Even though the UK has strict gun control, the rate of gun crime in London has risen dramatically in the last six months. Despite these statistics, Scotland Yard is not yet ready to arm the police.In other news, in Enid, Oklahoma, a couple on the way home from church last Sunday sideswiped a bull elephant with their SUV. The elephant had escaped from the local fairgrounds. No humans were hurt, but the elephant suffered a broken tusk and may have Pachydermal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PPTSD).
Thanks to 4Symbols, AA, C. Cantoni, DK, Esther, Gaia, Henrik, Insubria, JD, JP, Lurker from Tulsa, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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165 Million People Want to Move to US
Washington — Some 700 million people worldwide, or more than all the adults of North and South America combined, think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and want to permanently move to another country, a poll showed Tuesday.
Residents of sub-Saharan African countries were the most likely to want to move abroad permanently, the polls conducted in 135 countries between 2007 and this year by Gallup showed.
On average, 38 percent of the adult population in sub-Saharan Africa, or around 165 million people, said they would up stakes and head for another country if they had the chance.
The most popular destination was the United States, where nearly a quarter of the 700 million — around 165 million people — said they would like to settle.
In joint second were Britain, Canada and France, each being named as the preferred destination of around 45 million people.
Thirty-five million said they would go to Spain, 30 million to Saudi Arabia, and 25 million each to Australia or Germany.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Al Gore Could Become World’s First Carbon Billionaire
Al Gore, the former US vice president, could become the world’s first carbon billionaire after investing heavily in green energy companies.
Last year Mr Gore’s venture capital firm loaned a small California firm $75m to develop energy-saving technology.
The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient.
The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart
grid grants, the New York Times reports. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts.
The move means that venture capital company Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years.
Few people have been as vocal about the urgency of global warming and the need to reinvent the way the world produces and consumes energy as Mr Gore. And few have put as much money behind their advocacy and are as well positioned to profit from this green transformation, if and when it comes.
Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming sceptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire,” profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.
Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, has claimed that Mr Gore stood to benefit personally from the energy and climate policies he was urging Congress to adopt.
Mr Gore had said that he is simply putting his money where his mouth is.
“Do you think there is something wrong with being active in business in this country?” Mr. Gore said. “I am proud of it. I am proud of it.”
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
AMA, AARP Back House Health Care Bill
Washington (CNN) — The push to overhaul health care received a major boost Thursday as the American Medical Association and AARP endorsed legislation drafted by top House Democrats.
The AARP, the nation’s largest organization of older Americans, is a nonpartisan group that advocates for people 50 and older. The AMA, historically an opponent of health care reform, is considered one the nation’s most influential doctors’ advocacy groups.
“I want to thank both organizations again for their support, and I urge Congress to listen to AARP, listen to the AMA and pass this reform for hundreds of millions of Americans who will benefit from it,” President Obama said at the White House.
The backing of those two groups comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, oversees final changes to the $1.1 trillion health care bill. The measure likely will come to a final vote Saturday.
A 42-page manager’s amendment on the health care legislation posted Tuesday night made mostly technical changes in the nearly 2,000-page bill compiled from three Democratic proposals passed by three House committees.
By making the changes public Tuesday, House Democratic leaders could open floor debate on the bill Friday, while fulfilling their pledge to allow 72 hours of review before bringing the measure to the full chamber.
Pelosi insisted Thursday she will have the 218 votes necessary to pass the bill. Meanwhile, President Obama is set to huddle Friday with congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill to review the legislation.
In a statement, AARP CEO Barry Rand said, “We started this debate more than two years ago with the twin goals of making coverage affordable to our younger members and protecting Medicare for seniors.
“We can say with confidence that [the House bill] meets those goals with improved benefits for people in Medicare and needed health insurance market reforms to help ensure every American can purchase affordable health coverage.”
The AMA’s president, Dr. J. James Rohack, told reporters Thursday that the legislation is “not a perfect representation of our views” but is close enough to warrant his group’s support and keep the reform process moving forward.
Rohack said the bill needs to be accompanied by legislation reversing scheduled Medicare reimbursement payment reductions to physicians.
Responding to the AMA endorsement, Obama said the doctors’ group is “supporting reform because [its members have] seen firsthand what’s broken about our health care system,” Obama said.
“They would not be supporting it if they really believed that it would lead to government bureaucrats making decisions that are best left to doctors.”
Meanwhile, House Republicans on Thursday continued to signal their opposition to the measure. GOP leaders held a rally on Capitol Hill along with “Tea Party” movement protesters and other activists to warn that the House legislation would translate into a full-blown government takeover of the health care system.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, told CNN’s “American Morning” on Thursday that Democrats had forgotten the lessons of August’s town hall meetings when angry conservatives severely criticized health care legislation.
“I think what we’re going to see is the town hall coming to Washington, D.C., just to remind members of Congress [that] we’re the ones we would like you to pay attention to, not lobbyists. And we don’t want the government to own our health care,” Bachmann said.
Speaking at Thursday’s opposition rally, actor John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff on the sitcom “Cheers,” slammed the Democratic bill as a form of socialism.
“These are Woodstock Democrats,” Ratzenberger said. “We have to remember where their philosophy comes. It doesn’t come from America. It comes from overseas. It comes from socialism. And socialism is a philosophy of failure.”
House Democrats have rejected an alternative $60 billion Republican plan as inadequate for meeting the goals of expanding health coverage to most of the nation’s 46 million uninsured while bringing down costs and ending controversial industry practices such as denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Pelosi’s bill would extend insurance coverage to 36 million uncovered Americans and guarantee that 96 percent of Americans have coverage, according to the Democratic leadership.
The claim is based on an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Among other things, the bill would subsidize insurance for poorer Americans and create health insurance exchanges to make it easier for small groups and individuals to purchase coverage. It also would cap annual out-of-pocket expenses and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Pelosi’s office has said the bill would cut the federal deficit by roughly $30 billion over the next decade. The measure is financed through a combination of a tax surcharge on wealthy Americans and spending constraints in Medicare and Medicaid.
Specifically, individuals with annual incomes more than $500,000 — as well as families earning more than $1 million — would face a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge. Growth in Medicare expenditures would be cut by 1.3 percent annually.
The House bill also includes a government-run public option. Under the House plan, health care providers would be allowed to negotiate reimbursement rates with the federal government. Pelosi and other liberal Democrats had argued for a more “robust” public option that would tie reimbursement rates for providers and hospitals to Medicare rates plus a 5 percent increase. Several Democrats representing rural areas, however, killed the proposal after complaining that doctors and hospitals in their districts would be shortchanged under such a formula.
One thorny issue yet to be resolved among House Democrats is the bill’s final language on abortion. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, has been pushing leaders to add stronger language prohibiting the use of federal money to pay for abortions under the health care overhaul.
Stupak has vowed that if he isn’t allowed a vote on the issue, a group of 40 anti-abortion Democrats will work to block the bill from getting to the House floor.
The House bill differs from legislation the Senate is considering in a number of critical ways. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, also favors a public option but would allow individual states to opt out of the plan.
An $829 billion bill recently passed by the Senate Finance Committee does not include a tax surcharge on the wealthy but would impose a new tax on high-end health care policies, which critics have dubbed “Cadillac” plans. A large number of House Democrats are opposed to taxing those policies, arguing that such a move would hurt union members who traded higher salaries for more generous benefits.
Individuals under the $829 billion Finance Committee plan would be required to purchase health insurance coverage or face a fine of up to $750. The House bill imposes a more stringent fine of up to 2.5 percent of an individual’s income. Both versions include a hardship exemption for poorer Americans.
The Finance Committee bill would require large companies to contribute to the health care costs of lower income workers if those workers received a government subsidy for insurance. The House legislation would require larger companies to provide employee insurance for everyone or pay a penalty of up to 8 percent of total revenue.
Democratic leaders in both chambers agree on establishing nonprofit health care cooperatives and stripping insurance companies of an anti-trust exemption that has been in place since the end of World War II.
Reid refused Tuesday to predict when the chamber would pass a health care bill, possibly signaling difficulty in generating support from his entire Democratic caucus.
Part of the holdup is that Reid is waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to finish its cost analysis of his legislation. The report was expected this week but likely won’t be ready until at least next week, several Democratic senators said.
Some Senate moderates also have expressed concern over the public option included in Reid’s plan.
| [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Anglo Racist Tripe
Books are technology. Since the invention of the movable-type printing press, when Johannes Gutenberg gave the world a vastly more efficient, mechanical means of producing books, to produce a book is potentially to reach a vast audience. When you can communicate a message to multiple human beings, you can, at least possibly, affect society — for good or for ill.
[…]
When you immerse yourself in racist hate literature, it creates a sensation akin to dipping your head in a bucket of garbage. It is cloying, smothering, fetid and unpleasant; you can’t wait to remove yourself from it. All of this came flooding back to me when I happened across a copy of “America Libre” by Raul Ramos y Sanchez.
On his website, the author claims he wrote the book “as a wake-up call to the dangers of extremism — on both sides of this explosive issue. Illegal immigration is a hotly debated topic. Yet it is only the tip of the iceberg.” The first portion of this statement is a blatant lie. “America Libre” is nothing less than a Chicano nationalist “Turner Diaries,” a racist, hate-filled screed that gins up anti-Anglo resentment by painting a fantasy landscape in which all Hispanics are rounded up and put in camps. Ramos’ heroes revolt, hoping to create a U.N.-recognized “Hispanic Republic of North America.”
[…]
Two things disturb me about “America Libre.” The first is that this book won an International Latino Book Award when it is clearly only a mediocre novel in terms of its writing. (It was also one of USA Today’s picks for “Summer Reads” and was similarly lauded in Latina magazine.) The second is that Ramos’ depiction of evil, Hispanic-hating Anglos, only too eager to deny Social Security benefits to illegal aliens (when they’re not cruelly deporting them outright), is obviously what he truly thinks of non-Hispanics. “America Libre” exists for one reason only: to foment hatred and revolutionary sentiment among a Hispanic population that has already become volatile in the southwest United States.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fox in a Liberal Henhouse
In response to the Obama White House’s attack on the Fox News Channel, a poll on National Public Radio’s website asks respondents to indicate their support for the following options:
“1) The White House on this one: Fox News isn’t ‘fair and balanced.’ 2) Fox News on this one: It asks questions others don’t and the White House should be able to handle them. 3) Neither side. They’re both trying to play this ‘feud’ to their advantage.”
Initially, the anti-Fox option was running ahead. That was when most responders were liberals who dominate NPR’s listener base. (One wonders whether that crowd would have the candor or objective self-awareness to acknowledge NPR’s liberal bias.) Lately, the poll has been contaminated by droves of conservatives who were alerted to the project and are voting for the pro-Fox option. So much for the reliability of non-random, unscientific polls..
As a candid conservative, I’ll concede that Fox has a conservative bias, as does most of its core audience. But there’s an important distinction between Fox’s opinion shows — like O’Reilly, Hannity and Beck — which are unabashedly conservative and its news shows which come a lot closer to being “fair and balanced.” While even Fox’s news shows have something of a conservative agenda, they’re not as far right of center as the news shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS and NPR are left of center. Fox has liberal commentators, like Geraldo Rivera, and roundtable discussions featuring conservative and liberal analysts with a better balance than any of the aforementioned networks.
(I didn’t include MSNBC in that list, as its programming is way off in left field. Trailing badly in the ratings, it made a business decision during the Bush years to go after the MoveOn.org/ DailyKos lunatic fringe, with Keith Olbermann and others tossing rhetorical raw meat to angry leftists. It worked. While still far behind Fox, MSNBC has gained viewers.)
The bias of the Dominant Liberal Establishment Mass Media (DLEMM) has become so institutionalized over the years that many naïve people mistake it for objective news reporting. (I prefer that more precise term, DLEMM, to the currently fashionable term, “mainstream media,” which conveys the false impression that the so-called MSM reflects the mainstream of public opinion. It doesn’t. Leftstream media would be more accurate.)
Consistent with its conservative agenda, Fox has scrutinized the Obama administration and the Democratic majority in Congress to a greater degree than it scrutinized the Bush administration and the GOP when they were in power. The same can be said in reverse of the DLEMM, who were in attack mode over Bush and Republicans but are now in the tank for Obama and the Democrats. The DLEMM were outraged over the death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq during “Bush’s war,” while they’ve been little more than perfunctory in their coverage of the rising toll of U.S. troops in Afghanistan now that it’s Obama’s war. Fox led the way on Obama-appointed radicals like Van Jones and the recent ACORN “pimp sting” while the DLEMM ignored those stories for as long as they could. The DLEMM’s commitment to the “public’s right to know” appears to be less zealous when Democrats are in power.
The left’s obsession with and intolerance of Fox is laughable given the relative audience sizes. About 2 million viewers tune in daily to Fox’s prime-time news programs. By contrast, the “news” shows on the liberal networks attract 25 million. There’s no practical remedy for media bias. Perfect objectivity is unachievable. At best, bias plus bias would equal balance. Given the overwhelming reach and influence of the DLEMM (which also includes liberal newspapers, wire services, news magazines, Hollywood and TV), it’s too bad there isn’t more of it — balance, that is. Thank heavens for Fox.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Islam’s World Peace: Now or Later?
Islam is a religion of peace, but in the world of paradoxical definitions, perhaps some explanation is needed.
The word “Islam” means submission to the will of Allah.
A “Muslim” is one who has submitted.
Whereas most think world peace will be when people just learn how to get along, faithful Muslims think world peace will be when the whole world submits to the will of Allah.
In other words, world peace means world Islam.
To a fundamental Muslim, submission to Allah means submitting to Islamic law, called Shariah.
[…]
But what about the majority of moderate Muslims?
Moderate Muslims believe the world will submit to Allah later, maybe at the end of the world, or maybe just figuratively.
Since it is so far off in the distant future, moderate Muslims have a more relaxed, patient attitude that allows them to get along in a friendly way with non-Muslim infidels.
Moderate Muslims can live comfortably in a free, democratic society.
Fundamental Muslims, on the other hand, think the world is in the process of submitting to Allah now. They are very excited and want to establish Shariah law, even justifying threats of violence and terrorism.
What are moderate Muslims, who believe the world will submit to Allah later, supposed to think when they see unprecedented acts of acceptance of Islam right now?
Such as:
* U.S. Postal Service issuing Islamic postage stamps (September 2001; October 2002)
* President Bush removing his shoes and visiting a mosque (Dec. 5, 2002)
* President Bush putting a Quran in the Presidential Library (October 2005)
* President Bush celebrating Ramadan for the first time in the White House (Oct. 18, 2005)
* U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, taking his oath of office upon a Quran (2007)
* Presidential candidate Obama reciting Muslim prayers in Arabic, saying it is “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset” (New York Times, Feb. 27, 2007)
* U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi putting on Muslim hijab veil during a trip to Syria (April 2007)
[…]
As a result, many moderate Muslims are being persuaded that the world is submitting to Allah now rather than later.
Thus, the dilemma for the West is that the more it bends over backwards in unprecedented ways to show acceptance of Islam, the more moderate Muslims become enthused and gravitate to become fundamental Muslims.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Given Strong Role in Hamtramck
After Tuesday’s election, Muslims are to make up half of the city council members in Hamtramck, a percentage believed by advocates to be the highest Muslim representation in a municipality in the United States.
Two Muslim candidates, Kazi Miah and Mohammed Hassan, were elected Tuesday to the six-member Hamtramck City Council, joining incumbent Shahab Ahmed, whose seat was not up for re-election. All three have roots in the Muslim-majority country of Bangladesh, reflecting the growing Bangladeshi-American population in a city that was once known for its Polish Catholic community. Hamtramck also has Muslim residents from Bosnia and Yemen.
Another Muslim candidate, Abdul Algazali, narrowly lost an election Tuesday in Hamtramck for mayor to incumbent Karen Majewski by 123 votes. Algazali, of Yemeni descent, was previously a city councilman.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Bro: Dad Was Wife-Beater!
President’s brother discloses details that may shed light into mysterious relationship
TEL AVIV — President Obama’s father was abusive and hit at least one of his American wives, Obama’s half-brother claimed at a press conference in China today.
The relationship Barack Obama Sr. had with his third wife might shed some light into the mysterious relationship between Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, and Barack Obama Sr. It also may provide some background into why Dunham sought a divorce from Obama Sr., although there is no record of their marriage.
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo — who had the same father as the U.S. president — spoke to reporters as part of the launch of a novel he says draws on his painful childhood under an abusive father.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oklahoma: Car Sideswipes Elephant in Enid
ENID, Okla. (AP) — Enid Police are investigating a vehicle collision that may land the department in the “car wreck” hall of fame.
They say a couple driving home from church on U.S. 81 Wednesday night sideswiped bull elephant with their SUV just outside of town.
The elephant had escaped from Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds.
The elephant suffered a broken tusk, injured leg as well as bumps, bruises and scratches.
The couple wasn’t hurt, but the elephant’s tusk tore a hole in the sheet metal of the SUV.
Captain Dean Grassino with the Enid Police Department said circus hands were taking down some tents and either the flap on the tent or the spotlight they were using spooked the elephant and it ran onto the roadway.
After the crash, the elephant was loaded onto a semi-truck and taken to a veterinary school for an exam. Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant doesn’t appear to have serious injuries.
| — Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa | [Return to headlines] |
Unjustly Imprisoned Sailor Speaks Out
“To not be a voice for an injustice is an injustice in itself.” So writes 32-year-old Steven Nary from his cell at California’s Avenal State Prison.
Nary has been in a California prison every single day of his life since March 1996. The reason why is hard to believe.
As an 18-year-old sailor on leave in San Francisco, Nary was lured from a co-ed dance club to the apartment of a gay predator, Juan Pifarre, under false pretenses.
When the coked-up Pifarre tried to rape Nary, the sailor, though drunk and possibly drugged, fought back and killed him unintentionally.
No matter. In October 1999, a San Francisco jury convicted Nary of second-degree murder and sentenced him to 16 years to life despite the fact that the “victim” was a known predator with at least two prior arrests on sexual charges.
[Comments from JD: Warning: graphic content.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Crucifix: Berlusconi, Sentence Unacceptable
(AGI) — Fossa (L’Aquila), 4 Nov — “Completely unacceptable for us” said Silvio Berlusconi over the European Court’s sentence banning crucifixes from being displayed in public places. The Prime Minister said that “We have always known that Italy is a country where the history of Christianity and its history are one and the same”-
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Culture: Jancar, Italy and Slovenia Turn the Page
(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — COSENZA, OCTOBER 29 — A new wind is blowing through the cultural relations between Italy and Slovenia. The old political propaganda has been replaced by friendship between the two bordering nations, as well as a climate of tolerance and creativity. At least this is how Drago Jancar, Slovenian writer and essayist, sees it. Jancar will tonight receive the Carical Foundation Award for Mediterranean Culture for his work “Aurora Boreale” (Bompiani, 2008). “We are facing a new era” Jancar told ANSAmed, “as the work of Boris Pahor or my work that has been translated into Italian, shows”. In the past years, some Italian publishers have started to take an interest of what is happening on the other side of the border. “My presence and the presence of Pahor” Jancar continued “is a success on its own”. Slovenian literature, the writer — who was accused in 1974 of “spreading hostile propaganda” against the Yugoslavian regime and was therefore imprisoned — explained, will never be as widespread as Italian literature in Slovenia, where many Italian works are imported. “Italian literature” he said “is well-known in the whole world and Slovenia is a small country”. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 and has many European traits, “including the phenomenon of cultural impoverishment”. In Slovenia, as in the rest of Europe, Jancar continues, people read less and less, also due to the Internet. This year around 5,000 titles will come out in the country. “I consider this phenomenon a threat to Slovenia, because our cultural identity is based on books and literature”. “We should never forget about” this identity, even though it can create problems, as shown by the continuous frictions between the Italian and Slovenian government, mainly due to — according to Ljubljana, the lack of protection of the human rights of the Slovenian minority in Italy, around 30,000 people. “The question is not simply a small local problem. It is crucial for our peaceful cohabitation” said the writer of “Joyce’s pupil” (Ibiskos Editrice Risolo and Ztt-Est, 2006), who believes that the around 3,000 Italians in Slovenia “are living very well, while the rights of the Slovenians in Italy are not sufficiently protected”. The latest conflict regards the Slovenian theatre in Trieste which had to close its doors due to heavy losses. Slovenia claims that Italian authorities have not done enough to support the theatre. “It is a great honour for Italy” Jancar pointed out “to have such a high-level theatre that should not be subsidised by the Slovenian government. I hope that this theatre will become a European theatre”, closing the divides and uniting the people around culture. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
General Strike Paralyses Belgium
A general strike by workers in Belgium has brought much of the country to a virtual standstill, with transport, schools and government services hit.
The strike has forced the cancellation of trains, including international services such as Eurostar.
The protest was called by Belgium’s Socialist FGTB/ABVV union in protest at government plans to stop workers retiring early with full benefits.
The 24-hour stoppage is the first general strike in Belgium since 1993.
The Belgian government has urged people to work from home, if possible.
Postal workers at sorting offices walked out on Thursday evening and airport authorities warned of possible disruption to flights.
Local media reported that one tram was running in Brussels because it left before strikers picketed the depot.
There were also pickets and blockades at factories and ports. Antwerp, one of Europe’s largest ports, was shut for business as dockers refused to work.
Talks due
Joining a picket line in Charleroi, Jean-Claude Vandermeeren, general secretary of the Walloon branch of the General Federation of Belgian Labour, urged the government to heed the workers’ message.
“If the political world, the Socialist Party in particular, does not understand that people are protesting in the streets, that people have stopped working, and you can see it here with nobody showing up for work — this is just a symbolic picket,” he said.
“If the Socialist Party can see this for itself and not find it serious and think that there is no problem, then I no longer understand anything in politics.”
Talks between the government and the unions are expected to continue over the weekend.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
GM Axes Opel Sale, Germany Furious
Frankfurt — General Motors has brought the sale of its European car division Opel/Vauxhall to a screeching halt, fuelling fear and anger in Germany Wednesday as the US group reset its global auto strategy.
Some German auto analysts felt the decision was logical from an industrial viewpoint but politicians and unions were furious.
Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle slammed GM’s ditching of a deal with the Canadian auto parts group Magna and Russian Sberbank as “totally unacceptable.”
British authorities said however that they would work with the US auto giant to secure the future of British plants that make Opel’s sister brand Vauxhall.
GM, which was struggling with bankruptcy, had initially agreed to sell a 55-percent stake in Opel/Vauxhall to Magna and Sberbank.
GM Europe employs about 55,000 workers in Germany, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Poland and Austria.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Wants Direct Election for Premier
Rome, 4 Nov. (AKI) — Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday the premier should be directly elected by the people and that parliament will in coming months amend the current electoral law. “It will be up to the parliament in the next few months to define which is the most suitable model for Italy,” Berlusconi said.
“What counts is that the person who holds the executive power gets elected directly by the people. And with him, the type of government,” Berlusconi told journalist Bruno Vespa in the book Donne di Cuore or Women of Hearts, to be released on Friday.
Between 1993 and 1995, changes were made by national legislation and popular referenda.
After the changes, on the national level the chamber of deputies and the senate were elected by a combination of proportionality and plurality.
This method lasted until a new electoral law was passed in late 2005 by the previous Berlusconi government, who overturned this system by restoring full proportional representation with bonus seats in the lower house of parliament allocated to the winning coalition.
During the last general elections in 2005, Italians voted for the party, whose leader then became the prime minister.
When asked if fiscal federalism would hurt the country’s health expenditures, Berlusconi claimed it would make the country more efficient.
“On the contrary, if they do not show efficiency, they will not have the resources: This is why federalism is everyone’s responsibility and will improve efficiency in the entire country,” he said.
Fiscal federalism would devolve an amount of financial resources to the country’s provinces and municipalities.
Berlusconi also said attacks on him by the international press did not weaken him and said that he receives compliments by international leaders.
“To be honest, other international leaders that meet me praise me,” said Berlusconi.
“None of us — international leaders tell me — would have been able to resist one-third of the attacks that have been waged against you,” said the premier.
In regard to diplomatic relations with the United States, Berlusconi said that US president Barack Obama has repeatedly praised him.
“Our government is considered a strong, safe and loyal ally in the eyes of the American administration. President Obama has repeatedly praised my strong leadership. When it comes to the leaders of European countries, I am friends with all of them,” he said.
“If Italy has once again found prestige and authority on the international stage, it is because of our government and and my way of cultivating international relations,” said the premier.
The premier also dismissed claims that the US government was bothered by Italy’s close relationship with Libya and Russia, calling these “political fiction”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Survey Backs Mafia ‘Hit’ Video’s Web Posting
Rome, 3 Nov. (AKI) — Almost three-quarters of Italians think Naples prosecutors were right to post to the Internet a shocking video of a mafia murder, according to an interactive poll carried out by Sky Tg24. Just 28 percent of people surveyed agreed with Italian interior minister Roberto Maroni that prosecutors were wrong to do so and should only have released a photo of the killing.
Prosecutors last week released the video to Italian media in the hope that witnesses would come forward to identify the mafia killer and his suspected accomplices.
The killer, who was not named in press reports was last weekend identified as a man from the Naples mafia stronghold of Secondigliano, who has a criminal record and is currently on the run.
In the video, the killer shoots 53-year-old Mariano Bacioterracino in the head and finishes him off as he lies dying on the pavement outside a Naples bar. As people look on the hit man smiles and makes the cuckold sign with his left hand, possibly to an accomplice, before walking off.
Chief Naples prosecutor Giandomenico Lepore defended his decision to release the video. “It was the right thing to do, it broke the wall of silence,” he said.
Bacioterracino served ten years in jail for his role in a kidnapping in the 1970s and has allegedly carried out bank robberies since his release. But his family claim he was not a mafia member.
Bacioterracino reportedly had a liaison with the girlfriend of a jailed mafia member and investigators are also probing the possibility that he ordered Bacioterracino’s murder.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Alarm Over Prison Conditions
Inmate deaths and violence spark concern
(ANSA) — Rome, November 2 — Criminal lawyers, inmates groups and opposition politicians sounded the alarm over conditions in Italian jails on Monday, following two recent prison deaths and a probe into violence by staff. A high-profile prisoner convicted of terrorism, Diana Blefari Melazzi, hung herself on Saturday evening, nine days after another inmate, Stefano Cucchi, died in a prison hospital with broken bones. Meanwhile, prosecutors last week opened a criminal investigation at another jail after an audio recording emerged of a graphic conversation between two guards indicating inmates were regularly subject to physical abuse by staff. The vice president of the Union of Criminal Lawyers, Renato Borzone, said Cucchi and Blefari Melazzi’s deaths were “evidence of the decay in the Italian prison and justice system”. “It is urgent that we reflect on what is going on in prisons in order to avoid a downward spiral in civil rights taking us back to the violence that characterized past eras,” he said. Borzone’s remarks were echoed by Corrado Stillo, who heads the Observatory for the Protection and Development of Rights linked to the Giuseppe Dossetti association. “Suicides, violence and overcrowding have turned Italian prisons into a training ground for crime,” he said. Stillo called on Justice Minister Angelino Alfano to “tackle the Third World conditions in Italian jails” and urged local authorities to appoint prison lawyers to protect the rights of inmates. Opposition MP Donatella Ferranti described the situation in Italian jails as “explosive” owing to overcrowding and a lack of funds.
“The episodes of recent days combined with continual complaints from humanitarian organizations and prison workers unions reveal a serious state of unrest,” said Ferranti, who represents the largest opposition group, the Democratic Party, on the House justice committee. CNCA, an umbrella federation of associations for marginalized members of society, said Italy’s prison system was “increasingly sick”. “The biggest problem is the inhumane levels of overcrowding,” said CNCA President Lucio Babolin. “We have long called for this issue to be dealt with because it is to blame for the extremely high levels of suicide and disease”.
Justice Minister Alfano, who has launched investigations into each of the incidents, has promised to deal with the situation as transparently as possible and will address the Senate with initial findings on Tuesday. He is also expected to unveil details of a plan to deal with overcrowding some time this week, but the publication date has already been postponed several times due to lack of funds. The plan, intended to cope with a prison population that is growing by around 800 people a month, envisions the construction of 24 new prisons at a cost of 1.4 billion euros. This latest draft of the plan, finalized in mid-October, also suggests making greater use of house arrest to deal with chronic overcrowding. In addition, Alfano has called for a more stringent use of international treaties allowing for foreign national prisoners, who make up 37% of inmates, to be repatriated in order to serve their sentences in their home countries. The Italian prison population currently numbers over 65,000. Its official capacity is 43,262, with temporary room for up to 63,568 in emergency situations.
According to prisoners association Ristretti Orizzonti, 146 inmates have died in prison since the start of this year, of which 59 committed suicide. The association said that on average, 150 people have died in Italian prisons each year since 1992, around a third of whom took their own life.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Would-be Thief Breaks Down in Tears
Post office cashier comforts failed stick-up man
(ANSA) — Genoa, October 28 — A man who turned to robbery when he fell behind with alimony payments broke down in tears when a sympathetic post-office cashier told him a life of crime wasn’t for him.
Antonio M,. a forest ranger, couldn’t make ends meet and decided to steal the money he needed for his son and estranged wife, Genoa daily Il Secolo XIX reported Wednesday.
Armed only with a screwdriver and without trying to disguise his identity he went into the first post office he saw and reportedly told the cashier to hand over the contents of her till, but “in a less than convincing voice”.
The woman looked at him and said “Come on, don’t do it. You’d better give me that”.
At that point, the paper reported, “he broke down in tears and started telling her about his financial problems”.
The woman’s co-worker meanwhile called the police who found the man “still crying his eyes out and being comforted by the cashier while the people in the queue were nodding in sympathy”.
The police were forced to arrest the man but a judge took pity on him and changed the charge from attempted robbery to using threats.
A justice of the peace on Tuesday gave the man a “symbolic” 32-euro ($50) fine.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lisbon Treaty: More of Britain’s Powers Surrendered to Brussels
Britain’s power to govern itself is to be surrendered increasingly to Brussels after the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty was finally ratified.
The treaty, which will come into force within a few weeks, will create the first president of Europe, as well as a European foreign minister, and will end Britain’s right to veto new EU rules in more than 40 policy areas.
The treaty’s supporters say it will allow the EU to operate more efficiently and give it greater influence in world affairs.
But critics say it will cede too much more of Britain’s sovereignty to Brussels.
Vaclav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic, yesterday signed the Lisbon Treaty, ending eight years of resistance to its attempt to give more power to the EU.
The Czechs are the last of the 27 EU states to sign the treaty, and their move forced the Conservatives to abandon their pledge to hold a British referendum on Lisbon.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said it was “a bad day for British democracy”.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, will today set out plans for an alternative Tory pledge to renegotiate several parts of Britain’s EU membership, trying to win back control over social and employment laws.
It is understood that one of Mr Cameron’s options will be to guarantee a referendum for British voters under a Tory government if any more national powers were in danger of being ceded to Brussels.
Mr Cameron’s retreat on announcing a referendum on the newly ratified treaty has led to accusations of breaking his promise and betraying the British people.
The Lisbon Treaty is based on the European Constitution, which started at a summit in Brussels in December 2001.
Gordon Brown hailed the Czech signature as “a historic step,” and European leaders said it will create a more powerful EU.
Despite the scale of the changes the treaty makes, the British people have never been directly consulted on the document, which was ratified in a Commons vote and signed by Mr Brown in 2007.
Labour won the 2005 general election having promised a referendum on the European Constitution but then dropped the pledge, arguing that Lisbon was a different document.
The Conservatives gave a “cast-iron” guarantee of a vote on Lisbon.
But after Mr Klaus signed the text, the Tories admitted that they will not offer voters a say on Lisbon.
Mr Hague said that once ratified, the treaty will cease to exist as a distinct legal document, meaning no vote can be held on it.
He said: “Now that the treaty has become European law and is going to enter into force, that means that a referendum can no longer prevent the creation of the president of the European council, the loss of British national vetoes, these things will already have happened, and a referendum cannot unwind them or prevent them.”
Daniel Hannan, a Tory MEP and leading Euro-sceptic said the signing was a step towards a European super-state. “The boot continues to stamp on the human face,” he said.
Mr Hague last night attempted to blame Labour for the treaty’s passage. He said: “People have never been consulted or voted in a general election for this.
“The British people have never even voted once, and we will not let people forget whose responsibility that is.”
Mr Brown insisted that the signing of the treaty was something to celebrate.
He said: “Today is a day when Europe looks forward, when it sets aside years of debate on its institutions, and moves to take strong and collective action on the issues that matter most to European citizens: security, climate change, jobs and growth.”
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that the treaty means “The EU will become stronger and more capable of acting.”
One of the most visible changes the treaty makes is the creation of a new permanent president for the EU, who will chair European summits and set the union’s agenda.
EU leaders will now meet at a special summit later this month to pick a president. Mr Brown has been backing Tony Blair’s bid for the job, but EU leaders have turned against the former premier.
Instead of a high-profile president, European leaders are now leaning towards a low-key “chairman” for the job. Herman Van Rompuy of Belgian and Jan Peter Balkenende are the current favourites.
The treaty will give the EU many of the trappings of a nation-state, including its own foreign minister — officially titled the high representative for foreign affairs — and an “External Action Service,” effectively a European diplomatic corps.
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, is leading candidate for the EU foreign policy job.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said that the signing of the treaty would allow the EU to start acting as a global player. “The new external profile for the European Union will be felt immediately,” he said.
Joseph Daul, a French MEP close to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, said the decision meant more collective EU action.
“Europe can now move forward,” he said. “The Treaty will allow effective European action in areas where solutions are urgent, such as the financial and economic crisis, climate change and energy”
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Swiss Minaret Answers “Reassure” Muslim Bloc
Swiss government clarifications about the minaret initiative have put the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) at ease, its Geneva ambassador tells swissinfo.ch.
Babacar Ba, the OIC representative to the United Nations in Geneva, also outlines a possible offer of mediation in the ongoing Swiss-Libyan hostage crisis.
An initiative to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland launched by members of the People’s Party and of a small ultra-conservative Christian party comes to a nationwide vote on November 29.
Supporters of the ban see minarets as political symbols and as a sign of what they term “Islamicisation” in Switzerland. The Swiss government and parliament are recommending voters reject the initiative.
A poll on the issue published on October 23 by the leading gfs.berne polling and research institute says 53 per cent of Swiss currently reject the anti-minaret initiative.
In a separate issue, two Swiss businessmen are at the centre of a diplomatic tussle between Libya and Switzerland.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has accused Libya of “kidnapping” the two, who have been prevented from leaving Tripoli for some 15 months in a row over the brief arrest in Geneva of one of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s sons.
swissinfo.ch: According to Swiss media, the OIC is willing to mediate in the Swiss-Libyan hostage crisis. Is this true?
Babacar Ba: A journalist asked me about the possibility of the OIC helping resolve the Swiss-Libyan crisis.
I told him that as an inter-governmental organisation we favour bilateral resolutions. There have been lots of commitments and procedures undertaken by both sides and we hope there will be a positive outcome.
But if one of the two parties, in particular Libya, which is an OIC member, judges it necessary or useful for the OIC to mediate to help resolve the crisis, we would be willing. We are ready to help to offer our support to resolve this crisis, especially as we have excellent relations with Switzerland.
But we have not been approached by either Switzerland or Libya. And we have not undertaken any kind of initiative to intervene; we were asked whether we could do something.
We are concerned about the current situation and hope for a swift resolution.
Ambassador Babacar Ba (oic-un.org)swissinfo.ch: The hostage crisis is taking place as Switzerland prepares to vote on a controversial initiative to ban minarets. Are you worried that certain elements might try to exploit these two events together?
B.B.: This situation needs great vigilance to prevent any kind of confusion. It is very easy to take the case of one particular country and to generalise for all other countries and exploit the crisis.
The minaret ban initiative, initiated by a rightwing party, has caused serious concerns. The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, expressed these during meetings with the Swiss ambassador at the OIC headquarters in Riyadh and at Jeddah earlier this year.
The OIC has had high-level talks with the Swiss authorities over the minaret initiative in Bern, New York and Madrid.
We understand about the people’s initiative process, the Swiss Constitution and the democratic system in Switzerland, and we respect Swiss people’s sovereign right to take part in initiatives.
But we call on the wisdom and maturity of the Swiss voters not to let themselves be influenced by extremist politics, which create tensions between communities, trying to stigmatise or point the finger at one particular community.
swissinfo.ch: What was discussed during the meetings?
B.B.: In Bern we met with the deputy secretary of state to exchange views on the Swiss democratic system, how it works and on people’s initiatives, such as the minaret issue.
We also discussed this initiative’s chance of success and the next steps at federal and cantonal level, as well as human rights questions, international security and peace issues and a bilateral OIC-Swiss report.
It was a general meeting to get to know each other better and exchange views on our institutions and better understand how the Swiss democratic system functions and the nuts and bolts of this minaret initiative.
swissinfo.ch: Were you reassured following this meeting?
B.B.: We were very satisfied. Firstly, it reassured us to understand that every Swiss citizen is free to launch a people’s initiative if they collect 100,000 signatures.
But we shouldn’t simply worry about the initiative. What is important is to evaluate its chances of success. And learning more about the wisdom of the Swiss people, their openness and respect for international conventions, as guardians of human rights and international humanitarian law, reassured us.
This is an ongoing process but it has little chance of success given Switzerland’s history and the maturity of Swiss voters to deal with such initiatives.
Mohammed Chérif, swissinfo.ch (translated from French by Simon Bradley)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Could Your Child be Branded a Racist Next? It Beggars Belief That Thousands of Primary School Children Are Being Reported by the Authorities
Is Britain really a country mired in such bigotry? Actually — and controversially — I am daring to say it is not. Doubtless I will be accused by the anti-racist zealots of heresy, but I believe it is a myth that racism is rife in British schools.
And I speak from first-hand experience. Eleven years ago I set up Coyote Films, and for the past decade I have worked as a community film-maker on video projects in schools in collaboration with various arts organisations.
As a result of my involvement in such projects, three years ago I was hired to make a film for Essex primary schools as part of a project called Watch Out For Racism!
It was aimed at nine to 11-year- olds because data from the county’s schools had apparently revealed that the overwhelming majority of racist incidents — verbal namecalling was the prime offence — occurred within this age group.
I went with a team of drama tutors to ‘raise awareness’ of the issues through anti-racist workshops. I expected to find a problem. Actually I did not. On the contrary, the schools I visited were good ones with vibrant, diverse communities in which black and ethnic minority children mixed harmoniously with the white majority.
However, it had been preordained: these schools had ‘issues’ and our job was to unearth them and force the children to acknowledge them.
The drama tutors’ remit was a familiar one: they wanted the kids to focus on their racial ‘identity’ and celebrate their differences.
But the children had a different view. ‘Isn’t it what’s on the inside that matters?’ asked several children, pertinently. Others were equally determined not to be railroaded by the agenda of the Government’s anti-racism missionaries.
‘I don’t think skin colour is important,’ remarked one. Meanwhile a white pupil asked — to the palpable embarrassment of every adult present — whether white kids were allowed to be proud of their identities, too.
[Comments from JD: This story has been linked to before, but I direct you attention to the last paragraph quoted above. It is good to see young kids with common sense.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Childminders Forced Out of Business
Critics blamed the Government’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) — a compulsory “curriculum” taught by all nurseries, pre-schools and childminders.
Under rules, which were introduced in September 2008, children are expected to meet a series of 69 targets focusing on literacy, numeracy, social development and problem-solving by their fifth birthday.
Childminders, who look after very young children in their own homes for as little as £3 an hour, must now draw up plans of what activities they will carry out with those in their care, monitor their progress in meeting the goals and write reports when they go on to nursery.
But campaigners claim they have led to the “insidious schoolification” of early childhood. It is also alleged that the foundation stage has created a new wave of unnecessary bureaucracy for childminders — forcing them out of business.
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UK: How Junior Doctors Are Signing ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Forms for Dying Patients
The decision to designate patients as ‘do not resuscitate’ is falling to junior doctors in one in five cases, a report has revealed.
Usually a consultant should make the final decision — after talking to the family — in cases where elderly patients are not expected to survive.
But senior doctors were involved in dealing with just one in three patients admitted to hospital shortly before dying, says the report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death.
[…]
Experts claim doctors and nurses need more training in how to care for people who are dying, because wrong diagnoses can result in withdrawal of food and fluids when they might otherwise have survived.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Gun Crime Rises
Shooting incidents in London have almost doubled compared with the same period last year, prompting grave concerns that gun crime in some areas is out of control.
Scotland Yard has admitted a 17% rise in overall firearms offences, although the Metropolitan police chief, Sir Paul Stephenson, has put that down to a blip.
Stephenson last week dropped a plan to put routine armed patrols on the streets, saying that although gun crime had risen it was still lower than two years ago and he was not willing to sanction such a dramatic departure from the principle of unarmed policing. However, the true scale of the increases is contained in figures being presented on Thursday to the Metropolitan police authority.
They reveal that the number of actual shootings has almost doubled from 123 to 236 in the last six months compared with the same period last year, a rise of 91.8%. Serious firearms offences have risen by 47% across the capital.
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UK: On First Time Out With His Metal Detector, Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds £1m Hoard of Ancient Golden Jewellery
When David Booth bought himself a metal detector, he was looking for a new hobby — and perhaps the occasional old coin.
But on his very first outing with the device, he uncovered a £1million hoard of Iron Age jewellery that is Scotland’s most important find in a century.
Mr Booth, 35, found four gold necklaces — known as ‘torcs’ — buried just six inches beneath the surface in a field near Stirling.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Poll Shows the Public Are Losing Confidence in the Afghanistan War
A YouGov poll for Channel 4 News suggests that opposition to the war in Afghanistan has risen sharply in the past fortnight.
The numbers thinking the Taliban can be defeated are down from 42 per cent to 33 per cent in the space of two weeks.
The poll suggests that the numbers thinking the Taliban cannot be defeated are up from 48 per cent to 57 per cent in the space of two weeks.
Number Ten says the Prime Minister’s acutely aware of the “public debate” and has changed his diary to give a speech tomorrow morning making the case for keeping troops in Afghanistan. The speech isn’t yet written but is not expected to signal a change in policy.
The deaths of British servicemen at the hands of an Afghan policeman were already known about when the polling was conducted yesterday.
That’s leading to a rethink on the ground about how security can be tightened.
Strategically, the Karzai problem is triggering a rethink of its own.
The central government President Karzai runs lacks credibility and reach but there’s no plan B yet developed to side-step him.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Unveiled: Britain’s First £2m Underground Mansion Designed to Keep Away Prying Eyes
Proving just how much the housing market has gone through the floor, the go-ahead has been given for Britain’s first underground mansion.
Developers have announced plans for a £2m subterranean property, which will be entered via an unassuming door at ground level and descend up to 50ft below.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: Muslim Ex-Commander Arrested for War Crimes
Sarajevo, 4 Nov. (AKI) — A former Bosnian Muslim army deputy commander, Nihad Bojadzic, was arrested in Sarajevo on Wednesday on suspicion of having killed over 20 Croat civilians and prisoners of war during the 1993 Muslim-Croat war, the state prosecutor’s office said. Bojadzic was due to be handed over to Bosnia’s state war crimes court.
Bojadzic, 47, is suspected of committing the mass killings while serving as deputy commander of the Bosnian Muslim-led army special platoon ‘Zulfikar’ when it overran the village of Trusina near the southern town of Konjic in April 1993.
Prosecution spokesman Boris Grubesic told media that 19 of the victims were Croat civilians, three were Croatian soldiers who had surrendered themselves, while four people, including two children, were wounded.
Four more Muslims were arrested on the same charges in September and are in detention pending trial.
The Bosnian state war crimes court was set up in 2005 to try thousands of mid- and low-ranking war crimes suspects from the 1992-95 war whose cases were passed to it by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia-Slovenia: Border, Arbitration Signed Tomorrow
(ANSAmed) — LJUBLJANA, NOVEMBER 3 — Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor has announced that the arbitration on the conflict on sea borders with Croatia will be signed tomorrow in Stockholm. The arbitration includes a compromise on the resolution of the border dispute, which last year caused Slovenia to veto Croatia’s accession to the EU. The news was reported by the Slovenian press agency STA. Last evening the Croatian parliament approved the agreement by a relative majority. Two third of votes will be needed to ratify the document however; the government of Premier Jadranka Kosor doesn’t have this majority at the moment. The left-wing opposition has expressed its doubts on the agreement, which requires that the committee that was formed to draw the border in the northern Adriatic between the two former Yugoslavian republics will have to “establish the link between Slovenia and the open sea”. This clause, according to the opponents of the agreement, could mean that Croatia will have to give around 100 square kilometres of sea to Slovenia. Based on that same clause, the centre-right opposition in Slovenia is against the deal, explaining that the use of the word “junction” in its text does not guarantee a direct link between the country and international waters, a crucial factor for the parliament of Ljubljana. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Border Pact Boosts Croatia’s Membership Bid
Stockholm, 4 Nov. (AKI) — Slovenia and Croatia on Wednesday agreed to allow international arbitration of a longrunning border dispute. The agreement, signed in Sweden, means Slovenia will no longer block Croatia’s bid to become the 28th EU member state by 2011.
“What a great day!” exclaimed Slovenian prime minister Borut Pahor, after signing the agreement with his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor in Stockholm.
Fredrik Reinfeldt, prime minister of Sweden, which currently presides over the EU, witnessed the signing.
The two countries had been in dispute over the small Bay of Piran in the Adriatic Sea since the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991.
Both governments say they will abide by the decision of independent experts and Wednesday’s deal still requires the approval of the two countries’ parliaments.
Croatia has called for the border to be drawn down the middle of the bay.
Slovenia exercised its veto because it considered that Croatia had provided maps and documents in the EU negotiations that failed to take account of Slovenia’s position.
But Slovenia, which has a much shorter coastline than its neighbour, feared this would deny its ships direct passage to the high seas.
The dispute, which dates back to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in 1991, has hampered the relations between the two countries, with Slovenia blocking Croatia’s talks on EU membership.
Slovenia is the only former Yugoslav republic to have joined the EU. Croatia hopes to join by 2011.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israelian Avitel to Produce Aromatic Plants in Serbia
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 3 — Israel-based Avitel company will produce aromatic herbs and spices within the municipality of Svilajnac, reports VIP Daily News Report. Seven hectares of land would be cultivated at the beginning, and later on one hundred hectares, where a lot of people will be employed, said the deputy head of the municipality of Svilajnac, Predrag Milanovic.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: NDP Says No to Int’l Supervision for 2010 Elections
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, NOVEMBER 3 — No international supervision for the 2010 parliamentary elections or for the 2011 presidential elections and no opening for the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition force in Egypt. These two points emerged in a resounding way in at the National Democratic Party convention of President Hosni Mubarak, which ended yesterday in Cairo after three days of discussion about economic and social issues and with no official statement on the possible candidacy of Barak’s son, Gamal’s, succession to the leader. The upcoming parliamentary elections, set to take place in November of 2010, are considered to be very important because they will determine who will be the candidates in the 2011 presidential elections. The 2011 elections will be held based on a 2005 amendment to article 76 of the Constitution, which would create more obstacles for independent candidates. A valid consideration for the Muslim Brotherhood, which as an independent party, obtained about one-fifth of the seats in Parliament, 88 out of 444, in the last parliamentary elections. According to new regulations, independent candidates must obtain support from a certain number of MPs in the two branches of congress and the municipal councils. This has led some opposition forces to fear electoral fraud and call for international supervision for the parliamentary elections. Supervision that the ruling party has categorically denied, especially by party representative Mohamed Kamal, while the head of the cabinet, Zakareya Azmi, spoke about possible monitoring only by “organisations from Egyptian society”. At the same time, Congress counted more votes in favour of the exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood from political life, as highlighted by Egyptian daily, Al Hayat, as well as seizing the funds of the international Muslim Brotherhood organisation. As for the possible candidacy of Gamal Mubarak, the son 81-year-old leader who has been in power for 28 years, he has not yet expressed an opinion. When prestigious journalist Mohammed Hassaein Heikal asked about a proposal to create a sort of committee of wise men for a three-year transitional period at the end of Mubarak’s mandate, the president’s son said that debates on the future transition are “legitimate, but premature”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Food: ‘Contamination’ Between Sicilian and Tunisian Cuisine
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, NOVEMBER 3 — The so-called ‘red dishes’ with tomato sauce were introduced into the cuisine of Tunisia by Sicilian immigrants to the Horn of Africa at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. And again, if the Arabs exported cous-cous to Sicily, with citrus fruits and sorbet, the Sicilians left some kinds of lemons, ice-cream, artichokes and fennel, slated anchovies, tuna based dishes and vegetable based sauces. This culinary ‘contamination’ between Sicily and Tunisia was highlighted at a meeting of the community of Sicilian immigrants in Tunisia, at Casa Sicilia in Tunis, as a part of the mission organised by Fenalca (the national federation for autonomous tradesmen and artisans), with offices in Palermo, with support from the councillorship of labour for the Region of Sicily. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islam: Frattini, Equality Needed in Relations With the West
(ANSAmed) — MARRAKESH (MOROCCO), NOVEMBER 3 — The key to success in relations between the West and the Arab-Islamic World “is one word, equality”. The Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, is convinced of this, who opening the “Forum for the Future” in Marrakesh met with the foreign ministers of the G8, the enlarged Middle East, the Arab League and civilian society, stating that there is the need to “forget a world in which there is a power which proposes and the rest who have to decide if they accept it or not”. That which is needed, for the Italian foreign minister, is a “equal leadership”. “We can do more and better”, the minister said, “and bring the human element to the centre of policy in order to unite us instead of divide us”. Emphasising the importance of cultural projects because “when there is an opening of the mind, extremism does not increase”, Frattini stated, launching the proposal to create an ‘Education Network’ among the G8 countries and the countries of the enlarged Middle East including the collaboration between universities and student exchanges, and after the ‘Forum for the Future’, the creation of an educational forum.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Italian Funding for Christian Cemetery in Tunis
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, NOVEMBER 3 — Renovation work at the Christian cemetery in Tunis should be completed in the coming months thanks to a grant of 55 thousand euros from the Italian government. The announcement was made by the Italian Ambassador to Tunis, Antonio D’Andria, speaking at a meeting concerning Tunisia’s Sicilian community, which is part of a mission to the North African country organised by Palermo’s FENALCA (Independent National Federation of Workers, Tradespeople and Craftsworkers), with funding from the Region of Sicily. “There is still a third of the work left to be done,” D’Andria added, “the cemetery has already been renovated in part, with funding from the countries concerned — meaning Italy, Malta and France and Tunis Council, for an overall cost of 300 thousand euros. There are 12 thousand Italian graves in all”. “In recent years we have been noting a return to Tunisia by Italians in the industrial sector and there is a new phenomenon of pensioners choosing the country for their old age. The cost of living is lower in Tunisia, from diesel to food, and a pension of just over one thousand euros can afford a decent lifestyle”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
10 Bln Dollars Needed for Marshall Plan
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 3 — A Marshall plan to support economic development in the Palestinian Territories is one of the conditions necessary to resume the path towards the creation of an independent Palestinian state and the Arab world, which has been dormant, should contribute not less than “10 billion dollars”. So said Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Dany Ayalon, while speaking today during a forum with journalists and diplomats in Jerusalem. In his speech, Ayalon reiterated his government’s position that negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) should be resumed “with no conditions” and specifically, without the prejudice of a Jewish settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians believe to be a minimum pre-condition to resume negotiations while to Israel it is only “one of the points” of a future negotiation. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Goldstone Sells in Gaza
An embroidery scarf bearing the name of South African judge Richard Goldstone is displayed at a Palestinian souvenir shop in Gaza City on November 4, 2009. The UN General Assembly is scheduled to discuss the controversial UN Goldstone report on Israel’s 22-day war against Palestinian militants in Gaza.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Appoints Anti-Israel Senator to Head Intel Team
Israelis were given yet another reason to view US President Barack Obama with suspicion last week when he appointed former senator Chuck Hagel as the new head of his Intelligence Advisory Board.
Hagel has long rubbed Israel and its supporters the wrong way, and last month he reiterated his antagonistic positions when addressing the liberal Jewish lobby group J-Street. Hagel told his audience that meeting Arab demands for a Palestinian state on ancient Jewish lands is “is central, not peripheral, to U.S. vital security interests in combating terrorism.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Amir Taheri: Brave Iranians Ruin Hate-U.S. Fest
Yesterday marked the 30th anniver sary of the capture by Khomeinist “stu dents” of the US Embassy in Tehran, triggering the 444-day hostage crisis.
The Iranian public seized the chance to reject the regime — even as the surviving hostage-takers have largely come to regret their actions.
For months, Iran’s state-controlled media had tried to build up the day as a “turning point” for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s troubled second term.
The occasion was supposed to highlight Ahmadinejad’s “victory over the American Great Satan” and Washington’s implicit acceptance of Iran’s nuclear project in recent talks in Geneva and Vienna.
In a message on the eve of the anniversary, “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei called on “true Muslims” to show “unquenchable anger against the Great Satan.” The newspaper Kayhan promised “the largest crowds in Iran’s history.”
But events defied the official script.
Weeks of “mass mobilization” failed to produce “the largest crowds in history.”
The official news agency, IRNA, which habitually reports “the marches of the millions,” had to lower its rhetoric to “tens of thousands.” More, its reports indicated that, in most cases, the authorities had to press-gang schoolchildren into marching.
The largest rally, in front of the former US Embassy, attracted no more than 5,000 professional militants, eyewitnesses said.
And the opposition seized the chance to show its strength once again. The official media reported that “the enemies of the revolution” held rallies in more than 100 cites. In cities such as Ahvaz and Yazd, opposition marches pushed official processions to the sidelines.
That anti-Americanism is no longer in vogue (if it ever was) was further underlined by the fact that regime grandees stayed away from the anti-US marches.
In some cases, senior officials were advised not to appear — for fear of facing hostile crowds. For the first time in 30 years, no major regime figure was there to address the rallies.
Khamenei and Ahmadinejad stayed in their bunkers — dispatching Ghulam Haddad-Adel, a former speaker of Iran’s ersatz parliament, to deliver the main address in front of the former embassy. Even then, he had to make a quick getaway when advised that an opposition crowd was approaching.
In some cases, the opposition’s chants of “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to Russia!” were louder than the slogan “Death to America!” chanted by official demonstrators, often with little enthusiasm.
In some gatherings, non-Iranian militants, including members of the Lebanese Hezbollah and students from Africa and elsewhere in Asia, provided the core of the crowds.
State-owned TV showed a group of Spanish converts to Shiism whose leader, a certain Jaafar Gonzales, claimed he’d come to Iran to underline “my people’s deep hatred of America.”
None of the 400 or so “students” who raided the embassy was present to mark yesterday’s anniversary.
During the last 30 years, more than half the “students” have died — many killed in the eight-year war with Iraq — or gone into exile.
Of the 20-strong “student” leadership in 1979, nine are now in prison for opposing Ahmadinejad — among them the two architects of the embassy raid, Mohsen Aminzadeh and Mohsen Mirdamadi.
Also in jail is Behzad Nabavi, the militant who eventually negotiated the hostages’ release. Muhammad Mussavi-Khoiniha, the mullah who led the “students” during the crisis, has also joined the opposition.
Habiballah Peyman, the “ideological mentor” of the 1979 hostage-holders, was beaten and severely injured by the police yesterday as he led an opposition march. Javad Sheikh al-Islam, the “student” who supervised the torture of the hostages, was dismissed as deputy foreign minister on Monday, ostensibly because of his opposition sympathies.
A number of former hostage-takers — including Abbas Abdi and Ibrahim Asgharzadeh, who were in charge of interrogating the American captives — have issued statements expressing “deep regret” for the event and hopes of “forgiveness” from their victims.
A broader statement, demanding “forgiveness from the American people” was delivered yesterday to the US Embassy in London by leading filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a former Khomeinist militant who has joined to the opposition.
Yesterday’s events proved that anti-Americanism has no popular base in Iran. The slogan “Death to America,” shouted by rent-a-mob professionals, sounded more hollow than ever
| — Hat tip: Henrik | [Return to headlines] |
Arms Ship: How Iran Tried to Dupe Israeli Intelligence
Hezbollah-bound vessel carrying vast amounts of weapons, ammunition left Iranian port 10 days ago; cargo was transferred to German ship, seized a few hours after leaving Egyptian port on Tuesday. IDF: Syria planned to transfer arms to Lebanon by land
The weapons and ammunition, including 106 mm shells, 107 mm and 122 mm rockets, hand grenades, mortar shells, anti-tank missiles and ammunition for AK-47 rifles, were hidden in polyethylene bags. Following a 2,500 mile journey, the FRANCOP vessel docked at Egypt’s Damietta Port after crossing the Suez Canal.
As part of the plan to deceive Israeli intelligence services, the 36 containers containing the munitions were then transferred to a German cargo ship sailing under an Antiguan flag. The ship is owned by Cypriot charter company UFS, and its captain is Polish.
The vessel left the Egyptian port at around noon Tuesday. It was scheduled to dock briefly in Cyprus before heading to the Syria’s Latakia Port. IDF officials estimate that Syria planned to transfer the weapons to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon by land.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem: Settlers Move Into Palestinian House
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 3 — Dozens of Jewish settlers took over the home of a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem today in the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in what Palestinians are calling a campaign aimed at distancing them from the city and strengthening Israeli presence in the area, occupied in 1967 by the Jewish state. The property in question is one of 28 in the neighbourhood part of a legal battle between Jewish settlers and Palestinian families. The house occupied by the settlers was lived in by the al-Kurd family and was built about 10 years ago on land that the settlers claimed to own based on documents dating back to the Ottoman era. Palestinians also claim the property based on Jordanian documents. An Israeli court ruled that the land was Jewish property, but that the Palestinian family had the right to continue living in the house as long as they paid rent to the owners, which they apparently never did. Palestinians say that winning a legal battle involving property in Israeli court is almost impossible. The settlement of the house by the Jewish settlers was filmed by human rights activists and also involved several scuffles. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Kurds: Football Diplomacy Fails at Home
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 2 — Football diplomacy might have created miracles for tense relations between Turkey and Armenia, but the world’s most popular sport remains unhelpful when it comes to the Kurdish issue, daily Hurriyet notes. For the second time this month, Diyarbakirspor Chairman Cetin Sumer is seeking support to withdraw from the Turkcell Super League. The withdrawal announcement came after the team’s 2-1 loss at Gaziantepspor. “We will not be on the pitch against Galatasaray next weekend,” Sumer told the Dogan news agency. The announcement came after an emergency board meeting late Sunday addressed offensive chanting by Gaziantepspor supporters and questioned decisions by referee Suleyman Abay. Many ultra-nationalists in Turkey consider Diyarbakirspor, from the biggest city in southeastern Turkey, to represent the Kurds and, by extension, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The team and its supporters have on many occasions become targets of anti-Kurdish banners and chants. Diyarbakirspor coach Ziya Dogan asked Sumer to reconsider the decision. “We must play against Galatasaray… a loss by referee decision will result in deducting three points, which will not help the team,”, he said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: American Carlyle to Buy 40% Stake in Medical Park
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 3 — One of the world’s leading private equity firms, the Carlyle Group, which made its first investment in Turkey last year, is expanding its activity in the country by acquiring a 40% stake in the Medical Park Hospital Group, daily Today’s Zaman reports. The Carlyle Group will pay about $100 million for this minority stake. The two sides have signed a preliminary agreement on the sale; the final signing is set to take place in the coming days. The group made its first investment in Turkey last year by buying 50% stake in the Turkish TVK Shipyard, which specializes in building chemical tankers. Operating in the Turkish medical sector since 1995, the Medical Park Hospital Group owns 11 hospitals and two hospital complexes in a number of cities. It employs more than 6,000 doctors and workers. With the new ownership structure, the joint stake of hospital partners Ethem Sancak and Muharrem Usta will decrease to 60%. The Carlyle Groups plans to expand its investments into sectors such as retail, health, logistics, transportation and finance have long been known. The group previously attempted to buy shares in Turk Telekom and Kardemir. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Backs Iran’s ‘Right’ To Nukes
Prime minister says others might need to give up theirs
TBILISI, Georgia — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is steering his country toward more eastward thinking and away from reliance on the West, is backing Iran’s “right to peaceful nuclear energy,” according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
But he goes further, warning the West that if it doesn’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons, then Western countries, including Israel, need to give up theirs. He accuses Western countries of hypocrisy in criticizing Iran’s nuclear program while remaining silent on Israel’s apparent possession of undeclared nuclear weapons.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Erdogan Rejects Foreign Policy Shifting Course /Rpt
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 3 — Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has dismissed claims that Turkey’s foreign policy was shifting course, as Anatolia news agency reports . “Turkey’s foreign policy is not shifting direction, its axis or course. But it is normalising and taking concrete and decisive steps forward to a level as it should. And it becomes ever more important and effective,” Erdogan told Tuesday a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party. Erdogan said Turkey was committed on its European Union membership bid despite what he described as “unfair and discouraging attitudes.” “We are on track with our EU accession process and it is out of question that we quit making reforms. The fact that our direction leads toward the West and our sincere efforts for EU membership do not mean that we turn our backs on the east or the north. Turkey’s foreign policy is built upon peace, dialogue, cooperation and communication,” Erdogan said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Students Pelt Israeli Ambassador With Eggs in Trabzon
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 4 — Turkish police detained around 20 students on Wednesday after they pelted Israel’s ambassador with eggs to protest the Jewish state’s treatment of Palestinians, forcing him to cancel a university visit. The protest took place outside the university in the Black Sea port of Trabzon as Ambassador Gabby Levy arrived in his car, Anatolia news agency reported. “Israel is a murderer,” television footage showed the students shouting. The ambassador left without getting out of his vehicle and police detained the group of around 20 students who defied orders to disperse, Anatolia said. Levy was already embarrassed Tuesday in nearby Rize, where local Mayor Halil Bakirci condemned Israel’s “policies of expansion and occupation” and said that self-defense should not involve “killing children.” Israel’s relations with Turkey, its main regional ally, took a downturn in January when Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of the Jewish state over its devastating war on the Gaza Strip. Last month Turkey excluded Israel from joint military drills and said that bilateral ties would continue to suffer unless Israel ends “the humanitarian tragedy” in Gaza and revives peace talks with the Palestinians. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
United Arab Emirates: Eau, The First Interactive Robot in Arabic is Born
The project created by a team of students and researchers at the University of Al-Ain cost 200 thousand dollars. The robot wears traditional clothes, speak classical Arabic and is used as an assistant to customers in shopping centres. The field of information technology will grow by 12.4% between 2008 and 2013.
Al-Ain (AsiaNews / Agencies) — This is the first example of robots who speaks perfect Arabic, and soon will be mass-produced for use as “personal” in shopping centres. Ibn Sina — this is the name chosen — was designed and built by a group of students and researchers at the University of United Arab Emirates Al-Ain, who call it “the first socially interactive robot in the Arabic world.”
Ibn Sina — or Avicenna — derives its name from the eleventh-century Muslim philosopher, it wears traditional Islamic clothes (see photo) and is able to speak fluent classical Arabic. Within six months the development project should be completed and it will be used in shopping malls as a receptionist, sales person and to help customers.
Nikolaos Mavridis, an immigrant of Greek origin and coordinator of university research centres, emphasizes “the enthusiasm shown by students” in the development of the project. “[The robot] can do different things for himself — said the teacher — including answering questions, connect to the internet to gather information and display items the client is interested in.”
The robot has already been “tested” for a whole day in a shopping centre in Al-Ain, and within six months should be ready for commercialization. “We are very close to making it fit for work — concluded Nikolaos Mavridis — and there are several buyers interested in the project.”
The project that led to the emergence of “Avicenna” was funded by the country’s political leadership, scientific and technological research could form an alternative to an economy based primarily on oil and construction related to tourism.
The investment for the construction of the robot is about 200 U.S. dollars, but in the future, funding could grow substantially. According to the Information Data Corporation (IDC), a firm that studies the global market, investment in information technology in the UAE is expected to grow by 12.4% between 2008 and 2013, for a total volume of 1.83 billion dollars.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Veiled Saudi Women Launch a Freedom Campaign
On November 6, 1990, 40 brave Saudi women drove their cars in public in Riyadh, the capital city, to demand their right to drive. They were quickly detained, their passports were confiscated, and they were fired from their jobs. On the 19th anniversary of this event, Saudi women activists, led by prominent Saudi activist and journalist Wajeha al Huwaider, are launching the Black Ribbons Campaign. They want to move about in the world freely, without a male minder. Al Huwaider has called for the abolition of the mahram (“guardian”) law which requires women to obtain the approval of a male relative for nearly any move they make in their lives. She is also demanding that Saudi women be treated as a citizens, just like their male counterparts, and that they be allowed to travel, drive, gain custody of their children, work, study, etc., just like their male counterparts. The Saudi women will not “untie their ribbons until Saudi women enjoy their rights as adult citizens.”
But in only nineteen years, how the times have changed! Once, Muslim women chose not to wear hijab—in Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Iran, etc. Today, some Muslim women insist not only on shroud-veiling, but on having male babysitters as well!
For example, the fully-shrouded Saudi princess, Jawaher bint Jalawi, says she must have and cannot part with her male “guardian” who accompanies her wherever she goes…
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Afghanistan: Preparing for the Worst
Brown’s Panglossian handling of Afghanistan is undermining public confidence. He must spell out the options if the war turns uglier still
The shock and revulsion at the brutal killing of five British soldiers by an Afghan policeman at a checkpoint in Helmand yesterday have thrust this bitter war all the more violently into the centre of debate. The murders bring the number of British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001 to 229. This is the worst year for military casualties since the Falklands conflict in 1982. The killings come hard on the heels of the aborted presidential elections, the graphic evidence of corruption within the Afghan Government and the call by Kim Howells, a former Foreign Office minister, for the withdrawal of most troops. As the Taleban calculated, this has undermined support for Britain’s engagement. Many people now believe the conflict unwinnable and Afghanistan a political and military disaster.
This is fast eroding confidence in the Government’s handling of an ugly war. It has revealed the Prime Minister as woefully unprepared to deal with the widespread public anxiety: unfocused on the military details, unclear on the strategy and unwilling to spell out the options and alternatives. Mr Brown seems to believe, with Panglossian naivety, that the conflict can be contained without sending any more troops; that President Karzai will root out corruption; and that the US will come to the rescue. There is little evidence that any of this will happen.
It is time for this Government to stop hoping for the best and start preparing for the worst. What if President Karzai ignores the demands from Washington to sack his corrupt cronies, curtail the culture of bribery, halt the lucrative opium trade and distance himself from the warlords and criminals enriching themselves on Western aid? What if the Taleban step up the roadside bombs and suicide attacks and kill hundreds more British soldiers? What if the infiltration of the police undermines the entire Afghanisation programme? And what if President Obama chooses not to send the 40,000 troops requested by his generals and opts for only half that figure?
Wise generals plan for any contingency; Mr Brown appears to avoid thinking ahead. His speech to the Labour Party conference was shocking for its scant attention to the war and hackneyed response to the growing doubts. Mr Howells said Britain would do better to fight the al-Qaeda threat on the streets of Britain. It is a serious argument that needs a serious response. What should be the appropriate troop levels and deployment of Britain’s forces in Afghanistan? What would be the repercussions of a pull-out?
It is not enough simply to say that Britain cannot just walk away from the conflict. More and more people are asking: why not? If the Government believes, rightly, that a precipitate withdrawal would destroy Nato’s credibility, galvanise the Taleban, render worthless the sacrifices already made and take Afghanistan back to the brutal rule it suffered before 2001, then the case must be made. Extremists around the world would gloat at their victory. Pakistan, brittle and fissiparous, would be threatened with an Islamist takeover. Al-Qaeda’s deceptive and blasphemous campaign would win new adherents — in Mumbai, Istanbul, Somalia or North Africa..
Britain needs to make clear, to its people and its forces, that it is the junior partner in this war, and that strategic decisions can be made only in lockstep with Washington. It must also set much tougher terms for dealing with President Karzai: if he refuses to punish corruption and sideline his brother, Britain should circumvent Kabul and focus its energy and investment on local governments. Everyone, in Afghanistan and the West, wants the foreign troops to leave. The question is how and when. Mr Brown needs now to focus as single-mindedly on Afghanistan as he did, for a while, on the global economic downturn.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: UN Leaves as Brits Want Troops Home
Channel 4 News finds that 73 per cent of people want British soldiers to return home as the UN announces it is to relocate Afghan staff after security in the capital deteriorates.
Spokesman Aleem Siddique said the United Nations would relocate about 600 of its roughly 1,100 international staff temporarily while additional security is put in place.
Some would be relocated to safer sites within Afghanistan and some withdrawn from the country, he said, adding that the final breakdown had not been determined.
The UN said that the temporary evacuation would not disrupt its operations in the country but that the measures were necessary after security had deteriorated.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: British Soldiers Murdered in Afghanistan by Taliban Assassin: Killer Back With US and Safe, Say Insurgents
Taliban insurgents today claimed that the Afghan policeman who murdered five British soldiers was back with them and ‘safe’.
The assassin, identified as a man called Gulbaddin, had fled the scene of slaughter on a motorbike after the attack on Tuesday.
But despite a desperate search involving British special forces, MI6 officers and surveillance drones there has been no trace of him since.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bloody Betrayal Raises Fresh Doubts About Britain’s Campaign in Afghanistan
The killing of five British soldiers by an Afghan policeman raised fresh doubts yesterday about Britain’s mission in Helmand.
Senior political, diplomatic and military figures warned that public support for the British presence was in danger of collapse without a clear and freshly defined strategy.
The deaths of the soldiers, three from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military Police, came when a policeman trained by British forces opened fire at Shin Kalay base in southern Afghanistan. Building up the expertise of the Afghan army and police force is key to the British and American forces eventually leaving the country, and that may now be far more difficult to achieve.
The shootings exposed cracks in the military alliance and domestic political unity. Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the former Liberal Democrat leader, and Lord Powell of Bayswater, Margaret Thatcher’s former foreign policy adviser, warned of the dangers of ebbing public support.
Lord Ashdown writes in The Times: “There is now a real chance that we will lose this struggle in the bars and front-rooms of Britain, before we lose it in the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan.” Lord Powell said that the public wouldn’t accept a strategy that did not include a cut-off point within three years.
The soul-searching was reflected by the Right Rev Stephen Venner, the Bishop to the Armed Forces. He said: “I would hope that all politicians and church leaders would be asking questions. We are asking our people . . . to be in positions of huge danger. We must always ask the question about whether it is right we should be there.”
At Westminster, Gordon Brown was fighting to maintain Labour unity and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, told The Times that his support for the war was “not unconditional”, hinting that his backing depended on America’s new strategy succeeding.
General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, former Chief of the Defence Staff, said the mission had reached a tipping point but blamed President Obama’s delayed decision on whether to send more US troops.
Amid signs of uncertainty about how to proceed, Mr Brown signalled that London and Washington had revived the idea of a senior civilian alliance figure to assist President Karzai as he tries to stamp out corruption. Lord Ashdown, once touted for such a role, said that the West should bypass Mr Karzai and deal with tribal leaders.
In the Commons, Labour MPs voiced sympathy for a call from the former minister Kim Howells for a phased withdrawal of troops.
Grenadier Guards killed were named as Guardsman James Major, 18, Sergeant Matthew Telford, both from Grimsby, and Sergeant Major Darren Chant. The Royal Military policemen were Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, from Saundersfoot.
| — Hat tip: 4Symbols | [Return to headlines] |
Ministers Gagged by Their Own Guilt on Afghanistan, Says Labour MP
Mr Flynn said that ministerial guilt over a “wholly mistaken” policy in Helmand province was preventing a discussion of withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Their mouths are bandaged by their own guilt. To say we have to end the war is to confess the war has been badly conducted since 2006 and at least 200 British lives have been lost…because of a wholly mistaken course we have taken as a government.
He added: “I believe the politicians are deluded and they cannot face the horror of their own mistakes since 2006 and the result of those mistakes is the death of 229 of our soldiers.”
He criticised the policy of training the Afghan police, saying forces could not rely on a “depraved” and “corrupt” force.
“The whole ethos of the police is a corrupt one. The Chief of Police buys his job then he has to get his money back by taking a cut on the bribes his police take,” he said.
He added: “It’s a mercenary force that are recruited for money”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Infiltration Impossible to Stop
From Danish: Kai Vittrup, the Danish head of the EU police mission in Afghanistan says that you can’t prevent the Taliban from infiltrating the Afghan police, which is working with NATO forces.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Seoul Launches Reforestation of China’s Inner Mongolia Region
The city of Seoul signs a US$ 49 million tree-planting agreement to reforest the Kubuqi, the seventh biggest desert in the world. The goal is to block sand blown by spring storms towards the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul (AsiaNews) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to plant 72,000 trees in the Kubuqi Desert of Inner Mongolia, which is the source of severe sandstorms that sweep across Asia. The aim is to prevent the so-called “yellow dust”, dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles kicked up by high-speed surface winds in intense storms that block ventilation and irrigation systems on the Korean Peninsula and create health problems for the population.
The city signed the deal on Tuesday with Future Forest and the All China Youth Federation to plant 72,000 trees and will invest about W50 million (US$ 49 million) in the tree-planting project.
The plan calls for members of the All China Youth Federation, which is affiliated with the Communist Party of China, to plant trees in Inner Mongolia.
NGOs will provide technical leadership and logistical support to planters, who might have problems in creating small oases to guarantee the survival of the saplings.
The 72,000 trees include poplar and desert willow, the only trees capable of growing with shallow roots.
According to some studies by Seoul University, if the tree-planting project is completed as scheduled, a green ecosystem in the desert will come into being by the end of next year, and will be capable of stopping the sand when winds blow from the West.
The Kubuqi is located some 600 kilometres west of Beijing and is seventh largest desert in the world.
Covered in forests until the late 19th century, it lost its vegetation as a result of early industrial development and overpopulation.
The region is known to be the source of 40 per cent of the yellow dust, which affects the Korean Peninsula every spring.
The South Koreans decided to launch this initiative because dusty thunderstorms have worsened over the past decade.
Sand can provoke serious respiratory problems and affects especially vulnerable groups like children, women and the elderly.
It can also clog air conditioning, an essential service for South Koreans during hot humid summers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Must Join Muslim Asia or Perish — Taliban
AN official Taliban publication warns Australia that it will have to assimilate into a dominant Asia or face the prospect of being overpowered and forced to take population overspill from Asia.
The choice is spelled out in the latest issue of the online Taliban monthly magazine, Al Sumud (Steadfastness), whose lead article offers a sweeping view of a post-war order in which a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan becomes a moral pivot for a pan-Asian renaissance that will coincide with the decline of Western power.
“The end of European leadership in the world will place the white settler diaspora in Australia before two choices,” writes the author, Mustafa Hamid, a former senior al-Qaeda member who in 2001 married Australian Rabiah Hutchinson, a Sydney mother with links to Islamic extremists.
“It can either return to its motherland in Europe or reconcile with its Asian surroundings and assimilate into it as a wealthy and active member.”
Otherwise, he warns, a lengthy conflict will ensue in which Australia will be overpowered “by Asian waves that are better armed and more numerous”.
“There is no doubt that the huge growth in the population of Asia, together with its economic and military development, will make Australia into lebensraum — to use the European term,” writes Mr Hamid. Lebensraum, meaning living space, was a term used by Nazi Germany as a motivation for territorial conquest.
Asia, Mr Hamid writes, is facing a population explosion “while Australia is nearly empty of people, apart from scattered groups of white residents”.
Residents of “the Israeli outpost” at the other end of Asia are likewise warned to return to their countries of origin or face an “unequal conflict”.
These warnings, however, are marginal to the central vision offered in the article — the emergence of a vibrant pan-Asian identity in which Islam, and the Taliban in particular, constitutes a powerful moral and cultural force but not an exclusive one. Its emphasis on pan-Asian political identity rather than pan-Islamic sets it apart from al-Qaeda ideology.
The Taliban article does not call for jihad, although it hints at the possibility of “peaceful Islamic expansion” and the linchpin role in the “Asian Age”, as the author terms it, is ceded to non-Islamic China.
| — Hat tip: DK | [Return to headlines] |
Innocent Blood: How Lying Marketers Sold Roe v. Wade to America
In one of the most successful marketing campaigns in modern political history, the “abortion rights movement” — with all of its emotionally compelling catch-phrases and powerful political slogans — has succeeded in turning what once was a heinous crime into a fiercely defended constitutional right.
During the tumultuous 1960s, after centuries of legal prohibition and moral condemnation of abortion, a handful of dedicated activists launched an unprecedented marketing campaign. Their aim was twofold: first, to capture the news media and thus public opinion, and then, to change the nation’s abortion laws.
Their success was rapid and total — resulting in abortion being legalized in all 50 states, for virtually any reason, and throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Since the Supreme Court’s controversial Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, American doctors have performed well over 40 million abortions.
Although polls consistently show a clear majority of Americans disapprove of unfettered abortion-on-demand, the movement’s well-crafted, almost magical slogans — appealing to Americans’ deeply rooted inclination toward tolerance, privacy and individual rights — have provided the abortion camp a powerful rhetorical arsenal with which to fight off efforts to reverse Roe, which struck down all state laws outlawing abortion.
In marketing wars, the party that frames the terms of the debate almost always wins. And the early abortion marketers brilliantly succeeded in doing exactly that — diverting attention away from the core issues of exactly what abortion does to both the unborn child and the mother, and focusing the debate instead on a newly created issue: “choice.” No longer was the morality of killing the unborn at issue, but rather, “who decides.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Quotas Exposed
Ex-director: We’d have client goal every month
A former director of a Texas Planned Parenthood branch who resigned after she watched an ultrasound-guided abortion told WND the clinic was pushing employees to strive for abortion quotas to boost profits.
“There are definitely client goals,” former clinic director Abby Johnson said. “We’d have a goal every month for abortion clients and for family planning clients.”
Johnson, 29, said the Bryan, Texas, Planned Parenthood clinic performed surgical abortions every other Saturday, but it began expanding access to abortion to increase earnings.
“One of the ways they were able to up the number of patients that they saw was they started doing the RU-486 chemical abortions all throughout the week,” she said.
RU-486 chemical abortions kill the lining of the uterus, cutting off oxygen and nutrients, resulting in the death of an unborn baby. Johnson said the chemical abortion costs the same as an early first-trimester abortion: between $505 and $695 for each procedure.
She told WND the clinic was experiencing financial difficulties due to the economic downturn.
“Abortion is the most lucrative part of Planned Parenthood’s operations,” she said. “Even though they’re two separate corporations, all of the money goes into one pot. With the family planning corporation really suffering, they depend on the abortion corporation to balance their budget, help get them out of the hole and help make income for the company.”
She continued, “They really wanted to increase the number of abortions so that they could increase their income.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Planned Parenthood Attempting to Silence Ex-Director Who Quit Abortion Business
Bryan, TX (LifeNews.com) — Planned Parenthood is attempting to silence a former abortion center director who quit working for the abortion business after seeing an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. Officials with the group are pushing a request for a restraining order on Abby Johnson and a pro-life group that helped her conversion.
Johnson had been the director of the Planned Parenthood center in this southeast Texas city that is home to Texas A&M University.
She turned in her resignation on October 6 after years of a local pro-life group helping her see the problem with abortion. After the ultrasound, she decided to leave.
“I just thought I can’t do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it,” she said.
Now, Planned Parenthood officials have hit both Johnson and the Coalition for Life with restraining orders requiring them not to disclose information about the abortions done at its facility.
They don’t want Johnson to release any records or confidential information from her eight-year stint at the Planned Parenthood abortion business, even though she has already told media outlets she will not do so.
District Judge J.D. Langley signed the request for a temporary injunction on Friday and a followup hearing is scheduled for November 10. The injunction prevents Johnson from releasing any information she obtained from Planned Parenthood — at least until the hearing.
Coalition Director Shawn Carney called Planned Parenthood’s actions unnecessary and an overreaction and said there is no effort to release confidential records.
But Planned Parenthood attorneys claim Johnson was seen copying confidential files and records shortly before her resignation and the former director told The Eagle newspaper that she hasn’t given any documents to the pro-life group.
“I didn’t provide any because I don’t have any,” she said.
Johnson told The Eagle that Planned Parenthood is likely worried about how she could expose the profit motive behind the abortion industry.
“Definitely the most lucrative part of their business was abortions,” she said. “One of the things that kept coming up was how family planning services were really dragging down the budget, and family planning services include education about contraceptives. It was a drain on the budget, but abortion services were really running up the budget and that was keeping the center afloat.”
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The ‘C’ In ACLU is for Cowardice
We’re past Halloween and approaching Christmas and gearing up for the biggest battles in the highest stakes contact sport there is. No, we’re not talking about college football’s bowl season. Rather, ‘tis the season for filing legal briefs over Christmas displays.
Like two prize fighters, the American Civil Liberties Union [1] and the Alliance Defense Fund [2] are preparing to go at it as the ACLU begins its annual season of silly lawsuits. The fear of silly lawsuits leads schools and local governments to take even more ridiculous actions, such as the school that banned red and green napkins [3] from a “holiday” party a few years back. The Alliance Defense Fund’s prepping a phalanx of attorneys to go to battle has brought a touch of sanity to the annual festival of PC insanity by ensuring that government bodies realize trampling on the rights of citizens out of ACLUaphobia will have consequences.
With the ACLU, the silly season never stops; it just hits its biggest fever pitch around Christmas. They’re engaged in a lawsuit in Illinois [4] and have found a friendly judge to agree with their atheist client that a moment of silence in schools is unconstitutional. Yes, having a moment of silence where kids can do whatever silent activity they want, from praying to thinking about their hot date tonight, is now considered something the drafters of the First Amendment would condemn.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bikini Clad Miss Earth Contestants Pushing Global Warming Propaganda
As “reported” by the London Telegraph yesterday, scantily clad Miss Earth contestants are the latest cultural vehicles for delivering the seemingly omnipresent propaganda of the manmade climate change alarmists. In addition to signs with innocuous (if brusquely worded) rejoinders to “Repair all leaks promptly” and “Plants trees that are indigenous to your community”, the contestants were also paraded in front of photographers with placards warning of the dangers of carbon emissions and urging “adaptation and mitigation” of climate change “NOW!” According to the Telegraph, this year’s Miss Earth competition has adopted the theme “Beauties for a cause” and encourages contestants to help raise awareness of environmental issues.
| [Return to headlines] |
1 comment:
"Even though the UK has strict gun control, the rate of gun crime in London has risen dramatically in the last six months. Despite these statistics, Scotland Yard is not yet ready to arm the police."
The only reason that Scotland Yard is not yet ready to arm the police is because the public don't want armed police. This report follows the finding out (not disclosure!) that armed police had been on foot patrol in some parts of London, and the public outcry that followed.
The slimy little t**ds that form the senior management of the Met Police promptly disowned their junior ranks who had "made" that decision.
Myself, I think they were trying it on. As I am led to believe the Americans would have it, 'lets run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes'.
There are two main reasons for not wanting armed police in the UK. One is the constant string of news stories that tell us of American cops shooting dead naked revellers climbing lamp posts, or similar stupid-but-not-worthy-of-shooting-dead misdemeanours. And the second is the Met Police's record in shooting the wrong person, and then lying about it. de Menenzes at Stockwell tube station is one, a chap in East London carrying a table leg in a plastic bag is another that spring to mind.
With a climate of constant surveillance, a clearly politicised (left wing) trait amongst senior policemen, and the police having grotesque powers over the ordinary person, there is a growing feeling that we do not trust the police that we have. Arming them as well will be a step far too far.
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