentionism, which reached a record high with over one out of every two voters boycotting the elections entirely. According to the latest figures, 53% of those holding the right to vote did not even show up at the polls. In the first round of the last regional elections in 2004, abstention had stood at 39.16%. “The lack of participation in this round of voting does not mean that we should draw conclusions at a national level,” said Prime Minister Francois Fillon. “Contrary to all forecasts,” continued Sarkozy’s second-in-command, “nothing is therefore to be assumed concerning the second round of voting in numerous regions. Anything can happen.” “The French population have placed the Socialist Party well ahead of the others. We have seen a historic result, and I would like to thank the millions of electors who have given us their votes,” said Socialist leader Martine Aubry. Following the release of the preliminary results, Sarkozy called an emergency meeting in the government and reiterated that these regional elections cannot have national consequences: this despite the fact that he himself had persuaded 20 of his ministers to stand for office, which resulted in the voting being a sort of test, the last large-scale election before the presidential ones in 2012.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Sarkozy Punished; PS in the Lead, Surprise by Le Pen
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MARCH 15 — Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party suffered a harsh blow in the first round of regional elections held yesterday in France, with Martine Aubry’s Socialist Party (PS) and Jean Marie Le Pen’s extreme-right National Front making great strides in the polls marked by record levels of abstentionism. Socialists have raked in between 29.1% and 30% of votes, while the UMP party under the current president will have to make do with between 26.7% and 27.3%, according to estimates provided by the TNS-Sofres and OpinionWay institutes. In the second round of voting this coming Sunday, the PS will be able to count also on the votes of the Greens and the radical left, against a right which is running alone. The left, which has been governing 24 out of 26 French regions since 2004 (including overseas departments), hopes to bring in a sort of “grand slam” and win in the only regions still in the hands of Sarkozy — Corsica and Alsace — in order to regain credibility against a right suffering from Sarkozy’s decline in popularity, which over the past few months fell to its lowest level ever (60% had a negative view on him according to the latest public opinion poll). A noteworthy recovery has instead been achieved by Jean Marie Le Pen’s extreme-rightist party the National Front, which is now the fourth largest national party with over 10% of votes (between 11.2 and 12%), well above what was seen in the last general and European elections. According to the online edition of the Le Figaro daily, the National Front’s coming to the fore was what truly “spoiled the party” of the polls. Also MoDem, the centrist party under Francois Bayrou, has had to acknowledge defeat after the first round showed a large decline in popularity, raking in less than 5% of votes. Also down by almost 5 points compared with the EU elections in June were the Greens of Europe Ecologie, under Daniel Cohn-Bendit, which also achieved 11.4%. Another important element seen in this round of voting is abstentionism, which reached a record high with over one out of every two voters boycotting the elections entirely. According to the latest figures, 53% of those holding the right to vote did not even show up at the polls. In the first round of the last regional elections in 2004, abstention had stood at 39.16%. “The lack of participation in this round of voting does not mean that we should draw conclusions at a national level,” said Prime Minister Francois Fillon. “Contrary to all forecasts,” continued Sarkozy’s second-in-command, “nothing is therefore to be assumed concerning the second round of voting in numerous regions. Anything can happen.” “The French population have placed the Socialist Party well ahead of the others. We have seen a historic result, and I would like to thank the millions of electors who have given us their votes,” said Socialist leader Martine Aubry. Following the release of the preliminary results, Sarkozy called an emergency meeting in the government and reiterated that these regional elections cannot have national consequences: this despite the fact that he himself had persuaded 20 of his ministers to stand for office, which resulted in the voting being a sort of test, the last large-scale election before the presidential ones in 2012.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: 2nd Round Regional Elections; Only 4 Regions in Doubt
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MARCH 15 — There are only four French regions which are yet undecided between Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party and the Socialists (PS), who mathematically took a clear lead in the rest of the country in the first round of regional elections held yesterday. In the second round this coming Sunday, the PS will also be able to count on the votes of the Daniel Cohn-Bendit’s Greens party, as well as various radical left-wing ones, against a right running alone. In the first round of voting yesterday, no candidate received the required “50+1” of votes. However, barring last minute surprises, the outcome of second-round voting is all but to be taken for granted in 18 out of the 22 regions of metropolitan France. The only cases in which there is any true doubt are the following regions: Champagne-Ardenne, Franche Comté, Alsace and Corsica, where the last word on who will govern has yet to be had. The Socialist’s Party cherishes hopes for a “Grand Slam”, in which it would win in the only regions still in Sarkozy’s hands — Corsica and Alsace — in order to regain credibility against a right suffering from Sarkozy’s decline in popularity, which over the past few months fell to its lowest level ever (60% had a negative view on him according to the latest public opinion poll).(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Regional Elections; Definitive Results for 1st Round
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MARCH 15 — The Socialist Party has been confirmed as the victor in the first round of regional elections held yesterday in France, with 29.1% of the vote compared to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP, which took in 26.1% of the vote, according to definitive election results issued today by the Interior Ministry. Jean-Marie Le Pen’s far right-wing party National Front also confirmed a “comeback” with 11.5% of the vote, placing fourth behind Europe Ecologie (12.3%). The Left Front (Front de Gauche) received 5.9% of the vote, and centrist Francois Bayrou’s MoDem took 4.2%. Voter turnout was low, with 53.6% of registered voters not taking part in the election. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: “Geert Wilders, The Anti-Fascist”
At a time when President Obama insists that the most pressing threat facing America is the growing cost of health care, a recent speech in Britain’s House of Lords by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders is a salutary reminder of what is really endangering us all: The rising tide of Islamic supremacism codified by authoritative Islam in the brutally repressive law of Shariah — the law of Saudi Arabia and Iran among other Islamic states.
For pointing out that danger and striving in his native Netherlands to counteract it, Mr. Wilders is being reviled and slandered. Condemnation from the Islamists is to be expected. Ditto the attacks from their friends on the political Left. Unfortunately, he has also recently been sharply criticized by several prominent and influential American conservatives. On Fox News last week, Glenn Beck called him “a fascist,” Bill Kristol said he was “a demagogue” and Charles Krauthammer described him as “extreme, radical and wrong.”
With all due respect to my friends in the media, let me paraphrase the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen: I know Geert Wilders, Geert Wilders is a friend of mine and Geert Wilders is no fascist, demagogue or extremist.
In fact, at great personal cost and with extraordinary courage, Geert Wilders has been trying to save his country from the true fascists of our time, those whose demagoguery is unmistakable and whose extremism is all too real: Shariah-adherent Muslims in the Netherlands, in Europe more generally and in the wider world — including, increasingly here in the United States.
Now, I have had my disagreements with Mr. Wilders — primarily about the way he sometimes characterizes the problem posed by Shariah. But let there be no doubt: He is committed to protecting freedom and Western civilization in an era when too many are choosing the easier course of ignoring the gathering threat being posed to them by Shariah-inspired, fascistic Islamic supremacism…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Gouda: Criminal Moroccan Capital
An analysis by Dutch police has shown the Dutch city of Gouda is home to the highest percentage of criminal Moroccans.
At the request of the home affairs ministry, the Dutch national police force last year issued a report ranking 181 municipalities according to the severity of the Moroccan problem there, Binnenlands Bestuur, a trade publication aimed at civil servants, reported on its website last Friday.
Dutch police listed a total of 14,462 Moroccan criminal suspects from all municipalities where five or more Moroccans were suspected of committing at least one crime in 2007, 181 cities in all. Police limited the list to Moroccans of whom it was “convinced they committed a crime,” the report, entitled Analysis of Moroccan perpetrator populations in Dutch municipalities, reads.
The list represents 8.1 percent of all registered suspects in the Netherlands, of whom 57.1 percent are native Dutch. The report does not mention any statistics regarding other ethnic groups. In absolute terms, Amsterdam leads the pack when it comes to ‘criminal Moroccans’: 2497 of the 14,844 arrested criminals in the Dutch capital were of Moroccan origin. Surprisingly, Gouda turns out to be the town with the biggest Moroccan problem in terms of repeat offences. Moroccan suspects between 12 and 24 years here commit an average of 1.4 crimes. The criminal Moroccan population is also relatively the largest in Gouda. Of all residents 12 years and older, 0.55 percent are criminal Moroccans.
According to the report, the home affairs ministry ordered the investigation at the behest of a convention of the mayors of 22 municipalities that took place in October 2008. The results have been used to distribute funds available to combat the problem.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Container Shift From Roro to Lolo Being Examined
(ANSAmed) — GENOA MARCH 9 — “A switch from the Roro system (loading by tugboats) to the Lolo system (container transport) is undoubtedly more advantageous and consequently we are examining the methods which can allow this change with the aim of writing down all the benefits that operators will gain from this transition”. The statement was made by Riccardo Mollo, a director of the Region of Liguria during a meeting for the Terconmed project in Genoa. The aim is to improve the performance of naval container transport in the context of coastal navigation. The project leader is Valencia with the Feports Foundation, a research facility with a participation by the Community of Valencia and the port authority, which are very active in European projects. Liguria is a partner together with Calabria and Sicily. Mollo stated that “This meeting of the pilot committee will allow us to gain a series of common data and set up a network between partners, who will have port authorities as their main contact, but above all will constitute a method of work in common for operators of a system that will link Greece to the Marseilles port authority, to Spain, to the Italian regions, to Slovenia, seeing that the community of Koper is also involved”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Catalan Parliament Rules Against Nuclear Depot
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 11 — A large majority of the Catalan Parliament has today upheld the construction ban on a nuclear waste stockpiling depot to service Spain’s 11 nuclear power stations. The ban was supported by the three governing parties, the Psc, Erc, Icv-Eu, and by Convergencia i Union, while the PP and the mixed group abstained. The resolution empowers the regional government to take all necessary administrative and legal measures to help the Catalan Parliament’s decision “prevail” over those made by the municipalities, which have volunteered to host the nuclear dumps. Among these is the municipality of Ascò (Tarragona), which already has a nuclear power station of its own and which applied under the terms of an invitation for tenders issued by the Industry Ministry. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Reinfeldt Denounces Genocide Vote
Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Saturday in a bid to distance the Swedish government from a parliamentary vote which recognized the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
Reinfeldt called Erdogan, who had previously cancelled a planned state visit to Sweden after the vote, to voice “his sadness and say that his government absolutely did not share the decision,” Ankara said in a statement.
Blaming the vote on “domestic politics,” Reinfeldt said his government was “ready to do the necessary so that this unfounded decision does not harm bilateral relations,” according to the text.
The Swedish prime minister also assured Erdogan that the parliament’s move did not weaken Stockholm’s support of Turkey’s EU accession ambitions.
Going against the government’s advice, the Swedish parliament voted by a narrow margin on Thursday to recognise the “genocide of Armenians” and other ethnic groups, during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
Ankara quickly recalled its ambassador and cancelled a visit by Erdogan to Sweden after the vote, which came just days after a similar move by a US Congressional panel.
In remarks to Sweden’s TT news agency, Reinfeldt said that he had expressed to his Turkish counterpart “regrets following the parliament’s decision because it politicizes history.”
According to the Turkish statement, Erdogan “strongly insisted on the disappointment” felt in Turkey over the vote, while recognizing that the government was against it.
He also called for “measures to repair the situation.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Body of Labour MP, 53, Discovered After ‘Sudden Accidental Death’
Labour MP Ashok Kumar has died, his office said today.
He was found this morning at his home in Middlesbrough, a spokesman said, in what was being treated as a ‘sudden accidental death’.
[…]
A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: ‘Police were called to an address in Marton, Middlesbrough, at 12.30pm today, Monday 15th March.
‘Officers entered the property and found the body of a man in his 50s.
‘He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.’
He added that it was too early to rule out the possibility of foul play.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boy, 6, Has Eye Glued Shut After Nurse Bungles Treatment to Cut Head
A six-year-old boy was left blind in one eye for almost a week after a surgical glue applied by a nurse to close a head wound dripped into his eye.
Lewis Farrell screamed in agony as the glue closed his eye shut during treatment at a hospital casualty unit for a cut forehead sustained in a playground fall.
Today his mother, Becky Lewis, told how she fears the child may suffer permanent damage to his sight after the hospital blunder.
She accused staff at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham of being more interested in covering up for what they had done than apologising for the error.
Mrs Lewis said: ‘The nurse asked Lewis to sit upright before squirting glue on to his head. She made no effort to stop the glue dripping down.
‘Then as she turned around, it dripped into his eye. They should have realised something like this could have happened.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Wearing ‘Freedom or Die’ T-Shirt Stopped at Airport
London’s Gatwick Airport has apologised after a man wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Freedom or Die” was asked to turn it inside-out because it could be threatening, a spokesman said Monday.
Lloyd Berks, 38, was stopped by security officers as he headed for a family skiing holiday in Austria, according to media reports.
“When I went through the metal detector, first they told me to take my trainers off, then they took my wallet off me. Then the guy who checked me told me to turn my T-shirt inside out,” he said, cited by The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“He said: ‘Some airlines get a bit worried by T-shirts with what you have got on, it might be a bit threatening’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Face Legal Threat Over Stop and Search for ‘Unfairly Targeting Ethnic Minorities’
Police forces have been warned that they could be sued because stop and search powers are being used ‘disproportionately’ against ethnic minorities.
The Government’s equality watchdog claimed today that black and Asian Britons were still being unfairly targeted.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it could not rule out taking action for breaches of the Race Relations Act.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pupils Given Sleep Lessons After Study Finds Some Teenagers Having Only Four Hours a Night
Moody teenagers are being given lessons in how to sleep properly.
Experts say the sulks and grumpiness of the teenage years aren’t just the fault of hormones — but that a worrying number of young people are not getting enough sleep.
To counter the sleep crisis, pupils at four schools are being taught about the importance of going to bed on time and avoiding electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, laptops and games consoles in the bedroom at night.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Psychopath ‘Killed Young Father at Party’ Just Weeks After Being Freed Over Brutal Attack
A violent psychopath who brutally attacked a fellow university student was left free to kill a young father four months after his sentence, a court heard today.
Colin Welsh, 42, beat his first victim so badly that he was left needing facial reconstruction surgery, the Old Bailey was told.
But despite his history of violence, drug-taking and mental illness, he was simply fined £500 and sent down from St Andrews University before going back to north London.
Welsh was left free to stab cabinet maker Elliot Guy, 27, in the neck, severing his jugular vein, at a party in July 2008.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: School Children to Undergo Annual PE Tests to Measure Their Fitness
Parents could soon be receiving letters from their schools warning them their child has been deemed unfit — in the latest shocking example of Labour’s ‘nanny state’ interference in family life.
Children at secondary schools will face annual fitness tests under the plans laid out today by the Government’s chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson.
But if they fail to impress in the so-called ‘bleep tests’, a letter will be sent to their parents warning them their child was at risk of heart disease, brittle bones and obesity.
The proposal — which is expected to be piloted at a small number of schools before being extended across the country — comes despite the outcry over parents receiving letters informing them their children as young as five are too fat.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Here’s a Perfect Secretary of State. But From a Century Ago
His name was Rafael Merry del Val, and he was Pius X’s right hand man. Rarely has an appointment been so successful. The historian Gianpaolo Romanato draws his profile. Which leads to a comparison with the Vatican curia of today
by Sandro Magister
ROME, March 4, 2010 — At the eightieth anniversary of his death, “L’Osservatore Romano” has published a fascinating profile of Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, secretary of state to Saint Pius X from 1903 to 1914.
It is fascinating for the way it brings to light the greatness of his character, his extraordinary talents, his ability to understand and implement the pope’s guidelines, his holiness of life.
The author of the portrait is Gianpaolo Romanato, a professor of Church history at the University of Padua, a member of the pontifical committee for historical sciences, and one of the leading scholars on the popes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Is Merry del Val an example of a perfect secretary of state? The comparison arises spontaneously, between a century ago and today.
*
The most famous secretaries of state are usually associated with events and popes of their time: Ercole Consalvi with Napoleon and with the Restoration, Giacomo Antonelli with Pius IX and the condemnation of liberalism, Mariano Rampolla with Leo XIII and his “realist” politics, Merry del Val with the condemnation of modernism, Pietro Gasparri with the concordat with Italy, Eugenio Pacelli with Hitler’s Germany.
Pacelli was the only one to be elected pope, taking the name of Pius XII. And for many years he didn’t even appoint his own secretary of state. Instead, he relied on two capable coworkers: Domenico Tardinni and Giovanni Battista Montini. The first became secretary of state under John XXIII. The second became pope, taking the name Paul VI. And as pope, he changed the structure of the curia, putting the secretariat of state at the top.
Ever since Paul VI, the secretary of state has been the one who has acted as a filter between the curia and the pope. The actions of all the Vatican offices pass through him. And in 1969, pope Montini called to this post a French cardinal who had been formed far away from the curia, Jean Villot…
English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
WYD: ‘Actors for the Pope’ To be Cast by Spanish Church
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 12 — ‘Wanted: Young aspiring actors to play the role of avid believers to promote World Youth Day (WYD)’. Due to a lack of ‘raw materials’ in Zapatero’s secular Spain, the Arch-Bishop of Madrid called a casting session on the World Youth Day webpage for the filming of a promotional video for the event that will see Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid in August of 2011. “Do you want to be an actor? We are looking for characters for a WYD video, and one of them could be you!”, was the message launched on www.jmj2011madrid.com. Youngsters between the ages of 18 and 25 “of all races and all languages” are wanted, with the only requirement being that they live in Madrid or the surrounding area, since they will undergo video trials during casting. The promotional video, with a “United colours of Catholics” style, is looking for “diversity, blonds, brunettes, who are not afraid of the camera”. The search to launch what is defined by bishops as “a gathering of youngsters from all over the world to the Vicar of Christ”, involves ten characters or stereotypes. “A Bohemian-style university student, with a modern and informal jacket and light and stylish eyeglasses”; or “a young Latin boy — Italian, Portuguese, French, or Spanish- with a skater look, wearing a sweatshirt, long shorts, sneakers, and a cap”; or a boy “with a traveller look, with a backpack, jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers”. For girls, they are looking for “a Caucasian, an Asian, one black girl or mulatto with a sporty look”; a young “bold-looking Anglo-Saxon with character” or “one brunette with a page-boy cut and a sleeveless dress or top”. The search for characters includes a “normal looking 25-year-old boy and girl couple”, two “Chinese individuals, with jeans, a v-neck pullover and shirt/blouse for her”. Nothing has been left to chance in terms of looks or clothing. Preference will be given to experienced actors, but aspiring actors are also welcome, so long as they know how to move uninhibitedly in front of the camera. No reference was made to payment, but it has been assumed that the work will be done for the good cause: welcoming the Pope with open arms upon his arrival to Madrid. And if reality has to be readjusted with a bit of fiction for the advertisement, which will be launched nationally and internationally, everything when it comes to evangelisation. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo: 22 Serbian Orthodox Monasteries Restored
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE — In Kosovo 22 monasteries, churches and seminaries of the Serbian Orthodox church have been restored out of a total of 35 that were destroyed or seriously damaged during attacks and pillaging by the Albanian population against ethnic Serbs on March 17 2004. So announced the Serbian Culture Minister, Nebojsa Bradic. In a statement quoted by the Tanjug agency, two days before the sixth anniversary of the incidents, the Minister said that the Bishop’s residence in Prizren (in the south of Kosovo) was among the buildings that had been repaired and restored. Bradic took the opportunity to condemn attempts by the authorities in Pristina to claim possession of Serbian artistic and cultural heritage historically present in Kosovo, dubbing them “falsifications”. “The Albanians have sought to use Serbia’s cultural heritage in Kosovo towards a policy creating a new identity, a new history and a new art history. This is all falsification”, he said. In the violent clashes in Kosovo between Albanians and Serbs six years ago, 20 people were killed and over 900 injured. Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence, which was unilaterally proclaimed on February 17 2008, and continues to consider Kosovo as one of its southern provinces. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Prison for Violent Husbands is Against Koran, Mufti
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MARCH 15 — The proposal to introduce prison terms for men who beat their wives goes against the Koran and the teachings of the prophet Mohamed, according to the head of Algeria’s Superior Islamic Council. Qaher Sharif fiercely criticised the bill presented to the head of state Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s by the head of the Consultative Council on Human Rights Farouk Qustantiti. “This man’s aim is to violate a law of the Koran and of the Sunnah, and he meddles in subjects that are beyond his competence”, Sharif said in an interview with the Arab-language edition of the daily newspaper El Khabar. “He’s done it before with the death penalty, and now with beatings,” he added, asking “what difference can it make to him what goes on between a man and his wife?” The President of the Islamic Council said that he was stunned by Qustantini’s proposal, because “God has already pointed out precisely the way that a husband must behave towards his wife”. He quoted verses 34 and 35 of the Surah on women, in which men are advised to “admonish women, confine them to their bed and beat them” should they commit “nushooz”, a term signifying both infidelity and a refusal of sexual intercourse. Sharif pointed out that the text is so precise that it indicates the method of punishment to be used against the wife, and that this should be neither “too insistent, nor provoke disfigurement”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Maimonides Synagogue Reopening Ceremony Annulled
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO — Egypt’s official ceremony for the post-restoration reopening of the synagogue named in honour of the Medieval philosopher Maimonides in Cairo — originally scheduled for today — has been called off by Egyptian head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass due to behaviour by the Jewish community held to be provocative. According to the press, having an effect on the decision was also the recent announcement by Benyamin Netanyahu to include West Bank holy sites on its list of Israeli National Cultural Heritage Sites. Following a restoration dubbed “miraculous” by the Israeli press, the synagogue was reopened for prayer on March 7 with the participation of a number of religious figures from Israel and the Israeli and US ambassadors. According to Hawass, following the inauguration the Jews had engaged in dancing and the drinking of alcohol. Born in Spain in 1138, the rabbi-philosopher Maimonides (Moshe’ Ben Maimon) died in Cairo in 1204 after having become famous not only within the Jewish world but also those of Christianity and Islam of the time.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Ports Closed Yesterday Due to Weather, Suez Traffic Low
(ANSAmed) — ISMAILIYA (EGYPT), MARCH 15 — Yesterday violent winds and sand storms led to the closing of four Red Sea ports and saw traffic through the Suez Canal reduced to a 20-year low, according to Egyptian authorities. Due to the meteorological conditions, authorities issued an alert and only 26 vessels crossed through the canal: the lowest in twenty years and compared with a daily average in 2009 of 47. The end of the winter and the beginning of spring are often characterised by sand storms in the region caused by the Khamsin wind, which blows from the edge of the desert towards the Eastern Mediterranean.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Interview With Son of Hamas Founder
Last week Mosab Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, dropped a book more incendiary than any roadside IED, betraying his family, the Palestinian people, and Muslims the world over. Son of Hamas chronicles the decade Yousef spent as a spy for Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service. In it, Yousef unspools one of the most unlikely tales of our time, narrating the events that led to his disillusionment with Hamas and Islam, his conversion to Christianity, and his kinship with his Israeli handlers, which transformed a boy throwing stones during the first intifada, into a dedicated Shin Bet agent by the start of the second.
Yousef claims to stand with his people, against the Israeli occupation, but with all the damning things he has to say about Islam, he’s bound to be branded an enemy combatant by his former compatriots — and the fact that Son of Hamas is published by the Christian imprint Tyndale, certainly won’t help. GQ spoke with Mosab Yousef to learn why he turned from his family to work with Israel, his thoughts on the true nature of Islam, and how he intends to help bring peace to his homeland.
[Comments from JD: Note GQ’s biased two paragraph intro above. But, Yousef’s answers to the interview questions are well worth reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Envoy: U.S. Ties in ‘Crisis of Historic Proportions’
U.S.-Israeli relations have hit a 35-year low over a contentious east Jerusalem building project that threatens to derail peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians, Israel’s envoy to Washington was quoted as saying Monday.
Ambassador Michael Oren’s remarks clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assurances that the political turmoil resulting from the settlement announcement, which the Obama administration slammed as “an insult,” was under control.
“Israel’s ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975 … a crisis of historic proportions,” the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Oren as saying to Israeli diplomats in a phone briefing over the weekend.
Israeli officials said that the U.S. is pressing the Jewish nation to scrap the east Jerusalem building project.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Synagogue Inauguration; Tight Security
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, MARCH 15 — Extraordinary security measures have been brought in for Jerusalem’s Old City, with the imminent inauguration of a recently-restored synagogue subject to large-scale opposition within Palestinian Islamic circles. To prevent incidents of any sort, yesterday Israeli police allowed only Muslims over age 50 into the Temple Mount, and the Israeli army has decided to extend until tomorrow (March 16) the closing of border crossings between Jerusalem and the West Bank. The synagogue in question (“Hurva”, meaning ruins) was founded at the beginning of the eighteenth century and later set fire to by Muslims enraged by the non-payment of debts. In the nineteenth century it underwent restoration, but in 1948 — following the proclamation of the State of Israel — it was destroyed once again, this time by the Jordanian Arab League. Yesterday Bible scrolls were brought into the majestic building (which towers over the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City), and the official ceremony will take place today in the presence of important rabbis, ministers and thousands of believers. Premier Benyamin Netanyahu will simply give a recorded message, which in the eyes of the press was decided upon in the attempt not to irritate the United States. However, for the past few days Hamas-linked press sources have been saying that the inauguration of the synagogue is a provocation to Muslims, since it is located very near Temple Mount. Given recent tensions which have arisen in other quarters of East Jerusalem, police are concerned that the Temple’s inauguration could spark large-scale violence. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Palestinian Authority Walks Out of Talks With a Big Smile on Its Face
by Barry Rubin
In 1994, Israel asserted, and the PLO accepted, that construction would continue on existing Jewish settlements. For the next 15 years, negotiations were never stopped by that building.
In January 2009, the Palestinian Authority (PA) stopped negotiations because Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip and Israel defended itself. Of course, Hamas is also the PA’s enemy and the PA would be delighted if Israel destroyed that group. But for public relations’ purposes, the PA had to pretend inter-Palestinian solidarity.
Then came President Barack Obama who demanded a stop to all construction on settlements in 2009. Israel finally complied but announced that it would keep building in east Jerusalem. The United States accepted that arrangement and even highly praised Israel’s policy as a major concession.
But the PA refused to return to negotiations. Why, because the construction offended it? No, because the PA’s radical forces don’t want to make a peace deal because they believe they can win total victory and destroy Israel. The more moderate forces are too weak to make a deal because of Hamas and their own radicals, though they also have some problems with mutual compromise.
In September 2009, Obama announced that within two months there would be full and final peace negotiations in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “yes”: PA leader Mahmoud Abbas said “no.”
No Western media outlet said that the PA refusal to negotiate for-as of today-about 15 months shows that the PA doesn’t want peace. Yet they had no hesitation about saying that Israel doesn’t want peace (or at least maybe doesn’t) because Israel announced the building of apartments on the basis of a policy it has followed for 16 years, without serious complaint for most of that time.
Abbas seized on the opportunity to declare that he wasn’t going to negotiate. Is he indignant? Upset? Does he feel betrayed? No, he’s delighted to have an excuse to do what he wants to do anyway: Not negotiate with Israel!
Just like the famous scene in the film Casablanca when the police inspector, Renault, who regularly gambles at Rick’s Place decided to shut down the nightclub:…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Fuele Urges Ankara to Normalize Relations With Cyprus
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 15 — EU Commissioner for enlargement, Stefan Fuele, on Monday reaffirmed his support to Turkey’s accession talks and bid to join the European Union (EU). Fuele also underlined his support to efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia while speaking at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara. Fuele said he welcomed Turkey’s policy of zero problem with its neighbours, which was discussed at the meeting. He said he also welcomed historical steps made between Turkey and Armenia to normalise relations. Fuele said they also discussed Cyprus question adding that implementation of the Additional Protocol was important for the EU and urged Turkey to normalize relations with the Greek Cypriot party. The additional protocol to the Ankara Agreement foresees extension of Turkey’s customs union deal to ten countries that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, including the Greek Cypriot administration. Reaffirming his commitment to see Turkey as a member of the EU, Fuele said his meeting with Davutoglu focused on EU’s commitments and Turkey’s requirements to make steps during the reform process. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Lebanon: UNIFIL Contingent Protects Tyrus Site
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 15 — Preserving the archaeological treasures at the historical Port of Tyrus in Southern Lebanon and developing local tourism are the goals of the Italian contingent of the UN mission deployed in the Middle Eastern country, building a new fence around the Roman Hippodrome, the third largest and best preserved in the world, in addition to the creation of a new pathway for the Gymnasium, which also dates back to Roman times. The two projects, financed by Italy with about 37,000 euros, were inaugurated on Saturday in a ceremony with the participation of Sector West Brigadier General Luigi Francavilla of the Friuli Air Assault Brigade, and Abd al-Muhsin al-Husseini, the Mayor of Tyrus, 80km south of Beirut. The Italian contingent secured the archaeological area by building the fence around the Hippodrome. The old fence did not control access to the site in any way, damaging both tourist revenue and security and the preservation of the archaeological remains. A path was built in the Gymnasium, which beforehand was almost entirely eradicated or non-existent in certain points. The new barriers will allow the site to be better protected. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Foreign Aid, USD 304 Mln in Jan-Feb
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 15 — In the first two months of the current year, financial aid to Lebanon from abroad totalled 304 million dollars, according to data released by the Lebanese Finance Ministry. The Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) office in Beirut reported that the Italian Cooperation had approved a 452,000-euro grant to the Lebanese Finance Ministry to improve the skills of state employees in the management of public funds. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has instead granted USD 18 million to finance the construction of a dam and an artificial lake in the Falougha zone, while the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Interior Ministry and the Municipality for a 600,000-dollar grant for the upcoming municipal elections, scheduled for May. The Lebanese Parliament has also authorised two loans: the first a 70-million-dollar one from the World Bank for additional financing for the Urban Transport Development Project and the second from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to support projects in a number of different sectors including water supplies, healthcare and public education. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Man Treated at Hospital After Having Sex With Animals in Kuwait
The unnamed Asian watchman reportedly explained to his employer that he had been doing “sexual things” to the animals
Kuwait City: An Asian watchman is being treated at a local hospital after he had sexual intercourse with animals on the farm he was guarding.
“I was shocked during my last visit to the farm to see the watchman screaming in pain and I took him to the hospital in Farwaniya. There, doctors diagnosed him with a problem with his organ,” the farm owner was quoted as saying by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Saturday.
The unnamed watchman reportedly explained to his employer that he had been doing “sexual things” to the animals and that he may have contracted a dangerous disease. The farm owner said that the expatriate worker cried continiously and saying that he was “extremely tired.”
Readers’ comments on the internet ranged from sympathy for the lonely man to outrage for cruelty to animals. Many asked questions whether the animals were now fit for human consumption.
In 2006, a Sudanese man was forced to take a goat as his “wife”, after he was caught having sex with the animal.
The village council of elders ordered the man to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to the goat’s owner who had surprised him with his goat.
The elders said the man should not be taken to the police, but rather pay a dowry for the goat because he used it as his wife.
| — Hat tip: LN | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Top Israeli Gen. In Ankara for Conference on Terrorism
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 15 — Israeli armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi arrived in Turkey today to take part in a NATO conference on terrorism and international cooperation, Anatolia news agency reports quoting Israeli military sources. During his one-day trip, Ashkenazi is expected to hold several meetings with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Ilker Basbug, and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul. In January, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak traveled to Turkey in a bid to repair damaged relations between Israel and its leading Muslim ally, securing a commitment to military cooperation but failing to cajole Ankara into curbing its criticism of Israeli policy. Israel’s ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had earlier given Turkey’s ambassador a public dressing down in a meeting called to protest a Turkish television series for showing Israel in bad light. The incident caused a major diplomatic row. Relations between the two governments deteriorated sharply after Israel’s devastating December 2008 assault on the Gaza Strip.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Govt Aims to Attract Investors From Arab Countries
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, MARCH 15 — Creating a company with 20 million dollars in capital, with a 50% stake held by Arab businessmen and 50% held by Arab investors was the proposal made during the 13th Conference of Arab Businessmen and Investors, held recently in Damascus on “Investments in Syria-Originality and Opportunity”. Organised by the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, the Arab Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and with the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation — reports the newsletter of the Italian Embassy in Damascus — the event was attended by the Syrian prime minister and about 1,000 Arab businessmen. During his speech, continued the newsletter, Syrian Prime Minister Haji Otri went over the phases of the liberalisation process for the economy, which the Syrian government has been carrying out for several years, placing an emphasis on the positive results achieved for GDP growth, diversification in productive sectors and the increased number of investment projects. Otri also invited the participants to increase the level of Arab investments into Syria by establishing joint ventures. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Petraeus Briefing: Biden’s Embarrassment is Not the Whole Story
On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM’s mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region, and that Mitchell himself was (as a senior Pentagon officer later bluntly described it) “too old, too slow … and too late.”
The January Mullen briefing was unprecedented. No previous CENTCOM commander had ever expressed himself on what is essentially a political issue; which is why the briefers were careful to tell Mullen that their conclusions followed from a December 2009 tour of the region where, on Petraeus’s instructions, they spoke to senior Arab leaders. “Everywhere they went, the message was pretty humbling,” a Pentagon officer familiar with the briefing says. “America was not only viewed as weak, but its military posture in the region was eroding.” But Petraeus wasn’t finished: two days after the Mullen briefing, Petraeus sent a paper to the White House requesting that the West Bank and Gaza (which, with Israel, is a part of the European Command — or EUCOM), be made a part of his area of operations. Petraeus’s reason was straightforward: with U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military had to be perceived by Arab leaders as engaged in the region’s most troublesome conflict.
[UPDATE: A senior military officer denied Sunday that Petraeus sent a paper to the White House.
“CENTCOM did have a team brief the CJCS on concerns revolving around the Palestinian issue, and CENTCOM did propose a UCP change, but to CJCS, not to the WH,” the officer said via email. “GEN Petraeus was not certain what might have been conveyed to the WH (if anything) from that brief to CJCS.”
(UCP means “unified combatant command,” like CENTCOM; CJCS refers to Mullen; and WH is the White House.)]
The Mullen briefing and Petraeus’s request hit the White House like a bombshell. While Petraeus’s request that CENTCOM be expanded to include the Palestinians was denied (“it was dead on arrival,” a Pentagon officer confirms), the Obama administration decided it would redouble its efforts — pressing Israel once again on the settlements issue, sending Mitchell on a visit to a number of Arab capitals and dispatching Mullen for a carefully arranged meeting with the chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi. While the American press speculated that Mullen’s trip focused on Iran, the JCS Chairman actually carried a blunt, and tough, message on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: that Israel had to see its conflict with the Palestinians “in a larger, regional, context” — as having a direct impact on America’s status in the region. Certainly, it was thought, Israel would get the message.
Israel didn’t. When Vice President Joe Biden was embarrassed by an Israeli announcement that the Netanyahu government was building 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, the administration reacted. But no one was more outraged than Biden who, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, engaged in a private, and angry, exchange with the Israeli Prime Minister. Not surprisingly, what Biden told Netanyahu reflected the importance the administration attached to Petraeus’s Mullen briefing: “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden reportedly told Netanyahu. “What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.” Yedioth Ahronoth went on to report: “The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel’s actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism.” The message couldn’t be plainer: Israel’s intransigence could cost American lives.
There are important and powerful lobbies in America: the NRA, the American Medical Association, the lawyers — and the Israeli lobby. But no lobby is as important, or as powerful, as the U.S. military. While commentators and pundits might reflect that Joe Biden’s trip to Israel has forever shifted America’s relationship with its erstwhile ally in the region, the real break came in January, when David Petraeus sent a briefing team to the Pentagon with a stark warning: America’s relationship with Israel is important, but not as important as the lives of America’s soldiers. Maybe Israel gets the message now.
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Share of Foreigners in Istanbul Stock Exchange Drops
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 15 — Share of foreign investors in the Istanbul Stock Exchange increased to 66.07%, as Anatolia news agency reports. Central Registry Institution figures revealed that as of March 12, foreign investors owned 53.65% of the shares transacted at the Istanbul Stock Exchange with the total market value reaching 66.07%. The number of shares owned by foreign investors is 14,930,097,323 with a total value of 84.5 billion Turkish Liras (40.12 billion euro). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Recognise Religious Communities, European Council
(ANSAmed) — STRASBURG, MARCH 15 — Turkey should recognise the legal status of the “non-Muslim” religious community, including Catholics, that is present in the country, and should not keep the orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul from using the term “ecumenical”. This is the opinion of the Commission of Venice, a group of the European Council that includes eminent constitutionalists. This group has the task to advise member States of necessary reforms regarding the European Convention on human rights. The Commission of Venice recognises that the Erdogan government has introduced some “important” reforms that have “improved the situation of the non-Muslim communities”, these have not been sufficient. Currently it is impossible for the non-Muslim religious communities in Turkey to obtain the legal status. According to the Commission, this is a violation of the second article of the European Convention on human rights, the article on religious freedom and the freedom of forming associations. It could also be a violation of the right to take legal action and to possess goods, since this is not possible without legal status. The statements made by the Commission of Venice also seem to refer to the Muslim community, particularly the non-Sunni community in Turkey. In fact, the text of the document mentions the “non-Muslim” communities in particular, but this label has been removed from the name of the report. Turkey is urged to introduce a law that allows religious communities to get legal status. In the meantime, Ankara is asked to allow these communities to own or acquire goods and to carry out their functions. Regarding the orthodox Patriarchate of Istanbul, the Commission invites the Turkish authorities not to prevent the use of the term “ecumenical”. The Commission underlines that the authorities don’t have to use this title themselves, and don’t have to recognise it formally. Nevertheless Turkey is also asked to reopen the seminary of Halki. The closing of this seminary could be a violation of the right to education. At the same time the Commission asks to eliminate the obligation to be Turkish citizen for the Patriarchate and the metropolitans. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ahead of Visit, Obama Reconsiders Indonesia Military
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is looking to break a taboo and train an elite Indonesian force linked to past abuses, as President Barack Obama courts the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with a visit.
With its moderate form of Islam and democratization since the 1990s, Indonesia is increasingly seen in Washington as an ideal partner. Obama spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, giving him a propitious personal connection.
Ahead of Obama’s trip next week, top officers from Kopassus — a military unit that focuses on counter-insurgency and intelligence — visited Washington to discuss a resumption of training, people with knowledge of the talks said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is China’s Politburo Spoiling for a Showdown With America?
China has succumbed to hubris. It has mistaken the soft diplomacy of Barack Obama for weakness, mistaken the US credit crisis for decline, and mistaken its own mercantilist bubble for ascendancy. There are echoes of Anglo-German spats before the First World War, when Wilhelmine Berlin so badly misjudged the strategic balance of power and over-played its hand.
Within a month the US Treasury must rule whether China is a “currency manipulator”, triggering sanctions under US law. This has been finessed before, but we are in a new world now with America’s U6 unemployment at 16.8pc.
“It’s going to be really hard for them yet again to fudge on the obvious fact that China is manipulating. Without a credible threat, we’re not going to get anywhere,” said Paul Krugman, this year’s Nobel economist.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Birth Tourism in US on the Rise for Turkish Parents
With more Turkish parents wanting their child to be born in the US, tourism companies are starting to offer ‘birth tourism’ packages to US cities. Many women say giving birth in the US has benefits including cheaper education and fewer visa worries. Some Americans, however, want to restrict the practice, citing fears of illegal migration
If Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 hit “Born in the USA” were to become popular again, the title might now refer to thousands of Turkish children whose parents are increasingly traveling to the United States to give birth.
According to tourism expert Gürkan Boztepe and media sources, 12,000 Turkish children have been born in the U.S. since 2003.The numbers are significant enough to draw the attention of tourism companies and inspire them to pursue “birth tourism.”
“We found a company on the Internet and decided to go to Austin for our child’s birth,” said Selin Burcuoðlu who gave birth to a daughter last year. “It was incredibly professional. They organized everything for me. I had no problem adjusting and I had an excellent birth,” she told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Burcuoðlu said she and her partner chose to have the birth in the U.S. to make their child’s life more comfortable. “I don’t want her to deal with visa issues — American citizenship has so many advantages.”
Birth tourism
Burcuoðlu is not the only Turkish parent who wants her child to have U.S. citizenship. Many Turkish parents-to-be are now seeking tourism companies to “guarantee” their child’s life.
“We have been involved in medical tourism since 2002,” said Levent Baþ, general manager of Gurib Tourism. “But we were also receiving so many demands about this issue that we decided to sell birth packages,” he told the Daily News.
“We first started our research in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando and we only contacted Turkish doctors,” Baþ said. “But we are preparing a package that covers everything from the flight and city tours to accommodation for several months and hospital expenses.”
In terms of cost, Baþ said the minimum expense is $25,000, which rises to $40,000 if the destination is New York.
Birth tourism organizations are located throughout Turkey, including one run by Gürkan Boztepe in the Aegean province of Ýzmir. “Before, only celebrities gave birth in the U.S. We are now aiming, however, to make this service accessible to everyone. And surprisingly, our customers are not just from Ýzmir and Istanbul, there are also many people from smaller provinces, such as [southeastern] Gaziantep.”
Many families, however, do not want to talk openly about the process, according to the birth tourism operators. “Many people say they are doing it because they want their kids to get a cheaper education and not deal with visa issues when they grow up,” said Baþ.
“But they don’t want to make it public. Even celebrities who have done this are trying to ignore the issue by saying they had to give birth in the U.S. because their doctors were there,” he said.
Arzu Geiger is an entrepreneur who lives in Gilbert, Arizona, and offers customers the option to stay in her home.
“We got the idea when a friend of ours wished to give birth in the U.S.,” she told the Daily News. “We realized that many women abroad may also wish to give birth in the U.S., but may have many concerns regarding arrangements or safety. Some women may choose to stay alone with us for the first few months, then move to separate living arrangements when family members arrive for the birth.”
While the small-scale companies have started investing in the birth market, bigger firms are also entering the market with alternative packages. The Turkish-owned Marmara Hotel group recently announced a birth tourism package that includes accommodation at their Manhattan branch.
“We hosted 15 families last year,” said Nur Ercan Maðden, head manager of The Marmara Manhattan, adding that the cost was $45,000 each.
Law Amendment
According to the U.S.’s 14th Amendment, the country grants citizenship to anyone born on its soil. At the same time, however, many have demanded the elimination of the “ius soli” law.
“They come to this country and have babies. The children are citizens. The children are eligible to go to school. They receive food stamps and social programs. The American taxpayers are paying for it,” said Republican Congressman Gary Miller last month, who is co-sponsoring a bill that seeks to abolish birthright citizenship for children born in the country to illegal immigrant parents.
According to Emre Özgü, a partner at law firm Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP in New York, people in favor of tightening immigration laws have been attempting to end “ius soli” citizenship for years.
“Those trying to restrict immigration argue these babies, who are occasionally called ‘anchor babies,’ serve as a key link in the ‘chain immigration’ process that they would like to see eliminated. However, there is no current pending legislation before Congress that would limit the claim to U.S. citizenship of a child born in the U.S.,” Özgü told the Daily News.
When asked whether birthright citizenship could be considered a loophole in the law, Özgü said he would not classify the “ius soli” citizenship as such because it is explicitly included within the U.S. Constitution.
“While it can be controversial, birth tourism is legal in the U.S.,” said Geiger. “Some of the major concerns expressed with birth tourism are that the mother and baby can access free health and social benefits at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. We do not accept customers in this manner — they are responsible for the payment of their own medical expenses.”
Baþ, however, thinks U.S. authorities are ultimately unconcerned by the practice. “I think the United States is aware of such a law, otherwise they would prevent it. I think it is part of an integration policy. They want people to become American citizens.”
Other examples
Birth tourism to the U.S. is not just popular in Turkey but also in Asian countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. According to a Los Angeles Times report, many South Korean parents-to-be have chosen to give birth in the U.S. for many reasons, ranging from a desire to enroll their children in American schools to enabling them to avoid South Korean military service.
The birthright citizenship formerly applied to other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia but both countries modified their law in the mid-1980s.
India maintained such birthright law until 2004, but ended the right to prevent continued illegal immigration from neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| — Hat tip: Paul Green | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Israeli Attempting to Cross Border Arrested
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, MARCH 15 — Egyptian security forces arrested an Israeli attempting to return to his country while illegally crossing the Egyptian border in the Sinai Peninsula by crossing through barbed wire, said a source from security services. The Israeli, 30-year-old Joachim Feldman, reported the source, was travelling with a Ghanaian national and said that he was a journalist who crossed the border in Taba to follow the paths taken by illegal immigrants to cross the borders. The Israeli was treated for an injury to his hand from the barbed wire. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Human Traffickers Arrested
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 15 — Greek police have dismantled an organisation specialising in human-smuggling in the Xirokrini area. Three people have been arrested, two Greeks and one foreign national, aged between 43 and 55. According to police investigations, the organisation had promised eleven illegal immigrants entry into Greece, on the way to Central Europe, in exchange for a fee of 4,500 dollars. The ongoing investigation hopes to ascertain whether others are part of the group. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Authorises Egyptian Border Security Barrier
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, MARCH 15 — Yesterday the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for the construction of a security barrier along its border with Egypt in order to stop illegal immigration into the country, especially by Africans. The barrier will be built along two sections, each several kilometres long. The first will be in the south near Eilat, while the second will be further north near Nitzana. Between the two sections, in a mountainous and desert area, the border will be monitored by electronic devices. The project is expected to cost 1.35 million shekels (about 265 million euros).(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Return of Rianceinfestival, With Cinema and Music
(ANSAmed) — RIACE (REGGIO CALABRIA), MARCH 15 — The Riaceinfestival, the festival celebrating migration and local cultures, organised by the town of Riace, will kick off on May 21-23. The event stems from the welcoming and rehousing policies enacted by Riace’s municipal administration over the last few years. The results, together with those of neighbouring towns Caulonia and Stignano, have been very positive, leading to a local system aiding the reception and social integration of refugees. The Festival is to be considered a meeting-place, and features a number of independent video productions about migration, multicultural society, plural society, relationships between rich and poor countries and the protection of local culture and tradition with particular focus on the Mediterranean basin as a prime location for the interweaving and comparison of cultures, languages, religions and both social and legal patterns. As in previous events, this year, the gathering will be split into four main categories, but with a few new additions. ‘Migrants’ is open to stories, meetings and accounts by both migrants and locals with particular focus on the Mediterranean, and also features investigations and reports on what goes on in society, in politics, and in culture, after the onset of migration, a formidable driver of social change. The ‘Short films — make us laugh!’ section is reserved for acting, satire, farse and comedy in general. ‘Local cultures — material culture’ is open to films on research into and protection of cultures, societies, languages and local traditions, including material culture, and their relationship with modernity. Finally, ‘Water, a common good’ is for films made by schools of all types, to reflect on the process of commodification of water, which should be our main common, rather than private asset. The Short Film section is not, unlike last year, open to any topic and the musical video segment has been replaced by the water section aimed exclusively at schools, to encourage the involvement of young people.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Don’t Mess With Texas … Textbooks!
For those who have somehow dodged the news, the 15-member Texas State Board of Education, or SBOE, has been hearing and debating variances of opinion regarding what to include and exclude in the social studies curriculum and subsequent textbook. Not surprising is the full range of progressive issues that liberals want the SBOE to include: from emphasizing equity and tolerance for all minorities to erasing key conservative figures and events from history and whitewashing the Judeo-Christian convictions of our founders.
[…]
I’m proud that Texas (along with only Alaska) opted out of the federal curriculum standard mandates, as the 10th Amendment to the Constitution prescribes for us. Texas refused to participate in order to keep control of what is taught at our public schools. We certainly don’t need the federal government’s help raising or educating our kids. That is what has allowed us to be independent and autonomous over our curriculum.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Only Climate Deceptions Matter in the Post-Fact Society
In his book “True Enough: Learning to live in a Post-Fact Society” Farhad Manjoo claims: “Facts no longer matter. We simply decide how we want to see the world and then go out and find experts and evidence to back our beliefs.” I am not sure this is a modern phenomenon. There are more experts and evidence available but people always seek confirmation of their prejudice. Expectation of a positive response is jarred when the answer is no. Consider what happens when you ask someone to pass the salt and the answer is no. At a conference of elected officials I was asked, “What is the one piece of advice you would give us?” I replied, “Stop hiring the consultants that tell you what you want to hear.” They responded with silence, so I added, “But that is not what you wanted to hear.”
The Post-Fact society is very active with environmental and climate issues. The media, which has generally abandoned the concept of fair and balanced, amplifies it. There’s a constant search for examples to buttress the idea that global warming and climate change are caused by humans. Even after evidence is proven inaccurate, inappropriate or wrong, the idea is pushed and new ‘facts’ found. Central requirements are to blame humans for the change and imply planetary destruction will result.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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