Read the various stories about Anders Fogh Rasmussen being named secretary-general of NATO. First he was, then he wasn’t, then he was. I think it’s pretty definite now that he is, but for a while there was quite a kabuki dance around the issue.Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, TB, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Families Learning of $163,000 Tax ‘Bomb’
Economics prof says deficits heading toward ‘banana republic levels’
An economics professor from Stanford is warning Americans soon will discover a $163,000-per-family tax “bomb” inside President Obama’s budget plans, which have pushed U.S. deficits toward “banana republic levels.”
The alert comes from Michael J. Boskin, who praised some of Obama’s economic plans in a Wall Street Journal column but saw red flags waving for other provisions.
Boskin, a fellow at the Hoover Institution who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush, crunched the numbers and found that while Obama inherited a growing and significant budget deficit, his plans will add $6.5 trillion of debt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Social Security: There is No Trust; There is No Fund
MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis
The U.S. recession is wreaking havoc on yet another front: the Social Security trust fund.
With unemployment rising, the payroll tax revenue that finances Social Security benefits for nearly 51 million retirees and other recipients is falling, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. As a result, the trust fund’s annual surplus is forecast to all but vanish next year — nearly a decade ahead of schedule — and deprive the government of billions of dollars it had been counting on to help balance the nation’s books.
The Treasury Department has for decades borrowed money from the Social Security trust fund to finance government operations. If it is no longer able to do so, it could be forced to borrow an additional $700 billion over the next decade from China, Japan and other investors. And at some point, perhaps as early as 2017, according to the CBO, the Treasury would have to start repaying the billions it has borrowed from the trust fund over the past 25 years, driving the nation further into debt or forcing Congress to raise taxes.
[…]
The new Congressional Budget Office figures offered a far more dire outlook for Obama’s budget than the new administration predicted just last month — a deficit $2.3 trillion worse. It’s a prospect even the president’s own budget director called unsustainable.
The dismal deficit figures, if they prove to be accurate, inevitably raise the prospect that Obama and his Democratic allies controlling Congress would have to consider raising taxes after the recession ends or else pare back his agenda.
[…]
(report continued at URL)
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Times Threatens to Shut Down Boston Globe
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut down The Boston Globe unless the newspaper’s unions agree to $20 million in concessions, the Globe reported on its Web site.
Executives from the Times Co. and Globe met Thursday with union leaders to demand pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees for some veteran employees, the Globe reported, citing union leaders.
The concessions will be negotiated individually with each Globe’s 13 unions, said Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe’s biggest union, which represents more than 700 editorial, advertising, and business office employees.
The New York Times Co. has been hit hard by the ongoing global financial crisis, posting a net loss of $57.8 million in 2008. It has taken steps to raise cash in the past few months, selling most of its New York headquarters building, while leasing back the office space.
It has received a $250 million loan from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim at a 14% interest rate and has suspended shareholder dividends to save about $130 million. Meanwhile, it’s been trying to sell its stake in the Red Sox.
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75% Oppose Release of Guantanamo Inmates in the United States
President Obama’s intelligence chief said last week that some inmates at the Guantanamo terrorist prison camp may be released in the United States, but just 13% of U.S. voters think that should be allowed.
Seventy-five percent (75%) say Guantanamo inmates should not be released in this country, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure.
For 75% of voters, safety is more important than fairness in determining where terrorist suspects are released. Only 17% say fairness is more important.
National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair also said some of these inmates may receive financial assistance from the government to ease their transition into society. Seventy-four percent (74%) oppose giving taxpayer money to former Guantanamo prisoners to help them return to society.
Sixteen percent (16%) think taxpayers should provide money to the inmates.
Just 36% now agree with the president’s decision to close the prison camp for suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. Forty-six percent (46%) oppose closing the prison camp, and 18% are undecided.
This marks an eight-point drop in support for Obama’s decision since he announced it in late January when voters were almost evenly divided on the issue. Last November, only 32% thought the prison should be closed.
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Democrats Breaking Rank on Global Warming
By William Warren
[…]
…There is a growing bipartisan resistance to the much-ballyhooed pseudo-”consensus” on anthropogenic global warming and the necessity of sweeping environmentalist policies to counteract this “dire emergency.”
As reported by The Hill, 41 Republicans and the 26 Democrats voted in favor of a critical budget amendment that will prohibit liberal lawmakers from slipping cap-and-trade legislation “under the radar” through a method known as the “reconciliation process.” Had it not been resoundingly thwarted, the “reconciliation process” would have lowered the number of Senate votes needed to pass the crippling environmentalist legislation from 60 to 51.
The sponsor of the approved amendment to bar this tactic, Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb) spoke of the dire necessity of restrictions such as these:
“And we have now reached the heart of the matter, so let me say it again. The House language is there to dictate how the Senate conducts its business. The House language is a placeholder, a Trojan Horse to limit debate, amendment, transparency, and thoughtful consideration in the Senate on cap-and-trade…
Cap-and-trade is simply too large, too significant, and too costly to pass under the cloak of another bill.”
Clearly, any efforts to impede or altogether squelch the economic havoc that national cap-and-trade policy would wreak on America’s families and businesses ought to be celebrated. As Senator Johanns makes clear, any leader willing to resist the earth-over-people agenda has struck a blow not only for fiscal sanity, but for the rule of law as well.
[…]
(rest of post at URL)
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Episcopal Minister Defrocked After Becoming a Muslim
SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) — Ann Holmes Redding has what could be called a crisis of faiths.
For nearly 30 years, Redding has been an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church. Her priesthood ended Wednesday when she was defrocked.
The reason? For the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim.
“Had anyone told me in February 2006 that I would be a Muslim before April rolled around, I would have shaken my head in concern for the person’s mental health,” Redding recently told a crowd at a signing for a book she co-authored on religion.
Redding said her conversion to Islam was sparked by an interfaith gathering she attended three years ago. During the meeting, an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditation to the group. Redding said the beauty of the moment and the imam’s humbleness before God stuck with her.
“It was much more this overwhelming conviction that I needed to surrender to God and this was the form that my surrender needed to take,” she recalled. “It wasn’t just an episode but …. was a step that I wasn’t going to step back from.”
Ten days later Redding was saying the shahada — the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Mohammad as his prophet.
But Redding said she felt her new Muslim faith did not pose a contradiction to her staying a Christian and minister.
“Both religions say there’s only one God,” Redding said, “and that God is the same God. It’s very clear we are talking about the same God! So I haven’t shifted my allegiance.”
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Have the Tobacco Police Gone Too Far?
I’VE been called a traitor,” says Michael Siegel, a public-health doctor at Boston University in Massachusetts. “It’s been a character assassination.” This treatment seems surprising as, reading Siegel’s CV, you’d think he was a poster boy for the anti-smoking movement. He regularly publishes research on the harmful effects of passive smoking and has testified in support of indoor smoking bans in more than 50 US cities.
Despite these credentials, Siegel has come under fire from colleagues in the field of smoking research. His offence was to post messages on the widely read mailing list Tobacco Policy Talk, in which he questioned one of the medical claims about passive smoking, as well as the wisdom of extreme measures such as outdoor smoking bans.
In front of his peers, funders and potential future employers, other contributors posted messages accusing Siegel of taking money from the tobacco industry. When Siegel stood his ground, the administrators kicked him off the list, cutting off a key source of news in his field. “It felt like I was excommunicated, says Siegel. “I was shocked: I’ve been a leader in the movement for 21 years.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Rights Group Demands Reprimand of KSFO Talk Show Hosts
The nation’s leading Islamic civil rights group today issued a call for San Francisco-based KSFO 560 AM to reprimand two local talk show hosts — and has asked the station’s listeners to contact advertisers — following a segment that it says “mocked Islam, misstated Muslim beliefs and cast suspicion on political participation by American Muslims.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations — known as CAIR — sent out the letter Thursday after The Chronicle Spin Cycle Political blog this week reported on a morning comedy segment by KSFO 560-AM hosts Brian Sussman and his radio sidekick “Officer Vic.”
The pair, during the Monday program, did a comedic segment about Islam and its tenets, and joked that “Islamic finance is about living within your means and helping the needy — unless they’re Jews,” the blog reported. Additionally, they observed that “the great honorable qualities of that good old time religion: honor killings, female circumcision, not allowing women to drive … Jews are monkeys, pigs.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lawmakers Have Long Rewarded Their Aides With Bonuses
By BRODY MULLINS and LOUISE RADNOFSKY
While Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole, lawmakers have a longstanding tradition of rewarding their own employees with extra cash — also courtesy of taxpayers.
Capitol Hill bonuses in 2008 were among the highest in years, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks payroll data. The average House aide earned 17% more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to the data. That was the highest jump in the eight years LegiStorm has compiled payroll information.
Total end-of-year bonuses paid to congressional staffers are tiny compared with the $165 million recently showered on executives of American International Group Inc., which is being propped up by billions of dollars of U.S. government subsidies. But Capitol Hill bonuses provide a notable counterpoint to the populist rhetoric and sound bites emanating from Washington these past weeks.
Last year alone, more than 200 House lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, awarded bonuses totaling $9.1 million to more than 2,000 staff members, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of office-disbursement forms. The money comes out of taxpayer-funded office budgets, and is surplus cash that would otherwise be forfeited if not spent.
Payments ranged from a few hundred dollars to $14,000. Lawmakers, at their own discretion, gave the money to chiefs of staff, assistants, computer technicians, and more than 100 aides who earned salaries of more than $100,000 a year.
This has gone on for many years. There is no prohibition against handing out excess cash. The lawmakers say it is a nice incentive to get staff to conserve budgets, and it rewards hard work and long hours.
“Most aides could make more money elsewhere, but choose to work on Capitol Hill because they believe in public service,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who along with other top House leaders awarded bonuses. (Senators also give bonuses, but documents showing those payments aren’t yet available.) Mr. Daly said bonuses are a small perk for underpaid government employees.
Each House office receives between $1.3 million and $1.9 million annually in government funds to pay for office expenses, including salaries. In 2008, some lawmakers returned excess cash to the government, including Rep. Todd Akin, a Missouri Republican (who also gave some bonuses) and Rep. Tim Walz, a Minnesota Democrat. Meredith Salsbery, a spokeswoman for Mr. Walz, said aides are asked to be “thrifty and conscious of taxpayer dollars” and that Mr. Walz “knows the power of setting a good example.”
The 435 House offices typically return a total of about $1 million or $2 million a year, or less that 0..5% of the overall budget for office expenses, but the amount can vary widely. In 2006, for example, lawmakers returned just $36,549.
[…]
Overall in the House, disbursements were roughly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
[…]
(rest of story at URL)
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Obama: Time Running Out to Tackle Climate Change
President Barack Obama urged countries around the world on Friday to move promptly to combat global warming.
“We all know that time is running out,” Obama told a U.S.-style town hall meeting in the French city of Strasbourg. “America must do more, Europe must do more.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
President Obama’s Reframing of America Would Baffle the Founding Fathers
In fact, we are now so deep into government intervention that constitutional objections are summarily swept aside. The last Treasury secretary brought the nine largest banks into his office and informed them that henceforth he was their partner. His successor is seeking the power to seize any financial institution at his own discretion.
[…]
Obama has far different ambitions. His goal is to rewrite the American social compact, to recast the relationship between government and citizen. He wants government to narrow the nation’s income and anxiety gaps. Soak the rich for reasons of revenue and justice. Nationalize health care and federalize education to grant all citizens of all classes the freedom from anxiety about health care and college that the rich enjoy. And fund this vast new social safety net through the cash cow of a disguised carbon tax.
Obama is a leveler. He has come to narrow the divide between rich and poor. For him the ultimate social value is fairness. Imposing it upon the American social order is his mission.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Question Obama, You’re a Racist
It’s official.
If you question Barack Obama, you’re a racist.
If you think he should be held to the same standard as previous presidents and his opponent with regard to establishing constitutional eligibility to serve, you’re a racist.
If you draw critical cartoons of Obama in major U.S. daily newspapers, you’re a racist.
If you are concerned about the fact that he attended Jeremiah Wright’s church of hate for 20 years, you’re a racist.
If you wonder what values he absorbed as a child studying Islam in a foreign country, you’re a racist.
That’s what I learned from reading what purports to be a news story disseminated by the semi-official news service, the Associated Press, but more closely resembles a race-conscious screed you would expect to read in People’s Weekly World.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Should Obama Control the Internet?
By Steve Aquino
Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so. On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor-an arm of the executive branch that would have vast power to monitor and control Internet traffic to protect against threats to critical cyber infrastructure. That broad power is rattling some civil libertarians.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF) gives the president the ability to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any “critical” information network “in the interest of national security.” The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president.
The bill does not only add to the power of the president. It also grants the Secretary of Commerce “access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access.” This means he or she can monitor or access any data on private or public networks without regard to privacy laws.
Rockefeller made cybersecurity one of his key issues as a member of the Senate intelligence committee, which he chaired until last year. He now heads the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which will take up this bill.
“We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs-from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records-the list goes on,” Rockefeller said in a statement. Snowe echoed her colleague, saying, “if we fail to take swift action, we, regrettably, risk a cyber-Katrina.”
But the wide powers outlined in the Rockefeller-Snowe legislation has at least one Internet advocacy group worried. “The cybersecurity threat is real,” says Leslie Harris, head of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), “but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy.”
[…]
Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says that granting such power to the Commerce secretary could actually cause networks to be less safe. When one person can access all information on a network, “it makes it more vulnerable to intruders,” Granick says. “You’ve basically established a path for the bad guys to skip down.”
[…]
(full story, with embedded links, at URL)
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Sovereignty Stolen
Sovereignty means “supreme, independent authority. …” National sovereignty means “supreme, independent authority in government.” The United States bought its sovereignty with the blood of sovereign individuals who laid down their lives so this nation could be free from the dictates and demands of another nation.
The United States joined the community of nations as a sovereign nation. Over time, however, little by little, this sovereignty has been stolen.
Article 2 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea declares: “The sovereignty over the territorial sea is exercised subject to this Convention and to other rules of international law.” This treaty, if ratified, will steal a little sovereignty from the United States.
A little sovereignty was stolen by the North American Free Trade Agreement, by Article 511, which requires that each member nation conform its laws to NAFTA’s uniform regulations within 180 days of the issuance of regulations. These NAFTA regulations are issued by non-elected bureaucrats. Their power to compel the United States to change its laws is the usurpation — or theft — of national sovereignty.
Is the New World Order just an invention of parnoid conspiracists? Find out in “Hope of the Wicked: Master Plan to Rule the World”
The U.N.-funded Commission on Global Governance declared in 1995 that national “sovereignty has to be exercised collectively.”
There is no such thing as “collective” sovereignty. Sovereignty is “supreme and independent authority,” or it is not sovereignty. A nation that exercises its sovereignty “collectively” is not a sovereign nation, but a member of a collective government that exercises authority over the members of the collective.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Supremes Asked to Cooperate With FBI
Attorney investigating Obama’s eligibility reports cyber attacks
A lawyer investigating the eligibility of Barack Obama to be president under the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that the office be occupied only by a “natural born” citizen is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to cooperate with an FBI investigation into alleged cyber crimes connected to her work.
In a letter addressed yesterday to Chief Justice John Roberts, the associate justices, the Secret Service and others, California lawyer Orly Taitz, who is working on a number of eligibility cases through the Defend Our Freedoms Foundation, wrote, “I hope that the Supreme Court will show proper cooperation in investigation of such crimes by the FBI and other agencies and I request a letter of cooperation to that extent.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Court More Dangerous Than Merely ‘Federal’
ECHR Lord Hoffman, the second most senior Law Lord, was right in his accusation this week that the European Court of Human Rights has been ‘aggrandising its jurisdiction,’ over-riding the decisions of domestic courts and attempting to impose uniform rules on states. He said the court — set up in Strasbourg in 1959 as part of the post-war Council of Europe — should not be allowed to intervene in the detail of Britain’s law, nor in the details of the law of any other state.
Lord Hoffman was all quite right, until he got to his charge that the court is trying to lay down a ‘federal law of Europe.’ If only that were all it is doing. What the court is up to is far, far worse than that. It is trying for a ‘centralised’ law of Europe: by its decisions, it appears to be trying to establish that there is no area of the law of the member states in which it cannot interfere.
At least in a federal system — if by federal system, one takes as an example the United States — the constitution lays down powers reserved to the states and the congress with which the court may not meddle, and to which it is subject.
For example, the appellate jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court allows the court to hear cases on appeal from lower federal courts and from the highest state courts — much as the European Court of Human Rights hears cases appealed from courts in Britain. But the constitution limits the Supreme Court’s power to hear cases on appeal by any ‘exceptions and regulations’ the Congress may choose to impose. Indeed, the Congress has the power to withhold all appellate jurisdiction from the Supreme Court, if it decides to.
In fact, in the midst of one famous appeal to the Supreme Court, ex parte McCardle in 1868, Congress actually repealed the act which allowed the appeal. The case was halted even as it was being decided.
Then of course there is the ultimate congressional power of removal of Supreme Court justices by impeachment and trial. This has never happened, but there have been a few close-run episodes.
The Westminster parliament has no such powers, nor indeed any powers at all, over the judges in Strasbourg. That makes the court far worse than ‘federal.’
So why is Lord Hoffman, a man no doubt as careful with words as any senior barrister, talking about ‘federal’ law? It goes back to one of Mrs Thatcher’s wobbly moments in the 1980s. Even in warning about the increase in European Union power, she could not bring herself to admit she was capitulating in the shift of Britain towards a centralised European state. So she warned instead about a growing ‘federal’ state — knowing, no doubt, that most British really don’t know the difference, and anyway ‘federal’ seemed less dangerous (that is, USA-style) than ‘centralised’ (USSR politburo-style).
The word entered the debate about powers shifting to Europe, and there it stays, seeping even into an otherwise excellent lecture by Lord Hoffman.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Council of Britain Accuses UK MP of Defamation
The leader of the largest Muslim organization in Britain vowed Friday to take the secretary of state for communities in the UK government to court for defamation after she accused him of inciting violence against Jews and British troops.
Dr. Dawud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said he will sue Hazel Blears, secretary of state for communities, for vilifying him in the media after talks between the cabinet minister and MCB on Friday did not resolve their differences.
“Blears defamed me when she claimed I called for an attacks on Jews all over the world,” Abdullah told AlArabiya.net. “That kind of defamation is upping the stakes and I feel obliged to defend myself in a legal manner against such serious and defamatory allegations,” he said adding that he hoped the matter would be resolved after he responded to Blears’ accusations in a letter to the Guardian.
Members of the Muslim Council of Britain also criticized Blears’ campaign against Abdullah saying it threatened the relationship between the Muslim community and the UK government. Abdullah’s lawyers accused Blears of adopting “an extraordinary and malicious interpretation,” of the Istanbul Declaration Abdullah signed this year in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Seeking damages
Abdullah explained he and MCB have taken all steps to de-escalate the crisis and that the UK government persisted despite a series of meetings and discussions the latest of which was one on Friday when MCB concluded it must seek damages.
“We have explained all our concerns and have met with parliamentarians to move on. But the government has tried to publicly humiliate me. A government which tries to suppress discussion of such views by the kind of crude bullying to which Hazel Blears unfortunately stoops will have little moral support, not only in the Muslim community, but in wider society,” Abdullah said and added that the government’s ongoing pressure was a “classical colonial attitude” towards oppositional voices within society.
The deputy’s lawyers warned Blears that unless she issues a retraction and apology by April 15 they will issue proceedings for libel.
“Legitimate concern”
However, a spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government defended the department’s actions, saying that Blears had “legitimate concern” over the content of the declaration which Abdullah signed along with 90 Muslim leaders.
“We have been in dialogue with the MCB since 6 March seeking clarification of the actions taken by Dr Abdullah in relation to the serious issues raised by the articles in the Istanbul declaration,” the spokeswoman told AlArabiya.net. “We are concerned with those articles which appear to call for violence and Dr Abdullah’s repeated unwillingness to distance himself from those articles specifically.”
The minister said the declaration supported violence against foreign troops, including British naval forces and advocated “attacks on Jewish communities all around the world.”
One of the articles in the declaration at the center of contention calls upon the “Islamic Nation” to regard the Zionist regime and the institutions and individuals who support it as partners in crimes against humanity.
The other article obliges the “Islamic Nation” to oppose foreign warships and troops claiming to control the borders of Muslim lands and safeguard Muslim waters and to fight it “by all means and ways,” the article stated.
“I do not advocate attacks on any religious community, including Jewish communities, and I do not advocate attacks on British military forces. What I do advocate is the right of all British citizens to agree or disagree with government policy and to use all lawful means to democratically make their voices heard,” was Abdullah’s explanation of his position.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Roman Police Find Sewer Children
Italian police have found more than 100 immigrants, including 24 Afghan children, living in the sewer system beneath railway stations in Rome.
The children range in age from 10 to 15 years and are now being looked after by the city’s social services.
They were found when the railway police followed up reports of children living near the city’s stations.
The police say they do not speak Italian and broke into the sewers by removing manhole covers.
The charity Save the Children Italy says that more than 1,000 unaccompanied children arrived in Rome last year from various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
[…]
Police said the Afghan children appeared to have arrived in the Italian capital as stowaways on board trailer trucks arriving from Turkey and Greece.
Some children were sleeping at night in sewers under the railway station to shelter from the cold, police said…
[full story at URL]
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The Politics of Demonization
When the media keep repeating that someone is beyond the pale, some people are bound to believe them. Recent events show that radicals will even try to kill people who have been demonized in this manner. Perhaps that is the goal behind the policy of demonization: to neutralize one’s potential adversaries and to remove the people’s democratically elected representatives.
Recently, we are being confronted with the bizarre phenomenon of defenders of Western freedoms, including Jews, being demonized as “Nazis,” while subsequently Nazi methods are used to eliminate them. The authorities, meanwhile, do not come to the aid of the victims since the latter are “Nazis.” On the contrary, sometimes the authorities even praise the aggressors for their vigilance and their “intolerance” in the fight against “Nazism.” The Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn fell victim to this, so has his successor Geert Wilders and the Vlaams Belang party in Belgium, as has the German civil movement “Pro,” and many others.
As people generally tend to believe the media and mainstream politicians, events in Europe show how easy it is for violent activists to gain general approval for their use of Nazi methods against enemies whom they first demonize as “Nazis,” “racists” or “far-right extremists” who are “beyond the pale.” In this context the word “Nazi” no longer has any real meaning, so that the term is now also used against Jews wearing skullcaps and against the State of Israel. Indeed, the Israeli flag has already been compared to the Nazi flag, the cross of David to the swastika, the methods of the IDF to those of the SS. This language serves a clear purpose, to demonize Israel and justify the use of Nazi methods against it. Today, those who are branded as Nazis know that they are being singled out for annihiliation. Just as, 7 years ago, Mr. Fortuyn was annihilated in the Netherlands.
Pim Fortuyn predicted his own death…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Deputy Leader of Muslim Group to Sue Government in Row Over Extremism
The deputy leader of Britain’s leading Muslim group is suing the Government for defamation in an extremism row which could cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Dr Daud Abdullah, deputy secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, has sent a solicitor’s letter to Communities Secretary Hazel Blears demanding a ‘substantial’ payout or he will drag the Government to court.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Family in 11th-Hour Legal Battle to Halt Brothers’ Adoption by Gay Couple
Two young brothers face adoption by a gay couple despite the desperate protests of their mother, grandparents and extended family.
The grandparents, an aunt and an uncle have all offered to give the boys, aged six and nine, a loving home but they say social workers have turned them down without explanation.
In the past few days the boys were introduced to the male couple in preparation for a formal adoption next month. But yesterday, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind, the children’s middle-class family began an 11th-hour legal battle to halt the adoption.
[…]
The brothers have been in foster care for two years. Social workers began to monitor their mother when she suffered post-natal depression after the birth of her first son though there is no suggestion that she has harmed or neglected the children.
The boys were placed on the ‘at risk’ register four years later after her husband hit her. Social workers claimed the 38-year-old mother had allowed them to be ‘emotionally harmed’ because one of the boys witnessed his father physically abusing her.
The couple later separated and the mother took out an injunction to stop her estranged husband coming to the family home. However, she relented and agreed to let him see his sons. When this was discovered, social workers took the children into care in March 2007.
She says: ‘The boys kept saying they missed their father. I made a mistake by letting him back to see them. But that does not mean I should lose my sons for ever.’
[…]
In what the family claim is ‘bullying and blackmail’, Somerset social workers apparently warned the mother — before she knew the sex of the couple involved — that she must agree to the adoption quickly or the boys might have to go to different homes because of a shortage of adoptive parents. She reluctantly consented because she felt her sons should be kept together.
Weeping, she said: ‘I would love to look after the boys myself and think I am quite capable, especially with the support of my family.
‘I was dismayed to find they are going to a single-sex couple. Social workers just dumped the truth on me. I was called to their office about the adoption procedures, and they said the boys’ new parents would be a single-sex couple.’
Although the Daily Mail may not identify the boys, the social workers openly advertised them for adoption in an internet magazine, Be My Parent, where it is thought the gay couple saw them.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hate Preacher Abu Qatada Smuggles Out Jihadist Rallying Cry From High-Security British Jail
Extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word statement to his followers from inside one of Britain’s high security prisons.
The letter was reportedly smuggled out of Long Lartin high-security jail, Worcestershire, and is circulating on jihadi websites.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pupils to Learn About Druids, Moonies and Rastafarians for New Religious Studies Gcse
The teachings and rituals of druids, Moonies and Rastafarians will all be included in a new religious studies GCSE.
Atheism and humanism will also feature strongly — the first time they have formed a major part of a GCSE religion syllabus.
Pupils taking the course will spend relatively little time on the Bible and other holy texts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Croatia and Albania Join Today
(ANSAmed) — ROME, APRIL 1 — As of today, with the entrance of Albania and Croatia, the number of Nato states has risen to 28. The two Balkan countries became new members after submitting the application papers to Washington as stipulated by Nato procedures. The Croatian and Albanian ambassadors took the step during a formal ceremony that took place in Washington. Yesterday Nato’s general secretary Jeep de Hoop Scheffer had formally invited the countries. Albania and Croatia will join the Nato table as new members on occasion of the summit that will be held in Strasbourg on April 4. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain-Morocco: Algeciras to Become EU Development Program HQ
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 3 — The city of Algeciras will host the offices of the joint technical secretariat of the European development programme between Spain and Morocco. The announcement was made by the vice president and councillor of the presidency of the Andalusian Council, Gaspar Zarrias, quoted today in the media. The programme, which was recently approved by the EC pursuant to the request submitted by the Andalusian Council and by the Spanish government, falls into the policy of cross-border cooperation which will assist in the setting up (up to 2013) of projects in areas border areas of Andalucia and Gibraltar with northern Morocco relative to territorial connections, youth education, immigrant integration, environmental sustainability and cultural dialogue. The secretariat’s offices in Algeciras should become operational in the next few months and will have the responsibility of setting up and managing the progress of projects linked to the cross-border cooperation programme between Spain and Morocco and of delivering necessary technical support. A 17.3 million euros investment has been provided for the first year of operations, 75% of which will be financed by the European Union and the remaining 25% by the Andalusian Council. Any project developed in Morocco will be partially financed by the Moroccan government. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Religious Tensions Against Bahais in Southern Village
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 2 APR — In the latest outburst of religious tensions in Egypt, angry villagers rampaged through Sharoniyah, in southern Egypt setting fire to and damaging four Bahai homes. This happened on Monday and Tuesday, Al Arabija reported today quoting AFP. The villagers also threatened the village’s roughly 30 Bahais with death, after which all of them fled. Police have detained six people in relation to the attacks. Earlier this month Egypt’s ruling party agreed to allow Bahais to refrain from filling in the religion section on their identity cards and the government announced it was mulling the possibility of removing the religion section for all Egyptians. The arson attacks were the culmination of unrest that began with stone throwing immediately after a Bahai named Ahmed called a television talk show that was discussing the religious minority on Saturday night. Ahmed described the village as ‘full of Bahais,’ which showed that Egypt’s around 2,000 Bahais are not just a minority in Cairo. Several human rights organizations denounced the ‘criminal aggression’ against the sect and called on the authorities to prosecute those responsible. Sectarian tensions run high in Egypt, with sporadic violence erupting between Muslims and Coptic Christians, but reports of anti-Bahai violence are rare. A column in the state-owned al-Gomhuriyah newspaper said on Tuesday that the Bahais, whose world headquarters are in Haifa, Israel, are connected to “world Zionism.” Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817 in Iran, the last prophet sent by God. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism: Algeria, Emir Belmokhtar Reappears in Sahara
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, APRIL 1 — After months of silence, and rumours that he was on the verge of surrender, the man considered to be at the head of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Emir Moktar Belmokhtar, has reappeared. His influence is mainly in the Saharan region of Algeria, but with ever stronger ties to Mali, the Niger and Libya. According to local press which cited security forces, the Algerian army prevented the sale of a large number of weapons in the Ouargla region in southern Algeria on Monday, which were destined for Belmokhtar’s group. About forty terrorists, led by the emir arrived from Libya in a convoy of off-road vehicles, and were taken by surprise south of Ouargla, where they were supposed to meet a Nigerian arms trafficker, El Hadj. Despite the use of helicopters, the group managed to escape. A former fighter in the armed wing of Fis (Islamic Salvation front) and AIS (armed wing of FIS), he has been wanted by the security forces since 1993 and currently directs most of the arms trafficking arriving from sub-Saharan Africa destined for armed groups active in the region. Some people say that Amar Laouar, alias Belmokhtar, accused of abducting 32 western tourists (Germans, Swiss, Dutch, Austrian) in the Sahara in February 2003 amongst other crimes, is implicated in the sezure of the two Canadian diplomats, Robert Fowler, UN Special envoy for the Niger and his colleague Louis Gay, and four European tourists (two Swiss, one German and a British man) who are still in the hands of the Maghreb al Qaeda. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel-USA: Hillary Clinton Calls Lieberman
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, APRIL 2 — USA Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has today telephoned the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, to congratulate him on his appointment. The news was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that the two have agreed to meet as soon as possible. Yesterday, in his first statements since his appointment, Lieberman said that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government did not consider itself to be bound by the Annapolis agreement which provides for the creation and co-existence of two states for the Israeli and Palestinian populations, triggering an immediate negative reaction from Palestinian National Authority president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Lieberman Questioned by Police for Seven Hours
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, APRIL 2 — Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was today interrogated by police for over seven hours in connection with suspected corruption and money laundering. The announcement came from police spokesperson, Micky Rosenfeld, who stated that the minister “was questioned under oath for seven and a half hours in connection with suspected corruption, money-laundering and breach of trust”. The interrogation came as part of an inquiry into Lieberman that has been going on for some years. He was to have been interrogated before the latest elections, but investigators decided to postpone the questioning to avoid interference with the electoral process.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: ‘Peace Partner’: We Chopped Up Jewish Boy
Takes credit for ax murder, while Israeli media blames ‘unknown assailant’
A top leader of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization called WND today to claim responsibility for the ax murder of a 13-year-old Jewish boy yesterday.
Much of the Israeli media, however, is claiming the attack was perpetrated by an unknown assailant.
[…]
Asked by WND for comment, Abbas’ office refused to condemn the attack.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jenin: Conductor Expelled After Playing in Israel
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 1 — The conductor of a Palestinian youth orchestra from Jenin, who ten days ago irritated local authorities by performing with her orchestra in Israel for some survivors of the Shoah, has been detained and expelled from the West Bank, Israeli online press sites report today. The musician, Wafa Yunis, an Israeli Arab, was detained this morning in a refugee camp in Jenin, where the orchestra she helped found while giving classes is based. Three armed men took her away and told her she would be expelled from the West Bank and accompanied to the Israeli border. Wafa Yunis’s orchestra played a few days ago in the Israeli town of Holon, during a small local event supported by pacifists and a philanthropic businesswoman. The group performed in front of a few dozen people including ten elderly women, survivors of the Holocaust. The Jenin-based leaders of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) protested against the performance. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lieberman: Israel Not Bound by Annapolis
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM — The new Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has confirmed today that Israel does not consider itself tied to the Annapolis agreements for a Palestinian State. According to a government spokesman, Lieberman also said that Israel considers itself bound to honour the peace itinerary negotiated by the Quartet. Israel is not bound by the Annapolis agreements in as far as they have not been ratified by the government, said the spokesman. Lieberman made these statements during a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry for the formal handover from his precedessor Tzipi Livni. The statements immediately caused the reaction of PNA. A spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has asked the United States to “oppose the positions expressed by Lieberman on the Palestinian State”. Nabil Abu Rdaina stated that the USA must object to the stance adopted by the new Israeli government, according to which Israel does not feel bound by the Annapolis agreement for a Palestinian State. Nabil Abu Rdainah said: “This is a challenge to the international community and to the United States which adopted the two-State solution. The USA must make a clear stand against this policy before things deteriorate. The international community must respond to these provocations which undermine the region’s stability and security”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: April Fools: the Terror War is Over
What do you have when you host a meeting of the U.N., EU and Iran? You have a conference of liberals, lunatics and liars.
Who would have believed when Barack Obama announced he would meet with Iran without preconditions, he would actually approve an invitation to representatives for the world terror forum in The Hague? At the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton called Obama’s plan “naïve” and “irresponsible.”
What exactly should the secretary of state now say to Iran whose proxies have killed American troops in Iraq and Jews in Israel: “Let’s be friends”? How exactly can a terror state support the government of Afghanistan and shape a better future for that country and its people?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Christians Attacked, Killed in Iraq
Believers facing ‘ethno-religious cleansing’
The murder of four Christians across Iraq in just two days is raising concern among churches there that a religious cleansing is returning.
According to International Christian Concern, the Christians were attacked and killed in Baghdad and Kirkuk.
“Though the perpetrators of the murders are not yet indicated, Islamic fundamentalists, criminal gangs and other armed groups have been behind attacks agaist Christians in Iraq in the past,” said the organization, which works with members of the persecuted church around the globe.
[…]
Archbishop Louis Sako told the organization that 750 Christians have been murdered in the past five years, and tens of thousands have fled because of the threat of danger.
ICC estimates that half of about 1.2 million Iraqi Christians have abandoned their homes in recent years, many of them fleeing to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Islamic-Christian Celebration to Honour the Virgin Mary, Symbol of National Unity
On the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation, Lebanon’s government launches a joint Christian-Muslim celebration in honour of Mary who is venerated in both communities. In the square in front of Lebanon’s National Museum a statue of Our Lady will be erected surrounded by a crescent. The initiative might be extended to other countries.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — Tomorrow 25 March will be the first “Islamic-Christian Day” in honour of the Virgin Mary, L’Orient-Le Jour reports today in an article signed by Fady Noun, who notes that the new festivity will fall on the Feast of the Annunciation of Mary according to the Christian liturgical calendar.
“Together around Mary, Our Lady,” is the title chosen for the celebration, which will be more of a national event than a religious one. At present it is not a statutory holiday but it could become one in “the near future, in addition to traditional celebrations of the Annunciation.”
“It will make the Virgin Mary, who is revered by Muslims and Christians alike, a factor of unity among Lebanese of every faith,” the French-language daily wrote.
The final decision, which was three years in the making, came on 13 March in a meeting of the Lebanese cabinet.
The idea of making the Virgin Mary a symbol of a joint Christian-Muslim celebration came to Sheikh Mohammad Nokkari, general secretary of Dar el-Fatwa, or ‘House of Decree”, during Annunciation celebrations at Jamhour College.
Emir Hare’s Chehab and Mohammad Sammak, who co-chair the Islamic-Christian National Dialogue Committee, welcomed the initiative as did Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Beirut Mayor Abdel-Monhem Ariss responded positively to a demand by the initiative’s promoters to erect a statue of Mary in front of Lebanon’s National Museum. The square where the statue will be located is actually a major intersection and might be renamed in honour of the Virgin Mary. The statue itself would “reproduce a stylised Virgin Mary surrounded by a crescent moon,” Islam’s symbol par excellence.
A religious ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow in the chapel of Our Lady College in Jamhour, during which “Christians and Muslims will be able to pray together to the Virgin Mary.”
In addition to prayers, there will be songs, psalms, sacred music, testimonials, readings, as well as audio and video tapes.
Sheikh Amr Khaled, one of the Arab world’s most important preachers, will attend the ceremony. Mgr Salim Ghazal, chairman of the Commission for Islamic-Christian dialogue of the Assembly of Maronite Patriarchs and Bishops, will also be there.
Organisers, according to the Lebanese paper, hope that their “initiative will lead to more.
Contacts have already been made so that next year “similar ceremonies could be held in six other countries, namely Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Poland, Italy and France.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Local Elections Highlight Turkey’s Contradictions
Erdogan’s ruling party loses votes because of a campaign marked by arrogance, Kurdish and Alevi disillusionment over unfulfilled promises and fears over the Islamisation of Turkish society. Now the prime minister could reshuffle his cabinet or create a new party.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) — In spite of a high turnout, recent local elections in Turkey did not radically change the positions of the various parties. They did never the less put a break on the growth of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). And in so doing they highlighted the country’s many contradictions. Let us see how.
First of all, even if it dropped to 38.7 per cent of the total vote, the AKP remains the largest party in the country, the only one present in every region and whose support is equal to the two runner-ups combined, i..e. the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), both of which managed to increase their share of the vote.
The party of Prime Minister Erdogan also remains the major political force in the most industrialised areas of the country, which have been hard hit by the economic crisis and rising unemployment.
As many Turkish analysts have pointed out these elections seem to confirm that Erdogan’s arrogant campaign is the cause of the AKP’s drop in popularity. Since Turks tend to be reticent voters, shying away from arrogant leaders, they have a habit of punishing them at the ballot box.
What is more, surveys indicate that about 70 per cent of voters are more likely to be swayed by appeals to emotion than logic.
When Erdogan faced off the Dogan media conglomerate, which is in the Kemalist camp, he came across as arrogant, and gave his adversaries ample opportunity to play this up, which probably cost him many votes. And among diplomatic circles, this election constitutes a first victory by Turkey’s old establishment.
But Erdogan equally lost the battle for support among Kurds and Anatolia’s Alevi. By taking 99 municipalities in Anatolia the Democratic Society Party (DTP), “took back votes on loan,” said DTP chairman Ahmet Turk, because of voter “disillusionment and broken promises”
The election, according to pro-government newspaper Sabah, also sowed “confusion” in the ranks of the AKP and this despite the party’s overtures, the creation of a Kurdish-language TV channel (TRT 6) and the success in solving some outstanding crimes in these areas.
The rise of the MHP, a nationalist party which controls the Grey Wolves, is food for thought. Thanks to a methodical and systematic campaign, the MHP was able to present itself as the only centre-right alternative to the Islamists, drawing support among college students, who are fearful of the AKP and are unhappy with the CHP. As young Turks experience an identity crisis many find refuge in the nationalist ideals that were instilled in school and which brook no alternative to unadulterated Turkishness.
The growth of another Islamist party, the Felicity or Saadet Party (SP) of Necmettin Erbakan, which took 5 per cent of the vote, especially in the poorest areas, and which replaced the Welfare Party in which current Prime Minister Erdogan began his political career, shows two things. First, the vote signals dissatisfaction among some AKP supporters that Erdogan and the AKP have become too secularised. Secondly, it also indicates that Turkey’s Islam is not radical.
Still when the next round of parliamentary elections takes place, protest voters will come home to the AKP since under Turkey’s electoral law parties need 10 per cent of the nation-wide vote to elect members of parliament.
But there is another factor that must be taken into consideration, namely what Hurriyet calls the culture of the coast, in reference to the coastal region along the Aegean Sea, an area still imbued with memories of a bygone era when the West was at home here, whose residents still cling onto that lifestyle. Cities along Turkey’s Aegean coastline have in fact resisted the AKP, fearful of the creeping Islamisation of Turkish society.
The question now is, what Erdogan will do?
The prime minister himself did not rule a cabinet shuffle. But for pro-government Today’s Zaman the government’s agenda is clear; it must accelerate reforms and pursue certain priorities, liking finding a solution to the Kurdish question, disarm the PKK, re-open the border with Armenia, find a way out of the impasse in Cyprus, seek a custom union with Europe to speed up talks with the European Union, and abolish Article 35 of the Turkish Armed Forces Internal Service Act which stipulates that the Turkish Armed Forces are responsible for “guarding and defending the Turkish republic as defined by the constitution.”
From all this it is clear that the old cleavage in Turkish society still obtains. As in the past the political arena is divided between Turkish Islamists (who are different from their Arab and Middle Eastern counterparts) and Turkish nationalists, as diplomatic analysts have observed.
In light of this situation, Erdogan has another card to play, an old dream of his, namely create a new party that brings together Islamists and nationalists with a neo-Ottoman model in the background.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Entertainment Banned at Women’s Charity Events
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 2 APR — A official decree by Saudi Arabia has banned all forms of entertainment at women’s charity events, according to press reports quoted by Al Arabiya website. The Ministry of Social Affairs issued an urgent decree banning music, dancing, singing, and fashion shows at events held by women’s charitable organizations, which make up 16 percent of the kingdom’s 500 organizations, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported Thursday. The decree came on the heels of the first fashion show, part of a designer contest for women, held in the kingdom last week. Besides entertainment, the decree stipulates that all activities that contradict customs and traditions are banned. Fashion shows are only allowed if the clothes are displayed on mannequins, but no human models. The ministry assigned its officials in each of the kingdom’s 13 provinces the task of reviewing and authorizing all events organized by charitable associations and making sure the program does not include any banned activities. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Erdogan’s Words in Davos Hit Israeli Tourist Booking
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 2 — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh words aimed at the Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos meeting, hit hard Israeli tourism arrivals, Hurriyet daily reports today. “Thousands of Israeli tourists who usually come at the start of the season to Aegean sea resort of Bodrum, in Southwestern region of Turkey, have canceled flights and bookings”, sector experts, said, adding that “some 40 flights from Israel to Turkey have been canceled as Israeli tourists have started to prefer Greek Crete island and the Bulgarian city of Varna”. “After the Davos incident we thought there would not be a sharp decline, but the developments in the last few weeks are a shock”, a tour operator bringing Israeli tourists to Turkey, said, complaining that “we are paying the price for Erdogan’s anger; so far there are only 15 bookings from Israel”. “This year we expect a 70% decline in our income from Israeli tourists, which stood at $1.3 million last year; while the world is struggling with the global crisis, we have created our own crisis”, another tour operator declared. (ANSAmed).
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Turkey: Gul’s Iraq Visit Breathes New Life in Ottoman Model
Bilateral issues, starting with terrorism, are at the centre of talks between Gul and Talabani. Pressures are on Turkey to participate in Erbil conference on Kurdish question. Moderate Islamist AKP is seen as a new Ottoman model, reconciling Muslims to parliamentarism and shielding against extremist temptations.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) — For the first time in 33 years a Turkish head of state has visited Iraq. Under tight security President Abdullah Gul began an official visit to Turkey’s southern neighbour, an event that has generated widespread interest in the Turkish media and highlighted Ankara’s newfound role in the Middle East and the Islamic world, renewing a tradition that goes back to Ottoman times.
In their meetings Gul and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, (pictured) focused on bilateral issues like transport, energy and the fight against terrorism.
President Gul also insisted that terrorism and bloodshed must stop and Iraq’s territorial integrity must be protected. Only when Turkey and Iraq fully cooperate can the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which is fighting for independence in south-eastern Turkey, be stopped, a responsibility that falls on the Kurdistan regional administration in northern Iraq.
On this score Gul is optimistic that the goal can be achieved.
President Talabani acknowledged that the PKK does influence Turkish-Iraqi relations. He too believes that the Kurdish Workers’ Party must lay down its guns or leave Iraq.
Turkey for its part will support an upcoming conference on the Kurdish question set for April in Ebril (northern Iraq) so long as the PPK is not invited.
A three-way debate is currently underway between Ankara, Baghdad and certainly Washington, with the latter trying its best to get the Turks to attend the conference.
Masoud Barzani, who is the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, was not present at the talks between Gul and Talabani.
Whatever the immediate outcome of these talks, Gul’s visit highlights Turkey’s new role in the Middle East, which precedes the new US administration taking office.
According to the Radikal newspaper, which cited Arab sources, Turkey under the government of moderate Islamist ‘Justice and Development Party’ (AKP) represents a new Ottoman model, in which Islamists play the card of parliamentary politics and provide a shield against any extremist temptations.
It is no accident that last Saturday, 21 March, Nowruz (Kurdish New Year), President Gul inaugurated Avaz, a new Turkish channel broadcasting in various Turkic dialects spoken in some 30 countries in the Balkans, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
On 1 April, a day before US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Turkey, broadcasting in Armenian and Kurdish will also begin.
Many observers in Istanbul’s diplomatic and media circles are saying that the Kemalist model, based on ethnic homogeneity, is being quietly replaced by one founded on the country’s Islamic heritage, a kind of soft-core Turkish republicanism; at least for now.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: US Plans $3 Bln Military Boost for Pakistan: Report
The US Defense Department has a three billion dollar plan to train and equip Pakistan’s military over the next five years, US media reported Friday.
The funds would pay for helicopters, night-vision goggles and other equipment and counterinsurgency training for Pakistan’s special operations forces and Frontier Corps paramilitary troops, the New York Times said.
It quoted Pentagon officials as saying up to 500 million dollars could come from a yearly emergency war budget that President Barack Obama’s administration is to present to Congress next week.
[…]
“There hasn’t been an audit trail, and there haven’t been accountability measures put in place, and there needs to be for all the funds,” Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Times’s editorial board.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shocking Video of Screaming Woman Being Flogged Shakes Pakistan
Pakistani authorities ordered inquiries Friday into a video showing the public flogging of a screaming woman in a northwestern valley where officials have yielded to Taliban demands for Islamic law.
A militant spokesman defended the punishment, fueling a furor that cast more doubt on a creaking peace deal in the Swat valley that U.S. officials fear has created another haven for allies of al-Qaida.
Officials vowed to introduce impose Islamic law, or Shariah, in Swat in February to halt 18 months of terror and bloody fighting between militants and security forces that killed hundreds of people.
Shariah has not yet formally been introduced and provincial officials say that, in any case, they would not condone such whippings or the harsh brand of Islamic law practiced under Afghanistan’s former Taliban rule. But the video provided a reminder of how hardliners in control of much of valley intrepret Islamic strictures.
Though it was unclear when and where the video was shot, it was believed to have been taken with a mobile phone in the Swat valley. It was broadcast widely Friday on Dunya TV and other Pakistani television stations.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s Prime Minister Dubbed ‘Kevin Rude’ After He Makes Air Stewardess Cry Over ‘No Meat’ Meal
Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd reduced a flight attendant to tears with a torrent of abuse.
Mr Rudd, known for his swearing rants, lost his temper when the 23-year-old said his special meal, with no red meat, was not available.
The attendant burst into tears and reported the incident to senior crew on the Royal Australian Air Force Boeing 737 flight from Papua New Guinea.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ethiopia, an Astonishing Christianity on African Soil
An exhibition in Venice sheds light on a Church that is almost unknown in the rest of the world, and yet is numerous and flourishing, with extremely ancient origins and strong Jewish traits. “Dark and lovely,” like the queen of Sheba
ROMA, March 18, 2009 — On the eve of Benedict XVI’s trip to Cameroon and Angola, in Italy for the first time a major exhibition has been opened on another region of Christian Africa, Ethiopia, with icons, illustrated manuscripts, crosses, sculptures, paintings of evocative beauty, never before shown to the public.
The title of the exhibition is: “Nigra sum sed formosa,” I am dark but lovely. These words from the Song of Songs are traditionally seen in reference to the queen of Sheba, the progenitor of Ethiopia in the national epic poem “Kebra Negast,” the glory of kings.
In the poem, which in part coincides with the biblical book of Kings, the queen of Sheba visits King Solomon in Jerusalem, and conceives a child with him. With her, Judaism set down roots in Ethiopia.
But the queen of Sheba also has a prominent place in Christian art and tradition. It is told how during her visit to Jerusalem, seized by prophetic intuition, she knelt in front of the wood of the bridge in the pool of Siloam, the wood destined one day to become the cross of Jesus.
The exhibition is being hosted in Venice, the city that especially in the 15th century had a close relationship with that faraway African kingdom.
This nation and its Christianity are still remote today. Most people are unaware of them. Ethiopia is one of the very few countries in the world in which not even a traveling pope like John Paul II ever set foot.
The exhibition therefore marks an end of isolation. Finally, attention is turning to this astonishing Christianity on African soil…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Man Claims in Video to be US Jihadist in Somalia
A man who calls himself an American promotes holy war in Somalia in a video posted this week on an Islamic militant Web site.
A US government contractor who tracks extremist propaganda says the footage is the first to show what may be an American with a senior role in al-Shabab, a Somali group the State Department considers a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Special Work Permits for Zimbabweans in South Africa
The government of South Africa has decided to hand six month residence permits to all migrants from Zimbabwe, who, in many cases, are looking for work, which is in scarce supply in their country. Jackie MacKay, general director of the immigration dept. in the ministry of the interior, the South African government hopes to use this policy to cut the number of asylum seekers while also contributing to the neighboring country’s economic growth. “Many Zimbabweans — said MacKay to BBC — are not asylum seekers, rather they are economic migrants: they arrive here to work and then return home with a bit of money. We ask that the disposition of the government favor the flow of foreign currency into Zimbabwe and that it contribute the reconstruction of this country”. In the past years, millions of Zimbabwean citizens have crossed the border in search of opportunities for work in the wake of a disastrous economic policies launched by the government, particularly as far as the production of food is concerned — even though Zimbabwe used to be one of Afrioca’s leading food producers until a few years ago. This situation could change on account of the installation of a national unity government that has promised to focus on economic issues, unemployment and the shortage of food products. During the week, the Zimbabwean government has asked the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to approve a tri-annual EUR 6.5 billion economic plan that could be achieved also thanks to international creditors.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Euro-MPs: No Special Classes in Europe’s Schools
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 2 — No special classes; teaching the language not only of the host country, but also that of the country of origin; more immigrant teachers. These are some of the key points in a report approved today at the European Parliament on the integration of young immigrants in Europe’s schools. According to the Euro-MPs, it is necessary to “avoid creating schools like ghettos or special classes for the children of immigrants” and to support a policy whereby children are assigned to classes according to their individual needs. Noting that the level of education of the children of immigrants “is markedly inferior to that of others”, the report stresses the need to ensure the teaching of the official languages of the host country, but also the chance to introduce lessons for the teaching of native languages in syllabuses. More room, then, for immigrant teachers, as “they offer their colleagues an important experience” and constitute an positive example of integration for the children. The Parliament also called on the Commission to tackle the consequences for education systems of member states, not just of internal EU migration but also of immigration into the EU. The report, which was presented by Finnish MP, Hannu Takkula, of the Liberal Democrats, received 431 votes in favour and 55 against with 94 abstentions. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Minister, Southern Border Uncontrollable
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, APRIL 2 — The Libyan Foreign Minister, Moussa Kusa, said today that the “real problem in Libya regarding illegal immigration” is the “uncontrollable” 4,000 kilometre southern border, reported the Italian Minister of Economic Development, Claudio Scajola, after a meeting with Kusa during his visit to Libya. “Libya wants to respect the agreements for controlling the Mediterranean coast, but in order to obtain concrete results, they are waiting for the agreement on coastal patrols signed with Italy to become operational”, Scajola said, reporting that Libya has held for some time that the fundamental problem remains control over the southern border to stop the influx of illegal immigrants from other African countries. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Two Large Boats Rescued Off Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), APRIL 3 — Last night Sirio, an Italian naval ship, rescued two large boats off the coast of Lampedusa with 140 migrants on board. The boat, which was adrift 60 miles off the coast in international waters, contained 80 illegal immigrants, including 56 women, 17 minors, an infant. Two dead bodies were also found on board the boat. Later, at dawn, the naval vessel went to the rescue of 60 non-EU citizens one and a half miles from Lampedusa. All 140 migrants, in line with Interior Ministry provisions, will all be transferred to Porto Empedocle. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Vendola Calls for Abolition of Immigrants-Only Buses
Regional president’s anger at separate terminals and services.
MILAN — From next Monday, there will be two number 24 bus lines in Foggia, one for local residents and the other for immigrants. Both will leave from the city centre and both will go to the same destination, Borgo Mezzanone. But the buses and stops will be completely different, as will the terminals. The local residents’ number 24 will connect Via Galliani in the centre with Borgo Mezzanone while the 24/1 will be shuttling passengers between the station and the asylum seekers’ reception centre (CARA). The decision by Foggia’s transport authority, ATAF, to duplicate the service and terminals was taken after a series of meetings at the prefecture and with the full agreement of the ministry of the interior.
The reasons behind the move are convenience (“The reception centre is a couple of kilometres from Borgo Mezzanone itself”) and public safety (“Relations between immigrants and residents can degenerate into brawls”). But ACIS, the association of foreign communities in Italy, maintains: “Apartheid is no solution”. Puglia’s regional president Nichi Vendola stepped in to say: “The service smacks of separation and should be withdrawn as soon as possible”. Trials for the 24/1 line started several weeks ago with a shared terminal. Next Monday, the new dual service will come into force with new timetables and adjustments to the route. Foggia’s Centre-left mayor, Orazio Ciliberti, defended the move: “Racism doesn’t come into it. This is an opportunity for an improved service that saves CARA residents, civilians and police officers two extra kilometres to get to the bus stop in Borgo Mezzanone. No one is stopping immigrants from catching the other bus”. Nevertheless, Mr Ciliberti does not deny that public safety is the reason behind the decision. He refers to friction with the local population and the wounding of a bus driver. Mr Ciliberti alleges: “It’s all down to overcrowding at the centre. Instead of the 200 or 300 immigrants it can house, there are anything from 800 to 1,000”. The president of ACIS, Habib Sgaier, was quick to reply: “This is how ATAF is attempting to solve the problem of a few violent non-EU immigrants, if there are any. But it’s not a solution. A delegation from Borgo Mezzanone has contacted us to say that local residents did not request the new line”.
Alessandra Mangiarotti
03 aprile 2009
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Audio: Congressman: Iowa Court Confesses to ‘Activism’
‘It’s the will of the people that’s supposed to lead the way’
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, says his state’s Supreme Court actually confessed to being guilty of “activism” in its opinion today paving the way for same-sex “marriage” in the state.
Iowa’s high court said same-sex marriages “could begin” in as little as three weeks, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut as the three states formally recognizing homosexual duos.
King was interviewed by Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND about the decision.
“[The opinion] strikes me as very much an activist reach to overturn the will of the people of the state of Iowa,” King said. “This turns on its head the entire composition of human history and law.”
He called it the “most activist opinion that I have every read.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Justices ‘Mainstream’ Homosexual ‘Marriage’
‘I don’t think Iowans imagined this could be foisted on the state’
In the Midwest, a region of the country widely considered to be a bedrock of traditional American values, many people are in shock following an Iowa Supreme Court decision this morning overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
[…]
The decision, however, has far-reaching implications, since the absence of residency rules for marriage in Iowa would permit same-sex couples from across the country to travel to the Midwest to be married.
[…]
“The people of Iowa overwhelmingly support the only definition of marriage, which is one man and one woman, and the Supreme Court decided to overturn the law that was written and passed by those people’s representatives,” English said. “Now it’s time for the legislature to reassert itself as the legislative body, pass the marriage amendment, and bring it to the people of Iowa for a vote.”
English conceded, however, that the process will likely be long. Iowa law requires that a constitutional amendment be passed by both houses of the legislature, passed by popular vote, and then passed again by the state House and Senate.
“We could get it on the ballot in 2011, but that would require a special election,” English said. “More likely, it would go on ballot November 2012, but that’s presuming people rise up in sufficient numbers to force a belligerent leadership in the House and Senate to do something.
“It’s going to take an unprecedented response from the people to take back their government,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
University to Student: Endorse Being ‘Gay’ or Leave
Lawsuit says educators stepped ‘over the legal line’
A lawsuit has been filed against Eastern Michigan University, accusing the school of tossing a student out of a graduate counseling program because she refused to endorse homosexuality as morally good.
Julea Ward filed suit after she was dismissed from the school’s counseling training for not affirming homosexuality and then refusing to recant her beliefs in “disciplinary proceedings,” according to the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom.
WND called president Susan W. Martin’s office for comment and was referred to a media relations office, where officials did not respond.
But David French, senior counsel for the ADF, said, “When a public university has a prerequisite of affirming homosexual behavior as morally good in order to obtain a degree, the school is stepping over the legal line.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Danish PM — Turkey Blocks Deal Over New NATO Chief
Danish PM angers Turkey over anti-Prophet cartoons
Turkey rejected on Saturday Europe’s candidate to head NATO, souring a summit that marked the military alliance’s 60th anniversary and causing a new rift between Ankara and its Western European allies.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen emerged as the front-runner to replace the outgoing NATO secretary-general but Turkey continued to object on Saturday, criticizing his handling of 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper, which caused riots in several countries.
Turkish veto
“Why should Turkey agree on a candidate today? Yesterday the (Turkish) prime minister spoke about it and we are sticking with that idea,” a senior Turkish official said after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had a long telephone call with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the issue.
Turkey said Rasmussen cannot manage NATO’s sensitive missions in the Muslim world,especially in Afghanistan, where the alliance fightis Taliban Islamists and al-Qaeda fighters, because of the way he handled the cartoons crisis.
In Istanbul, Prime Minister Erdogan, whose ruling party has Islamist roots, urged NATO to find an alternative candidate.
“Why do we have to stick to a single name? Aren’t there other alternatives?” he told reporters. “We wish to find another person with whom the issue will be settled.”
United States President Barack Obama, making his first overseas tour since taking office in January, signaled to Europe that he would support Rasmussen.
But Obama said Saturday the alliance did not have to decide on the new chief during the summit.
Other NATO officials however put a brave face on the deadlock and said talks would continue throughout Saturday, the second and last day of the summit that is co-hosted by France and Germany.
“There has been no decision now. The discussion will continue into tomorrow on the succession to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,” said NATO spokesman James Appathurai, after a working dinner between heads of state and government on Friday.
Appathurai refused to comment on which candidates were discussed or how many of the 28 NATO nations raised objections, saying only that the leaders were “not being particularly brief.”
“We always arrive at consensus at NATO. We will arrive at consensus on this issue as well. Until then, the only way to describe it is that we don’t have consensus,” he said.
“We will get there, this alliance always gets there,” he added, after the first session of a two-day summit hosted by France and Germany.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Danish PM Chosen as New NATO Secretary General
Alliance leaders persuade Turkey not to veto nomination
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will be the next NATO secretary general, he and his predecessor said Saturday, after alliance leaders persuaded Turkey not to veto the nomination.
Rasmussen was introduced by current secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and congratulated by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, joint hosts of NATO’s Strasbourg summit.
“Everyone is fully convinced that Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the best choice for the alliance,” Scheffer said, while admitting that there had been long discussions on the issue. “An agreement was found,” he said.
Rasmussen said he was deeply honored to be the first Dane to lead the Atlantic alliance and to have been named at the 60th anniversary summit. He will take over from Scheffer on August 1.
The Danish leader had long been seen as the favorite to take over the job, but his nomination was called into question when Turkey — which could have vetoed the decision — raised objections at the summit. Ankara had not forgiven Rasmussen for defending a Danish newspaper’s right to court controversy in 2005 by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, nor for refusing a Turkish request that he close a Kurdish television channel.
Alternative candidate
Turkey had earlier said Rasmussen cannot manage NATO’s sensitive missions in the Muslim world,especially in Afghanistan, where the alliance fightis Taliban Islamists and al-Qaeda fighters, because of the way he handled the cartoons crisis.
In Istanbul, Prime Minister Erdogan, whose ruling party has Islamist roots, urged NATO to find an alternative candidate.
“Why do we have to stick to a single name? Aren’t there other alternatives?” he told reporters. “We wish to find another person with whom the issue will be settled.”
United States President Barack Obama, making his first overseas tour since taking office in January, signaled to Europe that he would support Rasmussen.
But Obama said Saturday the alliance did not have to decide on the new chief during the summit.
Other NATO officials however put a brave face on the deadlock and said talks would continue throughout Saturday, the second and last day of the summit that is co-hosted by France and Germany.
“There has been no decision now. The discussion will continue into tomorrow on the succession to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,” said NATO spokesman James Appathurai, after a working dinner between heads of state and government on Friday.
Appathurai refused to comment on which candidates were discussed or how many of the 28 NATO nations raised objections, saying only that the leaders were “not being particularly brief.”
“We always arrive at consensus at NATO. We will arrive at consensus on this issue as well. Until then, the only way to describe it is that we don’t have consensus,” he said.
“We will get there, this alliance always gets there,” he added, after the first session of a two-day summit hosted by France and Germany.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Danish PM Named New Chief of NATO
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) — NATO named Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its next leader on Saturday after overcoming Turkish resistance to his appointment.
Turkey’s objections to Rasmussen, tied to his handling of a 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, had threatened the image of unity NATO had sought to present at the military alliance’s 60th anniversary summit.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed as the next secretary-general of NATO and I will do my utmost to live up to the confidence shown to me by my colleagues,” said Rasmussen, who will replace Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on August 1.
Speaking alongside Rasmussen, Scheffer added: “You know that there have been discussions over the past 36 hours, but the fact that we are standing here next to each other means a solution has been found also for the concerns expressed by Turkey, and we all very much agree and are unanimous.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
World Approaching New Nuclear Tipping Point
With the world standing on what some experts fear is the beginning of a dangerous new nuclear age, U.S. President Barack Obama received thunderous applause on Friday when he told a European audience one of his goals was “a world without nuclear weapons.”
“Even with the Cold War now over, the spread of nuclear weapons, or the theft of nuclear material, could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet,” he said in Strasbourg, France, as NATO leaders gathered for summit talks.
He is backed by a bevy of international dignitaries, some of the most celebrated veterans of the Cold War who have launched a major disarmament movement to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely.
Calling themselves Global Zero, the group of 100 influential world leaders includes former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, former U.S. defence secretary Robert McNamara, former U.S. national security advisors Zbignew Brezezinkski, Sandy Berger and Robert McFarlane, Ehsan Ul-Haq, former chief of staff of Pakistan’s military, and Brajesh Mishra, a former Indian national security advisor.
Global Zero is backed by nine former heads of state, eight former foreign ministers, three former defence ministers, six former national security advisors and 19 former top military commanders from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, India and Pakistan.
They warn the world’s most urgent security threat is the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear terrorism. And they are demanding a comprehensive international agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons, through phased and verified reductions, over the next 20 years.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
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