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The Five Most Wanted Rip-off Artists from Wall Street and Washington
By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
Posted on November 3, 2008, Printed on November 3, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/105828/
What the hell's happening here? Why is my bank in the tank? And my house and job? And my retirement money? Even my state's teetering on the brink of broke! Who did this to us?
Fair questions, but we're not getting honest answers. Last year, at the first signs of the global financial slide toward the abyss, we were told that it's just a little hiccup caused by something called subprime mortgages. Not to worry, the Powers That Be declared confidently, for we have the damage contained. And rest assured that "the fundamentals of our economy are sound."
Then, this spring, Bear Stearns cratered, requiring an emergency federal subsidy to cover billions in bad loans. Okay, admitted those in charge, that subprime stuff actually is leveraged on up the financial system, and maybe there's been a bit of greed among a few of the big players, but we really do have the problem contained now, and, hey, "the fundamentals of our economy are sound."
But in September--Omigosh!--there went Lehman Brothers, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, WaMu, Wachovia, and others. Well, yes, conceded the now-frazzled financial establishment, but gollies, we're throwing hundreds of billions of your tax dollars into sandbags to contain the problem, and remember: "The fundamentals of our economy are sound."
In October, the contagion rolled through Britain, Canada, and Europe; it spread to Brazil and across to China and Japan; and--Holy Schmoly--suddenly all of Iceland was melting in bankruptcy! Stay calm, cried an openly panicked chorus of Washington officials, for we're holding some big summit meetings soon and consulting our Ouija boards, and...uh...ah...um...y'all just keep clinging to the thought that "the fundamentals of our economy are sound."
Laissez Fairies
You don't have to be in Who's Who to know What's What, do you? The fundamentals are NOT sound.
Wall Street and Washington (excuse the redundancy there) want us commoners to believe that this viral spread of economic grief was caused by those lower-income homeowners who couldn't pay their subprime loans--merely an unforeseeable glitch in a complex and otherwise healthy financial system. Hogwash. The source of today's pain is the same as it was in America's previous financial collapses: the unbridled greed of economic elites, enabled by their political courtesans in Washington.
This unbridling has been the long-sought goal of a cabal of deregulation ideologues who dwell in laissez-fairyland. During the past two decades, they have relentlessly pushed their economic fantasies into law. Their theory was that (to use Ronald Reagan's simple construct) "the magic of the marketplace" would create an eternal rainbow of prosperity through financial "innovation"--if only the market was unshackled from any pesky public regulations. What the dereg theorists missed, however, is that magicians don't perform magic. They perform illusions.
Let's meet some of the illusionists who are directly responsible for hurling you, me, America, and most of the world into this dark and as-yet unplumbed economic hole.
Phil Gramm
Snide, sour, and sanctimonious, this former senator from Texas is now head lobbyist for the Swiss-based banking giant, UBS, as well as chief economic adviser for his old chum John McCain. A bathed-in-the-blood, footwashing, free-market absolutist, Gramm advocates a virulent brand of antigovernment, market-knows-best, Rambo capitalism.
In 1999, as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, he had the power to implement some of his cockamamie dogmas. First, he pushed through a bill to dissolve the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, a New Deal reform that prohibited banks, investment houses, and insurance companies from combining into one corporation. By keeping these components of our financial system separate, Glass-Steagall made sure that the crash of one of them would not bring down the other two. But a number of Wall Street banks, led by what would become Citigroup, saw a profit windfall for themselves if only they could scuttle the old law and merge banking, investment, and insurance into huge financial conglomerates. The senator was their ideological soul mate, and he was delighted to rig the system for them.
On November 12, 1999, a gloating Gramm celebrated having sledgehammered the regulatory walls that separated the three financial functions:
"We are here today to repeal Glass-Steagall because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom. I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that's the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."
But repealing Glass-Steagall was only step one for this free-market holy roller. In literally the dead of night, just before Congress's Christmas break in 2000, Chairman Gramm snuck a short provision into an 11,000-page appropriations bill. The item, which only a few lobbyists and lawmakers knew had been inserted, became law when the larger bill was signed by then-President Bill Clinton. Gramm's little legislative sticky note decreed that a relatively new, exotic, and inherently risky form of investments called "derivatives" were not to be regulated--or even monitored--by the government.
It should be noted here that Democrats were also butt-deep in the dereg orthodoxy. Such Wall Street sycophants as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had drunk deeply from the holy cup of derivatives deregulation, and Clinton's top economic advisors Robert Rubin (formerly with Goldman Sachs and now with Citigroup) and Lawrence Summers (also a veteran of Wall Street) were in harness with the Republicans on this effort.
By 2008, the freewheeling derivatives market, including derivatives based on those lowly subprime housing loans, bloated to a stunning $531 trillion. That's 531 followed by 12 zeroes! These little-understood, essentially secret investment schemes came to dominate our entire financial system--and when thousands of regular folks began defaulting on their subprime loans, the derivatives based on them essentially became worthless. Investment houses, which were up to their corporate keisters in these funny-money subprime derivatives, began collapsing, and the now-interlocked banks and insurance companies began tumbling down with them. Gramm's deregulatory "wave of the future" had become a financial tsunami.
Alan Greenspan
This guy's mug should be on wanted posters in every post office in America. As Federal Reserve chairman from 1987 to 2006, he held the regulatory power to prevent the irrational inflation of the huge derivatives bubble that has now burst-- yet he fought fiercely through four presidencies to prevent even the meekest oversight by the Fed or any other agency. Nicknamed "The Oracle," Chairman Greenspan was inscrutable and arrogant, but he also possessed a detailed knowledge of financial minutiae and an air of superiority that simultaneously bedazzled and intimidated presidents, lawmakers, and other public officials.
However, not everyone was sanguine about the chairman's reliance on derivatives as the pillar of Wall Street's financial strength. Many wise heads viewed these financial "products" as speculative mumbo-jumbo. Billionaire financier George Soros says his firm never invested in them "because we don't really understand how they work." Investment banker Felix Rohatyn described them as "hydrogen bombs." Back in 2003, investment guru Warren Buffett called them "financial weapons of mass destruction" that were "potentially lethal" for our economy.
But Greenspan's voice was the most powerful, and he was both a determined bureaucratic protector and an exuberant cheerleader for derivatives. Meanwhile, wealthy investors worldwide were making a killing from their investments in these bizarre pieces of paper, and few in Washington were willing even to question The Oracle.
"I always felt that the titans of our legislature didn't want to reveal their own inability to understand some of the concepts that Mr. Greenspan was setting forth," said Arthur Levitt, a well-regarded Wall Street regulator under Clinton. "I don't recall anyone ever saying, 'What do you mean by that, Alan?'"
So the bubble kept expanding.
Why was Greenspan so insistent on no regulation? Because he is the hardest of hardcore laissez-faire ideologues, holding a blazing disdain for government. An avowed worshiper of libertarian novelist Ayn Rand, he views public oversight of business as an evil force that deters the creativity of smart elites. He is so psyched by his religious-like faith in the "free market" that he fervently believes in what he considers to be the innate good will and moral superiority of investors and bankers. He asserts that these self-interested individuals can simply be trusted to do the right thing, and that government should not second-guess their decisions.
Even the faith of snake handlers is not as devout as Greenspan's. Unfortunately, however, he was able to hitch our nation's economic well-being to his own absurdist ideological fancy. The guy who was lionized as the smartest, most- stable economic thinker in the land essentially turns out to have been a quasi-religious nut.
Chris Cox
A GOP member of Congress for 17 years, Cox was another deregulation diehard and a reliable advocate for Wall Street's pampered CEO class--a role he continued to play after Bush chose him in 2005 to succeed Donaldson as SEC chair. At the commission, he weakened the ability of the enforcement staff even to investigate securities violations by Wall Street firms, much less prosecute them. Also, in an act of pure ideological folly, he eliminated an office that had been set up specifically to watch out for future problems with such high-risk investments as derivatives.
In essence, he took the cops off the beat at the very time more cops were needed. In October, when the stuff was hitting the fan, a chagrined Cox offered this brilliant insight: "The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work." Thanks, Chris.
William Donaldson
The Securities and Exchange Commission supposedly regulates investment banks, and in 2004 it was headed by--guess who?--a Wall Street investment banker, Bill Donaldson. On April 28 of that year, he presided over a little-noticed SEC meeting held in the commission's basement to consider an obscure rule change urgently requested by the Big Five investment banks (including Goldman Sachs, then headed by Henry Paulson--yes, the same treasury secretary who just designed George W's Wall Street bailout). The bankers wanted an exemption from a sensible requirement that they keep a sizeable pool of money on hand to cover potential losses. Turn these reserve funds loose, pleaded the bankers, so we can put more of our investors' money into this opaque but lucrative area known as derivatives.
After less than an hour of discussion, Donaldson and his four SEC colleagues voted unanimously to do this favor for the bankers. As a bonus, the generous commissioners also decided to let the banks themselves monitor the level of risk they were putting on investors--and ultimately on the backs of taxpayers.
In this one meeting, which was not covered by the media, the dereg geniuses had struck another major blow for banker recklessness, and the likes of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and others were sent further down the giddy path to their--and our--ruin. "The problem with such voluntary [regulations]," said Roderick Hills, Gerald Ford's former SEC chairman, "is that, as we've seen throughout history, they often don't work." Duh!
Henry Paulson
As honcho of Goldman Sachs, Hank drew a $37 million paycheck the year before Bush waved him into the Treasury Department to oversee the whole U.S. economy. At Goldman, he was considered one of Wall Street's "smart guys" who had figured out how to make billions in brokerage fees by packaging and selling these wondrous pieces of wizardry called derivatives, and he came into government as an unquestioning believer in deregulatory doctrine. Now that deregulated derivatives have turned out to be so much hokum, Hank's in charge of the bailout--and his former firm is in line to get at least $10 billion from it.
The Paulson bailout plan is flawed in many awful ways, but start with this basic one: the money (some estimates now put the total taxpayer cost above $2 trillion) is being handed to the same schemers and finaglers who caused the crash. The public gets to contribute the funds, but it gets no seat at the table to decide how the system (and who in it) will be "rescued."
With typical antigovernment extremism, Paulson's plan makes the public passive investors in the banks we're saving, leaving all the say-so to the banks' current executives and directors. Our money is being given away by the Bush ideologues with no strings attached--not even a requirement that it go into new loans so credit can quickly flow into the American economy again! Excuse me? Unclogging that credit flow was Paulson's rationale for giving $125 billion to nine giant banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York, and State Street). He now says he "hopes" the banks will use the money to make loans, but he refuses to require them to do so.
Meanwhile, bankers themselves say they are more likely simply to sit on the money for awhile or--get this--use it to buy up smaller competitors! Yes, that means that our tax dollars will go toward eliminating competition in America's banking market. Not only will this leave consumers and businesses with fewer choices, but this will also increase the size of poorly managed megabanks that have already been designated by the Bush-Paulson regime as "too big to fail."
Laissez-faire follies
One positive to come from this collapse is that it exposes the bankruptcy of several core ideas that have been pushed by free-market illusionists. For example, market infallibility--the notion that Wall Street investors, analysts, and bankers know more than anyone else, and the government (aka the public) should just get the hell out of the way and behold unfettered genius at work. So, behold. (And, by the way, these are the exact same people who only months ago were insisting that Americans would be so much better off if they would move their Social Security money from government hands to the more adventuresome wizards of Wall Street.)
Yet, those bankers and politicos who pushed this antigovernment ethos to today's disastrous conclusion remain delusional. They cry for trillions of our tax dollars, but they insist that the profiteers must control the bailout and remain free of public supervision. George W himself still sticks with fantasy over reality, claiming that the fundamentals of the system are sound and that it is "essential" that any reforms not interfere with the "free market."
It's been a scream to hear these devout market ideologues explain how they've just become Wall Street socialists. Having big, bad government buy up the failed investments, then partially nationalize America's financial system, is an unwelcome choice for Bush. "I frankly don't want the government involved," he said. "It was necessary." Bailout chief Paulson (dubbed "King Henry" by Newsweek) said, "We regret having to take these actions"--but they're necessary.
Why necessary? Because laissez-faire ideology is a crock. It failed. Americans are not being told the blunt truth, which is that the financial mess we're in today is a direct result of the laissez-faire fraud that Wall Street and Washington willfully imposed on our nation. CEOs and banking lobbyists, presidents and treasury secretaries, regulators and lawmakers (of both parties) failed to protect America from money-grubbing bankers, hedge-fund speculators, and other big players.
As we've learned in the past few weeks, there is no "free" market. Indeed, it's quite pricey when it trips and falls over the inevitable outcroppings of greed. That's why strong, vigilant, and aggressive public regulation is essential. Don't be fooled by claims that just throwing money at the hucksters will fix the problem. The only way to make America's financial system trustworthy is to return to the sound fundamentals of public oversight--starting with the bailout itself.
From "The Hightower Lowdown," edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer, November 2008. Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker and author of the book Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow. (Wiley, March 2008)
© 2008 Hightower Lowdown All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/105828/
Monday, November 3, 2008
Swedish lesbians in Taj Mahal 'wedding': reports
Swedish lesbians in Taj Mahal 'wedding': reports
2 hours ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) — Two young Swedish women tied the knot at the weekend in the first known lesbian "marriage" beside the Taj Mahal, India's ethereal monument to love, newspapers said on Monday.
The happy couple, known only as Sandra and Sarah, followed Hindu rituals during the ceremony which was conducted by a priest at the Mahadeva Shiva temple close to the Taj in the town of Agra.
After exchanging garlands, Sandra, 19, marked the head of 18-year-old Sarah with vermilion. They then made seven circuits around a fire in the traditional marriage custom.
The priest, Dharm Das, initially refused to "marry" the pair but relented after they gave an offering to the temple and said they would be his life-long disciples, reports said.
"Although the Hindu system of marriage doesn't allow such relationships or marriages, I am impressed with the love that the two women have for the monument of love," Das told the Mail Today.
"They had also argued that their Swedish society allows such kind of marriages."
The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth in 1631.
At Saturday's "wedding", Sandra acted as the groom while Sarah played the role of the coy bride, newspapers reported.
"We were in love with each other since childhood," Sandra said. "A few months ago we came to Agra and were mesmerised by the Taj Mahal.
"Both of us had read extensively about the emperor and his love and decided to draw a parallel and get married in the proximity of the Taj."
The couple live together in New Delhi working for a children's charity, reports said.
The priest said the ceremony had attracted much local curiosity as homosexuality is illegal in India.
"Since it was practically a once-in-a-blue moon event in Agra, a large number of people gathered outside the temple for a glimpse of the couple," he said.
One priest told the Times of India that "foreigners are mocking our system and misusing the liberal parameters. Such waywardness must be stopped."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j5nMo7A34d01BP0-TgBDLrQitHyQ
2 hours ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) — Two young Swedish women tied the knot at the weekend in the first known lesbian "marriage" beside the Taj Mahal, India's ethereal monument to love, newspapers said on Monday.
The happy couple, known only as Sandra and Sarah, followed Hindu rituals during the ceremony which was conducted by a priest at the Mahadeva Shiva temple close to the Taj in the town of Agra.
After exchanging garlands, Sandra, 19, marked the head of 18-year-old Sarah with vermilion. They then made seven circuits around a fire in the traditional marriage custom.
The priest, Dharm Das, initially refused to "marry" the pair but relented after they gave an offering to the temple and said they would be his life-long disciples, reports said.
"Although the Hindu system of marriage doesn't allow such relationships or marriages, I am impressed with the love that the two women have for the monument of love," Das told the Mail Today.
"They had also argued that their Swedish society allows such kind of marriages."
The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth in 1631.
At Saturday's "wedding", Sandra acted as the groom while Sarah played the role of the coy bride, newspapers reported.
"We were in love with each other since childhood," Sandra said. "A few months ago we came to Agra and were mesmerised by the Taj Mahal.
"Both of us had read extensively about the emperor and his love and decided to draw a parallel and get married in the proximity of the Taj."
The couple live together in New Delhi working for a children's charity, reports said.
The priest said the ceremony had attracted much local curiosity as homosexuality is illegal in India.
"Since it was practically a once-in-a-blue moon event in Agra, a large number of people gathered outside the temple for a glimpse of the couple," he said.
One priest told the Times of India that "foreigners are mocking our system and misusing the liberal parameters. Such waywardness must be stopped."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j5nMo7A34d01BP0-TgBDLrQitHyQ
New Play About the Two ‘Gay’ Iranian Teens Executed in 2005 Opens This Week in Chicago
New Play About the Two ‘Gay’ Iranian Teens Executed in 2005 Opens This Week in Chicago
CHICAGO, November 3, 2008 – A play centred around Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, the two Iranian teenagers executed in Iran three years ago and who were widely thought to have been gay, is set to have its world premier in Chicago this week.
Haram Iran, written by Chicago lawyer Jay Paul Deratany and directed by David Zak, is based on the true story about the trial of two Iranian teenagers in Mashad, Iran in 2005.
The play tells the story of two boys coming of age, and struggling with their identities as Arab Iranians, and as typical teenagers longing to discover their place in the world.
Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, the two fifteen year old boys who may have been gay or may have been experimenting with their sexuality – like many teenagers do, get caught in a compromised position, publicly humiliated and tried in the Iranian legal system.
The story follows the boys’ passions – one for literature and the other for sports – and both for each other. It takes the audience into the complexity of their relationship, and then the horrifying ordeal of being tried by an unforgiving Iranian legal system which misinterprets the Muslim law of Sharia.
“The dates, names and many of the facts are true, however the trial scenes and much of the side story of the boys is fictional since it is not known exactly what occurred during the trial,” playwright Jay Paul Deratany explains.
“What is known is that they were adolescents, who were tried and sentenced for the ‘sin’ of homosexuality,” he said.
Following their execution and the outrage in the international media, the charge was altered to the “rape of a younger boy”.
“I spent several months researching the boys, story, and there were a lot of conflicts,” he explained. “However, sources such as UK Gay News, Direland and other news publications provided a rich source of information, and a common consensus developed.
“The bottom line is two young boys were killed for the ‘crime’ of being gay,” he said.
In Iran thousands of people, including children, are jailed or killed each year, some because they are women who have had pre-maritial sex, and others because they are considered to be homosexual.
The play involves some nudity, and violence, and a criticism of Iranian politics together with their very flawed legal system.
However, it does not critique or criticize Muslims, or the Muslim faith, which is a loving and peaceful religion, Mr. Deratany pointed out.
“In fact, to the contrary … it draws the distinction between a loving faith and some of its misguided extremist followers.
“This play is about exposing the human rights violations being committed on a daily basis, therefore I will be donating a significant portion of the of the profits from this play to Amnesty International for the aid and assistance to Iranians who suffer from torture and injustice,” he added.
■ Haram Iran opens at the Athenaeum Theater in Chicago (2936 N. Southport) on Saturday November 8 (Previews on November 6 and 7). It continues to December 7. Tickets are prices at $20 ($18 for students and seniors). Click HERE for performance days/times and ticket details. Tickets can be booked at TicketMaster.
SEE ALSO
Iran Executes Two Gay Teens In Public Hanging. Two gay teenagers were publicly executed in Iran on 19 July 2005 for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality. The youths were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad, in north east Iran. They were sentenced to death by Court No. 19. (UK Gay News, July 21, 2005)
Iran Executes 2 Gay Teenagers. Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported on July 19. (Doug Ireland, July 21, 2005)
Two Boys Executed in Iran For Sexual Crimes. By Mike Rogers. Two boys, one aged 18 and one underage minor, were lashed 228 times before being hung by Iranian authorities in the northeastern city of Mashad. (PageOneQ, July 21, 2005)
Iran 'Must Stop Youth Executions'. By Steven Eke. A US-based human rights organisation has called on Iran to end the execution of juvenile offenders. (BBC News, July 28, 2005)
Pictures From An Execution Come Into Focus. By Philip Kennicott. Not since they confronted snapshots of a slightly built young man named Matthew Shepard and the fence where he was left for dead in 1998 by two drug-addled no-hopers in Laramie, Wyo., have gay people been so agitated by a set of photographic images. Protesters brought black-and-white reproductions of the pictures -- which show the public execution last year of two teenage boys in Iran -- to a rally in Dupont Circle yesterday afternoon. The images were also used in other protests, at least 26 in countries around the world, according to bloggers involved in organizing them, and the images are displayed in the windows of Lambda Rising bookstore, near Dupont Circle. (Washington Post, July 20, 2006)
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Nov/0301.htm
CHICAGO, November 3, 2008 – A play centred around Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, the two Iranian teenagers executed in Iran three years ago and who were widely thought to have been gay, is set to have its world premier in Chicago this week.
Haram Iran, written by Chicago lawyer Jay Paul Deratany and directed by David Zak, is based on the true story about the trial of two Iranian teenagers in Mashad, Iran in 2005.
The play tells the story of two boys coming of age, and struggling with their identities as Arab Iranians, and as typical teenagers longing to discover their place in the world.
Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, the two fifteen year old boys who may have been gay or may have been experimenting with their sexuality – like many teenagers do, get caught in a compromised position, publicly humiliated and tried in the Iranian legal system.
The story follows the boys’ passions – one for literature and the other for sports – and both for each other. It takes the audience into the complexity of their relationship, and then the horrifying ordeal of being tried by an unforgiving Iranian legal system which misinterprets the Muslim law of Sharia.
“The dates, names and many of the facts are true, however the trial scenes and much of the side story of the boys is fictional since it is not known exactly what occurred during the trial,” playwright Jay Paul Deratany explains.
“What is known is that they were adolescents, who were tried and sentenced for the ‘sin’ of homosexuality,” he said.
Following their execution and the outrage in the international media, the charge was altered to the “rape of a younger boy”.
“I spent several months researching the boys, story, and there were a lot of conflicts,” he explained. “However, sources such as UK Gay News, Direland and other news publications provided a rich source of information, and a common consensus developed.
“The bottom line is two young boys were killed for the ‘crime’ of being gay,” he said.
In Iran thousands of people, including children, are jailed or killed each year, some because they are women who have had pre-maritial sex, and others because they are considered to be homosexual.
The play involves some nudity, and violence, and a criticism of Iranian politics together with their very flawed legal system.
However, it does not critique or criticize Muslims, or the Muslim faith, which is a loving and peaceful religion, Mr. Deratany pointed out.
“In fact, to the contrary … it draws the distinction between a loving faith and some of its misguided extremist followers.
“This play is about exposing the human rights violations being committed on a daily basis, therefore I will be donating a significant portion of the of the profits from this play to Amnesty International for the aid and assistance to Iranians who suffer from torture and injustice,” he added.
■ Haram Iran opens at the Athenaeum Theater in Chicago (2936 N. Southport) on Saturday November 8 (Previews on November 6 and 7). It continues to December 7. Tickets are prices at $20 ($18 for students and seniors). Click HERE for performance days/times and ticket details. Tickets can be booked at TicketMaster.
SEE ALSO
Iran Executes Two Gay Teens In Public Hanging. Two gay teenagers were publicly executed in Iran on 19 July 2005 for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality. The youths were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad, in north east Iran. They were sentenced to death by Court No. 19. (UK Gay News, July 21, 2005)
Iran Executes 2 Gay Teenagers. Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported on July 19. (Doug Ireland, July 21, 2005)
Two Boys Executed in Iran For Sexual Crimes. By Mike Rogers. Two boys, one aged 18 and one underage minor, were lashed 228 times before being hung by Iranian authorities in the northeastern city of Mashad. (PageOneQ, July 21, 2005)
Iran 'Must Stop Youth Executions'. By Steven Eke. A US-based human rights organisation has called on Iran to end the execution of juvenile offenders. (BBC News, July 28, 2005)
Pictures From An Execution Come Into Focus. By Philip Kennicott. Not since they confronted snapshots of a slightly built young man named Matthew Shepard and the fence where he was left for dead in 1998 by two drug-addled no-hopers in Laramie, Wyo., have gay people been so agitated by a set of photographic images. Protesters brought black-and-white reproductions of the pictures -- which show the public execution last year of two teenage boys in Iran -- to a rally in Dupont Circle yesterday afternoon. The images were also used in other protests, at least 26 in countries around the world, according to bloggers involved in organizing them, and the images are displayed in the windows of Lambda Rising bookstore, near Dupont Circle. (Washington Post, July 20, 2006)
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Nov/0301.htm
To Obama: Do Not Concede!
To Obama: Do Not Concede!
Send your own DO NOT CONCEDE message to Obama.
He needs to receive at least a million before Tuesday.
info@barackobama.com
**************************************************************
Gore Vidal et al to Obama: Do Not Concede!
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/37295
An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership:
On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!
"Eight years is too much" is how Barack Obama explained why we must
win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we
receive the most votes, will we win the election?
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential
candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were
still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was
contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush
"for the good of the country."
Some good.
Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr.,
agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other
battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the
use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield
the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote
tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.
DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about
these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen
voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machine corporation
to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to
have learned nothing.
THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot
afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already
there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging
of Democratic voters, and "flipping" of votes in early voting on
electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again
expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican
operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we
also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat
history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud?
Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand
firm, come what may on election night.
You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back;
we ask that you promise to have our back:
We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE
THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter
how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt
as to any part of the process.
Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we
see you promise to stand firm.
Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)
Gore Vidal, Author
Bob Fitrakis, Professor of Political Science, Columbus State
Community College, Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)
Harvey Wasserman, Senior Editor, FreePress.org, Author of SOLARTOPIA!
Our Green-Powered Earth
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at
New York University, Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the
2004 Election
Tim Carpenter, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Mimi Kennedy, Chair, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
David Swanson, Co-Founder, After Downing Street
Eric Bauman, Chair, Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Garry S. Shay, Member, Democratic National Committee (CA)
Lead Chair, Rules Committee, California Democratic Party
Jo Olson, MD, Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party
Mal Burnstein, Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party
Marcy Winograd, Executive Board representative, California Democratic
Party, 41st AD, Former Chair, Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
David Earnhardt, Filmmaker, "Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections"
Don Goldmacher, Chair, Election Integrity, Progressive Caucus,
California Democratic Party
Michael Jay, Progressive Democrats of America, Special Projects,
Former Delegate, California Democratic Party, 42nd AD
Sheri Myers, Director, "Wake Up and Save Your Country"
Robert A. Feuer, Former Chairman, Stockbridge, MA Town Democratic Committee
Thomas Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Region 3 Vice Chair, Los Angeles County
Democratic Party Chair, Irish American Caucus, California Democratic
Party
Howard Jennings, PDA-Virginia, State Co-Coordinator
Sarah Stott, Chapter Chair, PDA-Virginia
Lisa Pease, Co-editor, "The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK,
MLK, RFK and Malcolm X"
Cindy Asner, Former Delegate, California Democratic Party, Member,
National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
Julie Lopez Dad, President, Santa Monica Democratic Club, Chair, 41st
AD Committee, Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA California State Coordinator and Orange County
Chapter Leader, Delegate, California Democratic Party, 73rd AD
Linda Milazzo, Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com, Blogger, Huffington Post
Rady Ananda, Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com
Jan Baumgartner, Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com
Cheryl Biren-Wright, Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com
Sherry Healy, Co-Founder California Election Protection Network,
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance
Laura Bonham, Summit County, UT Democratic Party Chairperson
Albert E. Fairchild, Retired Foreign Service Officer
Dorathea Peters, Precinct Captain, Alexandria, VA Democratic Committee
Karen Boerboom, former Councilwoman, Pismo Beach,CA, Officer, USAF, 1965-1970
*************************************************************************
Send your own DO NOT CONCEDE message to Obama.
He needs to receive at least a million before Tuesday.
info@barackobama.com
**************************************************************
Gore Vidal et al to Obama: Do Not Concede!
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/37295
An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership:
On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!
"Eight years is too much" is how Barack Obama explained why we must
win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we
receive the most votes, will we win the election?
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential
candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were
still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was
contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush
"for the good of the country."
Some good.
Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr.,
agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other
battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the
use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield
the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote
tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.
DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about
these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen
voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machine corporation
to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to
have learned nothing.
THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot
afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already
there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging
of Democratic voters, and "flipping" of votes in early voting on
electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again
expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican
operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we
also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat
history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud?
Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand
firm, come what may on election night.
You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back;
we ask that you promise to have our back:
We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE
THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter
how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt
as to any part of the process.
Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we
see you promise to stand firm.
Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)
Gore Vidal, Author
Bob Fitrakis, Professor of Political Science, Columbus State
Community College, Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)
Harvey Wasserman, Senior Editor, FreePress.org, Author of SOLARTOPIA!
Our Green-Powered Earth
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at
New York University, Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the
2004 Election
Tim Carpenter, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Mimi Kennedy, Chair, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
David Swanson, Co-Founder, After Downing Street
Eric Bauman, Chair, Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Garry S. Shay, Member, Democratic National Committee (CA)
Lead Chair, Rules Committee, California Democratic Party
Jo Olson, MD, Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party
Mal Burnstein, Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party
Marcy Winograd, Executive Board representative, California Democratic
Party, 41st AD, Former Chair, Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
David Earnhardt, Filmmaker, "Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections"
Don Goldmacher, Chair, Election Integrity, Progressive Caucus,
California Democratic Party
Michael Jay, Progressive Democrats of America, Special Projects,
Former Delegate, California Democratic Party, 42nd AD
Sheri Myers, Director, "Wake Up and Save Your Country"
Robert A. Feuer, Former Chairman, Stockbridge, MA Town Democratic Committee
Thomas Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Region 3 Vice Chair, Los Angeles County
Democratic Party Chair, Irish American Caucus, California Democratic
Party
Howard Jennings, PDA-Virginia, State Co-Coordinator
Sarah Stott, Chapter Chair, PDA-Virginia
Lisa Pease, Co-editor, "The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK,
MLK, RFK and Malcolm X"
Cindy Asner, Former Delegate, California Democratic Party, Member,
National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
Julie Lopez Dad, President, Santa Monica Democratic Club, Chair, 41st
AD Committee, Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA California State Coordinator and Orange County
Chapter Leader, Delegate, California Democratic Party, 73rd AD
Linda Milazzo, Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com, Blogger, Huffington Post
Rady Ananda, Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com
Jan Baumgartner, Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com
Cheryl Biren-Wright, Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com
Sherry Healy, Co-Founder California Election Protection Network,
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance
Laura Bonham, Summit County, UT Democratic Party Chairperson
Albert E. Fairchild, Retired Foreign Service Officer
Dorathea Peters, Precinct Captain, Alexandria, VA Democratic Committee
Karen Boerboom, former Councilwoman, Pismo Beach,CA, Officer, USAF, 1965-1970
*************************************************************************
UrukNet - Daily Information from Occupied Iraq - newsletter 01 Nov 2008
The lying woman of Washington
Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem
It is true that Condoleezza Rice is smarter than her conspicuously ignorant boss, President George Bush. However, in terms of moral character, it is amply clear that Rice is at least as dishonest and mendacious as her boss is. After all, we are talking about a woman who knows little or no moral distinction between truth and falsehood and between right and wrong. This the very woman who two years ago had the guts to congratulate her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, on the "success" of the Nazi-like blockade Israel had been imposing on the Gaza Strip, which destroyed the Gaza economy and pushed 1.5 million innocent human beings to the brink of Auschwitz. A silent genocide, after all, is still genocide, and it makes no difference if the victims die in gas chambers or die a slow, agonizing death as a result of starvation...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48436
Afghan resistance statement
Peace Jirga or a New Formula to Compensate for the US Fiasco in Afghanistan
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
...It is a matter of a shocking concern that, on the one hand our land and country are under occupation; our home and hearth have been ruined; our people have been forced to immigration and displacement; they have been shackled and tortured and, above all, these flagrant violations are continuing intermittingly. Despite all these, a peace jirga is ostensibly held to establish peace. The participants, even by the way of inadvertence, do not point to the brutalities and atrocities committed by the foreign troops in Afghanistan and the region; they did not raise their fingers to this serious issue, nor to the bloodshed unleashed by the troops. Even the participants could not say that the presence of the foreign troops in Afghanistan was itself a problems. By and large, the participants of the jirgas are striving, on the behest of the USA, to put the blame on those who are protecting and safeguarding our national dignity, integrity and sovereignty of the land...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48434
MNF arrest women instead of their wanted relatives – MP
Aswat Aliraq
An Iraqi legislator on Saturday said that most female detainees at Multi National Force (MNF) prisons were arrested instead one of their family members the forces were actually looking for, adding that this issue violates Iraq’s constitution. "There are 13 women arrested at MNF jails, and the Iraqi parliament’s human rights committee hired lawyers to follow up their cases and refer them to Iraqi courts," a committee member, Shazha al-Ibosi of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) told Aswat al-Iraq. Concerning female detainees at Iraqi prisons, Ibosi said, "There are 100 female detainees at Iraqi detention centers in Baghdad, 25 to 30 of them are under 18 years old"...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48446
How Babylon was spoiled by war
Richard Holledge
...John Curtis, the keeper of the department of the Middle East at the British Museum, visited Babylon before the invasion and several times since, in a flurry of dramatic helicopter rides and a border dash, complete with highway robbers demanding antiques at gunpoint. "It’s the same as the other shows in that we look at Babylon and what it means to European thought and tradition," he says. "What makes ours different is that there is much more focus on Babylon today." Mr Curtis was one of the first to ring the alarm bells about the post-invasion vandalism. Not a man prone to exaggeration, as long ago as Dec 2004 he nevertheless filed a report saying: "It is regrettable that a military camp of this size should have been established on one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain." He listed the damage, including the digging of trenches, the building of a landing zone for helicopters that flattened the ground, deep ruts from vehicles and fuel leakage. Pieces of pottery and cuneiform inscriptions were found in banks of spoil and in the soil used to fill sandbags...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48455
2 civilians killed by U.S. warplane fire west of Mosul
Aswat Aliraq
Two civilians were killed when a U.S. warplane opened fire at their vehicle west of Mosul city on Saturday, a military source in Ninewa province said. "The U.S. aircraft targeted a civilian vehicle in northern Zammar district, (60 km) west of Mosul, killing two civilians on board," the source told Aswat al-Iraq...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48444
Free the Palestinian Journalists!
Kawther Salam
...I add my voice to the President of International Federation of journalist, general secretary Dr. Aidan White, who issued a statement on October 31, 2008, asking both Palestinian sides to free the imprisoned journalists without conditions. I also ask the illegal Israeli occupation to free the Palestinian journalists who they hold under administrative arrest since many years. Personally, I remind both the PA and Hamas, that holding journalists is inhuman and illegal...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48448
Campaign Against the Israeli Genocide
Kawther Salam
Hebron, or "Al-Khalil" in Arabic, is the second oldest city in Palestine, with almost 170.000 Palestinian inhabitants. Hebron, which is aged 5,500 years, is adapting the spiritual shrine of the Ibrahimi Mosque, where the Prophet Abraham and his wife Sara lie entombed. Since 1967 Hebron has been occupied by Israel . During these years, the illegal settlers, armed American Jewish terrorist squatters from terrorist organizations like "Kach", the "Jewish Underground" and others, live under constant protection in the heart of Hebron and near its Old City. They are protected by over 5000 soldiers who have converted the heart of the old city of Hebron into hell. The Old City resembles a concentration camp, for the Palestinians living...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48453
The other election circus
Khaled Amayreh
...Following the collapse of the Kadima- Shas talks, and Livni's truly racist refusal to contact Israeli Arab parties for possible inclusion into her would-be government, Israeli President Shimon Peres told the Knesset this week that elections would be held in Israel in order to safeguard the vital interest of the Jewish state. Peres urged politicians and political parties to do some soul-searching and not be too feverish about the elections. However, instead of soul-searching, a torrent of electioneering-oriented speeches and statements by various politicians gave a foretaste of an election that is likely to be frantic and quite polarising...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48451
Studs Terkel: The Passing of An Icon
Despite his advanced age, the news came as a shock. An era had passed. On October 31, author, activist, actor, broadcaster, and mensch for all seasons Louis "Studs" Terkel died peacefully at his Chicago North Side home at age 96. Already weakened by other ailments, his health declined further from a fall in his home two weeks earlier....
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48452
Dozens of soldiers deploy as child, toy gun spotted near Bethlehem
Ma'an news
Moments after seeing a young child playing with what was in fact a toy gun, Israeli forces deployed in three neighborhoods south of Bethlehem and beseiged the area. The main road between Bethlehem and Hebron was closed for two hours as armed soldiers searched the area, ransacking several homes and destroying furniture in a frantic search for the supposed weapon...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48456
Could Awakening Fighters Rejoin Insurgency?
By Katharina Goetze in London and Daud Salman and Zaineb Naji in Baghdad (ICR No. 274, 31-Oct-08)
As American forces hand back control of the largely Sunni militia forces known as the Awakening (al-Sahwa) Councils to the Shia-led government, there are fears that sectarian rivalries could prompt some members of these groups to rejoin the insurgency. With violence in Iraq at a four-year low, and United States troops gradually preparing to withdraw, power relations are changing. The United States-financed Awakening Councils, sometimes called the Sons of Iraq, who have been credited with playing a major role in battling al-Qaeda, are to be taken over by the Iraqi authorities. The government says it will now foot the bill for the 100,000 al-Sahwa members – four-fifths of whom are Sunni – but there are serious doubts over its commitment...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48457
The Cost of Slumber
Dahr Jamail
...In early September, a cholera outbreak spread across southern Iraq and into Baghdad. It continues today, as scores are dead, hundreds sick, and it is still not completely contained. I received an email from Iraq recently, describing the condition of children in the al-Ghaziliya area of Baghdad. They sound to me like children in Somalia, suffering from the same chronic malnourishment, thin limbs, distended bellies, pencil necks, disease and starvation (...) The question I ask myself is what will protect our country from collapsing under the burden of this enormous guilt of having systemically wrecked and destroyed another nation with such impunity? What will protect us from the awareness of being complicit in such unlawful and willful destruction?...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48450
Iraqi refugees reject return offer
Shane Bauer, Aljazeera.net
Maruj has not been back to her country since an armed group kidnapped her son and blew up her house in Mosul four years ago. Today, she sits outside the UN refugee agency's (UNHCR) office in Damascus, thumbing the cross that hangs around her neck. After being told that they could not guarantee that she would be relocated to Canada, she looks defeated and hopeless. "There is no solution for us," she says, gazing vacantly at the throngs of people lined up at the door. "The government says it will pay us to go back to Iraq, but we would be crazy to return now."..
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48449
Was Syria Complicit in US Attack?
Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com
With Syrian officials demanding a formal apology for last Sunday’s attack and US officials painting it as a "warning" to the Syrian government to do more about policing its borders, it would come as quite a surprise to learn that the two governments may have communicated about the attack in advance. Yet, according to the Sunday Times, this appears to be the case. According to the report, Syrian radar detected the invading helicopters but senior officials turned down a request to intercept, saying "the American operation was expected." Apparently, the operation was intended to be a "snatch and grab" raid aimed at capturing wanted militant Abu Ghadiya. But it seems the militants detected the helicopters’ approach and a fire-fight broke out, leaving several people dead. The Syrian government, prepared for a reported kidnapping but not the bloodbath that ensued, then felt the need to publicly castigate the US for an attack they had secretly signed off on...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48442
Lebanon detains 'Israeli spies'
AlJazeera.net
Two people accused of spying for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon, the Lebanese army says. The army did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured. A statement released on Saturday by the army said: "The [Army] Directorate of Intelligence, after a series of investigations in the Bekaa region, detained two people belonging to a network of espionage and terrorism linked to the Israeli enemy. "They admitted gathering information on political party offices and monitoring the movements of party figures for this enemy."...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48437
Al-Maliki stressing US departure
ROBERT H. REID
Iraq's prime minister is pushing the idea that the U.S. departure is in sight in a bid to sell the security deal with Washington to Iran. To reinforce the message, the Iraqis are asking for changes to the deal that would effectively rule out extending the U.S. military presence beyond 2011. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his allies are also describing the agreement not as a formula for long-term U.S.-Iraqi security cooperation — the original goal when the talks began earlier this year — but as a way to manage the U.S. withdrawal. It's unclear whether this will be enough to win over the Iranians and Iraqi critics — or whether the U.S. will go along with the demands submitted by the Iraqi Cabinet this week...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48435
SS Dignity bids Gaza farewell
Palestinian Information Center
The SS Dignity left the Gaza Strip on Saturday with the foreign sympathizers on board after four days of their arrival where they toured various installations in the beleaguered Strip and brought with them medical supplies to the Shifa hospital in Gaza city. Thousands of Palestinians were at the dock to see the foreign activists off. For his part, MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti siege committee, said in a statement that the second sea voyage to the Strip had accomplished a number of targets including enhancing international solidarity with the Palestinian people and drawing the world's attention to the accumulated dangers of the Israeli siege on Gaza...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48445
EU slams brutality carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villagers
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC
The European Union slammed on Friday the ongoing violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villagers in the occupied West Bank especially as the settlers escalated their attacks during the Olive picking season. In its statement, the EU presidency said that the EU condemns the acts of violence and brutality carried out by the settlers against the Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48441
Clashes reported Friday between fighters and soldiers in Gaza
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC
For the first time since the Egyptian –mediated truce was declared between resistance fighters in Gaza and Israel four months ago, armed clashes were reported on Friday east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources reported that a number of military vehicles came under Palestinian gunfire and that resistance fighters fired two anti-tank shells at the invading forces. The sources did not report any injuries among the soldiers and said that this incident could be an indication for the end of the truce...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48440
Settlers and soldiers assault nonviolent Palestinian resistance, 60 year old Brit among the injured
Najib Farrag, PNN
After days of settler attacks on Palestinian farmers, journalists and workers, a foreigner is among the wounded. A 60 year old British citizen was walking with farmers on eastern Bethlehem lands en route to the olive groves. The Tekoa Settlement was built in 1977 on part of the land making the route to the remaining fields perilous. The Israeli army has declared the only path a "closed military zone." On Saturday afternoon soldiers blocked the route and began pushing the farmers and international supporters. When the group backed up settlers from Tekoa Settlement charged from the other direction. The settlers were swinging sticks and tools. Several people were injured including the 60 year old British national who was rushed to a nearby clinic. The farmers did not reach their lands today...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48438
November 1, 2008: 10 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
Few casualty reports came out of Iraq again today; however, at least 10 Iraqis were killed and another 9 were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, an Iraqi parliamentarian said that women in MNF jails were detained when wanted male relatives were not locatable. Also, Iraq has set aside about 25%, or $15 billion, for reconstruction.....
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48454
www.uruknet.info: a site gathering daily information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts of iraqi resistance available in Italian and English.
uruknetgif
Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem
It is true that Condoleezza Rice is smarter than her conspicuously ignorant boss, President George Bush. However, in terms of moral character, it is amply clear that Rice is at least as dishonest and mendacious as her boss is. After all, we are talking about a woman who knows little or no moral distinction between truth and falsehood and between right and wrong. This the very woman who two years ago had the guts to congratulate her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, on the "success" of the Nazi-like blockade Israel had been imposing on the Gaza Strip, which destroyed the Gaza economy and pushed 1.5 million innocent human beings to the brink of Auschwitz. A silent genocide, after all, is still genocide, and it makes no difference if the victims die in gas chambers or die a slow, agonizing death as a result of starvation...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48436
Afghan resistance statement
Peace Jirga or a New Formula to Compensate for the US Fiasco in Afghanistan
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
...It is a matter of a shocking concern that, on the one hand our land and country are under occupation; our home and hearth have been ruined; our people have been forced to immigration and displacement; they have been shackled and tortured and, above all, these flagrant violations are continuing intermittingly. Despite all these, a peace jirga is ostensibly held to establish peace. The participants, even by the way of inadvertence, do not point to the brutalities and atrocities committed by the foreign troops in Afghanistan and the region; they did not raise their fingers to this serious issue, nor to the bloodshed unleashed by the troops. Even the participants could not say that the presence of the foreign troops in Afghanistan was itself a problems. By and large, the participants of the jirgas are striving, on the behest of the USA, to put the blame on those who are protecting and safeguarding our national dignity, integrity and sovereignty of the land...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48434
MNF arrest women instead of their wanted relatives – MP
Aswat Aliraq
An Iraqi legislator on Saturday said that most female detainees at Multi National Force (MNF) prisons were arrested instead one of their family members the forces were actually looking for, adding that this issue violates Iraq’s constitution. "There are 13 women arrested at MNF jails, and the Iraqi parliament’s human rights committee hired lawyers to follow up their cases and refer them to Iraqi courts," a committee member, Shazha al-Ibosi of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) told Aswat al-Iraq. Concerning female detainees at Iraqi prisons, Ibosi said, "There are 100 female detainees at Iraqi detention centers in Baghdad, 25 to 30 of them are under 18 years old"...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48446
How Babylon was spoiled by war
Richard Holledge
...John Curtis, the keeper of the department of the Middle East at the British Museum, visited Babylon before the invasion and several times since, in a flurry of dramatic helicopter rides and a border dash, complete with highway robbers demanding antiques at gunpoint. "It’s the same as the other shows in that we look at Babylon and what it means to European thought and tradition," he says. "What makes ours different is that there is much more focus on Babylon today." Mr Curtis was one of the first to ring the alarm bells about the post-invasion vandalism. Not a man prone to exaggeration, as long ago as Dec 2004 he nevertheless filed a report saying: "It is regrettable that a military camp of this size should have been established on one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain." He listed the damage, including the digging of trenches, the building of a landing zone for helicopters that flattened the ground, deep ruts from vehicles and fuel leakage. Pieces of pottery and cuneiform inscriptions were found in banks of spoil and in the soil used to fill sandbags...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48455
2 civilians killed by U.S. warplane fire west of Mosul
Aswat Aliraq
Two civilians were killed when a U.S. warplane opened fire at their vehicle west of Mosul city on Saturday, a military source in Ninewa province said. "The U.S. aircraft targeted a civilian vehicle in northern Zammar district, (60 km) west of Mosul, killing two civilians on board," the source told Aswat al-Iraq...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48444
Free the Palestinian Journalists!
Kawther Salam
...I add my voice to the President of International Federation of journalist, general secretary Dr. Aidan White, who issued a statement on October 31, 2008, asking both Palestinian sides to free the imprisoned journalists without conditions. I also ask the illegal Israeli occupation to free the Palestinian journalists who they hold under administrative arrest since many years. Personally, I remind both the PA and Hamas, that holding journalists is inhuman and illegal...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48448
Campaign Against the Israeli Genocide
Kawther Salam
Hebron, or "Al-Khalil" in Arabic, is the second oldest city in Palestine, with almost 170.000 Palestinian inhabitants. Hebron, which is aged 5,500 years, is adapting the spiritual shrine of the Ibrahimi Mosque, where the Prophet Abraham and his wife Sara lie entombed. Since 1967 Hebron has been occupied by Israel . During these years, the illegal settlers, armed American Jewish terrorist squatters from terrorist organizations like "Kach", the "Jewish Underground" and others, live under constant protection in the heart of Hebron and near its Old City. They are protected by over 5000 soldiers who have converted the heart of the old city of Hebron into hell. The Old City resembles a concentration camp, for the Palestinians living...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48453
The other election circus
Khaled Amayreh
...Following the collapse of the Kadima- Shas talks, and Livni's truly racist refusal to contact Israeli Arab parties for possible inclusion into her would-be government, Israeli President Shimon Peres told the Knesset this week that elections would be held in Israel in order to safeguard the vital interest of the Jewish state. Peres urged politicians and political parties to do some soul-searching and not be too feverish about the elections. However, instead of soul-searching, a torrent of electioneering-oriented speeches and statements by various politicians gave a foretaste of an election that is likely to be frantic and quite polarising...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48451
Studs Terkel: The Passing of An Icon
Despite his advanced age, the news came as a shock. An era had passed. On October 31, author, activist, actor, broadcaster, and mensch for all seasons Louis "Studs" Terkel died peacefully at his Chicago North Side home at age 96. Already weakened by other ailments, his health declined further from a fall in his home two weeks earlier....
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48452
Dozens of soldiers deploy as child, toy gun spotted near Bethlehem
Ma'an news
Moments after seeing a young child playing with what was in fact a toy gun, Israeli forces deployed in three neighborhoods south of Bethlehem and beseiged the area. The main road between Bethlehem and Hebron was closed for two hours as armed soldiers searched the area, ransacking several homes and destroying furniture in a frantic search for the supposed weapon...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48456
Could Awakening Fighters Rejoin Insurgency?
By Katharina Goetze in London and Daud Salman and Zaineb Naji in Baghdad (ICR No. 274, 31-Oct-08)
As American forces hand back control of the largely Sunni militia forces known as the Awakening (al-Sahwa) Councils to the Shia-led government, there are fears that sectarian rivalries could prompt some members of these groups to rejoin the insurgency. With violence in Iraq at a four-year low, and United States troops gradually preparing to withdraw, power relations are changing. The United States-financed Awakening Councils, sometimes called the Sons of Iraq, who have been credited with playing a major role in battling al-Qaeda, are to be taken over by the Iraqi authorities. The government says it will now foot the bill for the 100,000 al-Sahwa members – four-fifths of whom are Sunni – but there are serious doubts over its commitment...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48457
The Cost of Slumber
Dahr Jamail
...In early September, a cholera outbreak spread across southern Iraq and into Baghdad. It continues today, as scores are dead, hundreds sick, and it is still not completely contained. I received an email from Iraq recently, describing the condition of children in the al-Ghaziliya area of Baghdad. They sound to me like children in Somalia, suffering from the same chronic malnourishment, thin limbs, distended bellies, pencil necks, disease and starvation (...) The question I ask myself is what will protect our country from collapsing under the burden of this enormous guilt of having systemically wrecked and destroyed another nation with such impunity? What will protect us from the awareness of being complicit in such unlawful and willful destruction?...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48450
Iraqi refugees reject return offer
Shane Bauer, Aljazeera.net
Maruj has not been back to her country since an armed group kidnapped her son and blew up her house in Mosul four years ago. Today, she sits outside the UN refugee agency's (UNHCR) office in Damascus, thumbing the cross that hangs around her neck. After being told that they could not guarantee that she would be relocated to Canada, she looks defeated and hopeless. "There is no solution for us," she says, gazing vacantly at the throngs of people lined up at the door. "The government says it will pay us to go back to Iraq, but we would be crazy to return now."..
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48449
Was Syria Complicit in US Attack?
Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com
With Syrian officials demanding a formal apology for last Sunday’s attack and US officials painting it as a "warning" to the Syrian government to do more about policing its borders, it would come as quite a surprise to learn that the two governments may have communicated about the attack in advance. Yet, according to the Sunday Times, this appears to be the case. According to the report, Syrian radar detected the invading helicopters but senior officials turned down a request to intercept, saying "the American operation was expected." Apparently, the operation was intended to be a "snatch and grab" raid aimed at capturing wanted militant Abu Ghadiya. But it seems the militants detected the helicopters’ approach and a fire-fight broke out, leaving several people dead. The Syrian government, prepared for a reported kidnapping but not the bloodbath that ensued, then felt the need to publicly castigate the US for an attack they had secretly signed off on...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48442
Lebanon detains 'Israeli spies'
AlJazeera.net
Two people accused of spying for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon, the Lebanese army says. The army did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured. A statement released on Saturday by the army said: "The [Army] Directorate of Intelligence, after a series of investigations in the Bekaa region, detained two people belonging to a network of espionage and terrorism linked to the Israeli enemy. "They admitted gathering information on political party offices and monitoring the movements of party figures for this enemy."...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48437
Al-Maliki stressing US departure
ROBERT H. REID
Iraq's prime minister is pushing the idea that the U.S. departure is in sight in a bid to sell the security deal with Washington to Iran. To reinforce the message, the Iraqis are asking for changes to the deal that would effectively rule out extending the U.S. military presence beyond 2011. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his allies are also describing the agreement not as a formula for long-term U.S.-Iraqi security cooperation — the original goal when the talks began earlier this year — but as a way to manage the U.S. withdrawal. It's unclear whether this will be enough to win over the Iranians and Iraqi critics — or whether the U.S. will go along with the demands submitted by the Iraqi Cabinet this week...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48435
SS Dignity bids Gaza farewell
Palestinian Information Center
The SS Dignity left the Gaza Strip on Saturday with the foreign sympathizers on board after four days of their arrival where they toured various installations in the beleaguered Strip and brought with them medical supplies to the Shifa hospital in Gaza city. Thousands of Palestinians were at the dock to see the foreign activists off. For his part, MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti siege committee, said in a statement that the second sea voyage to the Strip had accomplished a number of targets including enhancing international solidarity with the Palestinian people and drawing the world's attention to the accumulated dangers of the Israeli siege on Gaza...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48445
EU slams brutality carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villagers
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC
The European Union slammed on Friday the ongoing violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villagers in the occupied West Bank especially as the settlers escalated their attacks during the Olive picking season. In its statement, the EU presidency said that the EU condemns the acts of violence and brutality carried out by the settlers against the Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48441
Clashes reported Friday between fighters and soldiers in Gaza
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC
For the first time since the Egyptian –mediated truce was declared between resistance fighters in Gaza and Israel four months ago, armed clashes were reported on Friday east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources reported that a number of military vehicles came under Palestinian gunfire and that resistance fighters fired two anti-tank shells at the invading forces. The sources did not report any injuries among the soldiers and said that this incident could be an indication for the end of the truce...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48440
Settlers and soldiers assault nonviolent Palestinian resistance, 60 year old Brit among the injured
Najib Farrag, PNN
After days of settler attacks on Palestinian farmers, journalists and workers, a foreigner is among the wounded. A 60 year old British citizen was walking with farmers on eastern Bethlehem lands en route to the olive groves. The Tekoa Settlement was built in 1977 on part of the land making the route to the remaining fields perilous. The Israeli army has declared the only path a "closed military zone." On Saturday afternoon soldiers blocked the route and began pushing the farmers and international supporters. When the group backed up settlers from Tekoa Settlement charged from the other direction. The settlers were swinging sticks and tools. Several people were injured including the 60 year old British national who was rushed to a nearby clinic. The farmers did not reach their lands today...
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48438
November 1, 2008: 10 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
Few casualty reports came out of Iraq again today; however, at least 10 Iraqis were killed and another 9 were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, an Iraqi parliamentarian said that women in MNF jails were detained when wanted male relatives were not locatable. Also, Iraq has set aside about 25%, or $15 billion, for reconstruction.....
Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48454
www.uruknet.info: a site gathering daily information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts of iraqi resistance available in Italian and English.
uruknetgif
Ecuador says CIA infiltrated its military
Ecuador says CIA infiltrated its military
Fri 31 Oct 2008
http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE49U0CH.html
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador charged on Thursday the CIA infiltrated its
military and knew of a Colombian military raid against rebels in
Ecuadorean territory -- accusations that could fray ties with
Washington.
A U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Quito declined to comment on the
charges.
Defence Minister Javier Ponce said the CIA knew of the Colombian
attack before the Ecuadorean government from agents inside its
military.
"The CIA had full knowledge of what was happening in Angostura,"
Ponce told reporters, referring to the border hamlet where Colombia
troops killed a top leftist rebel leader in March.
The raid, which also killed other 24 people, briefly raised the
threat of war after Ecuador and Venezuela sent soldiers and tanks to
their borders with Colombia. Nerves calmed quickly in a regional
meeting a week later but Ecuador and Colombia still have not mended
diplomatic ties since the attack.
Ecuador's latest accusation makes it more difficult for Quito to
restore diplomatic ties with U.S.-ally Colombia.
President Rafael Correa, a popular leftist and ally of U.S. foe
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has said the CIA controls some of his
country's spy units and launched a military probe that raised
tensions with the country's powerful army.
The U.S.-trained economist has mainly kept good ties with the United
States, but is often critical of President George W. Bush, once
saying he was dumber than the devil.
Correa has vowed not to renew a lease on an air base used by U.S.
troops for anti-drug operations which expires in 2009.
In a recent visit to Quito, a Russian security official said the
Kremlin was open to helping Ecuador's intelligence as part of a
broader plan to improve ties with Latin America.
(Reporting by Jose Llangari and Alexandra Valencia; editing by Alan
Elsner)
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
Fri 31 Oct 2008
http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE49U0CH.html
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador charged on Thursday the CIA infiltrated its
military and knew of a Colombian military raid against rebels in
Ecuadorean territory -- accusations that could fray ties with
Washington.
A U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Quito declined to comment on the
charges.
Defence Minister Javier Ponce said the CIA knew of the Colombian
attack before the Ecuadorean government from agents inside its
military.
"The CIA had full knowledge of what was happening in Angostura,"
Ponce told reporters, referring to the border hamlet where Colombia
troops killed a top leftist rebel leader in March.
The raid, which also killed other 24 people, briefly raised the
threat of war after Ecuador and Venezuela sent soldiers and tanks to
their borders with Colombia. Nerves calmed quickly in a regional
meeting a week later but Ecuador and Colombia still have not mended
diplomatic ties since the attack.
Ecuador's latest accusation makes it more difficult for Quito to
restore diplomatic ties with U.S.-ally Colombia.
President Rafael Correa, a popular leftist and ally of U.S. foe
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has said the CIA controls some of his
country's spy units and launched a military probe that raised
tensions with the country's powerful army.
The U.S.-trained economist has mainly kept good ties with the United
States, but is often critical of President George W. Bush, once
saying he was dumber than the devil.
Correa has vowed not to renew a lease on an air base used by U.S.
troops for anti-drug operations which expires in 2009.
In a recent visit to Quito, a Russian security official said the
Kremlin was open to helping Ecuador's intelligence as part of a
broader plan to improve ties with Latin America.
(Reporting by Jose Llangari and Alexandra Valencia; editing by Alan
Elsner)
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
British commander in Afghanistan quits
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gp-
k3HEPeaIEYGB6cdmMcCerEVuA
LONDON — A British newspaper says the commander of the Special Air
Service in Afghanistan has resigned over the poor standard of
equipment given to troops.
The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Maj. Sebastian Morley has
quit over what he claims is chronic under investment in armoured
vehicles.
It said he blames poor equipment for the deaths of at least four of
his troops.
The newspaper quoted a resignation letter in which Morley attacked
the use of lightly armoured Land Rover vehicles, which are regarded
as vulnerable to roadside bombs.
The Defence Ministry confirmed Morley's resignation, but declined to
comment on his allegations.
The ministry says it is spending 700 million pounds, or $1.35 billion
Cdn, on new armoured vehicles.
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
k3HEPeaIEYGB6cdmMcCerEVuA
LONDON — A British newspaper says the commander of the Special Air
Service in Afghanistan has resigned over the poor standard of
equipment given to troops.
The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Maj. Sebastian Morley has
quit over what he claims is chronic under investment in armoured
vehicles.
It said he blames poor equipment for the deaths of at least four of
his troops.
The newspaper quoted a resignation letter in which Morley attacked
the use of lightly armoured Land Rover vehicles, which are regarded
as vulnerable to roadside bombs.
The Defence Ministry confirmed Morley's resignation, but declined to
comment on his allegations.
The ministry says it is spending 700 million pounds, or $1.35 billion
Cdn, on new armoured vehicles.
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
Australia to implement mandatory internet censorship
Australia to implement mandatory internet censorship
October 29, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24568137-2862,00.html
AUSTRALIA will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the
internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.
The revelations emerge as US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo,
and a coalition of human rights and other groups unveiled a code of
conduct aimed at safeguarding online freedom of speech and privacy.
The government has declared it will not let internet users opt out of
the proposed national internet filter.
The plan was first created as a way to combat child pronography and
adult content, but could be extended to include controversial
websites on euthanasia or anorexia.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy revealed the mandatory
censorship to the Senate estimates committee as the Global Network
Initiative, bringing together leading companies, human rights
organisations, academics and investors, committed the technology
firms to "protect the freedom of expression and privacy rights of
their users".
Mr Conroy said trials were yet to be carried out, but "we are talking
about mandatory blocking, where possible, of illegal material."
The net nanny proposal was originally going to allow Australians who
wanted uncensored access to the web the option of contacting their
internet service provider to be excluded from the service.
Human Rights Watch has condemned internet censorship, and argued to
the US Senate "there is a real danger of a Virtual Curtain dividing
the internet, much as the Iron Curtain did during the Cold War,
because some governments fear the potential of the internet, (and)
want to control it"
Groups including the System Administrators Guild of Australia and
Electronic Frontiers Australia have attacked the proposal, saying it
would unfairly restrict Australians' access to the web, slow internet
speeds and raise the price of internet access.
EFA board member Colin Jacobs said it would have little effect on
illegal internet content, including child pornography, as it would
not cover file-sharing networks.
"If the Government would actually come out and say we're only
targeting child pornography it would be a different debate," he said.
The technology companies' move, which follows criticism that the
companies were assisting censorship of the internet in nations such
as China, requires them to narrowly interpret government requests for
information or censorship and to fight to minimise cooperation.
The initiative provides a systematic approach to "work together in
resisting efforts by governments that seek to enlist companies in
acts of censorship and surveillance that violate international
standards", the participants said.
In a statement, Yahoo co-founder and chief executive Jerry Yang
welcomed the new code of conduct.
"These principles provide a valuable roadmap for companies like Yahoo
operating in markets where freedom of expression and privacy are
unfairly restricted," he said.
"Yahoo was founded on the belief that promoting access to information
can enrich people's lives, and the principles we unveil today reflect
our determination that our actions match our values around the
world."
Yahoo was thrust into the forefront of the online rights issue after
the Californian company helped Chinese police identify cyber
dissidents whose supposed crime was expressing their views online.
China exercises strict control over the internet, blocking sites
linked to Chinese dissidents, the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual
movement, the Tibetan government-in-exile and those with information
on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
A number of US companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Google and
Yahoo, have been hauled before the US Congress in recent years and
accused of complicity in building the "Great Firewall of China".
The Australian Christian Lobby, however, has welcomed the proposals.
Managing director Jim Wallace said the measures were needed.
"The need to prevent access to illegal hard-core material and child
pornography must be placed above the industry's desire for unfettered
access," Mr Wallace said.
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
October 29, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24568137-2862,00.html
AUSTRALIA will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the
internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.
The revelations emerge as US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo,
and a coalition of human rights and other groups unveiled a code of
conduct aimed at safeguarding online freedom of speech and privacy.
The government has declared it will not let internet users opt out of
the proposed national internet filter.
The plan was first created as a way to combat child pronography and
adult content, but could be extended to include controversial
websites on euthanasia or anorexia.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy revealed the mandatory
censorship to the Senate estimates committee as the Global Network
Initiative, bringing together leading companies, human rights
organisations, academics and investors, committed the technology
firms to "protect the freedom of expression and privacy rights of
their users".
Mr Conroy said trials were yet to be carried out, but "we are talking
about mandatory blocking, where possible, of illegal material."
The net nanny proposal was originally going to allow Australians who
wanted uncensored access to the web the option of contacting their
internet service provider to be excluded from the service.
Human Rights Watch has condemned internet censorship, and argued to
the US Senate "there is a real danger of a Virtual Curtain dividing
the internet, much as the Iron Curtain did during the Cold War,
because some governments fear the potential of the internet, (and)
want to control it"
Groups including the System Administrators Guild of Australia and
Electronic Frontiers Australia have attacked the proposal, saying it
would unfairly restrict Australians' access to the web, slow internet
speeds and raise the price of internet access.
EFA board member Colin Jacobs said it would have little effect on
illegal internet content, including child pornography, as it would
not cover file-sharing networks.
"If the Government would actually come out and say we're only
targeting child pornography it would be a different debate," he said.
The technology companies' move, which follows criticism that the
companies were assisting censorship of the internet in nations such
as China, requires them to narrowly interpret government requests for
information or censorship and to fight to minimise cooperation.
The initiative provides a systematic approach to "work together in
resisting efforts by governments that seek to enlist companies in
acts of censorship and surveillance that violate international
standards", the participants said.
In a statement, Yahoo co-founder and chief executive Jerry Yang
welcomed the new code of conduct.
"These principles provide a valuable roadmap for companies like Yahoo
operating in markets where freedom of expression and privacy are
unfairly restricted," he said.
"Yahoo was founded on the belief that promoting access to information
can enrich people's lives, and the principles we unveil today reflect
our determination that our actions match our values around the
world."
Yahoo was thrust into the forefront of the online rights issue after
the Californian company helped Chinese police identify cyber
dissidents whose supposed crime was expressing their views online.
China exercises strict control over the internet, blocking sites
linked to Chinese dissidents, the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual
movement, the Tibetan government-in-exile and those with information
on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
A number of US companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Google and
Yahoo, have been hauled before the US Congress in recent years and
accused of complicity in building the "Great Firewall of China".
The Australian Christian Lobby, however, has welcomed the proposals.
Managing director Jim Wallace said the measures were needed.
"The need to prevent access to illegal hard-core material and child
pornography must be placed above the industry's desire for unfettered
access," Mr Wallace said.
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
LDS stand on Prop. 8 oozes irony
Walsh: LDS stand on Prop. 8 oozes irony
By Rebecca Walsh
Tribune Columnist
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/02/2008 01:21:57 AM MST
Mormons understand a little bit about getting picked on for being different.
Tales of Haun's Mill, Reed Smoot and Mitt Romney fill Sunday School and Family Home Evening lessons. Years of violence and lampooning and soft bigotry drive The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' historical narrative. Persecution is in the psyche of the people.
But now the victims seem to have turned into the aggressors - and over, of all things, an alternative definition of marriage.
"This is a church that has been persecuted for its flavor of Christianity, for its past marriage practices, for its past religious practices. And here they are turning around and persecuting another group of people," says Jay Redd, a gay lapsed-Mormon movie director whose San Francisco marriage ceremony was featured last week in Salon. "I feel like it's very shortsighted, and it's not a very Christian way of treating people."
In a four-month offensive, the LDS Church has deployed its faithful as partisans for California's Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage - the largest mobilization since the faith fought the Equal Rights Amendment three decades ago. In June, members were asked to "do all you can." And they have.
As a result, the Salt Lake City-based church gets the credit and the blame for leading the cause. According to Californians Against Hate, Mormons have donated more than $19 million to the cause - nearly four out of five dollars raised.
At the same time, wards are splitting as members' beliefs about gay rights become a litmus test of righteousness. Families are also divided between the über-faithful and the conflicted.
Church leaders insist there is a higher cause: "Freedom of religion is at risk," says L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the LDS Presidency of the Seventy.
The irony is thick here. But it seems lost on church leaders and many members.
More than 150 years ago, Mormon settlers were driven from their homes and their prophet was killed, in part, because of their polygamous definition of marriage. After years of isolation and marginalization in the desert, the church abandoned the practice to achieve statehood, political legitimacy and validation in American society.
Now, Mormons are using the same words that were used against their ancestors. It's not completely inconsistent with a history and doctrine centered on procreation.
"I don't think the church ever compromised on its sense that marriage is the institution through which families are formed and people are saved," says Sarah Barringer Gordon, a scholar of the law of church and state who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Comparing polygamy to gay marriage, she says, "in many church members' eyes is comparing apples and oranges. You can't compare gay marriage to polygamy."
Still, in this electrified climate, the church can't escape legitimate reminders of its muddled history. Officially, Mormon polygamy is now a quandary for heaven. But California bloggers speculate that the church's support is really a ploy to legalize polygamy. After all, the thinking goes, the initiative language says "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." But what about one man and two women?
On the other side, a whisper campaign speculates that if the initiative fails, church elders will be forced to marry gay couples in the temples. Others bring up the faith's embarrassingly tardy decision to give black men the priesthood and marry interracial couples. This scrutiny is the price of leading the campaign against gay marriage.
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks rejects the notion that the church's history of polygamy conflicts with its judgment of homosexuality. Many 19th century Mormons, he says in a 2006 interview on the church's Web site, were reluctant to live polygamy.
When a new revelation ended the practice, "I think the majority were greatly relieved and glad to get back into the mainstream of Western civilization," Oaks says. "If you start with the assumption of continuing revelation, on which this church is founded, then you can understand that there is no irony in this."
But that still seems to leave the door open. If polygamy can end with a revelation, wonders Washington Post columnist David Waters, what about Mormon opposition to gay marriage?
Given the LDS Church's reliance on procreation theology - the role of the traditional family in salvation - Gordon says that's unlikely.
"There's an awful lot of theology involved - the centrality of the family and the ways families are created and perpetuated," she says. "It seems a significant hurdle."
If anything, the church may be left behind as other conservative congregations soften and adapt.
Affirmation assistant executive director David Melson says the church has done damage to its own members and its reputation. "Win or lose, the actions of the church over the past 90 days will result in damage to the LDS Church in California and beyond from which it may take a generation or longer to recover," he says.
The ERA failed. But feminists still went to work.
walsh@sltrib.com
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10879061
By Rebecca Walsh
Tribune Columnist
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/02/2008 01:21:57 AM MST
Mormons understand a little bit about getting picked on for being different.
Tales of Haun's Mill, Reed Smoot and Mitt Romney fill Sunday School and Family Home Evening lessons. Years of violence and lampooning and soft bigotry drive The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' historical narrative. Persecution is in the psyche of the people.
But now the victims seem to have turned into the aggressors - and over, of all things, an alternative definition of marriage.
"This is a church that has been persecuted for its flavor of Christianity, for its past marriage practices, for its past religious practices. And here they are turning around and persecuting another group of people," says Jay Redd, a gay lapsed-Mormon movie director whose San Francisco marriage ceremony was featured last week in Salon. "I feel like it's very shortsighted, and it's not a very Christian way of treating people."
In a four-month offensive, the LDS Church has deployed its faithful as partisans for California's Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage - the largest mobilization since the faith fought the Equal Rights Amendment three decades ago. In June, members were asked to "do all you can." And they have.
As a result, the Salt Lake City-based church gets the credit and the blame for leading the cause. According to Californians Against Hate, Mormons have donated more than $19 million to the cause - nearly four out of five dollars raised.
At the same time, wards are splitting as members' beliefs about gay rights become a litmus test of righteousness. Families are also divided between the über-faithful and the conflicted.
Church leaders insist there is a higher cause: "Freedom of religion is at risk," says L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the LDS Presidency of the Seventy.
The irony is thick here. But it seems lost on church leaders and many members.
More than 150 years ago, Mormon settlers were driven from their homes and their prophet was killed, in part, because of their polygamous definition of marriage. After years of isolation and marginalization in the desert, the church abandoned the practice to achieve statehood, political legitimacy and validation in American society.
Now, Mormons are using the same words that were used against their ancestors. It's not completely inconsistent with a history and doctrine centered on procreation.
"I don't think the church ever compromised on its sense that marriage is the institution through which families are formed and people are saved," says Sarah Barringer Gordon, a scholar of the law of church and state who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Comparing polygamy to gay marriage, she says, "in many church members' eyes is comparing apples and oranges. You can't compare gay marriage to polygamy."
Still, in this electrified climate, the church can't escape legitimate reminders of its muddled history. Officially, Mormon polygamy is now a quandary for heaven. But California bloggers speculate that the church's support is really a ploy to legalize polygamy. After all, the thinking goes, the initiative language says "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." But what about one man and two women?
On the other side, a whisper campaign speculates that if the initiative fails, church elders will be forced to marry gay couples in the temples. Others bring up the faith's embarrassingly tardy decision to give black men the priesthood and marry interracial couples. This scrutiny is the price of leading the campaign against gay marriage.
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks rejects the notion that the church's history of polygamy conflicts with its judgment of homosexuality. Many 19th century Mormons, he says in a 2006 interview on the church's Web site, were reluctant to live polygamy.
When a new revelation ended the practice, "I think the majority were greatly relieved and glad to get back into the mainstream of Western civilization," Oaks says. "If you start with the assumption of continuing revelation, on which this church is founded, then you can understand that there is no irony in this."
But that still seems to leave the door open. If polygamy can end with a revelation, wonders Washington Post columnist David Waters, what about Mormon opposition to gay marriage?
Given the LDS Church's reliance on procreation theology - the role of the traditional family in salvation - Gordon says that's unlikely.
"There's an awful lot of theology involved - the centrality of the family and the ways families are created and perpetuated," she says. "It seems a significant hurdle."
If anything, the church may be left behind as other conservative congregations soften and adapt.
Affirmation assistant executive director David Melson says the church has done damage to its own members and its reputation. "Win or lose, the actions of the church over the past 90 days will result in damage to the LDS Church in California and beyond from which it may take a generation or longer to recover," he says.
The ERA failed. But feminists still went to work.
walsh@sltrib.com
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10879061
Landmark moments in gay television
Landmark moments in gay television
By Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 11/02/2008 01:23:00 AM PDT
Gay characters have come a long way in prime time. Here's a rundown:
1977 — Billy Crystal becomes one of the first openly gay characters in prime time on ABC's controversial "Soap." Some sponsors boycott the show and a few ABC affiliates refuse to air it.
1981 — Debonair Steven Carrington (Al Corley and Jack Coleman) of "Dynasty" is gay, but not effeminate.
Feb. 7, 1981 — "L.A. Law" airs prime time's first girl-on-girl kiss between C.J. Lamb (Amanda Donohoe) and Abby Perkins (Michele Greene). It paves the way for more such smoochfests on other shows, including "Ally McBeal" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
1992 — Steamy "Melrose Place" was full of sexual shenanigans, but Matt Fielding (Doug Savant), its lone gay character, was inexplicably sexless. It was typical of TV's double standard.
1994 — In a groundbreaking piece of casting, MTV's "The Real World: San Francisco" introduces viewers to Pedro Zamora, an openly gay AIDS activist who was diagnosed with HIV at a young age. Pedro's presence humanized the disease and helped to educate.
May 9, 1994 — "Northern Exposure" celebrates scripted television's first gay wedding. Gay rights groups express disappointment that the ceremony isn't sealed with a kiss, but the door is open for more gay weddings, including one on "Roseanne."
April 30, 1997 — More than 35 million watch Ellen DeGeneres and her character, Ellen Morgan, come out of the closet in the fourth season of her ABC sitcom. It proves to be a watershed television moment and a force for change.
1998 — NBC debuts "Will & Grace," a sitcom about a gay lawyer (Eric McCormack) and his straight best friend (Debra Messing). It is the first series to showcase one or more homosexual men as primary characters.
2000 — British import "Queer as Folk" makes its way to America via Showtime and revels in its envelope-pushing ways. The series follows the lives of five gay men in Pittsburgh.
2003 — The Bravo reality series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" introduces America to the Fab Five and gives us fun-filled lessons in fashion, grooming, dining, culture and interior design.
2004 — "The L Word" bursts onto the scene as Showtime's Sapphic response to "Queer as Folk" and becomes television's first and only lesbian-based drama.
2005 — "Noah's Arc," a series about four gay African-American men living in Los Angeles, establishes itself as the most popular show on the flegling Logo network. Many label it as the gay and black "Sex and the City."
— Chuck Barney
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10858827?nclick_check=1
By Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 11/02/2008 01:23:00 AM PDT
Gay characters have come a long way in prime time. Here's a rundown:
1977 — Billy Crystal becomes one of the first openly gay characters in prime time on ABC's controversial "Soap." Some sponsors boycott the show and a few ABC affiliates refuse to air it.
1981 — Debonair Steven Carrington (Al Corley and Jack Coleman) of "Dynasty" is gay, but not effeminate.
Feb. 7, 1981 — "L.A. Law" airs prime time's first girl-on-girl kiss between C.J. Lamb (Amanda Donohoe) and Abby Perkins (Michele Greene). It paves the way for more such smoochfests on other shows, including "Ally McBeal" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
1992 — Steamy "Melrose Place" was full of sexual shenanigans, but Matt Fielding (Doug Savant), its lone gay character, was inexplicably sexless. It was typical of TV's double standard.
1994 — In a groundbreaking piece of casting, MTV's "The Real World: San Francisco" introduces viewers to Pedro Zamora, an openly gay AIDS activist who was diagnosed with HIV at a young age. Pedro's presence humanized the disease and helped to educate.
May 9, 1994 — "Northern Exposure" celebrates scripted television's first gay wedding. Gay rights groups express disappointment that the ceremony isn't sealed with a kiss, but the door is open for more gay weddings, including one on "Roseanne."
April 30, 1997 — More than 35 million watch Ellen DeGeneres and her character, Ellen Morgan, come out of the closet in the fourth season of her ABC sitcom. It proves to be a watershed television moment and a force for change.
1998 — NBC debuts "Will & Grace," a sitcom about a gay lawyer (Eric McCormack) and his straight best friend (Debra Messing). It is the first series to showcase one or more homosexual men as primary characters.
2000 — British import "Queer as Folk" makes its way to America via Showtime and revels in its envelope-pushing ways. The series follows the lives of five gay men in Pittsburgh.
2003 — The Bravo reality series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" introduces America to the Fab Five and gives us fun-filled lessons in fashion, grooming, dining, culture and interior design.
2004 — "The L Word" bursts onto the scene as Showtime's Sapphic response to "Queer as Folk" and becomes television's first and only lesbian-based drama.
2005 — "Noah's Arc," a series about four gay African-American men living in Los Angeles, establishes itself as the most popular show on the flegling Logo network. Many label it as the gay and black "Sex and the City."
— Chuck Barney
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10858827?nclick_check=1
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