There’s a fascinating story tonight about a Swedish Jew who was on a skiing holiday in Kashmir. His wife is a Qatari Muslim, and to protect him she put a sticker with a Koranic verse on the slider of his ski.When local bystanders saw the sticker, all hell broke loose. The ski area was shut down, and the Swede was chased and beaten by the locals, who accused him of being an Israeli agent. The crisis only abated when he apologized to a local Islamic notable.
There are four articles about the incident under a single headline. Look under the “South Asia” category for India.
Thanks to AA, ACT for America, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Holger Danske, Insubria, JD, Steen, TB, Tuan Jim, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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A Bad Start
It has only been a few weeks, but already it is clear that FDR’s legacy of the famous first 100 days is in no jeopardy. Of course, given the anti-constitutional regime the Roosevelt administration turned out to be, this is probably a good thing. And in the first month of the Obama administration, four things have become readily apparent about its nature.
First, Obama not only has a lack of executive experience, he also possesses no natural talent for management or executive decision making. While a large segment of the American electorate clearly believes that a mellifluous baritone and an ability to read from teleprompter is tantamount to executive excellence, the numerous nomination scandals and the bungling of the $827 billion stimulus bill indicate that the Obama administration will soon make even the disastrous Bush and Clinton administrations look like paragons of competence.
The second thing is that Obama has clarified what was never seriously in doubt: All of his grand promises of inspiration were nothing more than campaign rhetoric designed to appeal to the young, the naïve and the stupid. He promised hope and change, but what he has done instead is prey upon the widespread fear of national catastrophe to engage in the usual legislative bullying so often seen in past Democratic Congresses. Ironically, the objective measure of House and Senate vote tallies will almost certainly prove that both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton governed in a far more bipartisan manner than Obama will.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Communist: Obama Working to Nationalize U.S. Economy
Claims ‘people advocate president’ pushing through radical agenda
President Obama is “considering” a radical agenda to nationalize the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve Bank, and private industries such as energy and other sectors whose future is “problematic” in private hands, claims the leader of the Communist Party USA.
In a major speech focused on Obama titled “Off and running: Opportunity of a lifetime,” CPUSA leader Sam Webb also alleges Obama’s administration is considering turning education, childcare, and health care into “no profit zones;” rerouting investment capital from military infrastructure to “green economy” projects and public infrastructure; and waging a “full scale” assault on global warming.
“We now have not simply a friend, but a people’s advocate in the White House,” declared Webb at a recent speech in Ohio for People’s Weekly World Communist newspaper. “An era of progressive change is within reach, no longer an idle dream. Just look at the new lay of the land: a friend of labor and its allies sits in the White House,” Webb proclaimed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Senators ‘Caved in’ on Stimulus, Paul Says
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) — Former presidential candidate Ron Paul criticized President Obama’s economic recovery proposal but said Saturday that blame for the financial crisis is deep-seated and includes Republicans who failed to hold the line on spending during the Bush administration.
He also offered a harsh critique of the three Republican senators who have said they will vote for the economic recovery proposal. A vote is scheduled for early next week.
Paul, a Republican representative from Texas who sought the GOP nomination for president, said that although some people call Obama’s plan to jumpstart the economy a “stimulus package,” he thinks it is a “pure spending package.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Increasing Number of States Declaring Sovereignty
Back in December, the Wall Street Journal had a good chuckle over Russian academic Igor Panarin’s prediction that the United States would break apart by 2010. Using threadbare Cold War logic, Andrew Osborn wrote that Panarin’s forecast “is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis.” For the WSL scribe, Panarin’s analysis is about the Red Bear “returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.”
[…]
In the case of a growing number of U.S. states, however, it is not so much economic decline and moral degradation pointing the way to a “disintegration,” but rather violations of the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791, and states restates the Constitution’s principle of Federalism by providing that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states and to the people. It is based on an earlier provision of the Articles of Confederation: “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.”
In fact, it was not so much “weakness” that destroyed Russia as it was the IMF, the World Bank, and Wall Street, in other words it was another bankster looting and fire sale scheme that brought the former Soviet Union down, not that we should expect the Wall Street Journal to admit as much. Ditto the current “global financial crisis” and instability in the Middle East.
[…]
“Obama’s plans for a federal handgun license, ‘hate crimes’ laws to regulate Christians’ speech about their own religious beliefs on homosexuality, President Obama’s youth corps for mandatory public service and the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine’ to ‘balance’ talk radio have New Hampshire Lawmakers telling Obama to basically grow up and get some better ideas,” writes Jake Jones. “They say that if Obama’s plans are implimented, it would constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States.”
Unfortunately, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were nullified many years ago, at least since the emergence of the Federalists under Alexander Hamilton, as Thomas J. DiLorenzo persausively argues. “Federalists like Joseph Story and John Marshall, and later Whig politicians like Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln… would tell The Big Lie that the Constitution was ratified by ‘the whole people’ and not as it actually was — by the citizens of the sovereign states, with their representatives assembled in state conventions,” writes DiLorenzo. In the years since, the reach and severity of federalism has grown expotentially. “The U.S. government is now characterized by dictatorial power, abuse of every kind of personal liberty, confiscatory taxation, economic fascism, dangerous militarism, and imperialism.” New World Order minion Obama will take this dictatorial power to new heights under the pretense of saving the people from the bankster engineered global economic depression.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Will Fail
As the details of the Godzilla “stimulus” bill become known, it is increasingly obvious that the American capitalist economy will not be stimulated — it will be stomped on. The good news is that Obama’s vision of big government on steroids is built on the quicksand of unprecedented borrowing of trillions of dollars no one on the planet has. Better yet, conservatives know socialism doesn’t work no matter how much money is thrown at it. I don’t want Obama to fail. Obama will fail because he pursues a failed faith.
Sens. Spector, Collins and Snowe have done conservatives a favor. They have helped galvanize and unify conservatives, and they have given this president the rope with which he will gleefully hang himself. Oh, there will be a price to pay — a huge price — before Americans regain the freedoms we took for granted for so long. Elections have consequences, and the awful consequences of this last election are now coming into focus for an increasing number of Americans who were caught up in the fervor of “hope” and “change.”
Last weekend, the president called upon his campaign juggernaut to organize “house parties” all over the country in support of the “stimulus” bill. Few people turned out in places where hundreds did during the campaign. Opinion polls indicate a sharp drop in support for the “stimulus,” and even for the president.
Obama has promised that the almost $1 trillion “stimulus” bill is just the beginning of the transformation of America. This week, our assumed meritocracy will be undercut when the tax cheat Treasury secretary announces a bailout of those who can’t pay their mortgage by those who can. In weeks to come, the Obama administration will seek to nationalize the banks, automakers and doctors. Future plans include expanding to a majority those who pay no taxes. This new majority will make Democratic dominance at the polls permanent and make taxpayers a minority without a voice.
Increasing opposition among Americans to these steps will be met by an increased campaign of intimidation. The war on talk radio will heat up even as the war on terror fades. The Obama campaign will be made permanent, as community organizers funded by the “stimulus” bill entrench themselves in every community and then in every block to become the eyes and ears of the new order. Money and jobs will be dispensed to Obama supporters; opponents will be marginalized.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Phase IV of the Systemic Crisis: the Sequence of Global Insolvency Begins
In 2007, LEAP/E2020 announced that US banks and consumers were both insolvent. More than a year ago, our team estimated that USD 10,000-billion worth in " ghost-assets " would vanish in the crisis. Both announcements came in complete opposition with the common opinion of that time; however they proved perfectly justified in the months after. In the same line, LEAP/E2020 today estimates that a new sequence of the fourth phase (so-called " decanting phase ") of the unfolding global systemic crisis has began: the sequence of global insolvency.
The heavy consequences conveyed by the global insolvency are anticipated in this GEAB N°31, of which this announcement presents an excerpt meant to put clearly what is at stake in this new sequence of the crisis. GEAB N°31 also details the 20 “ups and downs” of the year 2009 according to the LEAP/E2020 team : fifteen upward trends and fourteen downward trends, as many decision- abnd analysis-support instruments for all those worried or intrigued by the coming year.
Contrary to what political leaders and their central bankers seem to believe worldwide, the problem of liquidity that they are striving to solve by means of historic interest rate drops and unlimited money creation, is not a cause but a consequence of the current crisis. It is in fact a problem of solvency which is digging " black holes " where liquidities disappear, whether we call these holes bank balance sheets (1), household debt (2), corporate bankruptcies or public deficits. In consideration of the fact that a conservative estimation of these “ghost-assets” reaches already USD 30,000-billion (3), our team considers that the world is now facing a situation of general insolvency affecting in the first place the most indebted countries and organizations (public or private) and/or those depending most on financial services…
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
Tourism: Bocca, Crisis Imposes New Models on Sector
(ANSAmed) — TURIN, JANUARY 30 — The economic crisis has cancelled the positions acquired and imposes a new competitive landscape to adapt to. This is “the moment for long term planning, proposing not only Italy as a destination, but the Italian entreprenuerial sector’s know-how in tourism, introducing new approaches to world demand that, even if latent, is newly shaped”. This is one of the concepts underlined today by the President of Confturismo-Confcommercio, Bernabò Bocca, at the opening of Turin’s International Conference on Tourism, the theme of which is ‘Destination Italy 2020’. The theme of the conference can be found in the other arguments touched by Bocca, who stated how a billion and a half tourists have been forecast for 2020, equal to 6 billion hotel and related reservations and business worth 1,300 billion euro. Reminded that the most recent data speaks of cuts from large tour operators, that is 27% of their commitments to European airlines and accomadation providers during the current season and an ulterior drop of 16-20% for summer 2009, Bocca asked himself if “we are really sure that demand is suffering from such a cutback”, “reasoning” therefore on the role of the country “not only as a destination, but also as a hub for entrance into Europe”. The theme of the conference does not intend to be a slogan on this point, but a tangible project. In fact, during the event, more themes will be addressed, the networks figuring among them, “more material agreements than immaterial ones: if the world we know is the result of globalisation and networking, it is the network that must occupy the key points and from the network that results must be drawn, without losing ones identity but on the contrary maximizing the sharing process and the apprecciation on all levels. The networks, if well managed, are made to be accesible, not to weaken the sector”. Bocca claimed not being “used to hiding” to Confturismo members, “we have never played games on the wrong footing, our battles are always addressed in the light of day, this is unanimously recognised. Therefore in an important event like this, a proposal as well as a comparison of policy cannot be lacking. Only by stimulating a correct comparison, one that respects the role of tourism in this country and the consequences it has on our economy, can we move forward”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
What is Congress Stimulating?
What’s most striking is how much “stimulus” money will be spent on the government itself.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with an apparently recession-proof cash hoard, is running radio ads against 28 House Republicans. The theme of the ads is “Putting Families First.”
Families first? The only family standing at the front of the stimulus pay line is the federal family. Read the bill.
Check your PC’s virus program, then pull down the nearly 700 pages of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Dive into its dank waters and what is most striking is how much “stimulus” money is being spent on the government’s own infrastructure. This bill isn’t economic stimulus. It’s self-stimulus.
(All sums here include the disorienting zeros, as in the bill.)
Title VI, Financial Services and General Government, says that “not less than $6,000,000,000 shall be used for construction, repair, and alteration of Federal buildings.” There’s enough money there to name a building after every Member of Congress.
The Bureau of Land Management gets $325,000,000 to spend fixing federal land, including “trail repair” and “remediation of abandoned mines or well sites,” no doubt left over from the 19th-century land rush.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are getting $462,000,000 for “equipment, construction, and renovation of facilities, including necessary repairs and improvements to leased laboratories.” The Opinion Journal Widget
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The National Institute of Standards gets $357,000,000 for the “construction of research facilities.” The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gets $427,000,000 for that. The country is in an economic meltdown and the federal government is redecorating. […]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
America — What Have You Done?
President Obama has had, by general consent, a torrid First Fortnight. To put it another way, it has taken precisely two weeks for the illusion that brought him to power to be exposed for the nonsense that it so obviously was. The transformational candidate who was going to sweep away pork-barrel politics, lobbyists and corruption has been up to his neck in sleaze, as eviscerated here by Charles Krauthammer. Despite the fact that he came to power promising to ‘ban all earmarks’, his ‘stimulus’ bill represents billions of dollars of special-interest tax breaks, giveaways and protections — which have nothing to do with kick-starting the economy and everything to do with favouring pet Democrat causes.
He has been appointing one tax dodger, lobbyist and wheeler-dealer after another. After appointing one official,Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had unaccountably forgotten to pay his taxes, he then watched his designated Health Secretary Tom Daschle fall on his sword because he too had taken a tax holiday. Daschle was furthermore a prominent actor in the world of lobbying and influence-peddling. Leon Panetta, Obama’s nominee for Director of the CIA has also, according to the Wall Street Journal, consulted for prominent companies and sat on the board of a public affairs firm that lobbies Congress. The Weekly Standard reports that Secretary of Labour nominee Hilda Solis was not only involved with a private organization lobbying her fellow legislators on a bill that she helped sponsor, but she apparently kept her involvement secret and failed to reveal a clear conflict of interest.
In foreign policy, Obama has started by trashing his own country through grossly misrepresenting its history and grovelling to America’s enemies such as Iran, which has flicked him aside with undiluted contempt. He has gratuitously upset America’s ally India by suggesting that America should muscle in and resolve the Kashmir question.
His right hand doesn’t seem to know what his left hand is doing. He reportedly asked retired Marine General Anthony Zinni to be US ambassador to Iraq, but then abruptly withdrew the appointment without explanation after it had been confirmed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And the precise role he is offering Dennis Ross — special envoy to Iran? Special adviser to Hillary? Special adviser to other special advisers? — remains mired in confusion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama is a Novice — and it Shows
During last year’s epic election campaign, Hillary Clinton said that in the White House “there is no time for on-the-job training”. Joe Biden, too, remarked that the presidency was “not something that lends itself to on-the-job training”. Both were aiming barbs at their then primary opponent. Mrs Clinton has since brought what she would refer to as her “lifetime of experience” to the role of Secretary of State, while Mr Biden has traded 36 years in the Senate for the vice-presidency. And the rookie they derided is President.
Now, the words of his former rivals are returning to haunt President Obama. After a distinctly rocky start to his presidency, he has admitted he “screwed up” and is returning to one thing in his political career that he has perfected — campaigning. In Elkhart, Indiana, today and Fort Myers, Florida, tomorrow, Mr Obama will try to seize back control of the political agenda with question-and-answer sessions with voters in two of the swing states that gave him victory.
Already, however, he is struggling, and the product he is now selling is not himself but a near-trillion-dollar economic “stimulus” package loaded with pet Democratic spending projects that has awakened slumbering Republicans in Congress and is now supported by barely a third of Americans. In between the Indiana and Florida stops, he will return to the White House for a prime-time press conference in which he will appeal directly to citizens and seek to rekindle the magic of his campaign.
Which President Obama will turn up remains to be seen. Last week, he began as a wide-eyed bystander buffeted by events as he lost his key confidant, Tom Daschle, amid an uproar over $128,000 in unpaid taxes for a chauffeur and limousine. Mr Obama and his advisers believed the oversight did not matter because the over-arching virtue of the new White House could not be doubted. He was wrong and seemed out of touch in believing that ordinary people would not notice the contrast between the practice of politics as usual and his campaign slogans against it.
The White House is now in damage-control mode. After Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama’s spokesman, was lampooned by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show as a non-answering automaton in the mode of President George W Bush’s press secretaries, former campaign strategist David Axelrod was dispatched to television studios to make the stimulus case. However, this was tinkering around the edges.
The American presidency is a platform without parallel, offering the incumbent a degree of instinctive deference and goodwill and a megaphone that will amplify his voice across 50 states and the world beyond. But it is also a lonely perch for the timid.
In the early days of his presidency, Mr Obama has seemed passive and uncertain. Instead of drawing up his own economic stimulus bill, he sub-contracted the job to Democrats on Capitol Hill. They opted to spend money on projects for contraception and beautifying the National Mall — their doorstep — and gave Republicans an plenty of ammunition against the package.
Slipped into the small print was a “Buy America” provision that sent shock waves through capitals from Brussels to Beijing and triggered fears of trade wars and a new American protectionism. It was hard for the President to defend a bill he perhaps didn’t fully support himself. He neither championed the package as imperfect but essential, nor sought to make meaningful changes to it. Instead, he attempted to charm Republican centrists with his own personality and the trappings of the White House by inviting them over for cocktails and a Super Bowl party. It didn’t work. Of 219 Republicans on Capitol Hill, only three voted for the bill. Introducing a $500,000 pay cap for some Wall Street executives was empty — and possibly counter-productive — populism.
Mr Obama cast aside his emollient talk to deliver the red meat at Williamsburg. It was an abrupt change of tone that will come with a price, just as the double standard of preaching about the evils of influence-peddling and lobbyists and then giving Mr Daschle a pass on his tax evasion will not be forgotten by many ordinary Americans.
“We lived it for two years, and we forgot it for a couple of weeks,” Mr Gibbs remarked ruefully when asked about why Team Obama rationalised away their own principles because they wanted their old friend in the Cabinet.
The activists who formed the backbone of Mr Obama’s election campaign appear less than energised. Few answered his call for house-party gatherings at the weekend to build support for the economic stimulus plan. Mr Obama could be forgiven a little nostalgia. Saturday Night Live gently ribbed him, imagining a national address in which he breaks off talking about economic gloom to say: “Remember election night. Grant Park in Chicago. Nice weather. Oprah. That white guy Oprah was crying on. Good times.”
Governing, as Mr Obama is finding out, is not like an election campaign. Mr Bush’s failures will give him some leeway and his transformative appeal remains potent. But making decisions and operating the levers of power is something completely new to him. And it shows.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Collegiate Sex-Ed
Every fall, kids arrive on college campuses and learn that their basic moral intuitions on sexual matters don’t square with the reigning ideas. Thanks to debased campus culture and overreaching on the part of administrators and professors, students are beginning to respond systematically—and they’re having an impact. Here’s how.
No two undergraduate experiences are quite the same. But the undergraduate years are marked by certain commonalities: students are challenged intellectually, socially, and ethically. Long-held beliefs are forced to submit to rational scrutiny. No longer is “that’s just the way we do it” or “that’s just the way I feel about the issue” sufficient. In philosophy classrooms and biology labs, students are expected to slough off the opinions they held in their pre-critical-thinking days and adopt the conclusions of the best arguments. Everything is to be tested, and only the rationally defensible is to be retained.
[…]
No longer living under their parents’ roof, no longer in a supportive school, neighborhood, or church community, students no longer have external supports encouraging them to strive to meet the demands of ethical living—and holding them accountable when they fail. Instead, they find themselves subjected to new forms of pressure: a campus culture that demands conformity as the price of social acceptance, a professoriate that preaches new ethical dogmas, and administrators whose policies recognize no values but legality, liability, and physical health. It’s easy to see how otherwise virtuous students can begin to go astray—and how those already set on a bad path from high school have little hope of reforming themselves.
Yet most students arrive at college completely unaware of the patterns of life that await them. The fact is that many unsuspecting freshmen innocently join sports teams, enter into Greek life, and otherwise expect to lead active social lives, but have little idea of what sexual expectations are awaiting. Once seduced into the campus culture, they find it hard to break free. Even if dissatisfied and unfulfilled, they assume the problem is with them, not the culture. And for those who resist it from the get-go, it’s unclear what the alternative is.
Apart from some religious campuses and religious enclaves on secular campuses, the late teens and early twenties are a bit of a wandering. Sex is to be expected, but with no expectation of commitment, never mind marriage. Those desiring an alternative have no example to look to, no role-models to emulate. Gone are the days of courtship. Gone are the days of dating as an explicit preparation for marriage. Gone are the days of using one’s late adolescence and early adulthood to form the habits, the stable dispositions, the virtues required for healthy male-female relationships—both friendships and marriage. Instead, exploitation looms large. And most marriages fail.
But it only gets worse. Campus officials in lecture halls and administrative offices, rather than challenging debased campus culture, actually aid and abet it. “Abstinence education?” That’s a scientifically disproven method of avoiding pregnancy and disease. A pill and a latex sheath is all you need. “Chastity?” Hardly a virtue, the best moral philosophy and clinical psychology tell us that it’s a vice—an unhealthy attitude of repressing sexual desire, hating one’s body, and viewing sex as dirty. Courtship, dating, marriage, and then sex? All you need are consenting adults (in any number or pairings) to have good sex. And marriage is an outdated ideal anyway.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Crisis, Catastrophe: Are These Words of Hope?
WASHINGTON — Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared “we have chosen hope over fear..” Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.
And so much for the promise to banish the money changers and influence peddlers from the temple. An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position. Followed by a Treasury secretary who allegedly couldn’t understand the payroll tax provisions in his 1040. Followed by Tom Daschle, who had to fall on his sword according to the new Washington rule that no Cabinet can have more than one tax delinquent.
The Daschle affair was more serious because his offense involved more than taxes. As Michael Kinsley once observed, in Washington the real scandal isn’t what’s illegal, but what’s legal. Not paying taxes is one thing. But what made this case intolerable was the perfectly legal dealings that amassed Daschle $5.2 million in just two years.
He’d been getting $1 million per year from a law firm. But he’s not a lawyer, nor a registered lobbyist. You don’t get paid this kind of money to instruct partners on the Senate markup process. You get it for picking up the phone and peddling influence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Misanthropic Environmentalism
On Tuesday, I told BreakPoint listeners that, according to NASA’s James Hansen, President Obama has just four years to save the world from the catastrophic effects of man-made global warming.
Well, at least one environmental icon disagrees. James Lovelock thinks it’s already too late. All we can do is try to make it through the “culling.” You heard me correctly—culling, as in, “to reduce the size of a herd by killing the weaker members.”
And in this case, the herd being culled is humanity itself. Lovelock is the man who formulated the Gaia Theory, which sees the “organic and inorganic components of Planet Earth” as a “single living, self-regulating system.”
In a recent interview with New Scientist magazine, Lovelock says there’s no hope that we can “save ourselves from climate change.” He dismissed proposed regulatory and technological fixes as “verging on a gigantic scam.” And this is a leading environmentalist!
According to Lovelock, humans can’t “react fast enough” and aren’t “clever enough to handle what’s coming up,” especially “since there are already too many people on Earth.” He expects that “the cull during this century is going to be huge, up to 90 percent.” That’s Gaia’s way of reducing human population to a level where they can finally contribute “to planetary welfare.”
While Lovelock’s use of the word “cull” is startling, it oughtn’t to be surprising. It is only a less-polite version of the misanthropic worldview behind a lot of environmental thinking, especially when it comes to man-made global warming.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama is Stimulating Gun Sales
If gun owners are like wooly worms — they instinctively fatten up ahead of a harsh winter — then the Second Amendment is in for a rough spell.
Since Barack Obama’s election in November, gun and ammunition sales have soared, as have requests for concealed carry permits, on fears that the new president will clamp down on gun rights.
Business has been so brisk that one California store hung a poster of Obama with the words, “Salesman of the Year.”
“Our sales are up 15 to 20 percent since October,” says Roger Little, owner of Shooter’s Service in Livonia. “It’s not the 40 percent other stores are reporting, but it’s good business.”
[…]
What are gun lovers so worried about? On the campaign trail, both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden promised to keep their hands off our guns.
But Obama’s record apparently speaks louder than campaign promises.
“Gun owners don’t trust his campaign rhetoric,” says Rachel Parsons, spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. “They don’t see him as a protector of the Second Amendment.”
Specifically, the concern is that Obama will restore the misnamed assault weapons ban, which targets guns for how they look rather than what they actually do. There’s also fear that he’ll revive a proposal he made while an Illinois legislator to place a 500 percent tax on guns and ammunition.
When that report hit the Internet, some stores saw customers loading so many shells and bullets into shopping carts that they collapsed under the weight..
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
State Brainwashing Children to “Re-Educate” Their Parents for Green Dictatorship
A massive program with its tentacles embedded into almost every corner of education and popular culture is underway to use the “green” agenda to brainwash children and turn them against their own parents, as the state moves towards the creation of a Stasi-style informant society using methods that have been repeated in every totalitarian state throughout history.
The controversy surrounding Al Gore’s comments during a speech at the University of Maryland Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference, during which he pitted children against their parents by telling them they “know more” about global warming, is merely the tip of the iceberg of a top-down movement that is mimicking a technique that dictatorships have practiced throughout history — the exploitation and brainwashing of children to turn them into Maoist, Stasi, Hitler Youth-style informants and enforcers against their own family and community.
Talking head Glenn Beck was spooked about the historical legacy that Gore is following in brainwashing kids to assume an adversarial position against their own parents in the interests of the state.
“I’m trying to think where else this has been done — Soviet Russia, Nazi, Germany, Mussolini’s Italy,” Beck said. “In fact, the Nazis took an extra step. Not only did they indoctrinate the kids and tell them you’re probably right, you know but your parents don’t; in fact, here’s the next step: Why don’t you tell us what your parents are telling you. Are we having the new Hitler youth? Is that what this is? The new Hitler youth? I’m sorry, that’s so politically incorrect — the new green guard. Man your station, 12-year-olds, your parents just don’t know.”
[…]
Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, offers another parallel. “Mobilising children to police their parents’ behaviour used to be something you only found in totalitarian societies. I grew up in Eastern Bloc Hungary and I remember children being encouraged to tell teachers if their parents listened to rock’n’roll.”
“It’s as though the politicians are saying: ‘The parents won’t change fast enough, let’s get the children’,” he says.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Anti-Semitism on the Rise in Sweden’
An ugly wave of anti-Semitism is on the rise in Sweden, and politicians who compare Israel with Nazi Germany or apartheid-era South Africa cannot claim to be free of responsibility, writes David Stavrou, a freelance Israeli journalist based in Sweden.
Sweden, like most countries in the western world, is obsessed with the Middle-East. The Arab-Israeli conflict receives constant media coverage and public interest, and the recent events in Gaza were no exception. As usual, they sparked a lively and sometimes violent debate. Sadly, and this too is usual, the debate is full of misinformation and misunderstandings.
Most Swedish political figures positioned themselves between strongly condemning Israel while mildly criticizing Hamas’ actions on the one hand and totally supporting Hamas and its administration in Gaza on the other.
On the left many condemned Israel’s military operation and the Jewish state in general. “I don’t think Israel is a democracy worthy of the name. It’s a racist apartheid state,” said the Left Party’s Hans Linde, calling for a boycott of Israel.
On the right, Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister who visited Gaza last week, blamed Israel for intentionally targeting economic infrastructure and called Israeli policies “neither morally nor politically defensible”. These remarks were part of a wider debate which included demonstrations, calls for boycotts and anti-Israel diplomacy.
A leading Social-Democrat, Urban Ahlin, Deputy Chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, implored the government to encourage the EU to suspend its cooperation agreement with Israel, while perhaps the most amazing remark was made by another Social-Democrat. “Israel is an apartheid state. I think Gaza is comparable to the Warsaw ghetto,” said Ingalill Bjartén, the vice-chair of one of the Social Democratic women’s organizations.
This is all very well and is part of living in a democracy but when one mentions the Holocaust and the latest round of violence in the Middle East in the same breath — a ridiculous and manipulative comparison — one should try to remain true to the facts. These are important since the victims of the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel, Jews and Arabs alike, deserve the truth. Deceitful and over-simplified versions, like those listed above, are an insult to those who live through the reality of the region, and are part of the reason the tragedy goes on.
Here are a few inconvenient truths that Swedish politicians, on the left and right, choose to forget:
There is no Israeli occupation in Gaza. Israel withdrew all its troops and settlements years ago and did not blockade Gaza when its forces withdrew. In fact — and this may come as a surprise to those who don’t bother with facts before they make their moral judgments — Israel signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority concerning security arrangements and safe passage of people and goods between Israel and Gaza. The agreement was breached by Hamas, purposely ignoring the best interest of the Palestinians themselves, when they took control of Gaza in 2007 and declared that all agreements and cease-fires with Israel were cancelled and that Israel must be destroyed.
Hamas then launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli citizens (who, for some reason, don’t attract much attention from Swedish moral experts) and massacred hundreds of members of the rival Palestinian fraction, Fatah, among them those who were responsible for the safety of the borders with Israel (yes, that’s right, their own people). Two additional facts are interesting to point out here: first, even when Israel finally had to close its border with Gaza because of the violent nature of the new Palestinian regime it still allowed the passage of humanitarian help, fuel, electricity and money.
Second, Egypt too had to close its border with Gaza, which shows that this is not really an Israeli-Arab conflict, but rather a struggle against gangsters and thugs. Egypt, of course, drew absolutely no Swedish criticism though it is blockading Gaza just as much as Israel is. In Swedish terms you could imagine the following scenario: Norway is taken over by a gang of crazed fascists who regularly launch rocket attacks on Karlstad, kidnap Swedish nationals and threaten to annihilate all Swedes in a holy war. Obviously, in a case like this most Swedes would support a strong reaction and certain adjustments in Swedish border and foreign policies. Well, this is exactly what happened in Israel and Israel waited eight years before finally attacking the Hamas power basis in Gaza.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg. During the latest conflict Hamas intentionally fired rockets from schools and mosques in order to provoke a counter-attack. You would expect Hamas’s rather unlikely Swedish supporters (oddly enough, usually left-wingers supporting ultra nationalist religious fanatics), to be a little more critical of a leadership cynically sacrificing its own people, including women and children for political purposes.
Even the Arab press has had enough of this. “There are a million and a half desperate people”, wrote a columnist in the leading Arab daily Al-Hayat, “they were wounded, their houses destroyed, their children were kidnapped to be human shields for those craving a confrontation with Israel. And there are those who sit in their comfortable chairs in Damascus and Beirut, boasting their divine victory which never existed and preventing a cease-fire”. It is one thing that extremist Arab regimes silence voices like this. It’s incomprehensible that Swedes should do the same.
In the broader context, Hamas began to implement Sharia Law over the population of Gaza. These laws include punishments such as executions, beatings and limb amputations, not to speak of the degradation of women, a total lack of respect for human rights and a complete disregard of human life. Not exactly the material of Socialist utopias.
Now Israel is often accused of aggression towards its Arab and Muslim neighbors but history, both recent and far, shows that it is the Arab regimes which oppress their own people and sometimes slaughter them in an orgy of death-worshipping fundamentalism. Yet, somehow Israel is always to blame. Israel, though far from perfect, didn’t butcher almost two hundred thousands Muslims with knives and axes during the nineties, that was Algeria. Thousands of Palestinians were murdered during “Black September” by forces under the control of the king of Jordan, not by the Israelis.
The Israeli regime, while having its flaws, didn’t slaughter, rape and burn thousands of Shia Muslims in Afghanistan. That was the Taliban. Israel is not responsible for the daily suicide bombs in Iraq that claim the lives of thousands of Muslims. Israel is not innocent, it has also committed acts of violence and aggression, but it is nothing compared to the barbaric and murderous regimes in Sudan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which, like Hamas are all responsible for countless Muslim deaths and for millions of Muslims living in poverty and despair.
Swedes with a conscience may want to stop turning their head the other way when it concerns the homemade tragedies of the Muslim world. Was there a large demonstration in Sergels Torg when the Syrians, the Pakistanis or the Somalis initiated yet another of their bloodbaths? Are there any boycotts of products from the Gulf States which continue to persecute minorities, oppress women and mock basic concepts of freedom and Democracy? Of course not. It’s all Israel’s fault.
If only the Jews could stop provoking the Arab world, say Israel’s critics, if only Israel would accept a peaceful solution. But they’re wrong. The assumption that the Palestinian struggle is a reaction to Israeli policies, though it may sound reasonable, is simply wrong.
Any careful study will show that radical Islamism is not a reaction to Israel’s so-called imperialism — it existed long before the state of Israel; Islamic racism and anti-Semitism are not a reaction to Israel’s so-called aggression, they existed long before the Zionist movement even began and, for God’s sake, movements like Hamas and Hizbullah aren’t really interested in a Palestinian state. Their agenda is to kill Jews, and focusing on this agenda enables them to continue oppressing their own people.
The Palestinians themselves rejected numerous chances to establish an independent state and reach a solution to their tragic situation (some examples are the 1936 Peel Commission, the 1947 UN Partition plan and the 2000 Clinton proposal). Their leadership simply thrives on the conflict and they’ll continue it at any cost.
But why are these facts ignored in Sweden? How can a leading Social Democrat compare Israel to the Nazis and still keep her seat. Is this ignorance or deceitfulness? Are they ill-informed or are they knowingly playing an active role in the propaganda machine of extremist elements from the Middle East? One can only speculate as to which of these is the case for Ms Bjartén and Mr Linde.
And it’s not just a question of words. Mr Linde and Ms Bjartén cannot claim their words have nothing to do with the eggs and bottles thrown at pro-Israel demonstrators in Malmö at the end of January. They are partly responsible for the attacks on Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, the Jewish centre in Helsingborg and the Jewish cemetery in Malmö. An ugly wave of anti-Semitism is on the rise in Sweden and they cannot claim to be free of responsibility.
A participant in a demonstration in Stockholm, a Swede converted to Islam who writes regularly in the Swedish press, wrote in his blog: “it felt good to burn Israel’s flag and trample on the remains. It was uplifting to shout “Allahu akbar” [Allah is great] together with blond and blue eyed non-Muslim Swedes”.
Do Mona Sahlin and Jan Eliasson, leaders of Sweden’s biggest political party, really think that marching under Hezbollah and Hamas flags, as they did a couple of weeks ago, doesn’t contribute to the legitimacy of these actions? Can they really consider themselves worthy heirs to the noble Social Democratic values of Humanism and Solidarity?
Back in Israel, many Israelis are not at all sure that the Israeli operation in Gaza was wise or justified. Many opposed it and demonstrated against it. They may be right. Israel is a democracy and unlike the Palestinians in Gaza they are entitled to express their opinion without being tortured or executed. The obvious conclusion after almost every round of violence in the Middle-East is that the conflict isn’t between Jews and Arabs, it’s between progressive peace-seekers and warmongers within the various countries.
At the end of the day, the Palestinians have suffered the most from the recent conflict. Sadly, their own leadership is responsible. Most Palestinians, and especially the children and the families who have lost everything, are innocent victims. For their sake the historical lesson must be clear. Freedom and Democracy must be defended at any cost. Racists, fascists and promoters of oppression and genocide must be opposed.
Hamas is all of these things just like the Lebanese Hezbollah, despite the support they attract from the bizarre Swedish so-called left. Swedes, as lovers of peace and freedom, would be wise to encourage those who fight these forces of evil thousands of miles away or they might find them in their back yard. If they’re not there already.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Taxing Animal Burps and Flatulence
Denmark’s Tax Commission has come up with a new environmental tax: on the burps and flatulence of domesticated animals.
The burps and flatulence of Danish domesticated cows and pigs are likely to cost farmers a fortune if the Tax Commission’s proposal to tax methane gas emissions is adopted, according to Dagbladet Holstebro-Struer.
A million Steen Nørgaard, a farmer near Holstebro in Jutland, can expect an annual increase in costs of one million kroner.
“I’d be paying DKK 535,000 (EUR 71,000) in flatulence tax, then there’s nitrogen duty and increased duties on Danish Crown and Arla cooperatives of which I am a member. All of that will give me a loss of about one million kroner,” says Nørgaard.
The Tax Commission has suggested a methane tax of DKK 600 (EUR 80) per cow. Cows release methane in the stomach gases that are released from both ends of the animal.
The Commission says that there would be fewer cows and pigs in Denmark if the proposal is adopted.
Duty or no Nørgaard, however says that such a tax is unreasonable.
“Cows burp and emit gas from the other end irrespective of whether there is a tax or not. The idea with a tax is to change behaviour and reduce emissions of a gas. But the animals don’t care two hoots,” says Nørgaard.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: European Union to Finance ITGI and Sicily Power Line
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 2 — The European Commission has added two Italian projects to its list of works to be financed by the five billion unused EU funds, which are mostly from the agricultural policy fund for 2008 and 2009. The two projects are: the completion of the Itgi gas pipeline (which will bring gas to Italy from Azerbaijan, via Turkey and Greece) and the development of the underwater long distance power line between Sicily and Calabria. The list was announced by the President of the EU executive, José Manuel Barroso. In particular, 100 million euros will go towards Poseidon, the section of Itgi pipeline which runs between Greece and Italy. The long distance power line to bring the Sorgente and Rizziconi stations together will also be financed by 100 million euros. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Minister Denies Change in Contraception Pill Policy
The Minister for Social Services and Health Paula Risikko has denied any change to ministerial guidelines concerning the prescribing of contraceptive pills. Recent media reports have suggested that the pill can be obtained by minors directly from school nurses rather than from a physician.
Although the practice is common place in many municipalities, the Minister stresses it is currently illegal. In a press statement, she notes that policy on just who can prescribe contraceptive pills is still being drawn up.
An estimated one-fifth of municipal school health care centres prescribe contraception pills to minors. The Family Federation says the practice is effective and has expressed surprise at recent concern over the issue.
Its Chief Physician, Dan Apter says the current low profile practice has kept the number of teenage abortions down. However, he notes that, in reality, very few contraceptive pills are prescribed to high school pupils. He puts the figure at about one percent of the entire age group.
Some parents have been annoyed that they have kept in the dark about their children’s use of contraceptive pills. Health care employees are naturally sworn to confidentiality. However, children are encouraged to tell their parents if they use the pill.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
‘I Will Not Travel to Auschwitz’
Spiegel Interview With Bishop Richard Williamson
Bishop Richard Williamson’s denial of the Holocaust has done serious damage to the Catholic Church. In an e-mail and fax exchange with SPIEGEL, the ultra-conservative bishop says that he is willing to “review the historical evidence.”
SPIEGEL: The Vatican is demanding that you retract your denial of the Holocaust, and it is threatening to not allow you to resume your activities as a bishop. How will you react?
Williamson: Throughout my life, I have always sought the truth. That is why I converted to Catholicism and became a priest. And now I can only say something, the truth of which I am convinced. Because I realize that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently, I must now review the historical evidence once again. I said the same thing in my interview with Swedish television: Historical evidence is at issue, not emotions. And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time.
SPIEGEL: How can an educated Catholic deny the Holocaust?
Williamson: I addressed the subject in the 1980s. I had read various writings at the time. I cited the Leuchter report (eds. note: a debunked theory produced in the 1980s claiming erroneously that the Nazi gas chambers were technically impractical) in the interview, and it seemed plausible to me. Now I am told that it has been scientifically refuted. I plan now to look into it.
SPIEGEL: You could travel to Auschwitz yourself.
Williamson: No, I will not travel to Auschwitz. I’ve ordered the book by Jean-Claude Pressac. It’s called “Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers.” A printout is now being sent to me, and I will read it and study it…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Man Arrested for Circumcising Daughter
[Comment from Tuan Jim: You know, this is literally the 4th or 5th article I’ve sent in from the last few of weeks — from liberal papers NRC and/or Politiken.dk in English — on this topic — are the local non-English media giving a lot more coverage to this issue?]
A 29-year-old Moroccan man from Haarlem has been accused of gross maltreatment for allegedly circumcising his five-year-old daughter. The man was arrested in October 2008 and has been in prison ever since.
This weekend, justice officials made the case public. Doctors have confirmed that the girl’s genital organs have been mutilated. The child is now living with the foster parents who reported the abuse to the police.
The man, who has already appeared in court, must appear again on 17 May. The ministry of health says this is the first time that somebody has been prosecuted in the Netherlands for carrying out a circumcision. A national child abuse reporting organisation counted a total of 44 cases of female genital mutilation between July 2007 and March 2008.
Deputy health minister Jet Bussemaker last week said the Dutch government will set up an electronic registry, registering girls from high-risk groups and that parents must sign a contract before they take their daughters traveling to high-risk countries in Africa, stating that they will not allow their daughter to be circumcised.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Probe to Follow Naked Swedish Police Party
The presence of a male stripper and pictures of naked police officers brandishing their service weapons have prompted an investigation of a party thrown for members of the Gothenburg police force.
“This is not acceptable,” said Erik Nord, commander of field duty police officers in Gothenburg, to the TT news agency.
All officers who attended the party have been reassigned to desk duty while the incident is investigated.
The nine officers, none of whom were women, had just finished supplemental training to serve in special tactical units and included a number of seasoned veterans.
“These are officers with several years of experience. They are between 30- and 40-years-old,” said Nord.
Last Friday’s party was held in a rented cabin near Gothenburg and included the recent graduates as well as the instructors who had trained them during the six-month course.
Upon seeing what they deemed as questionable behaviour, the instructors put a stop to the celebrations, however.
“They went up and said that it was inappropriate,” said Nord.
The instructors’ complaints were reported through to police leadership, resulting desk duty for all nine officers involved.
During the party, officers began carrying out a sex game which was meant to dramatize some sort of homosexual relationship, according to Nord.
The game featured pictures of the lower half of a nude men’s bodies as they held police-issued sub-machine guns in their hands.
At that moment, a male stripper showed up at the party, according to information Nord received.
He said he is extremely disappointed.
“It shows a complete lack of judgment. You can’t do what you want when you’re off-duty and a policeman,” said Nord.
The situation isn’t made any better that the revelations about the raunchy party come at the same time that police in Malmö find themselves mired in controversy following the use of racist comments on the job and during training.
“It’s unfortunate and it hurts people’s confidence in the police,” said Nord.
He added that he hasn’t seen the naked pictures himself, cautioning that a proper investigation hasn’t yet begun.
Police in Västra Götaland is western Sweden now plan to review their special forces recruiting procedures.
Nothing that happened at the party was illegal, according to police.
Nevertheless, it was inappropriate, they added.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Rapes: Berlusconi, Felony, Judges Must Apply the Law
(AGI) — Rome, 3 Feb. — “It is necessary for judges to apply the law” so that “citizens feel that criminals will be penalised and penalties will not be obliterated in some cases”, said Silvio Berlusconi in a ‘Studio Aperto’ interview, talking about the recent rape that occurred in Guidonia. “No one can remain insensitive to this cry of pain coming from the parents of the two girls in Guidonia, rape is an inexcusable, despicable crime, and therefore, I believe that in all of our conscience we have to consider the errors and decisions of the preliminary magistrate in Rome”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Denmark Cannot Fulfill Kyoto
A new report published by the Pöyry green think tank indicates that Denmark’s current climate plan will not be able to fulfill the country’s commitments under the Kyoto agreements. According to the report, Denmark will release 35 million tonnes more greenhouse gases than envisaged.
“There are conditions in the Danish plan that cannot be met,” says Pöyry Denmark CEO Jørgen Abildgaard.
Targets in the Kyoto agreement must be met by 2012, and in practice it is too late to introduce new initiatives, according to Kirsten Halsnæs, head of the Climate Centre at the Technical University of Denmark.
“This is 2009 and there are no technologies that can be put in place quickly enough to realise the reduction. This is a lot of tonnage and we are already way behind in reduction,” says Halsnæs, one of the main authors of the latest United Nations report on climate change.
Up to summit The Pöyry report was commissioned by the Concito think tank, whose chairman Martin Lidegaard says the conclusions are ‘worse than I had dreamt of’.
The new report comes as Denmark prepares to host the United Nations Climate Summit in December, during which world leaders are to negotiate new greenhouse gas reductions after 2012.
But the Pöyry report concludes that Denmark is still short of initiatives that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by seven million tonnes each year up to 2012…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Right-Wing Activist Beaten in Stockholm
A 35-year-old man active in a Swedish far-right political movement was taken to hospital after being attacked by a large gang in Hagsätra south of Stockholm on Sunday night.
The man, who is a well-known member and prominent member of the far-right National Democrats, sustained head injuries in the attack, but was able to leave the hospital after several hours.
Police have classified the incident as attempted murder.
“He was hit in the head with rocks. They also used sticks and clubs. He was also stabbed in the arm,” said police spokesperson C-G Olsson to the TT news agency.
The 35-year-old told police that his attackers were members of the Swedish chapter of the left-wing extremist group Antifascist Action (AFA) and numbered around 20 people.
Otherwise the police have no information about the assailants and no arrests were made as of late Sunday night.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
TLC: EU Cash Injection for Cyprus and Malta Broadband
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, JANUARY 30 — The European Commission has proposed the allocation of 20 million euro to both Cyprus and Malta as part of a 5 billion euro investment in the EU’s energy, internet broadband infrastructure and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The investment is a part of the EU recovery plan endorsed by the European Council in December 2008 and covers the years 2009-2010. Cyprus and Malta will be allocated euro20million for the implementation of local energy projects while they will participate in the EU funding for high-speed internet and the CAP. The Commission has proposed the allocation of 1.75 billion euro for gas and electricity interconnectors, 500 million euro for offshore wind projects and 1.25 billion euro for carbon capture and storage projects across the EU. It is also proposing a 1 billion euro investment extending and upgrading broadband internet in rural communities. The EU is aiming for 100% broadband access by 2010, but currently around 30% of its rural population lacks broadband access. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Beware, Big Brother is Watching Your Trips Abroad
Government plans to store details of ordinary people’s journeys into and out of UK
A ‘Big Brother’ database is being built by the Government to store details of millions of our international journeys for up to ten years.
The computer system, housed at a secret location on the outskirts of Manchester, will record names and dates of every movement in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail.
Reservation and payment details, addresses and telephone numbers, names of travelling companions and even details of luggage carried will also be stored.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Driver Wins £20,000 for Stress Over Parking Tickets and Sends Bailiffs to Collect His Money
A motorist sued a council for £20,000 over the stress of receiving four parking tickets.
Zun Noon, who refused to pay the four £50 fines, claimed he suffered emotional distress after bailiffs were sent round to reclaim the money.
After a court found in his favour, Mr Noon gave the council a taste of its own medicine and sent his own bailiffs to its offices to collect his damages.
Mr Noon’s battle against Newham Council in East London started in October 2007 when he was apparently captured by a council CCTV camera committing the parking offences.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Drugs No Worse Than Horse-Riding? the Folly of These ‘Experts’ Simply Beggars Belief
Has April Fools’ Day come early this year? Professor David Nutt is the chairman of the Home Office’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and thus the Government’s chief adviser on this most troublesome and sensitive issue.
Yet the Advisory Council will this week propose the downgrading of ecstasy from category A to category B — having apparently learned nothing from the debacle over cannabis, the downgrading of which contributed to an explosion of all drug use.
More astonishingly still, Professor Nutt has said that ecstasy is less dangerous than horse-riding.
In an academic paper, he ridiculed concern about the effects of ecstasy by comparing it to ‘equasy’ or ‘Equine Addiction Syndrome’.
Since the pleasure of horse-riding meant people were prepared to risk death or brain damage from falling off a horse, he said, the risks from taking ecstasy and other drugs could be seen to be much exaggerated.
You really do have to scrape your jaw off the floor. Not only will such trivialisation of ecstasy cause grave distress to parents whose children have died from taking the drug, but it knocks the ground from under the feet of parents terrified that their children will start taking it.
[…]
This is not altogether surprising, given Professor Nutt’s links with the legalisation lobby. For example, he is listed as a scientific adviser to the Beckley Foundation, which is committed to legalising drugs under the guise of ‘studying consciousness and altered states’. Bizarre
One of the Foundation’s directors is Mike Trace, Tony Blair’s former deputy drugs czar, who was forced to resign from his new job at the UN after the Mail revealed he had been a self-described fifth columnist at the heart of the British Government, working covertly to undermine the UN drug conventions which commit member states to the goal of eradicating drug use.
His co-director, Amanda Neidpath, who advocates the bizarre practice of ‘trepanation’ (boring a hole in the skull) as a protective measure against dementia, told a meeting of the World Psychedelic Forum that the Beckley Foundation’s projects included investigating the ‘possible beneficial use of micro-doses of LSD to improve cerebral circulation’.
Moreover, in an interview on Radio New Zealand a year ago, Professor Nutt said he would like a ‘complete review of the drug laws’ in the UK; when pressed further, he said he thought the time had come to be ‘more creative’ about drugs overall, and that approaches such as taxation and the regulation of their use ‘might be applicable to some drugs’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Families With Stay-at-Home Mothers Pay 44% More Tax in Britain Compared to Rest of Developed World
Families with stay-at-home mothers face much bigger tax bills in Britain than in the rest of the developed world,according to research.
A couple living on one average wage must meet tax demands that are 44 per cent higher than those of their counterparts in other wealthy countries.
The burden for traditional two-parent families where the husband is the breadwinner is getting harsher.
They paid more tax in Britain in 2007 than in the previous year and their disadvantage against other wealthy countries worsened markedly, the study for the family charity Care said.
Looking further back, married couples with children and one earner in Britain paid 13 per cent more tax in 2007 than they did in 2001.
They lost out as then chancellor Gordon Brown developed his tax credit system of benefits, which are heavily weighted in favour of single parents.
Stay-at-home mothers also lose because the tax system does not recognise couples.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: High-Ranking Foreign Office Diplomat Arrested Over Anti-Semitic Gym Tirade
A high-ranking diplomat at the Foreign Office has been arrested after allegations that he launched a foul-mouthed anti-Semitic tirade.
Middle East expert Rowan Laxton, 47, was watching TV reports of the Israeli attack on Gaza as he used an exercise bike in a gym.
Stunned staff and gym members allegedly heard him shout: ‘F**king Israelis, f**king Jews’. It is alleged he also said Israeli soldiers should be ‘wiped off the face of the earth’.
His rant reportedly continued even after he was approached by other gym users.
After a complaint was made to police, Mr Laxton was arrested for inciting religious hatred through threatening words and behaviour and bailed until late next month.
The maximum penalty for inciting religious hatred is a seven-year prison term or a fine or both.
Mr Laxton, who is still working normally, is head of the South Asia Group at the Foreign Office, on a salary of around £70,000.
He is responsible for all the UK’s diplomacy in that area and for briefing Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is Jewish.
Mr Laxton has worked extensively in the Middle East — he married a Muslim woman in 2000 — and has been deputy ambassador to Afghanistan.
The case could not have come at a worse time for the Foreign Office. Next week, Britain is hosting an international summit on combating anti-Semitism, with politicians from 35 countries…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Headteacher Forced to Resign After Being Branded Racist for Trying to Axe Separate Assemblies for Muslims
A primary school headteacher has resigned after Muslim parents protested over plans to scrap separate faith assemblies for their children. Soon after taking over at the school Julia Robinson told staff she wanted to hold assemblies for all pupils, which would encompass all faiths. The practise is common in most schools and after taking advice from the local authority, Ms Robinson set up a working party to look at alternatives. But their work was stopped after a number of parents at Meersbrook Bank Primary Community in Sheffield complained about the plans. Mrs Robinson was accused of being racist and following the complaints she was away from her post for most of last year. She was due to make a phased return to her duties this term. But again there were protests from some parents when they heard she would be coming back. Mrs Robinson resigned from her job and the school’s chair of governors Sarah Browton also quit in support….
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Welfare Abuse Dismissed Ahead of EU Vote
Opponents of extending a labour accord with the European Union warn of a flood of foreigners who would burden Switzerland’s strained social security system.
Ahead of a nationwide vote on Sunday the government rejects such allegations, saying the old age and disability pension systems, as well as the unemployment insurance schemes benefit from payments by foreigners.
The Swiss People’s Party and other rightwing parties have campaigned with posters showing black ravens maliciously pecking at Switzerland implying foreigners are a threat for the country and its welfare system.
They claim that anybody who has worked in Switzerland is eligible for an old age pension.
The argument has had considerable pulling power in the campaign as a recent opinion poll found.
“Concerns for the social security system among opponents of the labour accord play a key role,” says Claude Longchamp of the gfs.berne research and polling institute.
However, the supporters of the labour treaty, including the government and most political parities, have dismissed such reasoning as scare mongering and populist.
The president of the centre-right Christian Democrats, Christophe Darbellay denounced the no camp for “running a phoney campaign”…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: Priest Pays for Traditional Names for Babies
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, FEBRUARY 4 — A Croatian priest who is worried for “destiny of the nation and the protection of Croatian national identity”, has posted an announcement on the door of his church in which he promises to pay people cash for giving their children ‘a traditional, Christian name’. “Whoever gives their child the name of their grandparents, of a saint born at the same time of year, or a traditional folk name, will receive one thousand kune (135 euros) from the priest”, reads the note which was reported today by the Jutarnji List (the Morning News’) in Croatia. The announcement is accompanied by a list of about a hundred “recommended names” from Father Petar Mikic, who is the priest of Ploce, a village in the extreme south of Croatia, near to Dubrovnik — an area believed to be amongst the most conservative in the country. “I have no problem investing money to conserve national identity”, said the priest to the newspaper, according to whom, ‘our religion and our ancestors can be respected in this way’’. In Croatia — where nearly 90% of the population is Catholic — parents have recently shown an increasing tendency to give their children shorter, more internationally known names. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Commerce: Syria, Damaschino Mall Opens in Damascus
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, FEBRUARY 3 — A 24,000 square metre newly opened shopping centre in Damascus, the Damaschino Mall, contains 50 stores, 6 restaurants and cafes, a 7,000 square metre hypermarket, and a leisure centre. It is the second largest shopping centre in Syria, situated near the Cham City centre. Many important brands, some not yet present in Syria, will be on sale in boutiques and include Nike, Lacoste, Geox, Andrew’s Ties, and Zoppini. The ICE office in Damascus reports that the centre’s target clientele is at the higher end of the market. A 16,000 square metre parking garage with 500 parking spaces will complete the centre. In Syria clothing has been allowed to be imported since the end of 2005, but is burdened by higher taxes. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Health Ministry: Hamas Using Hospitals as Detention Centers
Ramallah — Ma’an — The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry accused the Hamas-run de facto government’s security services of turning medical centers into virtual prisonso n Saturday.
According to a statement from the Health Ministry, Hamas has used hospitals and clinics in Gaza as interrogation and detention centers, where medical staffers have been expelled.
“After Israel ended its aggression in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry was surprised that Hamas militants returned to their old behavior, expelling medical staff and using medical centers as detention centers, and for torture and interrogation,” the statement said.
Hospitals affiliated with the PA that were taken over include Al-Quds
Hospital in Tal Al-Hawa, a Red Crescent initiative, parts of the Ash-Shifa
Hospital in Gaza City, the upper and lower floors of the An-Nasser
Hospital, as well as the Psychiatric Hospital, according to the statement.
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Elections, Olmert Hopes for Livni Victory
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, FEBRUARY 9 — Just before political elections in Israel, Premier Ehud Olmert has broken his silence and for the first time publically supported Kadima candidate, Tzipi Livni. Relations between the two have been compromised over the past months when Livni asked him to stand back due to various investigations against him. Yesterday, Olmert did not participate in a Kadima electoral event yesterday in Tel Aviv. In another public event he said: “I am not going to surprise you if I say that I support Kadima and I hope that Tzipi Livni is elected prime minister. She is a candidate that can lead Israel, with her sensibility and wisdom”. Kadima leaders received his statements coldly. Olmert reportedly would have helped Livni more if he had retired to private life a few months ago when he gave his resignation. Instead he decided to remain in office until the formation of a new government. Olmert replied to critics saying that a few months ago Livni tried to form a new coalition government but failed. For this reason Olmert has “nothing to be sorry about”. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Elections, Likud Website Attacks Lieberman
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, FEBRUARY 9 — The Likud party’s website launched today a harsh attack on Avigador Leiberman, the leader of radical right-wing Israel Beitenu, which seemingly confirms Likud’s worries about Israel Beitenu sharply rising in the polls. The Benyamin Netanyahu’s party website “Likudnik” wrote that after the war in Lebanon (2006), Israel Beitenu saved Ehud Olmert’s struggling government, which received in exchange “a new strategic threats’ minister” adding that Leiberman is plagued by financial investigations. They also pointed out Leiberman’s relations with Austrian businessman Martin Schlaff, presented to Likudnik’ readers as “ex-business partner of Yassar Arafat in the Jericho Casino”. They finally noted that Israel Beitenu’s electoral list contains only one clearly right-wing member, Uzi Landau, while most of the other candidates “are unknowns, whose ties to the right are unclear”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Elections, Peres Worried About Anti-Arab Messages
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV — On the eve of elections in Israel, the country’s President Shimon Peres today showed that he is seriously worried about the anti-Arab messages being bandied around during the electoral campaign. ‘‘The Arabs in our country are citizens who enjoy the same rights as everyone else’’, said Peres to the state radio station. ‘‘All citizens, without distinction of nationality, sex, or age, have equal rights and equal duties. This is the essence of a democratic regime’’, he proceeded. In this declaration, Peres was making an indirect reference to the electoral campaign of Avigdor Lieberman’s radical right wing Israel Beitenu party, which has proposed submitting the Arab population in Israel to ‘tests of faith’’. Peres also appealed to the Arab population to not boycott tomorrow’s vote, insisting that ‘‘everybody should express their own thoughts’’. The President made assurances that he would try to accelerate the time needed to form a new government as much as possible. However, he warned that consultations will not be able to start before February 18, when he believes he will receive the definitive results of the vote. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Elections Between Upcoming Right and Unknown Factors
(by Alessandro Logroscino) (ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, FEBRUARY 9 — The weather forecasts predict storms, predictions on politics say a shift to the right and probably no radical changes. Tomorrow’s elections in Israel are crucial in many ways, and yet the electoral campaign has been somewhat slack, and still an unprecedented 10pct of voters hasn’t made its mind up yet. Benyamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu of the Likud party (nationalist right) of and the blonde candidate of the centrist Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, outgoing foreign minister and possibly the second woman to become premier of the country 36 years after Golda Meir, are the most likely candidates to win the elections. However the ultra-right anti-Arab Avigdor Lieberman may play an important role according to the polls. The economic crisis and the shadow of the ‘foreign enemy’ (the threat of Hamas, Iran’s nuclear programme) are the main issues in these elections. After 22 days of operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip Israel doesn’t seem a much safer place, waiting for an imminent |enduring truce’ expected in the coming hours. A total of 5.3 million citizens have been called to the vote on a population of 7.3 million, including almost one and a half million Arab-Israelis who are tempted to boycott the elections to protest the many Palestinian victims of the Gaza war. Security measures, as usual, are very strict. All border crossings to Palestinian territory will remain closed until Wednesday (including the West Bank). Thirty-two parties are in the race for the 120 parliament seats of the Knesset. But the elections focus on four parties: Likud, Kadima, Israel Beitenu and Labour. The latest polls list them in that order, with the party of Netanyahu — which stresses security and the Iranian threat, refuses to take away any power from the settlements on the West Bank — leading with 25 to 28 seats. But Livni’s party — balanced between the |hard line against the enemy’ and an opening to negotiations with the Palestinians — follows on a short distance. Israel Beitenu (Ib) has passed Labour with 17-19 seats. Outgoing premier Ehud Olmert was forced to move aside in the past months and to open the doors for early elections also due to pressure exerted by Livni. Olmert is suspected of involvement in a financial scandal, and has waited long to formalise his support to Livni. But on the eve of the elections he has recognised that she is ‘‘sensible and wise’’ and fully capable of ‘‘leading Israel’’. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Hospital Patients Across Gaza to Get Food Aid
Rome, 5 Feb. (AKI) — The Rome-based United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will provide ready meals for hospital patients across the Gaza Strip who might otherwise go hungry due to food and fuel shortages, as it expands its emergency relief operation in the wake of the recent Israeli military offensive, WFP said.
The assistance for Gaza’s sick and injured is in addition to the agency’s regular distributions of wheat flour, cooking oil and chickpeas to 365,000 people affected by conflict and food shortages.
Currently, an average of 70 trucks are crossing the border into Gaza each day, which is less than 10 percent of what would be required to meet the normal commercial requirements of the people living there, according to the agency.
“The ready-to-eat meals offer an immediate solution to the food needs of hospital patients, who might otherwise go hungry,” said WFP Emergency Coordinator Gemmo Lodesani.
“Cooking gas is still in short supply, and without this intervention, patients might miss out on a nutritious daily meal,” he added.
WFP is aiming to distribute more than 40,000 ready meals in the coming days. The packages, which contain items such as canned meat, chicken curry, cheese and biscuits, are part of the first tranche of ready-to-eat meals donated by Saudi Arabia in response to WFP’s “Operation Lifeline Gaza” appeal.
In addition to distributing the meals to hospital patients, WFP will also provide them to school children as a one-off ration.
The 22-day Israeli military operation, launched with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks against Israel, killed some 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, over one-third of them children, and caused widespread damage and destruction in Gaza.
Since the offensive began on 27 December, WFP has distributed two month rations of food to more than 220,000 people. The agency says it has also provided free school meals to 30,000 children, and has distributed one-off emergency packages, including date bars, bread, high energy biscuits and canned goods, to more than 150,000 people.
“As each day passes, we get closer to reaching our overall target of 365,000 people among the non-refugee population in Gaza,” Lodesani said.
Critical to this effort is the opening of all border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as those between Israel and Egypt, to allow a steady flow of humanitarian aid, WFP said.
WFP added that it has barely received 10 percent of the 81 million dollars needed to meet the emergency food requirements of the 365,000 people it is aiming to feed in Gaza.
A Lebanese ship carrying aid for Gaza was stopped by the Israeli navy and is being escorted into port, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday.
The aid ship was reported to have set off from the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Tuesday carrying 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, clothing and toys for Gaza.
Hamas police on Tuesday seized thousands of blankets and food parcels that were meant to be distributed to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, UN officials said.
The raids occurred after officials refused to hand over the aid to a Hamas-controlled ministry, according to UN spokesman Christopher Gunness. He said Hamas police took 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels from the warehouse.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Only Israel’s Hawks Can Promise Peace
Israelis go to the polls Tuesday. Chances are that Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wing Likud party will win. The population understands that the country’s hard-liners are the only ones who can really exchange land for peace.
When Israelis vote for a new prime minister Tuesday, I will be crossing my fingers that victory goes to the right-wing Likud Party and its hawkish leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.
I have traditionally been a leftist, so this decision may sound strange. Still, I think that everyone who wants peace in the Middle East should root for Netanyahu — for history has taught us that only the political right wing has a real mandate from the people to swap land for peace…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Fateful Elections
By Caroline Glick
Tuesday’s general elections will officially end the briefest and most nonchalant electoral season Israel has ever experienced. Regrettably, the importance of these elections is inversely proportional to their lack of intensity. These are the most fateful elections Israel has ever had. The events of the past week make this point clearly.
On Monday Iran successfully launched a domestically manufactured satellite on a ballistic missile called the Safir-2 space rocket. Since the launch, experts have noted that the Safir-2 can also be used to launch conventional and nonconventional warheads. The Safir-2 has an estimated range of 2,000-3,000 kilometers. And so the successful satellite launch showed that today Iran is capable of launching missiles not only against Israel, but against southern Europe as well.
Many Israeli leaders viewed Monday’s launch as a “gotcha” moment. For years they have been saying that Iran’s nuclear program is a threat to global security — not merely to Israel’s. And Monday’s launch demonstrated that they were right all along. Israel isn’t the only country on Iran’s target list.
Unfortunately for Israel, the international community couldn’t care less. Its response to Teheran’s latest provocation was to collectively shrug its shoulders…
| — Hat tip: ACT for America | [Return to headlines] |
Oil: Syria, Output Dropped to 380,000 Barrels in 2008
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, FEBRUARY 5 — Syria’s crude oil output has fallen from an average of 380,425 barrels per day in 2007 to 379,400 in 2008. The Italian foreign trade institute office in Damascus reports that the country’s production of crude oil represented 44.9% of its total production, while the remaining 55.1% was heavy oil. The wells which are directly managed by the Syrian Petroleum Co. (SPC) saw an output of 195,474 barrels per day (51.5% of the total), whereas the six joint-ventures of foreign companies and SPC produced 173,813 barrels per day. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ship is Carrying Banned Weapons, Says UN Panel
[note: story is currently on the front page — not sure how long it’ll stay there]
A SHIP detained by Cyprus on January 29 was carrying banned weapons material from Iran prohibited under United Nations resolutions, a senior diplomatic source confirmed yesterday.
The source told the Sunday Mail that was the advice the government received from a United Nations panel monitoring compliance of sanctions. Nicosia had sought guidance from the body earlier in the week after submitting a list of findings from the vessel, detained by Cyprus.
“There is no doubt that the material on board falls under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The Cyprus-flagged Monchegorsk had been sailing from Iran to Syria when it was called in by Cypriot authorities for checks.
Its cargo appears to include “military ordnance, raw materials used for the assembly of munitions,” the source said.
The United States, which earlier boarded the ship in the Red Sea, said its navy found weapons on board which it could not seize for legal reasons.
Israeli media had reported the vessel was suspected of running weapons to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s understood that Cyprus is now handling the matter because the sanctions committee does not prescribe remedies,” the source added.
“This is a delicate matter, but I believe the government has been handling it very well,” the diplomatic source told the Mail, asked whether foreign government had passed the buck to Cyprus.
“It’s not over yet,” the source added.
The UN sanctions panel handed its response to Cyprus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Minas Hadjimichael around 2a.m. local time yesterday. The letter has been deemed classified.
The government remained tight-lipped about the affair, with President Demetris Christofias telling reporters: “When we have something specific to announce, we shall certainly do so and with absolute clarity.”
Christofias said Cyprus had received clear guidance from the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on whether the cargo breached sanctions barring Iran from sending arms abroad, but he refused to give any details or say what was advised.
Cyprus is also consulting with the UN Security Council on the issue,
government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.
“The Cyprus Republic will do what it must do and will decide very soon,” Stefanou told a news briefing.
No deadline had been set by which the government was expected to take action, he added.
Despite repeated questions, he declined to say what Nicosia’s options were.
“Inspections of the ship’s cargo will continue. As you may know, there are quite a few containers on board.”
Stephanou declined also to comment on a recent statement by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said allowing the ship to head back to Iran was out of the question.
One option could be to confiscate the cargo. But Cyprus has ruled out sending the shipment back to Iran, Christofias’ adviser George Iacovou told state-run CyBC radio.
The Monchegorsk is now anchored off the port of Limassol under tight security. Two Coast Guard boats have been assigned round-the-clock patrols. Police scuba divers were yesterday checking the waters around the ship to ensure none of its cargo was dumped into the sea.
The ship’s course has raised a host of questions, such as why a Cyprus-flagged vessel would come into Cypriot territorial waters-where it was bound to be checked-instead of plotting a westerly and then northerly heading around the island and then for Syria after crossing the Suez Canal. It’s understood the Monchegorsk was intercepted by the US Navy outside Cypriot territorial waters.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: IMF; Significant Progress Achieved, Deal is Close
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, FEBRUARY 2 — Turkey and International Monetary Fund (IMF) achieved a significant progress for reaching an agreement and a positive outcome was close, Fund’s First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky told Anatolia agency on Sunday. “I believe that Turkey and IMF would reach a positive outcome soon,” the agency quoted Lipsky as saying. The IMF and Turkey this week halted talks for 10 days on a loan pact that was expected to be worth as much as $25 billion after failing to resolve differences on structural reform. The talks between parties continued during World Economic Forum in Davos, however no announcement was made for an agreement. Turkish business leaders and investors urgently want a stand-by agreement to stabilize the $700 billion economy which has seen a sharp slowdown in growth. The previous $10 billion accord expired in May. The IMF has been pushing for tighter fiscal policy and a higher primary surplus while the government has wanted to use IMF money to stimulate economic growth. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: PM Urged to Donate Media Damages Fine to Gaza
Istanbul, 4 Feb.(AKI) — One of Turkey’s largest-selling weekly cartoon magazines on Wednesday urged prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to donate a damages awarded against the magazine to aid in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Turkish daily, Hurriyet, Erdogan filed a defamation suit claiming damages against cartoon magazine, Leman, which represented him gesturing with a finger using photomontage. The court ruled that Leman pay him 6,000 TL (3,700 dollars) in damages.
In an open letter to the prime minister published in the latest issue on Wednesday, Leman wrote that these kinds of lawsuits are hurting Turkey’s image abroad and are a bid to repress artists.
“As a result, we propose you donate the money awarded to you to the Palestinian children as a continuation of your stance in Davos. This will give us relief,” said Tuncay Akgun, co-owner of Leman, in the letter.
Erdogan last week accused Israeli president Shimon Peres of “knowing very well how to kill” during a discussion, that included United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and the Arab League’s Amr Moussa, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, before he stormed off the stage.
Erdogan on Tuesday said his government remains committed to mediating a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians despite his angry outburst against Israel’s president.
Several defamation cases filed against cartoonists by Erdogan have been cited in international reports as examples of breaches of human rights and freedom of speech in Turkey.
Since taking office, Erdogan has filed more than 50 defamation cases against journalists and cartoonists accused of defaming him.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: A New Suspect in the Murder of 3 Christians in Malatya
It is believed the head of an ultra nationalist organisation masterminded the execution. Five risk life in prison, two others only one year.
Ankara (AsiaNews/Agencies) A Turkish court has charged a new suspect over the 2007 murders of three Christians in Malatya, the country’s east. Seven young men are already on trial over the killing of German missionary Tilmann Geske and Turkish converts Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel in the offices of publishing house Zerve. The three men were found with their throats slit.
The new suspect, Varol Bulent Aral, is charged with “being the leader of a terrorist organisation” and “the murder of more than one person as part of the organisation’s activities”.
Charges that Aral masterminded and instigated the murder come from the group already in prison. Five of the men went to the publishing house on the pretext about wanting to discuss Christianity and then tied the missionaries, questioned them about missionary activities, tortured them and slit their throats. The publishing house had already received threats and its employees had sought police protection.
In the trial that began in November 2007, the prosecutor has charged that the defendants set up an “armed terrorist organisation to forcefully impose their ideological convictions on others”. He asked life in prison for 5 of them. Another two suspects risk one year in prison for having aided the murderers.
At the time, many Turkish intellectuals blamed ultranationalist press and politicians for the incident for having continuously underlined a “Christian danger”, which — in their opinion — is the result of numerous conversions from Islam. In reality, according to the Minister for Home Affairs, between 199 and 2001, 344 Muslims out of a total population of 70 million were baptised.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: New Offices to Lure Italian Tourists
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, FEBRUARY 5 — The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has opened marketing offices in Rome and Milan as part of a strategy to strengthen ties with Italy. Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon, the chairman of the ADTA, said expanding ties with Italy would help contribute to the emirate’s objective of attracting 2.7 million tourists by 2012. “And to further encourage tourism between the two countries, Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, will be increasing its frequency from three flights a week to Milan to five times a week by the end of March,” he said as reported by The National daily. The announcement took place yesterday at the Expanding Tourism Ties Forum in Abu Dhabi, which was attended by Michela Brambilla, the Italian undersecretary in charge of Tourism, and officials from her ministry. ADTA’s overseas network already includes offices in the UK, Germany, France, China and Australia. “We are establishing the groundwork for increased trade and consumer awareness of Abu Dhabi as an upmarket destination of distinction, just five hours flying time from Italy,” said Mubarak al Muhairi, the director general of the ADTA. “In addition, we wish to capitalise on Abu Dhabi’s potential as a stopover destination for the many Italians visiting Australia and flying Etihad. This is a considerable market as Italy has strong links with Australia, where Italians make up the second-largest migrant population in the country after the UK and Ireland.” ADTA’s offices in Italy will undertake a range of activities including exhibitions, road shows, promotional sales calls and visits, and also act as a destination information resource. The offices will generate media coverage, organise media and trade familiarisation trips to Abu Dhabi and provide training for travel agents. ADTA is also mounting Abu Dhabi pavilions at two major travel fairs in Italy this year, starting with Borsa Internazionale del Turismo in Milan later this month, and TTG Incontri, which will be held in Rimini in October. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Errant Drivers to be Sent on Anger Management Courses
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 6 FEB — In Dubai drivers who continually break the law will be sent to anger management courses and forced to take lessons on driver etiquette, as The National daily reports today. “We came to realise that punishing drivers is not the only solution,” said Faisal al Qasim, the head of the Dubai Police Traffic Institute, which was set up to run the education courses. “Issuing fines and suspending licences is not everything. “We have reached a concerning level whereby paying traffic fines no longer bothers people, and some don’t even care if their car is impounded because they can go home and drive another car that they own.” The first students are due to start the re-education courses, which will cover the road rules, anger management and driver etiquette, next month. Drivers who accumulate 24 black points and whose licences are suspended will be required to take the courses. Motorists with fewer black points can opt to take the courses in exchange for a reduction of eight black points. The institute will also provide counselling sessions by certified psychologists to drivers who suffer from road rage or frustration. “Such people get road rage, get upset, may use offensive language and get high blood pressure,” Mr al Qasim said. “People have to learn that delays are inevitable, and they have to accept and get used to it. “I guess we realised that the real problem stems from the fact that many people here lack the traffic awareness found in other countries such as the US and the UK, for example.” Police hope the institute will help people better understand that driving has its own courtesy, laws, regulations and principles that should not be compromised, Mr al Qasim said. “We want people to learn not to drive recklessly, carelessly, and selfishly,” he said. “Some people blame the driving culture in Dubai on the various nationalities that are found here, but I don’t agree with that view. If that is the case, then why don’t countries like the US and Canada have these problems? They are among the most diverse and multicultural countries in the world.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia: Putin’s Worst Nightmare
Their mission is to cleanse Russia of its ethnic “occupiers”, with an anti-immigrant stance supported by half the population. And since 2004 their most extreme members have murdered more than 350 people. Luke Harding reports on the rise of the Russian far-right
It was 9.10pm and Karen Abramian was returning home to his flat in southwest Moscow. Abramian had been visiting his parents in a nearby tower block. His journey back took five minutes — past a series of grey high-rise buildings soaring into Moscow’s packed skyline and a children’s playground, and up a modest flight of steps. As he punched in the entrance code, two young men, one wearing a baseball cap and one a bandana, approached him from behind. And then they stabbed him. They stabbed him again — methodically slashing his head, neck, back and stomach. Abramian pleaded with his attackers. “Don’t do this. Please take my money,” he begged them. His assailants — two slight, boyish, almost nerdish figures — ignored him, stabbing him 56 times. At this moment, Abramian’s wife Marta peered out of their ninth-floor apartment window and spotted two boys beating a dark shape lying on the ground. The couple’s 14-year-old son Georgy, who had been playing nearby, found his father in the entrance, bleeding profusely. Georgy took off his T-shirt (it was April, still winter in Russia, and bitterly cold), wrapped it around his father and ran upstairs. Abramian was conscious when Georgy came back with a blanket and pillow. Georgy wrapped his father in it and they waited in the gloom for an ambulance. Abramian told his son simply: “They were skinheads.” Four hours later, in the early hours of 17 April 2007, Abramian was dead. Doctors had been unable to stem the colossal loss of blood.
The names of Abramian’s killers are Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, both 17. Their motive for murdering Abramian, the 46-year-old boss of a Moscow insurance company, was ideological. As they saw it, Abramian’s violent death was part of a national liberation movement — an ambitious, quasi-mystical struggle to get rid of Russia’s foreigners, in which they played the role of hero-warriors. The boys had picked Abramian because he was an ethnic Armenian. But his murder was an act of random racist violence: Ryno and Skachevsky spotted him on the street and decided impulsively to kill him. They were apprehended by a neighbour who witnessed the attack and ran after them. They insouciantly escaped on the number 26 tram, but the neighbour, a former investigator, flagged down a passing police Lada and gave chase. Police officers halted the tram and arrested both boys. Ryno and Skachevsky had turned their blood-soaked overcoats inside out; their victim, however, had managed to grab one of them by the arm, leaving behind a bloody print. They made no attempt to disguise their crime; on the contrary, they were proud of it. In their rucksack, detectives discovered 10in knives. In custody, investigators asked Ryno and Skachevsky whether they had committed other murders. To their surprise, the teenagers said they had. In a period of nine months, from August 2006 to April 2007, when they stabbed Abramian, they had killed 20 people and attacked at least 12 others, who had survived. Initially, the police were highly sceptical, assuming that the boys were delusional. Gradually, however, investigators began to confirm Ryno and Skachevsky’s fantastic claims. Prosecutors established that the diminutive pair had indeed killed 20 people…
…Xenophobic prejudice is widespread in Russia, Verkhovsky says. “More than 50% support the idea that ethnic Russians should have privileges over other ethnic groups,” he says. “More than 50% believe that ethnic minorities should be limited or even expelled from their region.” Under communism there was prejudice towards non-Slavs as well as Jews, despite the poly-ethnic nature of Soviet life. In the 1990s, when many ethnic Russians returned from newly independent republics like Uzbekistan, prejudice continued. But it is over the past eight years that racism has grown to astonishing levels, Verkhovsky says. Russia’s second war in Chechnya and the 1999 apartment block bombings, which killed almost 300 people in four Russian cities, created this new xenophobia. The Kremlin blamed the bombings on terrorist Chechens; others suspect they were the work of the FSB, the former KGB. Either way, racism in Russia is now ubiquitous. According to Sova, 96 people were murdered in 2008 in racist or neo-Nazi attacks, with another 419 beaten or wounded. (The number of deaths was 50 in 2004, 47 in 2005, 64 in 2006 and 86 in 2007.) Last month, another 12 people were murdered. Sova’s research suggests that xenophobic prejudice has become mainstream, acceptable. And while most Russians don’t support radical ideas in practice, there are around 2,000-3,000 young skinheads prepared to attack and kill migrants, he estimates. Russia’s law enforcement agencies, tasked with the job of catching these boy killers, share the prejudices of Russia’s general population. Typically, police officers ignore race attacks, or classify them with the lesser charge of hooliganism. Verkhovsky says: “Enforcement is very weak. These young skinheads don’t feel fear of the police, since the risk of getting caught is small.”
The bloody evidence appears to confirm his grim thesis. A few days before our meeting, an unknown group, the Militant Organisation of Russian Nationalists, sends out a chilling email. The group says it has murdered a 20-year-old Tajik, stabbing him six times as he walked home from his job at a food warehouse. They cut off his head, dumping it in a bin outside a council office in western Moscow. The victim’s body was discovered near the village of Zhabkino, a few kilometres outside the capital. The email includes an attachment. It is a photograph of the young man’s head lying on a giant wooden chopping block. The group says the murder is a protest against authority for its failure to deal with immigration or — as the killers put it — to rid Russia of its Caucasian and Central Asian “occupiers”. Unless government officials deport “the blacks” their heads would “fly off” next, it warns. The beheading is reminiscent of another gruesome neo-Nazi attack that surfaced last year on the internet via far-right websites. The video — entitled “The execution of a Tajik and a Dagestani” — shows two men kneeling in an autumnal Russian forest, bound and gagged under a Nazi flag. Masked men saw the head off one man and shoot the other. Russian investigators initially dismissed the video as a hoax. Later, however, it emerged it was genuine. A man recognised the Dagestani victim as his missing brother; he had vanished in Moscow several months earlier. During the same week in December 2008, unknown assailants in the southern city of Volgograd casually knifed a black American teenager. Stanley Robinson, 18, from Providence, Rhode Island, had been in Russia on a school exchange. The attack left him critically injured and he was flown out of Russia to Finland for emergency surgery. Back in south Moscow, suspected skinheads stabbed an 18-year-old Kazakh student, Yerlan Aitymov, as he waited for a bus near Kaluzhskaya metro station. Yerlan died on the way to hospital…
…”Svetlana was always an innocent,” Yelena says. “As a girl she was a bit of a tomboy. She liked football and used to watch Spartak Moscow FC.” Intriguingly, Yelena has a strong sense of where her daughter has gone wrong. Skinheads are something of a paradox in Russia, a country that sacrificed 25 million people in the fight against Nazi Germany and the ideas of racial supremacy. “My father was a tank commander during the war. He was severely injured during the battle for Königsberg; it left him disabled. He personally fought fascism. Svetlana understands perfectly what fascism is. We still have her grandfather’s medals.” According to Yelena, attitudes changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “My generation was a Soviet one. We were internationalist. We have Armenian relatives. My brother even married a Japanese woman. The problem is with this new generation. They don’t understand the difference between nationalism and patriotism. They confuse the two.”…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Allies Should Not Help Vladimir Putin by Garry Kasparov
Allowing Putin’s regime to fall would help not only the Russian people but also the world’s poisoned economic climate. The downfall of a regime that has trampled on moral values for a decade would signal change.
Last June, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin was invited to open this year’s World Economic Forum confab of business and political leaders in Davos, he surely expected to be speaking from a position of strength. Seven months later oil prices have plunged, the Russian stock market has collapsed, and the ruble is in free fall. Instead of reasoned discourse, what the audience got on Jan. 28 was bluster, blame, and a cry for help.
But the world should not help Vladimir Putin. For too long, too many myths have surrounded him and his dictatorial regime. “At least Russians are better off than during the days of the Soviet Union” was the frequent refrain of Western leaders afraid to confront Putin over his domestic crackdown. When he discarded the last pretense of Russian democracy during the 2008 presidential transition, the chorus shifted to: “Even though Russians aren’t free, even though elections are rigged and the media controlled by the state, at least the economy is doing well and investors are happy.”
Now the myth of the strong economy has crumbled. Make no mistake: This is not just a sudden reversal of fortune. The fall in energy prices and the global financial crisis have only revealed what was going on behind the scenes all along. Putin and his government have hollowed out the economy by failing to invest in sectors other than the energy export business. More than half of state investment goes to oil and gas production, says think tank Carnegie Moscow Center. Meanwhile, in the last six months, industrial production has plunged 20 percent. Steel output is down more than 45 percent since early 2008. Skyrocketing oil prices gave Putin enough cash to keep the macroeconomic scenario rosy. The charade is over.
In 2000, Putin inherited an economy ready to boom after years of painful liberalization. That year, with oil at $20 a barrel, gross domestic product grew 10 percent. The federal budget was out of the red for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Nine years later, despite a stretch of phenomenal luck and oil prices that peaked close to $150, Russia is again in crisis. Oil has now fallen to $40. Even if it rises to around $50, Finance Minister Alexei L. Kudrin forecasts a budget deficit of 5 percent of GDP, or $60 billion in 2009 — a number many experts call optimistic.
Where did the money go? Where is it still going? Cash reserves are no substitute for the economic pillars of industry, agriculture, infrastructure, and education. Those have been allowed to decay while the elite’s pockets have swelled from sales of natural resources.
While Putin has failed to invest in the foundations of the economy, he has devoted considerable efforts to keeping his grip on power. And he has cultivated a long list of allies in the political and business worlds, including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Putin’s speech in Davos was his signal that it was time for them to come to his rescue by backing his agenda for corporate debt write-offs around the globe. Russian companies are burdened with close to $500 billion in debt, with at least $100 billion due in 2009…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Officials to be Witnesses in Kasab’s Trial
MUMBAI: As Indian investigation into the 26/11 terror attacks is drawing to a close, the Mumbai police has got the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials as witnesses in the trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive. ( Watch ) It is a rare incident where a foreign investigation agency is being made witness in connection with a case in India. Commissioner of police Hassan Gafoor confirmed to TOI about including FBI officials as witnesses. “There are various scientific tests done by the FBI which is better equipped,” he said. However Gafoor refused to elaborate. “We have completed all the procedures for them to appear as witnesses. I cannot disclose further details as the chargesheet is yet to be filed.” Besides FBI officials, there will be over hundred witnesses that include doctors, forensic experts and other eyewitnesses. A FBI team was in Mumbai soon after the attack to carry out various forensic tests and lend their expertise in the investigation. Sources said FBI had taken Kasab’s DNA samples and had examined undiffused bombs and arms and ammunition used by the terrorists. They had also examined other material recovered from the terrorist, sources said. “FBI had helped us in the investigation of Thuraya satellite phone recovered from the terrorists. The service provider to this phone is based in the Middle East and FBI used its resources to get the details — crucial for investigation — from the master switch in Sharjah,” a police official said. Sources said it was FBI which found out that the Yamaha engine fitted in the inflatable raft that Kasab and his fellow jihadis used to reach Mumbai was sold by a dealer in Lahore. Indian agencies approached the Americans for help after the Yamaha representatives in China failed to get them the crucial fact despite trying. The help and expertise of FBI was also crucial for procuring details of calls made through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), as well as the route from which payment was made for the VoIP card from Callphonex of the US. Weapons experts from the US agency also established the Pakistani connection to 9mm pistols and hand grenades, manufactured in Peshawar’s Diamond Nedi Frontier Arms Country and Pakistan Ordnance Factory near Rawalpindi, in that order. Making the FBI part of the probe will only prove the veracity of the Indian investigation and the country’s case against Pakistan, the official added. FBI has got a legal locus in the case because casualties included American nationals, requiring it to register an independent case. That apart, the partnership between the FBI and Mumbai cops underline how intelligence agencies are required to pool their resources to meet the challenge of terrorist networks who work across national boundaries. More so, because of the historical wariness of Indian agencies about teaming up with Americans. Mumbai police is likely to file a chargesheet in the terror attack case within a fortnight. “There will be a single chargesheet for all the terror acts. Kasab will be chargesheeted for murder, for gunning down people at CST and Cama hospital besides killing police personal at Girgaum Chowpatty. He will also face trial for hijacking a Skoda vehicle in an effort to escape. He will be the conspirator in all other attacks at Nariman House, Hotel Taj and Trident-Oberoi, since it is part of a single conspiracy,” an official said. Pakistan trained Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed will also be mentioned as conspirators in the case. Fahim had done the recee of all the places attacked and handed it over to Ahmed who went to Pakistan and handed it over to LeT handlers. Fahim and Ahmed, who were arrested by the UP police for terror attack there (UP), are currently being interrogated by the Mumbai police. Police, however, believes that Ajmal did not know either of them. In the chargesheet, 14 others including Zakhir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Kahafa Hafiz Saeed Abu Hamsa will be shown as wanted. Mumbai police insisted that there was no local support and attack was carried on the basis of the information provided through this recee.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
India: Skiier Suspected of Being Israeli Beaten in Kashmir Ski Resort
Srinagar, Feb 8, IRNA — Protests erupted in popular ski resort of Gulmarg with angry local groups beating up a foreign skiier whom they suspected of being an Israeli after his sledge was found to be inscribed with verses from the holy Qur’an.
Reports said that the people spotted the ‘Kalima-e Tayyaba’, or the basic creed of Islam, inscribed over the bottom of the ski sledge of one Hans Patrick, a skier who had come from Sweden to holiday on the slopes of Gulmarg.
Locals in the snow bound resort, packed with tourists from all over the world, erupted in protest, and some groups pounced on the tourist, beating him up.
But the foreigner was rescued by the police who took him under their custody.
The skier, who had been staying in a private hut for the past 10 days, was a part of a group brought here by the Israeli travel agency, EDOO, which has been operating Gulmarg tours for the past several years.
Police said Patrick had hired the ski equipment from a local shop. “There were rumors that he is an Israeli, which infuriated the protesters who thought it must have been a deliberate act. Some were shouting anti-Israeli slogans.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman here said that the sticker carrying the holy words had been given to the tourist by his wife, a Qatari Muslim, for his protection, but he had unknowingly used it incorrectly.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
India: Foreigner Detained for Using Slider With Quranic Verses
Srinagar, Feb 7 A Swedish tourist was detained at Gulmarg in North Kashmir today for using a skiing slider with verses from Holy Quran allegedly inscribed on it.
Officials of the tourism department handed over foreigner identified as Patrin to police after locals staged a protest, alleging that he was using a slider with Quranic verses on it despite their efforts to dissuade him from it, officials told PTI.
They said, though he was asked to abandon the slider and even offered money in lieu of that, he refused. The locals staged a demonstration to invite attention of the department.
In order to secure the tourist from the wrath of the people, the tourism officials handed him over to the police, sources said.
Patrin was part of a group of skiers brought here by an Isreali travel agent.
Police are investigating the authenticity of the allegations, sources said.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
India: Wife Suggested Quranic Verses as Shield
Swedish skier lands up in police station
[Comment from Tuan Jim: You know, much like the story of the Finnish tourist trip to N. Korea a month or two back — I’ve gotta ask — what possesses these people to travel to these places for “fun”?]
Shabir Dar Srinagar, Feb 07: The faith of his Muslim wife, who suggested a Swedish skier to get verses of the holy Quran inscribed on his skiing gear to avoid accidents, landed him up in a police station. Noticing Quranic verses inscribed on the skiing gear of M Patrick, a Swedish Jew, few people at Gulmarg skiing resort at 3:30 pm took objection to it, caught hold of the skier and handed him over to police. The matter did not end there. The news of Quranic verses inscribed on the foreign tourist’s ski gear spread like a wild fire triggering a massive protest.
People protested against the tourist and his country. Raising anti-Israel and anti-Swedish slogans, the protestors demanded stern action against the tourist. “We were astonished to see Quranic verses on the tourist’s skies. We caught him along with his ski gear and handed him over to police,” a group of employees of Gulmarg Cable Car Corporation told Rising Kashmir. “Government should ban such tourists to visit Kashmir,” a protestor said. Conforming the news Police said it was the Swedish Skier’s Iranian wife who works with her husband in Qatar who had suggested him to inscribe it on the ski gear out of faith. Station House Officer Gulmarg Police Station, Muhammad Abdullah said: “The tourist says that his Muslim wife had advised him to inscribe Quranic verses on the ski gears to be safe during skiing.” The SHO said police is investigating the “sensitive matter”. Protests continued in Gulmarg till late evening. Police had to keep the tourist in their custody to keep him away from harm’s way. “He (tourist) is still with us. We will see if we can release him in the morning or not,” the SHO said.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
India: Swede Apologises, Calm Returns to Gulmarg
Srinagar (PTI): A day after Gulmarg observed a total shutdown demanding action against a Swede for carrying a ski slider with verses of holy Quran inscribed on it, the tourist on Monday tendered an apology bringing calm to the scenic resort. Shops and businesses reopened as normalcy returned to the ski resort soon after Patrin apologised and sought pardon for his unintentional act.
“I may be pardoned as I did not intentionally use the sticker inscribed with Quranic verses on the slider. It was not my intention to hurt religious sentiments of Muslims,” he told prominent cleric Bashiruddin.
Shops and business establishments, which downed shutters on Sunday, reopened after Bashiruddin, the Grand Mufti, asked the people to pardon the Swedish national.
Protesters blocked roads for nearly two hours in Gulmarg on Sunday morning terming the incident as “sacrilegious”. In Srinagar also, pitched battles erupted between police and demonstrators who demanded stringent action against the tourist.
On Saturday, locals handed over Patrin to police after they found inscriptions of Quran on the slider he was carrying after a day out on the slopes of Gulmarg.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesian Court Jails Islamist Militants on Terror Charges
JAKARTA — AN INDONESIAN court on Monday sentenced three Islamist militants to up to nine years’ jail for a range of terror offences including assisting top leaders of the radical Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network. Abu Husna, Agus Purwanto and Parmin were found guilty of aiding senior JI operatives, including Noordin Mohammad Top, the fugitive alleged mastermind behind the 2002 bombings on the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people.
Husna was sentenced to nine years in jail while Purwanto and Parmin were each given eight year sentences. The sentences were lighter than the 14 years recommended by prosecutors.
Judge Makmun Masduki told the Central Jakarta district court that Parmin sheltered Noordin, who has been the target of a police manhunt since 2002, and translated lectures on holy war by Noordin into Arabic and sent them to Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera.
Parmin also helped to conceal attack plans hatched by another top JI leader, Azahari Husin, who was shot dead by police in 2005.
Parmin was present at an August 2005 meeting attended by Noordin in which Azahari ‘said that he had plans to launch a bomb attack every year on New Year’s Eve’, Judge Masduki said.
Husna and Purwanto were found guilty in separate trials of organising jihadist training during brutal Muslim-Christian clashes in the restive Poso region of Sulawesi island. They were also found to have met with Hasanuddin, the convicted mastermind behind the 2005 beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in the province.
Husna was also found to have associated with Abu Dujana and Zarkasi, two senior JI operatives jailed for 15 years each last year.
A police crackdown has heavily curtailed the violent activities of JI, a radical Islamist group that aims to create an Islamic government across South-east Asia.
The group has not carried out a major bombing since 2005 and many of its members have renounced attacks on civilians, although a minority splinter faction led by Noordin is said to still be aiming for mass-casualty attacks. — AFP
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadi Cocktail
There’s a mélange of anti-US, anti-Israel, anti-India, anti-Afghanistan, anti-Iran, anti-Russia, anti-Uzbekistan and anti-China groups cooperating with each other in Pakistan fanning the jihadi fire in different directions. Holbrooke would have to find ways to deal with them…
To be read in continuation of my article of January 1, 2009, titled Terror 2008: Pakistan-Afghanistan, article dated January 15, 2009, titled Will Obama Help Us? and article dated January 28, 2009, titled The Invisible Hyphens)
Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, is scheduled to undertake his first visit to the region from February 9, 2009, after attending a security conference at Munich. M.K.Narayanan, India’s National Security Adviser, told Karan Thapar of the CNBC in an interview on February 2, 2009, that he would be meeting Holbrooke in Munich before he came to India. It is not known whether the expected meeting at Munich materialised and if so what transpired at the meeting.
A Reuters’ despatch dated February 4,2009, from Washington quoted unnamed US officials as saying that in addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Holbrooke would also be visiting India to discuss Afghanistan with Indian officials. The Reuters’ report said: “The officials, who spoke on condition that they not be named, stressed that Holbrooke was going to India to discuss Afghanistan and not to mediate the Kashmir dispute.”
Holbrooke’s first visit to the region as the Special Representative comes at a time when the new strategy of Obama with regard to the military operations against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghan as well as Pakistani territory is still to take shape. Apart from the decisions to continue the Predator ( unmanned aircraft of the Central Intelligence Agency) air strikes against suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistani territory and to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan in the coming months, no other decision has so far been taken…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Kyrgyzstan to Close US Air Base
Kyrgyz President Bakiev makes announcement after long discussions with his Russian counterpart, who pledges much needed aid. For experts negotiations are underway with Kyrgyzstan trying to get as much as possible as Russia tries to limit NATO presence in Central Asia.
Bishkek (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev announced yesterday in Moscow that the United States must close its military base in Kyrgyzstan. The US Air Force base is a key supply hub for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Us reaction has been cautious. “We are hopeful that we can continue our good relationship with the Kyrgyz government, and can continue to use Manas in support of our operations in Afghanistan,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. “It is hugely important air base for us,” he added.
The US military set up the base in 2001 and its role has been heightened as supply routes to Afghanistan from Pakistan become more dangerous.
The US Manas Air Base is currently home to more than 1,000 military personnel.
The Russians, who initially were in favour of the US presence, now want to limit US influence in former Soviet republics, especially in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Experts suggest though that a final decision on the base may come down to money as Kyrgyz authorities try to get the Americans to pay more for renting the base.
Recently the chief of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, indicated that Washington already provided about US$ 150 million in aid to Bishkek per year, including about US$ 63 million “connected to Manas,” Petraeus said.
Before making his announcement President Bakiev held long talks with his Russian counterpart, President Dmitry Medvedev (pictured: the two presidents), who promised a US$ 2 billion aid package, including US$ 150 million in direct aid to rural areas as well as a loan at a nominal interest rate.
Given that Kyrgyzstan’s annual budget is roughly US$ 1.1 billion, Russia’s assistance would be an unprecedented deal for the poor Central Asian country.
Despite the Kyrgyz decision, Medvedev said that Russia and Kyrgyzstan would continue to cooperate with the United States on its anti-terror efforts in Afghanistan.
US President Barack Obama has made it clear that the war in Afghanistan was a priority for US foreign policy.
Russia has hinted that it might allow NATO non-military supplies to travel through its territory.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: the Wrath of Khan
WMDs: Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man most responsible for the proliferation of nuclear technology to terrorist regimes, has been set free in Islamabad. Is Pakistan trying to tell us something?
(…)
Just last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency detailed how Khan’s nuclear network smuggled plans for nuclear weapons to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
All told, Khan had 12 countries he was selling to. Last month, the U.S. State Department slapped sanctions on 13 people and three companies for dealing with Khan’s nuclear network.
By letting Khan leave detention, Pakistan’s government is sending a very bad signal about its cooperation with the U.S. and the West.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Vows to Hunt Down Pakistan Killers
[Comment from Tuan Jim: I wish our stalwart allies the best of luck.]
WARSAW (AFP) — As Poles reeled in shock Monday after the beheading of a Polish engineer by militants in Pakistan, their government vowed to hunt down his murderers and bring them to justice.
“Now we can no longer save our compatriot, we are going to try to punish his killers,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said after confirming that a video tape of Piotr Stanczak’s execution was authentic.
“A crime was committed, so there must be an investigation, a search for the guilty parties, and if possible, they must be brought before a court and served due punishment.”
Sikorski said the Polish justice ministry was in the process of getting an international arrest issued for Stanczak’s suspected killers.
Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma blamed Pakistan’s “apathy” towards tackling terrorism for the killing.
“The structure of the Pakistani government is behind this apathy. The Pakistani authorities encourage these bandits,” Czuma told the PAP news agency.
He said the Polish diplomatic service had been in permanent contact with Pakistani officials throughout Stanczak’s capture.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote to his Polish counterpart Sikorski to express his anger at the murder.
“This crime fills us with deep sadness and horror,” Steinmeier wrote. “The German government condemns this horrible act in the strongest possible terms.”
A group linked to Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency released a video of the execution of Stanczak on Sunday.
Polish broadcasters showed only a still image from the video.
Stanczak, 42, was working as a geologist in Pakistan for a Polish oil and natural gas exploration company when he was seized in the volatile northwest of the country on September 28. His abductors killed his driver and his bodyguard.
The gruesome beheading of Stanczak — the first of a Pole by Islamic militants — caused widespread shock and revulsion in Poland.
“Never in Poland have we had such a situation,” said Jacek Cichocki, security adviser to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “We see films about citizens from other countries — Americans, British — but not Poles.”
Cichocki said the kidnappers had originally demanded the release of 60 Islamist fighters held in Pakistan but eventually watered down their demands to just four.
Other Polish officials said the killer of US journalist Daniel Pearl, slain after he was kidnapped in 2002 in Pakistan, was among those whose release had been sought.
Stanczak’s captors also wanted Poland to pull out the 1,600 troops it has deployed in Afghanistan as part of the UN-mandated and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
His killing was front page news in Poland’s national dailies Monday, with several printing a static image from his execution video showing him flanked by two masked and armed men.
Behind the headlines, commentaries questioned if Tusk’s government had done enough to try and free Stanczak.
Leading broadsheet Gazeta Wyborcza asked: “The Polish government, did it do everything?”
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Dalai Lama Made a Citizen of Rome
Tibetan spiritual leader honored for his non- violence
(ANSA) — Rome, February 9 — The Dalai Lama on Monday became an honorary citizen of Rome and Tibet’s spiritual leader took advantage of the occasion to renew his commitment to non-violence.
‘‘This honor of becoming a citizen of Rome is a further encouragement for me to support non-violent action. I will remain committed to non-violence to my dying day,’’ the 73-year religious leader said.
During the citizenship ceremony Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno gave the 1989 Nobel peace prize laureate a statuette of the Roman shewolf feeding the infants Romulus and Remus, while the Dalai Lama gave him his traditional white scarf. In welcoming the Dalai Lama to city hall, Alemanno said ‘‘your presence here is our moral revolt against injustice, violence and oppression. A moral revolt in favor of the identity of a people and the right of each and every one of us to express their won spirituality and culture’’.
The mayor explained that making the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen was ‘‘a symbolic gesture in recognition of your refusal of violence and dedication to tolerance and compassion, your untiring defense of human rights and those of your people’’.
‘‘We all join you in strongly urging the full recognition of the autonomy of the Tibetan nation, a right which is totally in accordance with the principles of the Chinese constitution,’’ Alemanno added.
‘‘From now on you will be not only be a prestigious guest of the city, but a citizen of Rome, the mayor concluded.
In his reply, the Dalai Lama said he was committed to three things: ‘‘promoting the value of the human individual, which has nothing to do with belonging to or believing in one religion or another; promoting inter-religious harmony and dialogue; and resolving the cause of Tibet’’.
‘‘I believe that the Tibetan people, knowing that I am here in Rome to receive this honorary citizenship, will feel less alone and know that they have not been abandoned,’’ The Dalai Lama said. CHINA’S REPRESSION IN TIBET ‘VERY SERIOUS’.
Speaking on his arrival in the Italian capital, the Dalai Lama said that the situation in Tibet remains very serious following last year’s crackdown on Buddhist monks there by Chinese authorities.
The Tibetan spiritual leader added that the social situation there was also very critical because there was ‘‘great resentment’’ between the native Tibetan and Chinese populations.
Speaking to a group of 25 Italian MPs, the Dalai Lama asked parliaments and governments ‘‘of the free world’’ to support the Tibetan people who he said had been ‘‘condemned to death’’ The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile for 50 years, explained that he and other Tibetans leaders did not want independence from China but only greater autonomy and to achieve this would only use non-violent means.
MPs Matteo Mecacci and Paolo Concia, of the opposition Democratic Party (PD), called on the center-right government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi not to ‘‘wash its hands’’ of the plight of the Tibetan people.
‘‘The Italian parliament and government cannot remain indifferent before this tragedy,’’ they said.
The fact that no meetings have been arranged between the Dalai Lama and government and institutional leaders, observed Mecacci, ‘‘is certainly not the way to help find a solution’’ to the Tibetan problem.
Recognising the Dalai Lama as a valid talking partner, the way French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have, ‘‘is a first step to China recognising him as such,’’ he added.
‘‘We fully recognise that there is a political price involved, but China must decide between democracy and authoritarianism,’’ the MPs said.
After Rome, the Dalai Lama will travel to Venice and then to Baden Baden in Germany.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Gov’t Forces Clash With Icrc Captors
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE 2) Government troops, backed by armed civilian volunteers, have engaged members of the Abu Sayyaf believed to be holding three kidnapped workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sulu province.
Five Marines have been wounded and at least two Abu Sayyaf fighters killed since the fighting, which was continuing as of early Monday evening, broke out mid-afternoon.
First Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said troops of the 3rd Marine Brigade clashed with an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf Group under Umbra Jumdail alias Doktor Abu in the village of Kuppong in Indanan town
Two Huey helicopters flew to Indanan to evacuate the five wounded Marines to the Trauma Center Hospital at the Teodulo Bautista Headquarters in Jolo town.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Alexander Yano said it was the Abu Sayyaf who initiated the hostilities. He said one of the wounded soldiers was an officer.
An informant of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) earlier said Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipina Jean Lacaba had been handed over to the custody of Jumdail.
Clashes also erupted between civilian volunteers and the Abu Sayyaf at 3 p.m. in different parts of Indanan.
Jolo town mayor Hussin Amin said the fighting was triggered by an earlier report some 700 Abu Sayyaf members from Patikul town had arrived.
Amin said the local police force provided support to the civilian volunteers. He confirmed reports that two suspected bandits have been killed since the fighting started.
Fifteen other suspected Abu Sayyaf members were arrested on Sunday night in Bud Taran in Indanan, near the village of Tubig Dacula where the ICRC workers are believed kept. Amin said some 300 fighters are guarding the victims.
Yano said the Abu Sayyaf was apparently trying to break out of a cordon of government troops and civilian volunteers when they ran into the Marines.
“That should be very clear, we have not launched an assault and, although from the start and very recently, [the] military option was always a part of the range of actions that are available to us, but at that particular point, 1520 [3:20], that was not yet initiated,” Yano said.
But with hostilities initiated, Yano said the military is not turning back.
“Pag nagpuputukan na, ano pa ba gagawin mo? Pwede mo pa bang i-referee yun [When there is already gunfire, what else can you do? Can you still referee the situation]?” Yano said.
When asked if military operations against the Abu Sayyaf might not endanger the hostages, Yano said: “That’s the risk that we are taking. Because it was initiated by the other side, whether we continue or not, it [fighting] has already been started and there is no other way for us but to pursue the armed engagement.”
But he gave assurances that the safety of the three ICRC workers remained the primary concern of the government forces.
“First and foremost, still in the mind of troops is [to] rescue the hostages alive. That’s a priority as of now. But, of course, the neutralization of the perpetrators, the kidnappers will definitely be a major objective of this operation,” Yano said.
But he said the military will mostly likely suspend operations if this is recommended by the multi-agency Task Force ICRC headed by Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan.
Abejarin Salahuddin, leader of some 300 Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) members in Tubig Dacula village told the Inquirer that fighting initially started at 9:45 a.m. when the Abu Sayyaf fired shots.
“We didn’t respond but the tanod [village watchmen] were already agitated,” Salahuddin said by phone.
Around 5:30 p.m., Salahuddin said: “Marami na ang casualty sa kabila sa may Parang [town], pero hindi namin alam kung saang panig, dahil busy rin kami dito. Hindi na gaanong malakas dito. Magre-reinforce din kami sa Parang [There are many casualties at the other side of Parang, but we do not know which side suffered the casualties because we’re also busy here. The fighting is not as intense here. We will reinforce the forces in Parang].”
The Inquirer informant, who is in government and in a position to get updates from the ground, said “the Marines and civilian volunteers are moving ahead. Mortar shelling [has] also started.”
Amin said the mortar shelling was from the Abu Sayyaf “because the military or CVOs could not easily use heavy artillery at this moment because many could get hit by friendly fire.”
Panglima Estino Mayor Munib Estino said around 100 civilian volunteers from his town are positioned along the road in the village of Langpas in Indanan but have yet to engage the Abu Sayyaf.
Evacuees from Indanan town have started to reach downtown Jolo, most of them staying with friends and relatives.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
S. Korea: KCTU Leaders Resign En Masse to Share Assault Victim’s Pain
Teachers’ union begins own investigation of alleged cover-up
The leadership of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, including its head Lee Seok-haeng, resigned en masse yesterday in the wake of a sexual assault scandal rocking the organization.
A high-ranking KCTU official allegedly tried to rape a female union member last December.
“The KCTU leadership has decided to resign to try to share the victim’s suffering and apologize for the incident,” said KCTU acting chairwoman Jin Young-ok in a press conference yesterday afternoon.
¡°The leadership¡¯s general resignation is an expression of the KCTU’s resolve to address the issue while making sure no additional harm will befall the victim and that any kind of sexual violence will be eradicated in the organization,¡± she added.
Including those who did so today, nine KCTU leaders have stepped down in the four days since the scandal broke last Thursday.
It is the fourth mass resignation of KCTU leaders since the organization was established in 1995.
Jin also proposed a fact-finding committee to seek out an alleged second offender within the organization, who reportedly pressed the victim not to make the case public. She said allegations of an organizational cover up made the entire KCTU seem immoral. Jin denied such a cover up existed.
Meanwhile, the sexual assault scandal is having a ripple effect in the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union, of which the victim is a member. It is alleged that a KTU official also pressured the victim not to make the case public.
The KTU executive board held an emergency meeting over the weekend and set up its own fact-finding committee to investigate whether any KTU official was involved in the case.
The KTU committee is expected to release the result of its investigation at a general meeting of representatives scheduled for Feb. 27-28.
The KCTU’s leader, Lee Seok-haeng, who is currently in jail for organizing illegal anti-U.S. beef rallies last year, said in a letter of apology released by Jin that he will take full responsibility for the incident, meaning he will also resign.
Lee initially objected to a mass resignation of the leadership, according to some union executives who met with him last Friday, but he changed his mind Sunday and sent a written resignation with the apology letter, the KCTU said.
In an executive committee meeting yesterday, the KCTU also established an emergency committee to lead the organization until a new head is elected in April.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Vietnam: Son La, Where the Communist Party Encourages Pagan Religions Against Christians
Local Communist authorities continue to hound Christians, trying to get them to go back to their ancestral religions. When they refuse they are deprived of economic assistance. Still entire families prefer a life of hardships rather than recant, saying that they are “proud” of being Catholic.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) — In the province of Son La, a mountain region in the far north-west corner of Vietnam on the border with Laos, the Communist government is engaged in a violent campaign to eradicate Christianity. In this area religious persecution has reached a crescendo unseen elsewhere in the country.
Once inspired by Marxism-Leninism, the authorities are now fighting Christianity by trying to force the faithful to re-embrace their ancient pagan beliefs, with party officials playing the role of wizards and sorcerers, bent on dominating the spiritual life of the Montagnards.
One place where this is happening is the village of Song Mon. Located in the rural district of Mai Son, about 40 kilometres from the town of Son La, its H’mong residents are under pressure to repudiate their faith in Christ and take up again their old pagan ways.
But the authorities are meeting stiff resistance. Locals are not showing much interest towards giving up their faith in exchange of government handouts. Having accepted Catholicism, they have experienced a more modern and dignified life whilst remaining faithful to Vietnam’s traditions.
In another village however, only two families (out of 24) have resisted government oppression.
Even though they are the poorest families, they have been denied government help, have seen their movement restricted, and have been prevented from receiving visitors without police supervision. Their neighbours now ostracise them.
Yet, despite the privations and the suffering, the members of these two families are holding out, proud of “being Catholic,” insisting that their faith is “a good thing” and that they have “no reason to give it up.”
Son La province is home to about 6,000 Catholics out of a total population of 1,153,000 residents. The local diocese was set up in 1659.
Vietnam’s Catholic community has about six or seven million members in a country of more than 84 million. Buddhism is the largest religion with about 49.5 per cent. Some 20.5 per cent of the population is atheist.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Inquiry Ordered Into Victoria Bushfires, Hunt for Arsonists Begins
AUTHORITIES fear the numbers of deaths from the Black Saturday bushfires could spiral to 230, as John Brumby called a royal commission into the devastating blazes and police hunted arsonists, labelled mass murderers by Kevin Rudd.
Play12345Loading…Please login to rate a video.You can’t rate an advertisement. Sorry, this video is no longer available.As the army was brought in to assist exhausted police in their search for more victims and help firefighters who continued to battle blazes threatening townships in northeast Victoria last night, federal and state leaders warned Australians to brace themselves for the official death toll of 130 to rise.
Describing the fire-affected regions as “hell on earth”, the Victorian Premier said the royal commission would scrutinise all aspects of how the state fights fires and prepares for them, including the policy of encouraging fit and able residents to defend their properties.
“Whatever is necessary to examine will be examined so that the lessons can be learned and we can put in place for the community all of the policies, the resources, the stocks that we need to make sure that we never see this again,” he said.
“Tragically, we will have more deaths later this week.”
Police have formed a special taskforce to hunt suspected arsonists believed responsible for many of the fires started on a day that Julia Gillard said “will now be remembered as one of the darkest days in Australia’s peacetime history”.
Police suspect the Gippsland fires, which have claimed at least 19 victims, were deliberately lit. The entire town of Marysville, where 12 are confirmed dead, has been deemed a crime scene. In Kinglake, 35 people perished, with four dead at Kinglake West.
A clearly shaken Kevin Rudd, who toured the devastated regions yesterday, struggled to express his outrage at the action of the arsonists. “What can you say? What can you say? There are no words to describe it other than mass murder,” he said.
A high-powered reconstruction taskforce, similar to the reconstruction commission used to rebuild Darwin in the wake of Cyclone Tracy, will be established to try to rebuild the communities and infrastructure destroyed by the fires.
Forensic investigators warned it could take months before victims of the bushfires were positively identified. Thousands of people have been left homeless and the Red Cross was inundated with 5000 pleas for assistance.
By last night, almost $10 million had been donated by members of the public in less than a day to bushfire victims through the Red Cross and Salvation Army.
As medical specialists treated 20 major burns patients at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital yesterday, a doctor who treated victims of the Bali bombings said the bushfires were “by far one of the worst disasters I have ever been involved in”.
With the official death toll rising throughout yesterday, authorities warned the community to prepare for more fatalities.
The Australian understands the state Government was advised during crisis meetings yesterday morning of predictions of at least 230 deaths. The grim tally amounts to at least three times the number of lives lost in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 and the Black Friday fires of 1939.
The weekend’s blazes are expected to have destroyed almost 1000 houses. “It is hell on earth. And lives are still at risk,” Mr Brumby said while touring the fire scenes yesterday. “I have never seen anything like this and hope to never see it again.”
In an emotional address to federal parliament, Ms Gillard warned the community to brace for the “grisly reality” that the record number of lives lost would continue to rise.
“To be clear and frank, it will get worse and Australians need to prepare themselves for more bad news,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon said the majority of the lives lost were in Kinglake, Marysville and Gippsland.
“We think there will be more deaths,” she said.
“It’s a major issue for us in that we’re finding more bodies as we gain access to locations where fire has been and it was too hot for our police members or the CFA to actually attend.”
Ms Nixon said she was aware of the speculation that the toll could rise beyond 200 but would publicly declare only confirmed deaths, partly out of respect for relatives and friends.
Last night, a large fire burning out of control in northeast Victoria’s Kiewa Valley continued to threaten towns.
The Country Fire Authority last night warned residents in tiny towns including Dederang, Gundowring and Kergunyah South to watch for embers as the fire gathered momentum.
The CFA said the fire was posing no immediate danger to the larger centres of Beechworth and Yackandandah.
Gippsland was meanwhile facing a renewed threat with increasing winds blowing fire towards the township of Churchill and residents of Toolangi, not far from Kinglake, were also on high alert.
More than 450 soldiers have joined the Victorian bushfire response, bulldozing firebreaks, reopening roads and helping emergency workers and police in the search for victims.
An AP-3C Orion aircraft was also en route to Victoria to search remote areas for signs of life.
The defence forces were also providing bedding and tents for victims in Yea and in the Gippsland town of Warragul.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Bushfire Death Toll ‘to Reach 230’ as Australian PM Brands Arsonists ‘Mass Murderers’
* At least 700 homes destroyed; 5,000 people homeless * Death toll at 135 and rising * Royal commission launched to investigate arson
Australia faced the unbelievable today as the death toll from the nation’s worst-ever bushfires soared to 135 and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd slammed the arsonists as ‘mass murderers’.
A grim prediction by experts said the final death toll could be 230 as hundreds more homes are wiped out by towering walls of flames described as ‘hell on earth’.
Mr Rudd choked back tears as he accused the arsonists of murder.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Aims for USD 20 Bln Trade Volume With South America
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, FEBRUARY 3 — The Turkish Federation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), which opens new horizons for Turkish investors by building “trade bridges,” expects to reach a mutual trade volume worth $20 billion with South American countries within the next five years. TUSKON Chairman Rizanur Meral said on Monday that they expected to establish a trade bridge between Turkey and South America and were planning to hold a meeting in June in Turkey and send delegations to the region to conduct preliminary research in South America, meeting with businessmen and seeking mutual trade opportunities. “Our new target is to boost relations with countries in South America,” he said, adding that they would not slow down and would work to expand further and enter new export markets. He said they expected to organize trade fairs and meetings in several countries that they select as starting points with the aim of reaching out to surrounding markets in the region. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
California Releasing Donor List for $83 Million Marriage Vote
The report came just days after supporters of the ballot measure lost a suit in Federal District Court in Sacramento that sought to prevent the names of donors from being revealed. The suit argued that past disclosures had led to donors’ receiving harassing e-mail, death threats and boycotts of businesses. The court said the release of the names was particularly important in such expensive campaigns.
Frank Schubert, campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind Proposition 8, said he had received no reports of harassment on Monday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
School Interrogates, Rejects Parents’ Religion
Subjects mom, dad to ‘sincerity test’ after filing vaccination exemption
A mother and father in New York were subjected by their school district’s attorney to a faith “sincerity test,” which ultimately ruled their beliefs were too questionable to qualify for a religious exemption to mandatory student immunization.
Ron and Rita Palma filed the exemption with their son’s school district in 2006 after coming to the conclusion the year before that the required vaccinations violated their conscience and sense of God’s leading for their family.
Rather than accept the standard exemption form, however, the Bayport-Blue Point Union Free School District demanded the couple meet with school attorney David Cohen. The Palmas have twice been compelled to sit down with Cohen to be interrogated about their faith and their convictions about vaccines.
“If you believe God is on your side,” Cohen asked in the most recent of the two interviews, conducted last fall, “does that mean he’s not on the side of someone who believes in immunization?”
“Do you have conversations with God? Has God told you not to immunize?” the attorney asked. “Explain it to me.”
Cohen described to the Palmas’ attorney that the purpose of the interview was two-fold: to determine whether the Palmas’ beliefs are actually religious, as opposed to philosophical or political; and to determine whether the beliefs are “sincerely and genuinely held.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Madoff Crack: 3 Mln People Defrauded Worldwide
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID, FEBRUARY 3 — Around 3 million investors worldwide could have been swindled by Bernard Madoff, though an estimated 30% of the victims are not aware of this yet. A report on the assessment of the global impact of the “biggest legal case in history on damage by the financial system to its own clients” was presented today in Madrid at law firm Cremades&Calvo-Sotelo. The report is based on data from 30 law firms in 25 countries which defend private and institutional investors who have fallen victim to the fraud. Law firm Cremades represents 2,900 of these victims in Europe. The firm’s president, Javier Cremades, estimates that the initial investments amount to 15 billion dollars, 11.6 billion euro, including the collective charges presented at the court of Miami. The lawyer explains that of the three million victims of the presumed fraud “approximately 30% are not yet aware of his or her situation, because they didn’t invest much in Madoff, because of the poor management of the financial sector or because their money was invested through retirement plans”. Based on the information in the report it is likely that more than 50 billion dollars are involved in the fraud (39 billion euro), more than the GDP of 105 countries. The biggest financial institutes are mixed up in the case, like Banca Santander, Bbva, Credit Swiss, Bnp, Banesto, Barclays, Fortis Bank, HSBC, Fairfield Greenwich Group, Medici Bank, Kingate Management, Bbh. The team of legal firms will issue 15,000 claims for damages worldwide. But its goal is “a global legal response” to the biggest financial fraud which will involve over 45,000 lawyers. “Every single agent who is involved in the fraud must be checked and this could cause an enormous knock-on effect”, explained Cremades. The lawyer stressed that “everyone except Madoff must be considered a victim of the fraud” but financial institutes, dealers, fund administrators and participants in the various links in the chain that ends with Madoff’s “hedge fund” will be asked questions about bad practice. Cremades said the fraud came about “over many years and widespread, affecting all savings units of our financial system”. The variety of victims makes it impossible to establish the difference between private and institutional investors, according to Cremades. Santander bank for example announced it will refund the initially invested capital only to private investors through the emission of preferential shares. The team of law firms will meet for the first time on February 17 to define a joint strategy and broaden the dialogue with the banks, which “should not see this initiative as an aggression” but as “a cooperation with the victims”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Religion: Card. Tauran, Favour Dialogue and Isolate Spectres
(ANSAmed) — ROME, FEBRUARY 6 — A push to favour inter-religious dialogue and isolating spectres, from which ever part they come, came from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Papal Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue. “It is not religions which make war, but the people who follow them”, the cardinal said yesterday evening at a meeting on the theme of inter-religious dialogue for peace, then to the contrary “religions have an undeniable role in the construction and the preservation of peace”. Tauran insisted on the necessity of an “education based on peace, because the church possesses an educational theory of peace which begins inside the family, then onto schools and work”. “Religious leaders”, he concluded, “must be builders of the bridges, through their actions, that invite their brethren to oppose the spectres of violence and terrorism”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
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