Politics

I was too square to take drinks, drugs: Ed Miliband

2011-01-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

Miliband, 41, who confessed that he was often beaten up in the school playground, said he never indulged in under-age drinking, and that his only brush with the law was a speeding offence.

"I was a bit square. I was too square," the Telegraph quoted him as telling Piers Morgan during an interview.

He was asked what his chosen talent would be if he were to appear on 'Britain's Got Talent

Sri Lankan anti-govt media outlet torched in arson attack

2011-01-31T07:29:00.000-08:00

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Unidentified people torched the Sri Lankan office of a British-based website that regularly criticises the Sri Lankan government, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa immediately ordered an investigation into the arson.

The attack on the office of www.lankaenews.com, which has links to an opposition politician who fell out with Rajapaksa several years ago, is the latest in a series of assaults on media outlets or personnel.

"It is well to note that under ... Rajapaksa regime, the free media had suffered most and sustained losses to persons and property on an unprecedented scale in the media history of Sri Lanka," the website said in its report on the attack.

Since the start of the final phase of a 25-year civil war in 2006, at least 14 journalists have been killed and many more attacked or threatened in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Sri Lanka has a long history of violence and intimidation against journalists, stretching back as far as 1971, when the first of three separate insurgencies broke out and ushered in an era of impunity.

One of the website's employees, cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda, has been missing since January 2010. Eknaligoda had been accused of arranging his own disappearance in an earlier instance.

The Indian Ocean island nation is regularly criticised by press freedom groups for tolerating attacks against journalists and failing to find the perpetrators. Sri Lanka routinely ranks among the most dangerous places for journalists to work.

However, the government has pointed to many cases where journalists have blamed the government or orchestrated attacks as ploys to get political asylum in Western nations or funding from aid donors

Pakistan law minister speaks out over US Lahore deaths

2011-01-31T07:27:00.000-08:00

Pakistani Law Minister Babar Awan has spoken out over the case of a US man who killed two men in Lahore last week.

He said no foreign citizen was above the law.

The US embassy has called for the immediate release of Raymond Davis, saying he has diplomatic status and is immune from prosecution.

The authorities say he does not have diplomatic immunity and is not one of the foreign security personnel authorised to carry firearms.

Dr Awan said that although foreign diplomats enjoyed diplomatic immunity, "Pakistan has its own judicial system and everyone must respect it".

Magistrates have remanded Mr Davis in custody until next week while police investigate the shooting. He has been charged with the murder of the two men.

The US embassy in Islamabad has claimed diplomatic immunity on his behalf. They argue that he is a consulate employee who acted in "self-defence when confronted by two armed men on motorcycles" on 27 January.

Mr Davis is said to have told police that the motorcycle rider and his pillion passenger tried to hijack his vehicle at gunpoint.

Another person was run over and killed by a vehicle carrying Mr Davis's colleagues as they came to his aid.

Lawyers in Lahore have filed a petition to the High Court arguing that Mr Davis must stand trial in Pakistan and not be handed over to the US government.

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Pakistan says that speculation is rife over the true position of Mr Davis.

Our correspondent says that the US authorities pursued a soft tone immediately following the incident, but they have now hardened their stance and argued that he should be released according to the Vienna Convention

In pictures: Burmese parliament opens

2011-01-31T07:25:00.000-08:00

Burma's new parliament has convened for the first time, officially ending almost half a century of absolute military rule. But the two chambers in Naypyidaw are dominated by the military and its allies.

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Student 'dies from wounds after Khartoum clashes'

2011-01-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

"Mohammed Abdulrahman, from Ahlia University, died last night in Omdurman hospital as a result of his ... wounds after he was beaten by police," an activist who took part in Sunday's protest told AFP.

"This morning (Monday) both Ahlia University and the Islamic University of Omdurman have been closed by a government decision," added the activist, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sunday's demonstrations followed calls by the "30 January" Facebook group for Sudanese youth to take to the streets and stage peaceful anti-government rallies across Sudan.

The Facebook group, which boasts around 17,000 members, confirmed Abdulrahman had died, referring to him as a "martyr" who followed in the footsteps of another student killed in the October 1964 popular uprising that toppled the military regime then in power.

"Al-Gorashy was a martyr for us. And you are our martyr now, Mohammed Abdulrahman," it said in large red lettering.

Protesters on Sunday were confronted by a heavy police presence in different parts of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, and in El-Obeid, around 600 kilometres (370 miles) west of the capital.

The ensuing clashes resulted in at least 64 arrests and left many wounded.

Sudan's Vice-President Ali Osman Taha on Monday echoed earlier statements by senior Sudanese officials that the government does not fear popular protest of the kind that has shaken the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in neighbouring Egypt but said such actions must be "within the law.".

"The government is not afraid of anything. Freedom exists within the law, and anyone who wants to express himself has to do so within the law," Taha told a news conference in Khartoum.

Another senior member of the ruling National Congress Party branded Sunday's protests "illegal and isolated."

"These protests were illegal and isolated, and the political parties behind them were acting in an illegal way and this is not accepted," Rabie Abdul Ati told AFP.

The demonstrations came after nearly a week of turmoil in Egypt, and coincided with the first complete preliminary results from this month's vote on independence for south Sudan, which confirmed a landslide for secession.

In Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum, around 1,000 demonstrators shouted slogans against President Omar al-Bashir and hurled rocks at riot police, who retaliated with tear gas and batons.

At the medical faculty of Khartoum University, security officers tried to prevent some 300 student protesters from leaving the campus, but they eventually forced their way out onto the street, shouting: "Revolution against dictatorship!"

Police and security officers attacked them with batons, arresting several and forcing the students back inside the university compound, which was later surrounded by more than 20 police trucks

Israel rearrests Hamas lawmaker in West Bank

2011-01-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

Ramallah, Jan 31 (DPA) Israeli soldiers arrested Hamas lawmaker Muhammad Natsheh early Monday at his home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Hamas officials said.

They said the soldiers searched Natsheh's home before taking him away.

Natsheh is the sixth Hamas lawmaker to be rearrested by Israel since December.

Israel arrested several members of Hamas' senior leadership in the summer of 2006, in retaliation for the abduction of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who is still being held captive in Gaza.

Israel gradually released most, but this winter detained several of them again.

Natsheh was released from prison in September after serving almost nine years, six of them in solitary confinement, said Hamas sources.

China mulls impact of Mideast uprisings

2011-01-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

The ticklish question has been hovering in the background since the "Jasmine Revolution" street uprising toppled the president of Tunisia two weeks ago. It has only gained in urgency as the demonstrations spread to Yemen, Jordan and then Egypt - threatening President Hosni Mubarak's near-30-year-grip on power.

A Chinese blogger first posed the query to President Obama's chief Asia expert during a videoconference from the White House Situation Room with eight Mainland bloggers.

"In my view, many Chinese netizens and intellectuals believe that China's future is Tunisia-ization," noted the Beijing-based blogger, 2Keqi, in the web chat with Jeffrey Bader, the National Security Council's senior director for Asian affairs. "Does the American government make this same assessment and does it have a policy plan" in the event that China takes such a turbulent path?

Bader and another official, Ben Rhodes, deputy NSC adviser for strategic communications, declined to answer directly, instead repeating the administration's oft-stated position about the importance of human rights and the need to let people "realize their own aspirations."

S.Sudan: Contested Abyei region belongs in south

2011-01-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Southern Sudan's leader says he hopes Sudan's contested area of Abyei soon holds an independence referendum or is transferred to Sudan's south by presidential decree.

Southern Sudan announced Sunday that 99 percent of voters in the south voted for independence during a referendum earlier in January.

But Kiir said Monday that the contested region of Abyei needs to also hold a referendum or be given to the south. The status of region is being decided by north-south negotiations.

Kiir spoke during an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital.

Southern Sudan is slated to become the world's newest country in July. The independence referendum was guaranteed in a 2005 peace accord that ended a more than two decade north-south civil war.

Returning Israelis: Egypt protests are not as bad as they seemn

2011-01-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

Two chartered flights out of Egypt carrying over 400 Israeli citizens landed in Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday, Channel 10 reported, with returning Israelis claiming that the week-long anti-governmental protests that have been sweeping Egypt were not as bad as they seemed.

	El Al Boeing 757.
	Photo by: Moti Milrod

Protesters have been rocking Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Arab world, complaining about surging prices and the gap between rich and poor, calling for a new political system.

US reportedly preparing for an Egypt without Mubarak

2011-01-31T07:11:00.000-08:00

In the wake of the current unrest in Egypt, the United States is reportedly preparing for an Egypt without President Hosni Mubarak, pushing the 82-year-old leader to meet the demand for greater political freedom.

The Obama administration is not yet ready to abandon Mubarak, fearing that openly supporting calls for Mubarak's removal would alarm other US allies in the region.

The Los Angeles Times quoted current and former US government officials as saying that the days of autocratic government in Egypt are over with or without Mubarak.

"They don't want to push Mubarak over the cliff, but they understand that the Mubarak era is over and that the only way Mubarak could be saved now is by a ruthless suppression of the population, which would probably set the stage for a much more radical revolution down the road," said a former senior US advisor.

"They recognized that change was coming," said the former official, adding that the administration recognized as early as Wednesday that it could not try to save the Mubarak regime at all costs.

In TV interviews on Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to raise the bar for the new Egyptian government to satisfy the demands of protesters for greater freedom, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Clinton said, "I want the Egyptian people to have the chance to chart a new future. It needs to be an orderly, peaceful transition to real democracy, not faux democracy."

Clinton's remark was a sign that the administration may be laying the groundwork to distance itself from Mubarak.

An Obama administration official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that one thing is certain: Mubarak can no longer preside over an authoritarian government

Egyptians up ante on seventh day of wrath

2011-01-31T07:04:00.000-08:00

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has ordered police back onto the streets, days after violent clash with protesters forced them off.

The move comes as demonstrators call for a "million-man march" to mark one week since the anti-government protests began, which have left at least 125 people dead.

As the chaos continues to unfold, the Federal Government has announced it will send a Qantas plane to evacuate Australians stranded in Egypt on Wednesday.

Thousands of Egyptians are still rallying in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities, although the capital at least has begun to showing signs of returning to normal life.

Traffic is returning to the streets and many businesses are open, but military helicopters continue to circle overhead and drivers are finding many roads still blocked by the army.

The army appears to hold the key to Mr Mubarak's fate - although the generals have held back from crushing the revolt, they have also not withdrawn support for the president, raising questions as to which side the military is on.

To maintain their momentum, demonstrators are calling on all Egyptians to join a national strike and a political march, dubbed the March of Millions, on Tuesday (local time) to force the president from power.

Arms depot blasts kill 1 in Venezuela

2011-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

A fire in an arms depot of the Anonymous Venezuelan Campaign of Military Industries (CAVIM) in Maracy city of Aragua state killed at least one person and forced authorities to evacuate about 10,000 people from the area on Sunday.

Aragua's Governor Rafael Isea said that the fatal victim was a woman. "Apparently she was exposed to the explosions. She was hospitalized in the Hospital Central and died later," Isea said.

Isea also said that more than 10,000 people living near the fire zone were evacuated to guarantee their security.

"It is a preventive measure, because the munitions exploded and they have certain impact power, so of course we are trying to avoid any bad situation," he explained.

The governor earlier said that some 40 people were injured, but later said the figure was much lower.

The fire started at about 4:30 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) and caused powerful explosions in three of the four munitions storage areas.

The authorities set up a security cordon of 6 kilometers and told local people to leave their houses as a precautionary measure against the further spread of the fire.

At 9:00 a.m. local time, in an interview with a state-run TV channel, Communication and Information Minister Andres Izarra urged the public to keep calm as the authorities have already dealt with the situation and controlled the fire.

Belarus releases political prisoners

2011-01-31T06:58:00.000-08:00

The authoritarian Belarusian government has released some political prisoners, as the European Union foreign ministers gather to discuss the reimposition of sanctions against the regime following flawed presidential elections in December and a crackdown on the opposition.

Vladimir Neklyayev, 64, a poet and a candidate in the elections, had been released from prison at the weekend and was now being held under house arrest, his family said. Mr Neklyayev was attacked and beaten up on the evening of the presidential poll, then bundled from hospital and taken to prison.

Oman says uncovers UAE spy network

2011-01-31T06:57:00.000-08:00

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Oman said it had uncovered a UAE spy network in the Gulf Arab state that targeted its government and military, the state news agency of the U.S. ally in the Arabian Peninsula reported on Sunday.

"Security services uncovered a spying network belonging to the state security apparatus of the United Arab Emirates, targeting the ruling regime in Oman and the way its government and military work," the agency said, quoting a security source.

The news agency gave few details. An Omani government source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said a number of Omani nationals had been arrested, including some who worked for the government.

There was no immediate comment from officials in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, a regional financial and tourism hub that has typically had friendly relations with Oman.

The Omani official said the arrests dated back about two months, but gave no other details. Oman's news agency said the suspects would be sent to court.

Theodore Karasik, director of research and development and research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said the arrests were puzzling.

"This is all very murky," he said. "One possibility is that the UAE wants to know more about Iran-Oman relations because of Tehran and Muscat's long ties in security and military cooperation."

Oman maintains good relations with Iran and was instrumental in helping to negotiate the release of one of three U.S. hikers accused by Tehran of straying from Iraq into Iranian territory.

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said has pushed for a diplomatic solution to the international dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

The sultanate has strong military and diplomatic ties with the West, and U.S. and British forces have been stationed in Oman for years.

Prosecutors investigate driver in train crash

2011-01-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

Germany Train Crash

Associated Press (2011-01-31 00:15:59)

Policemen walk next the wreckage of the engine of a cargo train in Hordorf near Oschersleben, eastern Germany on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. According to German Dapd news agency, the head-on train crash killed more than 10 people and injured more than 20 people on Saturday evening. A passenger and a cargo train crashed head-on near Hordorf village, close to Saxony-Anhalt's state capital Magdeburg, and several train cars derailed and overturned, a spokesman for the district's firefighters said. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Prosecutors say they are opening an investigation into the driver of a cargo train that was involved in a head-on crash that left 10 people dead and injured 23 others in eastern Germany on Saturday.

The prosecutors' office in Magdeburg said Monday that it was investigating the 41-year-old driver on suspicion of negligent homicide and bodily injury caused by negligence and endangerment of railroad traffic.

The office said witnesses told investigators the driver may have run through a stop signal and caused the crash.

Police said 10 of the 23 injured have been released from hospital, and a criminal investigation of the accident site in Hordorf has been finished. They said among the injured were two Georgians, one Portuguese and one Brazilian citizen.

Showgirls at centre of Berlusconi scandal complain work has dried up

2011-01-31T06:53:00.000-08:00

Starlets and showgirls at the centre of the prostitution scandal engulfing Silvio Berlusconi have complained that offers of work have dried up because of the notoriety of the case.

Mr Berlusconi is alleged to have paid "several" women for sex during wild "bunga bunga" parties at his palazzo outside Milan – a charge that almost all of them have denied.

Several of the woman said they are no longer receiving offers to pose for fashion shoots, feature in promotional campaigns or work as "image girls" at corporate events.

One of the women, Barbara Guerra, 32, a men's magazine model and reality television contestant, said she recently received a call cancelling her appearance at a sporting event.

"No one said outright that it was because of my involvement in the scandal, but I'm almost sure that was the reason," she said.

Miriam Loddo, another of the women named in the investigation, said she had barely been out of her house in the last month and a half.

Pak petition seeks to bar arrested US diplomat get immunity

2011-01-31T06:52:00.000-08:00

Lahore, Jan 31 (PTI) A Pakistan court today sought aresponse from authorities to a petition that called for stepsto ensure that an American diplomat arrested for shooting twoPakistanis is not handed over to the US.

In the petition filed in the Lahore High Court, lawyerSaeed Zafar said efforts were underway to secure the releaseof the American and the government should be barred fromgiving him diplomatic immunity.

The American should be barred from leaving Pakistanby including his name in the Exit Control List, Zafar said.

Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, who heard thepetition, issued notices to the federal Attorney General andthe Assistant Advocate General of Punjab province, asking themto appear in court tomorrow and to submit their responses.

The American, identified in media reports as RaymondDavis, was arrested after he shot and killed two youths whomhe alleged were trying to rob him in a busy commercial area ofLahore on Thursday.

A third Pakistani died when he was hit by a USconsulate car that was rushing to the aid of the American.

The American, currently in police custody, contendedduring a court appearance that he had acted in self-defence.

Pakistani authorities have rejected a demand by theUS for the release of the American.

African Union, UN, ECOWAS meet on Ivory Coast

2011-01-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

ADDIS ABABA — Senior African Union officials met Saturday with UN chief Ban Ki-moon and representatives of a west African bloc that has threatened to use force to resolve the Ivory Coast crisis.

The closed-door tripartite meeting came on the eve of a two-day summit of African heads of state here where Ivory Coast and other upheavals on the continent were to top the agenda.

AU officials briefed the representatives of the UN and the Economic Community of West African States on their latest decisions on Ivory Coast, officials said.

"Those who weren't at Friday's (AU) meeting were given a briefing," Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for AU Commission head Jean Ping told journalists.

"We are all on the same wavelength," he said.

The AU on Friday announced the setting up of a five-member heads-of-state panel to resolve the two-month-old power struggle in Ivory Coast between incumbent strongman Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of disputed November elections.

Among the African leaders who attended Saturday's mini-summit were ECOWAS chairman and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Ban was joined by his special representative for Ivory Coast, Choi Young-Jin, and AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping was also present.

Street clashes in north as southerners hail vote

2011-01-31T06:50:00.000-08:00

KHARTOUM: Students clashed with police in north Sudan as youths heeded calls to take to the streets for a day of nationwide anti-government protests despite a heavy security deployment.

The protests on Sunday, coinciding with preliminary results in south Sudan's landmark referendum on independence, ended with violent clashes in Khartoum. Police said at least 64 people were arrested.

At the Islamic University of Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, about 1000 demonstrators were confronted by riot police as they marched, shouting slogans against the President, Omar al-Bashir.

''Ocampo, what you have said is right!'' they chanted, referring to the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has accused Mr Bashir of genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

Nearly 99 per cent of southern Sudanese voters chose secession in the independence referendum last month, clearing the way for Sudan to split in two.

The preliminary results were announced at a ceremony attended by a crowd of several thousand people in the southern capital, Juba, on Sunday.

3 Killed in Pakistan Suicide Attack

2011-01-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

Authorities say a suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan has killed three people, including a police official.

Officials say the bomber attacked a vehicle Monday on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing Rasheed Khan, the deputy superintendent of police, his driver and one other person. Several people were wounded in the blast.

The French news agency says the bomber was carrying 6 to 7 kilograms of explosives.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Peshawar, located near Pakistan's tribal area, has been repeatedly attacked by the Taliban.

In Egypt, we are fearful but not cowed

2011-01-31T06:44:00.000-08:00

Egyptian volunteers patrol the streets during the curfew in Cairo, Egypt. Photograph: Amr Nabil/AP

After six days of unprecedented protests, Hosni Mubarak and his regime still refuse to go. The fig leaf covering this regime has finally fallen, revealing the ugly naked truth. It is a regime that has worked solely and exclusively for its own survival. The events of the past days show that it is ready to burn the whole country if necessary.

Friday 28 January will always be remembered as one of the worst days in Egypt's history as protesters went in their thousands on to the streets across the country, calling for an end to the whole regime. Security forces lashed out against them more ruthlessly than ever before, using lethal weapons and so much teargas that many people inside neighbouring houses choked. They shot indiscriminately with rubber bullets and, some say, with live ammunition.

By the afternoon security forces were no longer able to contain the rising tide of protesters. They suddenly withdrew from the scenes of protest leaving security for the army to take over. The following hours saw a complete absence of security on the Egyptian streets. Some buildings, including the National Democratic party headquarters in Cairo, were set alight. The fire department was nowhere to be seen and the fires everywhere were left to rage on as though it had been given orders not to budge.

Mubarak did not speak to the people except late on Friday night after the security situation had already deteriorated. When he gave his statement he didn't announce that he was stepping down as the protesters were insisting. Instead, he decided to form a new government with the same old figures. Mubarak gave no indication that he understood the message.

Throughout Saturday protests continued everywhere. Demonstrators showed that they did not accept the offer made by Mubarak the night before. Nothing less than complete regime change would satisfy them.

On Saturday morning, I went out to buy some essential foodstuffs. On the streets of Alexandria, no traffic police were anywhere to be seen. Some local young men volunteered to stand at important junctions to organise the traffic. I was really surprised at how orderly motorists were behaving. They followed the instructions of the volunteers and gave way to other motorists – something I haven't often observed before.

At Carrefour supermarket I could not use my Visa card because the internet was not working – just another side-effect of the total media blackout imposed in Egypt.

Guardian Books publishes WIKILEAKS: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy

2011-01-31T06:43:00.000-08:00

Guardian Books today published WIKILEAKS: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, the first full-length biography of the strange and elusive character behind one of the biggest leaks in history.

Written by the journalists who forged an unprecedented deal between a gifted computer hacker and three of the world's major newspapers, it tells a story from the inside that reads like a thriller.

The authors, award-winning journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding, give a riveting account of what Vanity Fair described as 'one of the greatest journalistic scoops of the last 30 years'.

Leigh said: "This book will bring you as close to the unvarnished truth as you're likely to get."

The book reveals for the first time:

• How a secret deal was constructed in a Belgian hotel to defy the world's biggest superpower, and release an unstoppable flood of military and diplomatic files through the pages of the Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel.

• That Assange was so nervous about the CIA that he disguised himself as an old woman in a wig to travel to Ellingham Hall, the stately home in Norfolk from which he launched the US state department cables on the world.

Army still rules as Burma opens parliament

2011-01-31T06:42:00.000-08:00

BANGKOK: Burma's ruling generals convened the first meeting of parliament in more than 20 years yesterday, a move they say completes the transition to a multiparty democracy.

Reporters were barred from the parliament building when the session was convened under tight security in the capital, Naypyidaw.

Officially the opening of the two-chamber parliament will mean the dissolution of the junta that has ruled Burma since 1988.

But a quarter of the seats are reserved for the military, and a military-backed party controls more than 80 per cent of the rest, allowing the generals to retain their power, albeit in a less hierarchical system.

One key question is whether Burma's top general, Than Shwe, will become president, the most powerful job under the new constitution.

Than Shwe, who has successfully crushed uprisings and purged potential rivals inside the military during his nearly two decades in power, turns 78 tomorrow, according to a government booklet published three decades ago.

Burma's new system will resemble a democracy more in form than in substance, analysts say, but with the possibility of more debate and inclusiveness than under the junta's top-down rule.

'Israel still has great respect for Mubarak'

2011-01-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

Speaking of the dilemma currently confronting Mubarak, Peres said, "We still have great respect for Mubarak. Note everything he did was right, but he worked to keep peace in the Middle East."

Peres said "people think that democracy is only a legend. Democracy is more than that," he said. "It also means peace and freedom."

Netanyahu, in his first public comments on the crisis, said at the opening of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting that Israel was “anxiously monitoring” the developments in Egypt and the region.

“Our efforts are designed to continue and maintain stability and security in our region,” he said.

Netanyahu, who last met with Mubarak to discuss the diplomatic process three weeks ago in Sharm e-Sheikh, said “the peace between Israel and Egypt has endured for over three decades, and our goal is to ensure that these relations continue.

“Of course, at this time, we must show maximum responsibility, restraint and good judgment, and, to this end, I have instructed my fellow ministers to refrain from commenting on this issue. Naturally, we are also holding consultations in the appropriate government forums.”

Clinton: Major concerns surround Haiti presidential elections

2011-01-31T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton met with former first lady and leading Haitian presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat on Monday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Clinton says the U.S. won't end humanitarian relief, despite major political concerns
She says she'll push to get 3rd candidate on the runoff ballot
Clinton meets with Haitian president and various political leaders during her visit

RELATED TOPICS

(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned early Monday from a one-day visit to Haiti with major concerns about the Caribbean nation's presidential elections.

Still, she said that any political differences would not affect U.S. support for Haiti, an already impoverished country devastated by an earthquake last year and a deadly cholera outbreak in recent months.

"We are not talking about any of that," Clinton told reporters. "We have a deep commitment to the Haitian people. And that (applies) to humanitarian aid, it goes to governance and democracy programs."

During the cholera outbreak, more than 200,000 people have been sickened and 4,030 have died as of January 24, according to the latest report posted by the public health ministry.

Clinton said Sunday she planned to keep up pressure on the Port-au-Prince government, headed by President Rene Preval, to honor recommendations from the Organization of American States related to who is on the ballot for its pivotal upcoming presidential runoff.

Fearful of revolution, China blocks news of Egypt protests

2011-01-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

CHINA'S powerful propaganda department is trying to block non-official news about the bloody riots shaking Egypt.

The Government has stopped the use of the country's name across a popular Twitter-like blogging site and restricting the reporting of events there.

Authorities have blocked the Chinese characters for Egypt on Sina.com's Weibo site, used by more than 50 million of China's 400 million netizens.

The Egyptian news has been played down in the Chinese media, being relegated to the second page of the country's major website and portals. Newspapers all carry the state-run Xinhua version of the story.

The Chinese authorities are sensitive to offshore revolutions against authoritarian governments, fearing such movements might spread to China.

Local street protests have been swelling over corruption, the income gap between rich and poor, and heavy-handed security operations such as evictions to make way for development projects.

Rock star's sex-tape case exposes strict porn laws

2011-01-31T06:37:00.000-08:00

Trial ... Nazril "Ariel" Irham and his girlfriend, Luna Maya, yesterday. Photo: AFP

JAKARTA: Indonesia's biggest rock star, Nazril ''Ariel'' Irham, has been sentenced to 3½ years in prison after personal sex videos were stolen from his laptop and went viral on the internet.

The two videos were not deliberately distributed, but the presiding judge, Singgih Budi Prakoso, said Nazril had shown no remorse and given ''an opportunity for others to spread, produce and prepare a pornographic video''.

It is the first time that someone has been sentenced under the anti-pornography laws introduced in 2008 at the instigation of the Islamist coalition partners of the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The saga has captivated Indonesia and sparked hand-wringing about the explosion in the availability of pornography.

It has also sparked concerns about the rising power of religious conservatives, including gangs of violent hardliners who often act with impunity, including ransacking the offices of the modest local edition of Playboy magazine and forcing its closure.

Southern Sudan leader pledges peaceful split from north

2011-01-31T06:35:00.000-08:00

Addis Ababa, Jan 31 (DPA) The leader of what will become the world's newest state this year, Southern Sudan, Monday promised a peaceful transition to independence after results showed voters had overwhelmingly chosen to split from the north.

Salva Kiir, addressing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir at a meeting on the sidelines of an African Union summit, said the south had no desire to return to 'the bitterness and divisions of the past'.

'Today, the ballot box has triumphed over the bullet,' he said. 'It is our most sincere wish to achieve peaceful coexistence between north and south, to enable all of our peoples to live in security and prosperity.'

Official preliminary results released Sunday showed 98.83 percent of almost 4 million voters had opted to secede from Sudan in a January referendum.

The vote was enshrined in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian and Animist south.

More than 2 million southerners died and 4 million were displaced in Sudan's 1983-2005 north-south civil war, which was essentially a continuation of the 1955-72 conflict that followed independence from joint British and Egyptian rule.

First Americans evacuated from Egypt

2011-01-31T06:32:00.000-08:00

pdated 1412 GMT (2212 HKT)

Follow live blogging on "This Just In" and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents from the protests. Send your video, images to CNN iReport.

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The first of two charter planes carrying U.S. citizens out of chaotic Egypt landed Monday in Cyprus, the beginning of what could be a lengthy evacuation effort amid escalating unrest across the country.

At least two flights, carrying 219 Americans between them, were able to take off before Egypt's 3 p.m. curfew went into effect, according to the U.S. State Department.

The first flight, carrying 42 people, landed in Cyprus, according to the State Department. The second, carrying 177 Americans, took off Monday for Athens, Greece, but had not yet landed, the government said.

With at least 2,400 people seeking evacuation as of Monday morning, getting all Americans out of the country could take some time, said Janice Jacobs, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for consular affairs.

Egypt protesters vow to step up pressure

2011-01-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

The events of the last week will have profound consequences for the Middle East for years to come. Egypt's role in the region is going to change.

President Hosni Mubarak has been the central pillar of the alliance between Western powers and authoritarian Arab leaders and without him it may not be sustainable.

He has been the only Arab leader the Israelis trusted. Their biggest fear is that without him their cold - but so far resilient - peace with Egypt will be in danger.

The president has been the West's necessary man in the Middle East for 30 years.

That is why Egypt has continued to receive vast amounts of American aid, as well as political support from Britain and other European countries - despite a deplorable human rights record, crooked elections, the suppression of virtually all organised political opposition and rampant corruption.

Those are some of the reasons why tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets.

Mubarak swears in new government

2011-01-31T06:29:00.000-08:00

Tens of thousands of people are continuing to protest on the streets of Egypt[ AFP]

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, has sworn in a new cabinet in a bid to quell days of mass uprising against him and the government.

Three former senior officers are included in the line-up, suggesting a strong security presence in the new government.

Mahmoud Wagdi, a retired police general, was appointed the country's new interior minister, replacing Habib el-Adli, who was criticised for brutality inflicted on protesters.

Wagdi was previously head of Cairo criminal investigations department and also a former head of prisons.

Protesters had demanded Habib al-Adli, the former interior minister, be sacked after police used force on protesters including beatings, tear gas and firing rubber bullets.

Ahmed Abul Gheit, the foreign minister, retained his job, as did General Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the defence minister, state television reported.

US wants 'free, fair' Egypt elections: Clinton

2011-01-30T07:31:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday would not repeat earlier assertions that Egypt's government under President Hosni Mubarak is stable and repeatedly said that the United States wants to see Egypt transition into a democracy.

"America's message has been consistent. We want to see free and fair elections and we expect that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on right now," Clinton said during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

Asked whether Mubarak's government is stable, Clinton said, "I'm not going to get into either or choices."

Pak police arrest Muslim student accused of blasphemy

2011-01-30T07:29:00.001-08:00

Muhammad Samiullah, an intermediate student, wasarrested on Friday following a complaint from the ChiefController of the Intermediate Board, who accused him ofblasphemy. A case of blasphemy was registered against him atthe Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan police station.

"We got a complaint from the intermediate board thatthis student had violated the blasphemy law by writingderogatory remarks on his examination papers," SSP NazimabadZafar Iqbal confirmed.

"We raided the house of the student and arrested himfrom Malir Halt. He has confessed he did write the derogatoryremarks. He claims he did this after being instigated by twoof his cousins who had come to Karachi for a visit from OsloNorway," the police official said.

He said since the cousins had already left thecountry and returned to Oslo their was nothing the Pakistanipolice could do against them.

Twin suicide attacks: Kohat Tunnel re-opens following blast

2011-01-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

Soldiers examine the wreckage inside the Kohat Tunnel that was closed following the blast, while a survivor talks on the phone in a hospital in Peshawar. PHOTOS: AFP

PESHAWAR: Kohat Tunnel, closed following two bomb blasts that ripped through it on Friday, was reopened for 24 hours on Saturday evening.

Commissioner Kohat division Khalid Khan Umerzai told The Express Tribune that the tunnel was opened for passenger vehicles for around 24 hours. Cargo vehicles, however, will not be allowed to pass through the tunnel.

At least five people were killed and 19 others injured when two explosives-laden trucks were detonated by suicide bombers, one inside the tunnel and the other at its entrance. The attackers had entered the tunnel from the Darra Adamkhel side, Umerzai said.

Local sources said that the two attacks that occurred at 12:30am on Saturday, badly damaged the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel, which links the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with Peshawar.

They said that the first blast occurred some 600 metres inside the tunnel when a Bedford truck was detonated by a suicide attacker.

The second truck, an oil tanker, was detonated on the checkpost outside the tunnel, unmanned at the time.

Jordanians stage anti-gov't sit-in in Amman

2011-01-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

Jordanian protestors shout slogans during a sit-in held outside the prime minister's office in Amman, Jordan, on Jan. 29, 2011, calling for the formation of an interim government and the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

AMMAN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) - Dozens of Jordanians demonstrated Saturday, calling for the formation of an interim government and the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai.

During the sit-in, which took place in front of the headquarters of the Jordanian prime ministry, the demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans and said Jordan needs a government that can shoulder its responsibilities.

The demonstrators, who included trade unionists, political party members, military retirees and representative of the youth sector, slammed the government for "making the financial situation of citizens worse."

The demonstrators criticize

The Yemeni protests were another moment of tumult in a region

2011-01-30T07:23:00.002-08:00

Hani Mohammed/Associated Press

Protesters in Sana, Yemen, waved Yemen’s flag at a rally on Thursday. Many are calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, but some opposition leaders seek less drastic change.

The Yemeni protests were another moment of tumult in a region whose aging order of American-backed governments appears to be staggering. In a span of just weeks, Tunisia’s government has fallen, Egypt’s appears shaken and countries like Jordan and Yemen are bracing against demands of movements with divergent goals but similar means.

Protests led by young people entered a third day in Egypt, where Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who has become an outspoken opponent of President Hosni Mubarak, returned in hopes of galvanizing the campaign. The Muslim Brotherhood, long Egypt’s largest organized opposition, ended days of official inaction and said it would join the Friday protests, declaring “a day of rage for the Egyptian nation.

Berlusconi daughter lines up as successor

2011-01-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

ROME: Italy faces the possibility of a dynastic succession as calls grow for the millionaire daughter of Silvio Berlusconi to enter politics with a view to becoming the country's next prime minister.

In a move which would delight Mr Berlusconi's supporters but dismay his opponents, Marina Berlusconi is being mooted as his possible successor as a prostitution scandal threatens to bring his third term in office to a premature end.

Ms Berlusconi, 44, who is known for her love of short skirts and high heels, is already being groomed to take over her father's multibillion-dollar empire. The eldest of his five children, she heads his Fininvest holding company as well as Mondadori, his publishing empi

Now she is believed to be contemplating a move into politics.

Members of the Prime Minister's People of Freedom (PDL) party have backed the idea of his daughter becoming a candidate at the next elections.

With Mr Berlusconi holding on to power with only the slimmest of majorities, and accused of having sex with an under-age prostitute and then abusing his powers to try to conceal the crime, it is increasingly likely that Italy will go to the polls well before his mandate expires in 2013.

Tight security for Myanmar's first session of parliament

2011-01-30T07:22:00.000-08:00

Naypyitaw (Myanmar), Jan 30 (DPA) Security was tight Sunday around Myanmar's newly built parliament compound, which will be used for the first time this week by legislators elected in the country's first polls in two decades last November.

Barricades were in place on roads leading to the massive parliament compound in the suburb of Naypyitaw, Myanmar's new capital since 2005, situated 350 km north of the old capital of Yangon.

Plain-clothed security personnel were posted at municipal guest houses where hundreds of legislators were lodged ahead of the first session of the upper and lower houses of parliament starting at 8.55 a.m. Monday.

The odd start time is attributed to Myanmar's military supremo Senior General Than Shwe, who is known to be a believer in numerology.

But members of parliament were in the dark about what was on the agenda for the first session.

'We haven't been told what meetings are on the agenda for tomorrow yet,' said Khin Maung Yi, a member of National Democratic Force (NDF), an opposition party.

The NDF, a breakaway faction from the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, won only 1.5 percent of the contested seats in the Nov 7 polls.

The pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 77 percent of the seats in Myanmar's three chambers of parliament -- upper, lower and regional.

The polls were condemned by Western democracies for being neither free nor fair nor inclusive.

Myanmar's parliament also includes military appointees accounting for 25 percent of the three chambers.

Only the upper and lower houses, along with 166 military appointees, will meet in Naypyitaw this week. The regional and state parliaments will meet separately in their own capitals.

S.Africans light candles for 'stable' Mandela

2011-01-30T07:20:00.001-08:00

JOHANNESBURG — South Africans lit candles and prayed for Nelson Mandela at church services around the country Sunday as officials said the anti-apartheid hero was in stable condition and resting at home.

A national campaign promoted by a group of media organisations encouraged South Africans to "Light a Candle of Hope" for Mandela's recovery from an acute respiratory infection.

Officials said Mandela, 92, was still in stable condition at his home in Johannesburg after being discharged following a two-day hospital stay that had the world on edge over the health of one of its most beloved icons.

At the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto, the township where Mandela lived before being jailed by the apartheid state, provincial premier Nomvula Mokonyane led a candle-lighting ceremony and thanked Madiba -- the clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known -- for his sacrifices for the country.

"We now pray that Madiba lives for another moment. We pray that God blesses the hands of those who are looking after him," she said.

"Thank you Madiba for sacrificing your life for us."

At Rosebank Union Church, several kilometres from Mandela's Johannesburg home, Pastor Ndaba Mazabane also prayed for Mandela's health and praised his historic role in leading the process of reconciliation after the fall of white-minority rule in South Africa.

Pak. rejects demand to release American diplomat

2011-01-30T07:18:00.001-08:00

Pakistani authorities have rejected the demand of the U.S. to release an American diplomat who shot dead two youths in Lahore, saying the matter would be handled in court according to the country’s laws.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a TV news channel on Sunday that the matter was already in court and the Punjab Police were investigating the shooting incident in Lahore on Thursday.

“It would not be appropriate to publicly talk on this issue,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter raised the issue on Saturday with former premier Nawaz Sharif, whose PML-N party rules Punjab.

Mr. Munter expressed regret over the death of Pakistani nationals in the Lahore incident and contended that the American should be handed over to U.S. custody since he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Mr. Sharif “politely turned down the plea, saying that the matter was sub judice”, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday.

PML-N spokesman Pervaiz Rashid told the media that Mr. Sharif believed the matter should be handled by the court.

Hamas inmates flee Egypt jail, return to Gaza

2011-01-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Two out of eight Hamas prisoners who broke out of a Cairo prison as a wave of anti-government protests swept Egypt arrived back in Gaza on Sunday, an official source said.

A senior official in the Hamas government confirmed all eight were on their way back to Gaza, with the report also confirmed by one of the escapees.

By Sunday morning, at least two of the prisoners who had been held in Abu Zaabal prison, northeast of Cairo, had made it back to Gaza, entering the strip through the tunnels which run under the border, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.

They made their escape when thousands broke free from jails across Egypt as officials struggled to control the wave of chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the end of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

Among those who arrived back in Gaza on Sunday was Mohamed al-Shaer, a big name in the cross-border smuggling enterprise, who was arrested in Egypt six months ago after completing the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Shaer entered Gaza through the tunnels, witnesses said.

Several hours later, a second prisoner, Hassan Wishah also made his way through the tunnels to El Bourej camp in central Gaza. He had served three years of a 10-year sentence at the Cairo jail for unspecified security offences.

"All the Palestinian prisoners escaped from Abu Zaabal," Wishah told AFP.

The remaining six prisoners were said to have reached the port city of Al Arish and were expected to reach Gaza later on Sunday, official sources said.

More than 100 people have so far been killed in Egypt which is being rocked by the biggest protests to sweep the country in more than 30 years.

After 100 killed in Egypt riots, Obama calls for restraint

2011-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

Amid anti-regime riots in Egypt that have claimed over 100 lives, US President Barack Obama has sought restraint and favoured "concrete steps" aimed at advancing political reforms in the Arab nation, as he held key talks with his national security team to assess the situation there.

"He reiterated our focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights; and supporting concrete steps that advance political reform within Egypt," the White House said in a statement last evening after the meeting.

The US President was updated on the current situation in Egypt during the meeting with his national security aides that lasted for about an hour.

Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and his deputy Denis McDonough, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism John Brennan, the Vice President's National Security Adviser Tony Blinken and Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes were present at the meeting.

ElBaradei's last stand

2011-01-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

ElBaradei, Nobel Prize for Peace winner and former IAEA chief, is seen as a decent alternative to the current Egyptian regime that is in place [EPA]

The return of Mohamed ElBaradei to Egypt a year ago and him joining the ranks of its political opposition created lots of expectations and frustration.

He has been seen as an agent for democracy, hope and change in a country ruled by dictatorships for decades.

Yet, many feel he may have wasted an opportunity and failed many Egyptians who believed in him.

Thus, when he announced yesterday that he is returning to Egypt from a trip to Europe to join the ongoing and unprecedented protests against the ruling regime, his announcement was met with initial scepticism.

Some of the activists who have been participating in the latest protests in the street and online have sharply criticised his attitude toward politics in Egypt.

Gamal Eid, the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, an Egyptian human rights group, says

"whoever wants to be a leader of a democratic movement should be working among them. He cannot lead a real battle against corruption and authoritarianism by remote control or Twitter. People don't forget who stood next to them and who deserted them when they were calling for democracy and fighting corruption."

"My question to ElBaradei is if people started moving and taking by force their right for democracy, what is your role?"

First coming

Pakistan PM declines comment on US man's arrest

2011-01-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Sunday declined to comment on the arrest of a US man who shot dead two men in Lahore, saying the matter was being probed by courts and regional authorities.

The US embassy has claimed diplomatic immunity on behalf of Raymond Davis, previously described as a consulate employee, who is under investigation on double murder charges after shooting dead two motorcyclists on Thursday.

A third Pakistani was crushed to death by a consulate car that went to help Davis following the shooting in a busy street in the eastern city.

"The federal government is not silent over this matter. This matter is in the court," Gilani told reporters in a live televised press conference from his home town of Multan.

"The Punjab government is conducting an inquiry into this matter and I would not comment till it is completed," Gilani said.

Davis, who has been held at a Lahore police station since the incident, appeared before a magistrate's court Friday and said he had fired in self-defence. He was remanded into police custody for six days.

Police said Friday that two handguns had been found close to the victims' bodies, but that they so far appeared to have no previous criminal record.

Two days after the deadly shooting, the US embassy in Islamabad released a statement saying Davis had diplomatic status and was therefore being detained unlawfully.

German rail crash kills at least 10

2011-01-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

Fog hampers rescue efforts after head-on collision between commuter and freight trains in eastern Germany

Helen Pidd in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 30 January 2011 12.24 GMT
Article history

Rescuers at the scene of the crash between a commuter train and a freight train near Hordorf in eastern Germany. Photograph: Peter Foerster/EPA

At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in a head-on train crash in eastern Germany last night.

Police fear the death toll could rise following the collision between a commuter train and a freight train near the village of Hordorf, close to Saxony-Anhalt's state capital Magdeburg. Around 40 people were injured, some seriously, according to police reports.

The Harz Elbe Express was on its way from Magdeburg to Halberstadt when the accident happened. A spokesman for the privately-owned rail company Hex said that the train's driver and conductor were among the dead.

The accident happened just before 10.30pm local time when the commuter train, travelling on a single track at around 60mph, hit the cargo train, which was going at around 50mph. A police spokesman said the trains were travelling so fast that the passengers in the front carriage would have been killed instantly.

Rescue operations were still under way this morning, and investigators have not yet identified the cause of the collision, regional police spokesman Frank Kuessner said. "Rescue operations are still ongoing. The death toll may well rise further," he said. Almost 200 police and rescue workers were at the crash site, he added.

African Union Summit Opens, Focus on Security

2011-01-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

Photo: Reuters

African Union Commission chairperson Jean Ping addresses a news conference at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, January 29, 2011.

More than 25 African leaders are in Ethiopia's capital for a 2-day summit focusing mainly on political and security concerns.

The annual gathering, which opened Sunday in Addis Ababa, will feature mini-summits on Ivory Coast, Sudan and Somalia, as well as discuss several other hotspots, such as Niger and Madagascar.

However, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping says two of the continent's late-breaking political crises, in Egypt and Tunisia, will not be on the agenda. He said developments in those countries erupted too late to be included in his report to the summit.

Al-Jazeera banned in Egypt

2011-01-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

Dubai, Jan 30 (PTI) Qatar-based Al Jazeera newschannel, which has given nearly round-the-clock coverage tothe uprising against the regime of Egyptian President HosniMubarak, was shut down in Egypt today.

Egyptian authorities have shut down the offices of AlJazeera following the network�s coverage of riots in Cairo,the channel announced today.

The Egyptian authorities announced through the statetelevision that they are revoking the Al Jazeera Network�slicence to broadcast from the country, and will be shuttingdown its bureau office in Cairo, according to the Qatar-basedchannel.

Egyptian state news agency MENA said Al Jazeera�sjournalists had been stripped of their accreditation and thenetwork�s licence had been withdrawn.

"The Information Minister ordered....suspension ofoperations of Al Jazeera, cancelling of its licences andwithdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," astatement on the MENA website said.

Al Jazeera has been at the forefront of reporting onthe popular protests and riots that overthrew Tunisianpresident Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali and threaten to do the sameto Mubarak.

Before many others, the news channel flooded bulletinswith footage, streamed online and updated its Twitter,Facebook and blog sites.

A statement by Al-Jazeera today described Egypt''sdecision an act "designed to stifle and repress" openreporting.

U.S., Turkey offer to fly citizens out of Egypt

2011-01-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

Governments urge citizens to stay away or leave

* Russian, German tourists on Red Sea continue holidays

* Some foreign firms fly out expatriate staff, families

* For main story on Egypt, click on [ID:nLDE70S0LV]

FRANKFURT, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The United States and Turkey on Sunday offered to evacuate citizens wanting to leave Egypt, where violent protests against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak have given way in some parts of Cairo to looting.

Other governments advised their citizens to leave the country or avoid travelling there if possible, although Russian and German tourists at Red Sea resorts made no move to cut short their holidays.

Witnesses said some businesses were starting to evacuate their staff and reported scenes of chaos at the airport, where many people, including Egyptians, were trying to fly out.

"The U.S. embassy in Cairo informs U.S. citizens in Egypt who wish to depart that the Department of State is making arrangements to provide transportation to safe haven locations in Europe," the statement said, describing the evacuation as voluntary.

Egypt protests: Military 'show of strength' in Cairo

2011-01-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Egyptian military has staged an apparent show of strength in the capital Cairo during a sixth day of anti-government protests.

Two air force jets and a helicopter are repeatedly flying low over Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the main gathering point for demonstrators.

A column of tanks arrived there only to have its path blocked by demonstrators.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for an "orderly transition" of power in Egypt.

"We want to see an orderly transition so that no-one fills a void, that there not be a void, that there be a well thought out plan that will bring about a democratic participatory government," she told the Fox TV network.

"We also don't want to see some takeover that would lead not to democracy but to oppression and the end of the aspirations of the Egyptian people."

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen, in Tahrir Square, says there is a mood of defiance among the anti-government protesters there, who are accusing the military of trying to intimidate them.

Earlier, despite the presence of armoured vehicles, the protesters appeared to have free rein in the city centre, with no sign of the riot police with whom they have clashed violently in recent days.

Islamists silent on Russia's blame for airport blast

2011-01-30T06:49:00.000-08:00

MOSCOW — Russia's Caucasus rebels remained conspicuously silent Sunday after investigators pinned the blame for a Moscow airport bombing that killed 35 people on a 20-year-old man from the restless region.

The Investigative Committee reported in Saturday findings that the suicide bomber was specifically targeting foreigners when he set off his charge on January 24 at the international arrivals hall of Russia's busiest airport.

The Domodedovo blast killed eight foreign nationals in an attack that -- if Moscow's claims are true -- would appear to mark a fundamental shift in the strategy followed by Islamists in their 15-year campaign against Russian rule.

"According to investigators, the act of terror was first and foremost aimed against foreign citizens," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in televised remarks.

The investigator refused to give the suicide bomber's name or the republic he came from because the police were still on the hunt for the masterminds of the bloody strike.

Militants from the North Caucasus -- a predominantly Muslim region that besides Chechnya also includes the impoverished republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia -- have claimed responsibility for most other recent bombings.

But no Islamist organisation or leader has taken credit for an attack that came less than a year after a twin suicide bombing killed 40 people on their way to work on the Moscow subway.

Pakistan says law must take its course in US diplomat case

2011-01-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pakistan on Saturday said its legal process should be respected after the U.S. embassy called for the immediate release of an American diplomat who was arrested after he killed two Pakistanis this week.

The American, identified by Pakistani police as Raymond Davis, told a court on Friday he had acted in self-defence after fleeing what he said was a robbery attempt in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday.

Davis has been remanded in police custody for six days for questioning.

"This matter is sub judice in a court of law and the legal process should be respected," a Pakistani foreign office spokesman said in a statement.

The U.S. embassy said in a statement on Friday only that a staff member of the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore was involved in an incident involving "loss of life".

In a statement on Saturday, the embassy identified him as a U.S. diplomat who it said had been unlawfully detained by authorities in Lahore, where the shooting took place.

It said the diplomat acted in self-defence when confronted by two armed men and had every reason to believe they meant to harm him, and said arresting the diplomat was a violation of international norms and the Vienna Convention.

Defiance on Cairo streets as protesters 'lose fear'

2011-01-29T09:36:00.001-08:00

Gunshots erupt in Cairo

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Interior ministry the focus for clashes between police, protesters
Protesters chant "The people and the military, we are one."
Tens of thousands emboldened to join protests Saturday

RELATED TOPICS

(CNN) -- Defiance and hope replaced Friday's scenes of widespread chaos and violence in Cairo on Saturday but at least five people were reported dead in clashes between police and protesters outside the Interior Ministry building.

CNN's Ian Lee said a "firefight" was going on around the ministry as protesters attempted to charge the building.

Lee said he had seen one protester shot in the head as police cordoned off the area and fired shots down side streets. At least five people died from gunshot wounds, according to a physician at a triage center in a Cairo mosque.

CNN's Frederick Pleitgen said the Interior Ministry building was a symbol of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime and had become a "flashpoint" for confrontations between protesters and security forces.

Earlier, tens of thousands of protesters were "losing their fear" and taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers, emboldened by rumors that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may soon step down, Pleitgen said.

New vice president appointed in Egypt

Protesters: 'We want Mubarak out, NOW!'

The man behind Egypt's president

Tear gas in the air in Alexandria

Crowds marching past CNN's bureau in downtown Cairo held signs that said "Adios Mubarak" and "America it's time to do the right thing."

"Nothing short of a complete change is what they want, and there are no signs of them dispersing," said Pleitgen.

On streets where demonstrators had police clashed on Friday, protesters shook hands with soldiers and shouted "The people and the military, we are one."

"What we've seen from these crowds is an immense respect from the crowd for military members, unlike anything we saw before," said Pleitgen.

"If this was a line of police officers and not military members, then certainly you would have violence."

Thousands marching along the Corniche on the banks of the Nile towards Tahrir Square chanted "Down with Mubarak!" Others shouted "We are all Egyptians."

"There is a very, very large and peaceful movement throughout this country -- something that President Mubarak cannot shut his eyes to," said Pleitgen.

Protests in Alexandria mirrored those in Cairo, according to CNN's Nic Robertson, with up to 5,000 people marching through Egypt's second-largest city.

Tunisia calm after government reshuffle

2011-01-29T09:33:00.000-08:00

TUNIS — Calm returned to Tunisia's capital on Saturday a day after a new transition cabinet was sworn in and interim Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi vowed a transition to democracy and an economic revival.

After violent clashes with police Friday, only a few youths were out protesting against the "brutality" of police treatment after soldiers sealed off the city's Medina market area where much of the violence took place.

Still there was no palpable tension on the streets nearby, two weeks after nationwide demonstrations ousted strongman president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power. The country has since witnessed ongoing protests to eradicate every vestige of his regime.

The main Habib Bourguiba Avenue, hub of many of the rallies, also appeared largely back to normal apart from small groups of demonstrators.

In northwestern Tunisia, two policemen and a soldier were hurt in clashes with demonstrators who set fire to a local police headquarters late Friday, the TAP news agency reported Saturday.

Security forces later succeeded in restoring calm, TAP said.

For its part, Human Rights Watch on Saturday demanded the interim government "urgently" investigate killings of protesters by security forces earlier this month by the old regime.

"The units and commanders responsible for these apparently unlawful killings should be identified and held accountable," Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for the New York-based watchdog, told reporters in Tunis.

The group said it had found evidence of at least 21 people killed with live ammunition earlier this month in the cities of Kasserine and Tala.

Tunisia's caretaker government said earlier that 78 people were killed in total, while the United Nations said at least 100 people had lost their lives.

U.S., Britain push Mubarak to fulfill pledge

2011-01-29T09:26:00.000-08:00

The U.S. State Department called Saturday on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to fulfill his promises of reform, while the British foreign secretary said Mubarak must "seize this moment to make these reforms real and visible."

The Egyptian government "can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat," department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted. He added that Mubarak's "words pledging reform must be followed by action."

"With protesters still on the streets" in Egypt, he wrote, "we remain concerned about the potential for violence and again urge restraint on all sides."

The people of Egypt "no longer accept the status quo," Crowley added. "They are looking to their government for a meaningful process to foster real reform."

President Obama said earlier that he had spoken with Mubarak after the Egyptian president made a televised speech overnight. Mubarak, in his address, said he understands "these legitimate demands of the people and I truly understand the depth of their worries and burdens, and I will not part from them ever and I will work for them every day."

Obama said he told Mubarak "he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise."

"Violence will not address the grievances of the Egyptian people," Obama said in a televised appearance. "Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, meanwhile, said in a statement that his government remains "deeply concerned about the level of violence we have witnessed over the past few days. We call on the government to exercise restraint and on the Egyptian people to pursue their legitimate grievances peacefully."

Why We Love to Hate Sarah Palin

2010-11-27T09:42:00.000-08:00

People love to hate former Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin. Personally, she is awesome. Palin stands for what she believes, and she is making money doing it. She tells people what she thinks. She says things that are politically incorrect. She doesn't act like so many other politicians. Palin does what she says she will do.

I think that's exactly why Sarah Palin gets into trouble, and many millions of people hate her, It's called the blame game. Instead of digging in and working hard, we blame someone else for our troubles. Instead of blaming someone else, we should get to work. We need to learn from our fore fathers. Many millions of immigrants came to America looking for a brighter future. How did they get a better life? They struggled for years, and forged better lives by working hard.

We are redirecting our anger over our troubles and the mess politicians have gotten us into, by putting the blame on Palin. When in reality we should be blaming ourselves for voting selfish politicians into the political arena.

Sarah Palin is laughing all the way to the bank. Palin is taking a negative situation and making into a reality TV show. Palin is living the American Dream. That's why people love to hate her. Because she is making millions of dollars by taking all the negative attention and scorn, turning it into millions. She is making lemonade out of lemons.

Palin is the center of attention because people think she is unintelligent. How unintelligent is she, by keeping her name and her face in the public eye for about three years now? Palin has become the Paris Hilton of the political world. Palin has a reality TV show, is a guest commentator on Fox News,and wrote a best selling book, "Going Rogue,"she'll be modeling a new line of clothing, hawking an Alaskan salmon smelling cologne.

Palin is entertaining. Almost every time Palin opens her mouth, people criticize her, because she says what she feels. Many millions of people feel she is just saying unintelligent things.The media portrays and reports along with well known actresses, that Sarah Palin is so unintelligent, that she is entertaining. People love to make fun of Palin to make themselves feel better. This all comes back to a country that is in major turmoil right now, with a faltering economy, and relatively weak American dollar.

Why do we love to hate Sarah Palin? Are we just enjoying the show, or do we not want a woman for President?

Jail Guard Misconduct Cost Taxpayers $55 Million

2010-11-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

Illinois taxpayers will bear the brunt of a settlement approved by Cook County Board Commissioners resulting from a lawsuit over the rough treatment of incoming male inmates by jail guards. The lawsuit targeted the regular procedure by guards of subjecting inmates to strip searches while demeaning and verbally abusing them.

The lawsuit covered the period from Jan. 30, 2004 through March 19, 2009. Plaintiffs' lawyers said that incoming inmates were regularly lined up, shoulder to shoulder, in groups as large as 100 and forced to strip while guards bombarded them with "sexually derogative epithets." Even those detained for minor traffic violations were subject to the abuse.

During the period, as many as 250,000 men were put through the procedure, which the lawyers compared to brutal form of hazing. Besides attempting to locate contraband, the practice was intended to "put the inmates in their place", according to Mike Kanovitz, the lead attorney on the case.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart defended the strip searches as necessary for security purposes and said that the department was working on ways to improve jail procedures. Incoming inmates are now searched using electronic scanners like those that have been used for years at airport security checkpoints.

The Cook County Board of Commissions decided to settle the case after the county lost a series of ruling in a federal court case that was filed in 2006. The commissioners were worried about an even higher judgment if the case went to trial. A similar case involving incoming female inmates cost the county $6.8 million several years ago, but the Sheriff's department failed to change its procedures regarding male inmates.

Of the $55.3 million settlement, about $10 million will be covered by insurance, while the other $45 million will paid by taxpayers, and added the county's already massive $285 million budget deficit estimated for next year.

Under the settlement, detainees can file for awards ranging from $500 to $1,000. The lawyers in the case will collect $15 million of the settlement proceeds.

Sharia Law - Already in the United States?

2010-08-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Remember this little nugget of genius from Hollywood scholar Cameron Diaz during the last election cycle?: "We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies...if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote."

This was part of a rambling and obviously inane monologue Diaz gave on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004 as she plugged both Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and John Kerry for POTUS. Pundits tried to defend her diatribe by saying she was expressing her support for Kerry's pro-abortion views. How that translates into "legal rape," I do not know. She should probably just stick to film scripts.

Well, Bush won after all that and rape still isn't legal. In truth, it's closer to being legal under Hollywood's darling Obama six years later than it ever was under W.

In New Jersey last year, family court judge Joseph Charles ruled against a woman's request for a restraining order against her ex-husband who she claimed sexually abused her. Judge Charles said he believed the man was behaving according to his Muslim beliefs, and that he didn't have "the criminal desire to or intent to sexually assault" her.

The woman testified that her husband repeatedly forced her to have sex with him, telling her he could do anything he wanted to her because she was his wife and, as such, forced to submit. Judge Charles ruled that the husband's behavior "was something that was consistent with his practices and...not prohibited."

Here, Judge Charles indirectly referred to Sharia law, the sacred law of Islam and, Muslims believe, the direct will of Allah. According to Sharia, women are considered inferior to men, and as such have fewer rights. In fact, a woman counts as half a man in giving evidence in a court of law. A husband has the right and the duty, both morally and religiously, to beat his wives (yes, they practice polygamy) for disobedience or misbehavior, however weak the evidence may be. A woman does not have the right to choose her husband, where she will live, or the clothes she will wear. She also cannot travel freely unless accompanied by a male relative.

Under this law, women are never independent from the fathers, brothers, husbands, and other men in their families. One of the most common punishments for women for adultery or other misconduct is the horrific and primitive practice of public stoning, sometimes at the hands of family members. In short, Sharia maintains the extreme patriarchy of the Islamic world.

However, the feminist voices have been practically silent on this issue. It seems "legal rape" disappears as soon as a Democrat is in office. But as Judge Charles has demonstrated, this is not so.

While judges try to respect various belief systems, as Judge Charles did here, they risk condoning Sharia law in the United States. In fact, a law proposed in Oklahoma, which will be on the November ballot there, would ban judges from considering international or Sharia law in their rulings. The fact that the issue is even being considered should scare everyone. We can only hope that Oklahomans have the good sense to uphold this ban, because without it, Sharia law would be allowed in America's courts.

Getting an Entry Level Intelligence Job

2010-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Many people are drawn to careers in intelligence because they are portrayed as being filled with intrigue and excitement. In truth, not all intelligence jobs are like those you see in the movies - especially entry level intelligence positions. Because the intelligence community is so broad (seventeen separate organizations) and the jobs themselves so varied, the work settings are also just as diverse. A person in an entry level intelligence role could find themselves in a lab, in an office, in the field, or even on Capitol Hill.

What this means is that no matter your background or your interests, you have the opportunity to be hired for an entry level intelligence job if that is your goal. The key is figuring out where you would best fit in and then pursuing the education you need to stand out among other applicants.

Entry Level Intelligence Opportunities

Many of the intelligence organizations have special entry level intelligence programs for new graduates. This includes internships, fellowships, scholarships, recruitment events, and special programs for ex-military. Here is a list of a few of the entry level intelligence opportunities that are offered:

--State Department: The Stay in School Program allows students to work part-time during school terms and full-time during periods of vacation.
--Defense Intelligence Agency: The DIA conducts many recruitment events around the country including at job fairs and colleges.
--Federal Bureau of Investigations: Outstanding students interested in becoming special agents can apply for the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.
--National Security Agency: For those transitioning from the military, the NSA has a program that allows you to keep your benefits and apply time served towards retirement even if you are hired for an entry level intelligence position.
--Department of Homeland Security: The Office of Intelligence & Analysis participates in the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP) which offers entry level intelligence professionals with certain educational backgrounds $25,000 stipends.

The above are just a few of the many programs that the federal government has for individuals who are motivated to become intelligence professionals. Many of these are competitive, however, so it helps to earn a degree that shows your determination to join the intelligence community. Even if you already have a degree in a certain field, going back to school to earn an intelligence specific degree will greatly increase your chances.

When Only the CIA Will Do

The Blending of Anti Terrorism Training and Military Intelligence Training

2010-08-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Military intelligence not only aids in the formulation of military operations, but it also plays a strong role in anti terrorism efforts (as well as the military in general). Much of this country's fight against terrorism is fought overseas by brave men and women who serve in the armed services. The close relationship between military intelligence and anti-terrorism is the main reason why both anti terrorism training and military intelligence training are essential for those who want to serve in the military intelligence community.

If you are in the military and would like to advance into an intelligence assignment, this information is probably nothing new. Even if you are a civilian wanting to become a military intelligence officer, the tie between anti terrorism and intelligence is surely not surprising. Regardless of where you are currently in your career, the end goal is the same as is the education you need to reach it.

Anti Terrorism Training

The Department of Defense defines terrorism as, "The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." Although terrorism has been around for centuries, it has become much more organized in the last decade. Terrorism has evolved from random acts of violence to an actual tactic used to defeat nations on many levels - militarily, economically, and politically

Terrorism is a daily threat in wars overseas; car-bombings, suicide bombings, hijackings and kidnappings are all commonly employed by terrorist groups in the Middle East. Because of this, it is essential that even those soldiers that are not on the frontlines have at least a cursory understanding of terrorism trends and tactics, as well as terrorist groups and their ideology. If your goal is to serve your country in a strategic role, even more in depth anti terrorism training is expected.

Anti terrorism training involves diving much deeper into the above topics, as well as instruction on assessing the threat of terrorism and how to prevent or lessen the harm of a terrorist attack. There are several degree programs ranging from associate to even doctorates that focus on anti terrorism training. A quality program, however, should include specific courses on how to conduct and manage counterterrorism operations; how to protect against specific types of terrorism; and detailed analysis of current terrorist groups.

Military Intelligence Training

For those interested in pursuing an intelligence career in the military, military intelligence training should be pursued in conjunction with anti terrorism training. A degree program that focuses on both terrorism and the collection of intelligence is the best way to ensure success in your career goals.

Military intelligence training prepares individuals to become intelligence officers. These service-members are instrumental in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating vital data on enemy forces to be used in the planning of military operations.

When one thinks of intelligence, the first image that usually comes to mind is the Central Intelligence Agency. However, the intelligence community is much larger than that. There are several other executive agencies and departments that are instrumental in the collection of intelligence. Military intelligence training is important because the military also plays a key role in intelligence collection. In fact, each branch has their own intelligence departments that are responsible for gathering data for the use in that particular branch as well as the intelligence community as a whole. In addition to their overall intelligence duties, often each armed service has a particular role that is in line with their general mission. For instance, the Navy conducts much of the maritime intelligence gathering, the Air Force specializes in surveillance and reconnaissance activities, and the Marine Corp is responsible for expeditionary intelligence.

Pat Buchanan - A True American

2010-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Patrick Joseph Buchanan was born on November 2nd 1938 in Washington D.C. His father, William Baldwin Buchanan was a partner in an accounting firm and his mother, Katherine Elizabeth was a nurse. Pat went to private Catholic elementary and high school. After graduating Gonzaga College High School that was run by Jesuit priests he entered Georgetown University. After graduating from the Georgetown he enter Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he received his masters degree in 1962.

Pat Buchanan's professional career began with his job as a writer for the St. Louis Globe -Democrat in 1961 at the age of 23. It was 3 years later in 1964 that he was promoted to assistant editorial page editor. He stayed in this position for a short time and in 1965 joined the law firm of Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander, and Mitchell in New York City as an executive assistant. This would turn out to be his introduction to his own political future.

As a speechwriter for Richard Nixon's campaign for president it was a natural progression to continue his position as a writer for the newly elected president. Buchanan was also elevated to White House adviser to the President Nixon. During his years serving the president he developed political strategies for the White House and the Republican party. Because of his political acumen and his loyalty to Nixon he traveled with the president to China and to the summits held in Moscow, Yalta and Minsk. Because of his staunch support and belief in his president, Buchanan stayed on through the Watergate scandal up to President Nixon's resignation as president in 1974.

The post-Nixon years found Pat Buchanan back to writing his column and a daily radio show for NBC. He also made television appearances on shows such as Crossfire and the Capital Gang on CNN and became a frequent guest on these news programs. This exposure made him a nationally recognized and popular political commentator.

Buchanan re-entered the Washington political stage as President Reagan's White House Communications Director in 1985. He left this position in 1987. He went back to his television appearances and his column. In 1992 Pat Buchanan ran in the Republican primary for president on a platform of immigration reduction, social conservatism, and opposition to gay rights and abortion. Though his bid for the republican nomination to run for president failed Pat backed George Bush's attempt to be reelected to the presidency. It should be noted that George Bush was defeated in his bid for reelection by Bill Clinton.

Again Buchanan left politics behind to pursue his television and radio appearances making commentary on current events and the political arena. Together with these medias and his editorial column he kept his face, voice and his political agendas on the national scene. It was in 1996 that Pat Buchanan made his second attempt for the republican nomination for party's presidential slot. Having been heavily defeated in the Super Tuesday primaries he ended his run in March and again supported the republican nominee Bob Dole.

In 1999 Pat Buchanan left the Republican party. He felt the party was going in the wrong direction and he decided he would seek the nomination to run for the presidency in the Reform Party. This Reform Party started in 1996 as a grass roots movement by Ross Perot when he made his bid for the presidency. Buchanan received 0.4% of the popular vote. This was to be his last bid for the office of President of the United States.

Today Pat Buchanan still writes his column and appears on different television and radio shows. He holds firm to his christian beliefs and politically conservative views. His service to his country and love for his country will always be appreciated by friends and foes from different political arenas.

America is a great country. Celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as a nation.

Why Julia Gillard Will Win the 2010 Australia Federal Elections

2010-08-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

As a resident of Australia and with many Australian subscribers a topic hot on the lips of everyone is the coming federal elections in August 2010. With Kevin Rudd ousted, a man who was surround by highly regarded economic experts, he never listened to them, and we believe that was his downfall. He was seen as one of the most popular Priministers but also one of the shortest serving ones. A man who wore his heart on his sleeve, Kevin won the battle but lost the war, so to speak. Towards the end, things really went pear shaped, and it was obvious Australia needed a change of leadership. Now the good people of Australia will go to the polls in late August to decide.

The contenders are Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott. Gillard, who is not media shy, bold, decisive and forthright and has the interest of the working class and retirees.

Abbott is seen to be active, energetic and has some good policies in place. It seems that in the last few weeks, some skeletons have come out of the closet for Gillard and she is under scrutiny, helping Tony Abbott and his party shine and fighting ahead in political polls at present.

There have been a lot of political shakeups as of late. Not only in Australia, but for the rest of the world also. Maybe this plays a part in the grand scheme of things and the big changes we see coming. A shifting of mentality and a shifting of power, which clearly makes sense. Maybe it is a balance of power that will help us progress further down the track with clear direction. One thing for certain, is that change is good. Change is needed as we go forward. Out with the old and in with the new as they say. Over the last few weeks Julie Gillard has been constantly using the phrase "Moving Forward" and she has been criticized and bullied for doing so. Moving forward is good, but we can quickly forget the past mistakes that can easily be repeated if not closely monitored.

Many people in Australia are easy-going, patriotic, and caring. As a nation we need a leader that is going to put us in the more secure environment. Gender aside Australia needs a strong leader to help us with the current financial pressures we are feeling also. Yes even the small country of Australia is still feeling the hangover of the credit crisis. So we need a leader that can help create a brighter future and support those still struggling financially.

We are forecasting the results could be a tight close finish for both contenders (Gillard & Abbott), but we see Julia Gillard winning the election in late August, taking office and becoming the first official Female Priminister of Australia. This would be a very historical event. But it is obvious the Australian people are crying out for change, and need to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.

OveShards of a Broken Crown - Ther Extension of Religious Monarchy

2010-08-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

In 1688 James II, who had been king of England until this point, fled as William of Orange and his army entered London. William had been invited by a delegation of Whigs and Tories to usurp James and was welcomed openly by the citizenry and clergy upon his arrival. James had taken the crown only three years before, but through his own attempts to bring power to the Roman Catholics in a country that was dominantly protestant, he brought to reality the two worst fears of the English people: absolutism and an attempt to convert the populous. James could have kept the throne had he only wanted religious and political equality and freedom for the Roman Catholics, but he attacked the livelihood of the Church of England at every level and made no concessions or compromises until his demise.

Before James ascension to the throne the Whigs had attempted to legally stop him from being Charles II's heir. They did this because of James openly and ardently catholic nature. The people of England had a fear of Catholicism ingrained into them.

"They attributed to James the characteristics which a century of Protestant indoctrination led them to expect: calculated faithlessness, the belief that any method was justified if it advanced the interests of Catholicism, cruelty, and a readiness to submit to dictation by the Catholic clergy."

The English people also had a fear of an unchecked king, i.e.; an absolutist king. The last several leaders that reigned over England having been Catholics, and seldom used or called on the parliament, as they were not dependent on it. Charles I and the parliament had gone to war with each other after Charles had been arbitrarily demanding loans from the citizens and throwing them in jail if they refused. Other acts by Charles included anti-Calvinist movements, and almost immediately starting a war with Spain. Charles was eventually beheaded and followed by Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the parliament army. Cromwell formed a dictatorship, after a brief taste of a republic, which lasted until his death. Charles I son, Charles II, was next to ascend the throne. He was not the tyrant that his father was, but he did model his reign after French absolutism, and was receiving funding both from a lifetime customs revenues, and secretly from Louis XIV. This allowed him to rule without dependency on the parliament. At this time in England, there was not a proper balance of power for it to be called anything but a monarchy. Calling England a mixed monarchy is only a joke suggesting the parliament had some kind of power outside of revolution. James would eventually come to the conclusion that to attain his goals he would need to make his monarchical power absolute, and would further remove the power of parliament.

From the beginning of James regime he attempted to remove restrictions and gain power for the Roman Catholics. The parliament and everyone else knew this, as James was very open about this want for England to be Catholic. James was very straightforward about all of his intentions and interests, for he abhorred dishonesty and seemed unable to hide his real thoughts and feelings.

One of James primary goals throughout his short reign was to repeal the Test act, which disallowed Catholics from holding public office. The parliament knew that if they made this concession to James that he would not hesitate to turn the government entirely Catholic. He attempted to get this repealed at the beginning of his reign, but the parliament refused his attempts time and time again to remove the Test act, though he eventually found his way around this problem as we will soon see.

Among his various first acts was the repealing of habeas corpus, and trying to persuade the parliament to pass a lifetime funding for him, like they did for his brother, allowing him the permanent funds from the customs revenues. The parliament must have known this would make him much more independent from their monetary controls, as his brother was before him, but he somehow convinced them to pass the funding, giving him a large, and permanent income.
James quickly began replacing those in his counsel who represented the Church of England, with catholic bishops and leaders. Those who remained had to keep submissive to the acts of James they disagreed with, or were illegal, just to keep their positions.

Two rebellions arose in England, one by the Duke of Monmouth who led a puritan army attempting to destroy the Church of England, and another by the Earl of Argyle. To put these down James raised an army of thirty thousand men. The rebellions were quickly and easily quelled as very few supporters flocked to the two leaders, whose armies were not intensely organized, and at six thousand peasants, who were mostly poorly armed, could not stand up to the size of James army. These victories led James to be overconfident of the loyalty of the land, and contributed to his view that was fostered from his background in the Scottish parliament, which was that a strong government and military was necessary to "Prevent the violent overthrow of all order and forms of duly constituted authority"

The Coming Congressional Gridlock

2010-08-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Two observations can be made about the U.S. Congress, which many voters will agree with.

First, the approval rating of our Legislative Branch is abysmally low. Second, the legislative process is out of control.

The Republican dominance under President Bush made such a mess of things that the 2006 and 2008 elections produced that rare occurrence, a veto-proof Congress with both chambers controlled by one party. One could have hoped that this new arrangement would have produced decisive, effective legislation addressing the country's numerous problems. Instead the Democrats produced two gargantuan bills vastly expanding the federal bureaucracy; a number of slush funds or bailout funds; and unheard of budget deficits.

The very size and complexity of the "reform bills" amply demonstrated that the current members of Congress are no longer capable of performing their main function, which is to produce meaningful and coherent legislation. During the process of assembling the "major achievements" of this Congress it became painfully obvious members were voting on bills they had neither written nor read, larded with a variety of provisions favoring special interests, and creating a web of new functions, obligations and duties the national government cannot hope to discharge with any degree of effectiveness.

Hence the statement, repeated by many prospective voters concerning their intentions for the coming elections: "Anything but an incumbent!"

Such intentions have been voiced before in our election history, and were often revealed to have more bark than bite. There were times, however, when the electorate did in fact "throw the bastards out". This might be one of those.

If political frustration was the only factor, voter anger could be dismissed as inconsequential. But this time there is real economic hardship as well. Unemployment, stagnant wages and rising income inequality are still in full force, and the "recovery" from the Great Recession is proving more questionable every month that passes. In fact the start of an economic "double dip" may well coincide with the election campaign.

This, paradoxically, may help.

The two established parties are too entrenched to be easily gotten rid of, and each will end up with, approximately, a third of the seats. The remaining third might well end up, if things get bad enough, in the hands of the new ABI (Anything But Incumbent) crowd. A number of those will still belong, nominally at least, to the traditional parties. But the mandate they will receive from constituents will no longer be satisfied by the old methods and ideologies.

This diversity of mandates, together with the lack of any strong majority, will preclude the passage of "monster bills" such as those over health care and finance. Even a pure pork "stimulus" will not make it, because of the fiscal rectitude stance that many in Congress are now adopting. In fact the long accepted legislative approaches might now be inadequate to pass anything at all.

The only exception is what could be called the "one-liner bill".

Congress' inability to deal with issues does not eliminate them. The electorate will still demand that something be done. To achieve both congressional consensus and electoral support such legislation must be simple, clear, targeted and effective immediately. It must not deal with broad, complex domains but with a single, obvious problem. Once properly formulated, such "one-liner" legislation will pass, take effect and deliver visible results. From there more similar initiatives will flow, and the now broken trust of the voters in their representatives could begin to heal.

Cash For Clunkers Stimulus - US Program For Cars

2009-08-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

In late June this year, the U.S. Congress approved the bill of Cash for Clunkers stimulus. The bill, which aims to assist the declining car business, offers car owners a spur incentive coupon if they would like to swap in their current vehicle for a car that is more environmentally-mindful. It provides a great discount purchase or rent of a new vehicle and at the same time offering a support to car dealers searching for improved sales. The car business has been in a crash during the fiscal recession and such new program might just be the essential jumpstart it requires.
The bill was signed by President Barrack Obama and now is formally named C.A.R.S, abbreviation for Consumer Assistance to recycle and Save Program.
How does it work?
The program lets the current car owner to acquire $3,500 to $4,500 coupon for swapping in their clunker car for a brand new fuel-efficient vehicle. These coupons are merely utilized for lease or purchase of a new car with enhanced gas mileage. In order to qualify, the current car of the owner should obtain less than 18 miles each gallon when it comes to fuel efficiency. If the person purchases a car that provides 10 miles each gallon improvement, they would qualify for the complete $4,500 coupon. Owners who obtain a car with 4 miles each gallon fuel enhancement will qualify for the coupon amounting to $3,500.
What are the rules in participating in the program?
There are several rules as well as requirement in cash for clunkers that one should be familiar with. To be eligible for the voucher, the car should be not older than 25 years and acquire 18 miles or fewer each gallon when it comes to fuel efficiency. Thus, large cargo vans and pickup trucks should get 15 miles per gallon.
There is no enrollment or contract procedure for the program, since the licensed car dealers would apply the credit towards the new car acquisition, which would lessen the cost that of the new purchase or lease. The credit would only work on the lease or purchase of the new cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue the credit once the dealership has provided them with the needed paperwork. In general, NHTSA must issue the financial credit to the dealership at least 10 days anon if all the necessary requirements are met.
Requirements of the C.A.R.S program
It is vital to ensure that you have all the needed requirements before going to the dealer and sign off for the new purchase or lease. You will need to provide evidence that your used vehicle or clunker has been registered and insured in your name for about a year before the swap in. Also, you will need a title that is liens-free.
If you are aware that your title has liens, it would be wiser to have them cleared up before going to the dealership for lease or purchase of the new car. The moment you have everything in order, you will also have to ensure that there is sufficient evidence that your clunker car is below 25 years old. If you are not able to meet any of the program's requirements, you will certainly never get the cash for clunkers.
But if you qualify and is able to make the purchase or lease of the new car, the dealer would be the one to handle all of the other paperwork. The dealer will then send the paperwork to the proper office and NHTSA go over the things to verify that your requirements have been met. In 10 days, the NHTSA will issue the apposite financial credit to your dealership. Then, it will be applied to the lease or purchase of your new car.Andrew Vanderbilt writes for several magazines such as "Tax Child Credit Organization". Their mission is among others to give information about and lobbying for the benefit of Child Tax Credit for families, which serves as the foundation of the community.

The Racism That Resides Within Us Causes the "F" Bomb!

2009-08-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

Even in 2009, the beginning of the 21ST century, racism is still prevalent because of a lack of understanding and moral blindness; it has birthed many of society's ills and significantly fails to appreciate the many differences in the biological and physical characteristics of individuals. It is a cause for wonder.
"Racism is conditioned by economic imperatives, but negotiated through culture: religion, literature, art, science and the media... Once, they demonized the blacks to justify slavery. Then they demonized the "colored" to justify colonialism. Today, they demonize asylum seekers to justify the ways of globalism. And, in the age of the media... demonization sets out the parameters of popular culture within which such exclusion finds its own rationale - usually under the guise of xenophobia, the fear of strangers." - A Sivanandan, Extracted from Race & Class (Vol. 43, no. 2, October-December 2001).
Racism causes us to speak the four letter "F" word found in our daily language. It is the birthplace of discrimination, separation and segregation, byproducts of a racist mentality due to ignorance. It is a mechanism that allows a roaring emotional state due to remembrance and the verbal expression that commonly articulates surprise, shock and anger when it shows its ugly face. It doesn't matter the lens that racism is looked through, how it's filtered to shed reason for its cause or who is right because of circumstance, racism, or its perceived behavioral influence and re-action causes behaviors that are against the values that humanity is designed. And, the convicted parties on all sides demonstrate that all too familiar four letter "F" word that expresses the emotion that everyone has experienced at one time or another in their life - FEAR!
Racism and fear are synonymous of one another, both causing people to feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation, circumstance or event. They are used to introduce unpleasant statements or emotions experienced in anticipation of some specific pain, danger and uneasy or apprehensive concern (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight). The fear is due to the conviction that the members of one specific group are inherently superior to the members of other groups. This conviction is often manifested by discriminatory behaviors and practices towards the members of the supposed inferior groups.
Now that the lessons for racism have been defined, let's talk of ways to overcome the fears that ultimately lead to the sword of demise. Yes, the word sword is used because it is often seen as an instrument of death and destruction. But, since we are focusing on bringing a resolution to the forefront of the issues that stem from racism and fear, we can learn from one of the greatest swords in the world, carried by men and women of one of the very best organizations that produces the top leaders on the globe - a premium grade Mameluke Sword and the United States Marine Corps.
Just like our U.S. Marines who always seek improvement, the Mameluke Sword is symbolic of excellence. The blade is already beautifully prepared; the craftsmanship is refined and etched to perfection. When presented to a U.S. Marine Corps officer, the sword consists of absolutely superb castings (the drag on scabbard and the acorns on the hilt) and carries with it a tradition that lives on almost as a mythical legend. The sword represents a certified metaphor of performance, now enlisted to the men and women who are "expected" to perform as the best the world has to offer. To some, the U.S. Marine Corps offers imagery of an organization led by old military commanders seeking to wage battle. This remains largely dubious, especially in today's increasingly complex, networked world. Rather, they are leaders - men and women, young and old - of all races and endeavors who seek to better themselves and others each day of their life. They love to win, yet they think beyond themselves. They love to compete, yet they show compassion for their fellow human beings. And, they see no race, yet each individual is seen as crossing the right of passage - the rigors, disciplines, decisions, pains and defeats - of becoming the leader who has earned the title "United States Marine."
A Marine and his/her sword regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted and they are in awe of their own will to win through the efforts of others. They marvel at genius, a feeling of profound respect for someone or the mission they are assigned to accomplish. They too fear that which is not understood, but they carry with them a culture of honor, respect, tradition, resilience, excellence and perfection in performance that overcomes the actual fear that they face. This form of reverence overcomes the destruction that opposes harmony or community, the enslaved misunderstood mindsets that keeps division.
So, why do we fear what is not understood? One wonders. You may recall that as a very young child, you were usually free from fear. You may be swinging at the playground, racing your buddy to see who could go the highest and ready to jump, or about to fuse a firecracker - you aren't scared and the unknown for the immediate future is also not understood. Can we call it something other than fear, such as bravery? Absolutely not; being unaware of the misunderstood is a means to grasp the opportunity for further education - one that is freed from fear. So, at this very early stage in life, children are guided by their parents, guardians and well-wishers in ways that teaches them to conqueror their fears, only in some cases, fears are placed within them that they do not own - racism. It is at this early stage and time that adults must carry the Mameluke Sword and teach the perfections that will etch the superb castings of our future - the children. And, prepare them through teachings of the Lord: "to love thy neighbor as you would want them to love you."
We must get back to the basics and principles that have been afforded us by the men and women who have laid the foundations of a great race - humanity - which is unique. Each individual regardless of race or gender is special in a way that teaches others to become a better quality and quantity to life. Most importantly, we must teach our children (and adults who act as children even when they are greatly respected) that humans actually have more in common than not. Even science agrees to this point and it is supported by the Bible. Acts 17:26 (King James Version) declares, "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." This makes us know that all mankind has the same origin, indeed we are one race of human beings. The diversity and uniqueness of both people and nations are manifestations of God's awesome creativity and power.
But, the battle wages on in us all, regardless of how one feels. The moral blindness of racism fails to appreciate that the differences that we all offer to one another. Do we ever spare a thought about how a child would cope with the unknown or misunderstood? At a time where the United States of America has come together, in the majority - all races and both genders - to elect the first African American President, we still have stories in the media that instructs to our children that we have not grown up to lead by example. It is here that we forget that the child (and again, the adult who acts and speaks as a child) must be taught to deal with and overcome the bullies of life - racism and fear.
We must teach them to carry their own swords as a metaphor of performance. To become the leaders - men and women, young and old - of all races and endeavors, who seek to better themselves and others each day of their life. They must be taught to love to win, yet they think beyond themselves. They must be taught to love to compete, yet show compassion for their fellow human beings. And, they must be taught to see no race, yet "understand" that each individual is seen as special with something to teach and offer to the world.
This my friends is the only way to journey the right of passage - the rigors, disciplines, decisions, pains and defeats - of becoming the people who have truly earned the right to wear the title, a "LEADER."Damian D. "Skipper" Pitts, the Founder and Chairman of the Bison Group Corporation, is charged with leading a team of U.S. Marines turned business professionals specializing in transformational leadership, organizational behavior, team building and strategic execution. He is the author of 8 books including his most recent, Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams, 28 published journals and his upcoming release, "Success TRAPS: Understanding How-to Answer the Four Questions to Heal the Pains and Strengthen your Future Picture." This text works to help participants understand: Why am I hurting? What is it about "me" that influences the hurt? How do I prevent re-injury - although I know that it will be re-visited? And, how do I change my circumstances, current and future? Additionally, he has authored his flagship executive education military-style leadership and organizational behavior program, "The Process of LeaderShaping," that is currently being taught at Temple University in Philadelphia. The program includes 15 modules and 45 lectures/lessons, providing a wealth of summary, discussion, and applicable presentation material for participants to execute strategy to achieve their own level of "Personal Proficiency," while increasing their state of "Professional Mastery."

The New King Hezekiah - President Obama

2009-06-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

President Obama is treading on a very frail foreign policy which seeks to make America like Europe and weaken the last superpower in the world. Does this portend the decline of America and the rise of a European type socialistic state for America? Obama speaking in Strasbourg stated, "In America there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." Going on, he states, "America is changing." And he calls for unprecedented coordination in our policies with those of Europe. He concludes with two outrageous statements: "We got sidetracked by Iraq." "The social safety net that exists in almost all of Europe doesn't exist in America." Needless to say, his budget seeks to rectify that particular problem.
Obama has sent a video "outreach" to Iran and the Muslim people. He has made overtures to Russia about disarmament and a "greater moral authority to say to Iran 'don't develop a nuclear weapon.' His Secretary of State has had private meeting with Iranian officials to talk. He seeks to partner with China and Russia when both have provided Iran and North Korea with nuclear expertise and equipment. And continues to outrageously demean our country in most of his speeches in Europe. Obama is a totally inexperienced and naive president thinking we can talk to terrorists and rogue nations, making them like us and thus, "get along." And all the while he is demonstrating a weakness that can only embolden our sworn enemies. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamenei and Osama bin Laden must be laughing at our weakest president since Carter and planning their next attack on America. As such, America courts disaster as Obama exposes his weak resolve as demonstrative of America's weak underside. He lays all of our "cards" (Read: defensives) on the table, invites them to the table and says, "Come on guys, let's play nice." In doing so, he is "showing all of America's treasures" to the world.
The Bible relates a very sad story about a king that showed all his treasures to his enemy. King Hezekiah invited his enemy into his home and "Showed him all the house of his treasures...There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show to them." (Nelson NKJ Version 2 Kings 20:13) "Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord: Behold the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left." (Nelson NKJ version 2 Kings 20: 16,17) And so it was.
Personally, I do not want my country, America, carried off into the European socialism. Personally, I do not want to expose my country, America, to the good graces of Iran, Russia, China, or for that matter any European country. I do not need a president that seeks to demean this country and would seek to reduce us to just another member of the European Union, complete with a new currency. I do not choose to have a president that would lead this great and powerful country to the ash heap of history. We are the only super power remaining in the world. We are the only real beacon of truth. We are the only remaining city set on a hill to give light to all the world. I refuse to let a naïve and inexperienced president lead us down his ideological path which is in complete contravention to the principles, morals and ethical values upon which this country was founded.

God Help Oil Prices If Iran Riots Spill Over Emboldening People in Other Nations in the Region

2009-06-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Iranian unrest is going to affect world oil barrel prices due to the strikes of workers in that sector over the recent "questionable elections" there, and the aftermath of government crack downs and violence against the protesters. How much could this effect oil prices; well it will not be totally devastating to us in the US, but it could be significant if commodity traders find momentum in this crisis, as they love to create opportunity for themselves out of the chaos of the world media.
Imagine however the effect on the oil markets if in Saudi Arabia, all the people decided to riot and rebel, and overthrow their government? Wow, now that could be rather significant, and depending on the civil unrest and conflict, if it got out of hand oil infrastructure could be damaged, and many of the more hostile groups would launch terrorist like attacks. Even if the threat was there, that would be significant enough to cause huge oil-price-spikes.
Now imagine, the Pakistani People deciding to try their luck to overthrow the government, remember this is a nuclear power, with nuclear weapons. What if the Taliban, was joined by the people against the government? Okay, what about Lebanon, can you see Hezbollah with 10s of thousands of yellow flags, shirts and banners taking over the government, because they were angry with the vote, that took some power away from them recently? How might that effect a peaceful treaty in the region.
For those who criticize our President for not getting too involved, you must realize the larger picture and the bigger game here. There is a lot at stake, and these outcomes and events do very much effect us here, so please consider all this before jumping on a political soap box at this juncture. That's all for now.

Did Radical Ronald Reagan Republicans Destroy Trust in Government?

2009-06-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

Before 1965 it appears that the United States public trust in the government was quite a bit higher than it is today. As time has gone on the government has been less and less trusted for some reason. Many Democrats blame the Republicans. Further, they charge that it was the Ronald Reagan era that publicized the ineptness of government that started this downward spiral. But is that really the case?
Did Radical Ronald Reagan Republics Destroy Trust in Government? Or did they merely point out the facts, call the emperor naked, and wake everyone up? And could it be said that the generation of the 1960s and all the antiwar protests did more to destroy the trust in government? This came well before Ronald Reagan.
In the book, "In Defense of Government; The Rise and Fall of Public Trust" by Jacob Weisberg, the author claims that it was the Ronald Reagan era that started the mistrust of government and he noted some facts about the public perception of the time noting that some 75% of the people did not trust the government, during the campaign of President Reagan.
Whether or not this is true is hard to say, but the statistics sound right. Today, it is quite obvious that the people of the United States do not trust their government for some reason. Maybe the mistrust of government is a good thing, as it keeps people on their toes, and not to be led down the wrong path or down a dead end, and yet, one has to ask about other nations, and their blind obedience to their government and their trust factors.
What happens when China's population wakes up to the problems with an overbearing centralized government, and the injustices, and losses of freedoms that comes with it all. The bureaucracy is stifling life, and dashing opportunity. We all ought to be thankful that we live in the US, and trust must be earned no matter which nation you live in. Please consider this.

What Makes America Great

2009-06-21T00:40:00.001-07:00

In less than 200 years, America grew from a handful of colonies to become the greatest nation in history. In a few hundred years, we surpassed nations that were many times older. What makes America great?

The two main elements that make America great are our people and our freedoms. Our people have a can do, nothing is impossible, spirit. Starting with the American Revolution, we have always conquered adversity, often in the face of overwhelming odds.

We have more rights and freedoms than anywhere else in the world. Our freedoms are considered inalienable rights, not privileges granted by government. Our freedoms are the envy of the world. Every item in the bill of rights is a precious jewel designed to ensure the immortality of our liberty.

Our founders came from societies where government controlled its citizens. They had a solid understanding of the consequences of unchecked power. Our constitution was crafted specifically to limit the scope of government to prevent its infringing on individual liberties.

Our constitution is a brilliant document, filled with foresight and understanding, that has withstood the test of time. The principles embedded in the constitution are the foundation of our greatness.

In America, each citizen can control his or her destiny without fear of interference by government or others. Our government was formed to serve the people rather than vice versa. Our government was designed to play a minimal role in people's lives.

Our doors have always been open to people from anywhere in the world who want to come here legally to work hard, contribute, and assimilate into our society. America's reputation as a melting pot is derived from the fact that people from every walk of life can work together to create an unstoppable force for good.

In America anything is possible. America is great because it offers its people unlimited opportunity to succeed by bringing their dreams to reality. In America, success requires hard work, determination, and persistence, not permission. We are constitutionally protected to prevent government from confiscating the results of our labor.

America is an engine for unprecedented productivity. Our economic system has been responsible for civilization transforming innovations and discoveries. No other country has even come close and many other systems have failed miserably.

America has a big heart. Whether in this country or elsewhere, we help those who can not help themselves. Americans are first on the scene in the wake of natural or civic disasters. We are there with food, supplies, medical aid, and money. Our brave soldiers travel the globe defending those who can't defend themselves.

In America there are no problems that we can't solve. Any obstacles we may face do not taint our greatness. It is our greatness that enables us to overcome adversity and become even stronger in the process. Everyday, be thankful that you live in America and benefit from its greatness. Don't take for granted that which people in other countries can only dream about. Be proud to be an American.

President Obama - Taking Us Back to Beatlemania

2009-06-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

John Lennon once described the scene inside the Beatles during the heyday of the fan frenzy of Beatlemania in the 1960s as similar to being inside the eye of a hurricane. "We always called it the eye of the hurricane - it was calmer right in the middle," Lennon said.

This might be the case inside the White House these days as President Barrack Obama sends the country into a tizzy with weekly announcements of new domestic and foreign policy initiatives that are drastically changing the political landscape.

These policies are so different that critics are arguing he's ruining the country while the President's supporters say his programs are just the right ones to get the country back on track.

With so many pundits and politicians commenting on President Obama's every move, it's reminiscent of the crazy chaos that surrounded the Fab Four in the early days of the British invasion. "Everybody got into the mania," Beatle George Harrison once said.

As an example, in the brief five months since President Obama has taken office, the country has digested an $800 billion economic stimulus package - with little or no debate; the bailing out of our national banks and two major automobile companies; an increased military effort in Afghanistan; potential trouble in Pakistan; nuclear weapons issues in North Korea and Iran; a soaring unemployment rate at home; a worldwide swine flu medical emergency; a Supreme Court appointment featuring the first Hispanic woman; enhanced interrogation issues involving both the former administration and the current Speaker of the House; massive spending deficits; the appointments of several new "czars," including an executive compensation czar; and now imminent - the launching of a national health insurance program.

This is but a partial list of the issues and activities the new administration has thrust upon the country. So it's little wonder that national opinion polls are mixed on the President's personal approval ratings versus those for his programs. No doubt there is a simmering anxiety about his policies, and this can be summed up in one word: spending. The economy is not out of the woods, and there is a justifiable fear that the massive deficit spending as proposed by the President will thwart the economic recovery.

Republicans are almost gleeful over the prospects that the Democrats have overreached on spending - asking the country to borrow upwards of $9 trillion over the next 10 years. The GOP is already anticipating big gains in 2010 congressional elections. The single biggest worry among some is inflation - the inevitable result of the vast amount of money that is now being printed in Washington - but a return to the Jimmy Carter years of stagflation is also a dreaded possibility.

Stagflation is defined as a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagflation) with rising prices (inflation) and the result is a knockout punch that will set the economy back for years. The current economic calamity has brought one thing into focus for the American people - they cannot be addicted to the free spending and vast consumption mentality of the past. Surveys are showing that consumers are reining in their spending and starting to save more in the process -a pattern that might continue for years to come.

Republicans further argue that the Obama plan cannot work because federal spending can only create jobs temporary in nature and add to the growth of the government - not the growth of the economy. Democrats are countering that something different had to be done and jump starting the economy required more federal investment, taxes, and spending.

It will be another year or so before we have the answers to whether the Obama plan has worked. But one thing can be said - President Obama has remained calm and convinced that his ideas will get the country back on track. As the political whirlwind continues, President Obama can take refuge in how four boys from Liverpool handled a mania of a different sort some 45 years ago - as Lennon said, "It was calmer right in the middle."

Palace Eunuchs of Ancient China

2009-06-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

First of all, what is an Eunuch? For many this is a strange looking term to visualize but in ancient China many eunuchs held responsible positions inside the walls of the "Forbidden City." Eunuchs were males who were rendered sexually impotent through removal of their genitals in order to serve the emperor of the "Forbidden City". This was considered a great honor and thousands upon thousands of young men and sometimes older men would devote their lives in honor of the emperor. These males would serve as palace menials, harem watch doges and also as spies for the emperor. Many of them served as personal attendants to the emperor and as a result were often in a better position than even the most powerful minister or envoy to the emperor. As personal attendants they were able to exercise influence, curry the emperor favor, and many of them amassed huge amounts of wealth. These castrated servitors represented the epitome of complete servitude to the grand emperor.

The life of a eunuch in ancient China included a multitude of responsibilities. For example, there was one group of eunuchs that as mentioned earlier watched over the emperor's harem. He basically ensured that the chastity of imperial ladies would not be compromised and this was accomplished by closely guarding over the harem. This was basically done to ensure that there would be a steady flow of heirs to the throne, once the emperor passed away. This was due to the fact that there was a high infant mortality rate for males. By the eunuchs carefully guarding the palace and lurking in the remotest parts of the palace, this was a further guarantee that any child born within the palace walls was sired only by the monarch. Not even relatives of the emperor was allowed in the harem apartments on penalty of death.

Another strange point of interest about the eunuchs was that they were required to preserve an aura of sacredness and secrecy that surrounded the emperors presence. The Emperor of China was exalted as the recipient of the mystical Mandate of Heaven that justified his right to rule his Chinese subjects. There would be no challenge to his authority and the lowly eunuch who was highly dependent upon the emperor for their lives and daily subsistence were considered cowed enough to be silent witnesses to the emperors private foibles and weaknesses.

In addition, when the emperor would proceed through the capital city carried in his royal sedan, it was the eunuch who performed this task which was an honor for the eunuch. As the emperor proceeded through the city, eunuchs ensured that bamboo curtains were erected across the streets to shield him from the populace view. One emperor remarked, that they were "creatures docile and loyal as gelded animals".

However, eunuchs who were basically loyal to the emperor were not as naive as one may think. Behind closed doors, many of them would join forces with a scheming empress or concubine in evil plots to do away with the heir apparent where the empress could then with the eunuch assistance place her own son or favorite in line for succession to the throne. As a result of this partnership, and if the plot was successful, the conspiring eunuch was in a better bargaining position which resulted in him usurping enormous authority. Because of this, young rulers found themselves completely under the influence of the eunuchs and these eunuchs were almost impossible to dislodge from power. From one short reign of power to the next, they were firmly in control leading to the emperor fearing his eunuch benefactors. Eunuchs also wielded power over the emperor in the political arena. Had it not been for them, certain Chinese emperors would have been powerless in the face of organized factions seeking control of the throne.

Even though most of the Eunuchs were employed in household and harem duties, a few were destined to become one of the eighteen Lamaist priests which the palace maintained to attend to the spiritual welfare of the female inmates. Many of these eunuchs could not read or write but still practiced the craft of priesthood and earned a double salary.

Other eunuchs were employed as actors and singers in the palace theatricals. These performers lived outside the palace in the Forbidden City on small salaries but received gratuities from the audiences for their performances.

Palace eunuchs were also allowed to worship in the temples, to burn incense, practice fasting, and donate money and offerings.These high ranking eunuchs wore ornate robes of brightly embroidered colors whereas the lower ranking eunuchs wore a long grey robe under a shorter dark blue coat and were required to wear official hats and boots when on duty.

Finally, most of the eunuchs leisure time was spent in gambling among themselves, their greatest source of enjoyment. They were especially affectionate towards women and children and loved pets. Many sold these pets to foreign ladies to supplement their incomes.

Hawks Fight Doves As America Transitions to a Global World

2009-06-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Americans elected a liberal president in 2008 to take the country forward in an era when challenges equaled those of the industrial revolution 150 years before and the Roosevelt era some 60 years later. Globalization was a fact. The information highway spread enlightenment and distortions with equal rapidity. With the election, America embraced the challenges while the losing conservatives rallied to preserve the old ways.

The Oxford dictionary defines conservatives as averse to rapid change while liberals favored individual rights and moderate reform. "Rapid" and "moderate" are relative terms but two associated terms are not. Those are political hawks, who advocate an aggressive or warlike policy, especially in foreign affairs, and political doves, who advocate a peaceful policy. The term "hawk," by that source, also refers to a rapacious person.

The hallmark of the 2008 US election was the choice to make radical changes to meet an unprecedented global economic crisis. By the above definitions, neither conservatives nor liberals would advocate the necessitated course precipitated by hawkish elements in the prior conservative administration that continued a warlike policy despite dwindling support for the approach in an obviously interdependent world. China's well-publicized responses to global sensitivities during the 2008 Olympics just before the American national political conventions exemplified the interconnectedness. World opinion mattered when a record-breaking number of a global audience tuned in on television, internet and emerging electronic devices to affect economics.

American voters recognized those globalizing international sensibilities but the conservative administration was deaf to them. Numerous sources repeatedly reported dissatisfaction with the sitting administration's policies that by the election in November were approved by less than a third of Americans.

That disconnect between the American public and the administration with regard to unilateralist and preemptive policies for protecting the country was echoed by the world's 200 other countries, as evidenced by the continued drawdown of coalition troops in Iraq. Similarly losing favor both at home and abroad were protectionist economic policies of a hawkish campaign to preserve the leading American economic status quo by a hands-off deregulation of American financial institutions controlled by the moneyed.

The old order of conservative male white dominance exploded in 2008 and caused the global economic crisis to clearly prove the approach no longer worked. America broke the global glass ceiling of racism to meet the challenge of the unknown by electing the first non-white leader of a western industrialized nation as most likely able to address the crisis. Predictably enough, that historic step was a trumpet call to hawks of every stripe.

A non-white leader for the world's leading power was not coincidental in a world of 200 countries claiming equal rights to the future. The Pacific island states that provide seafood and vacation spots for the world, as an example, are directly affected by climate change, as documented by the United Nations among others. Trailing behind the industrialized powers on the development scale, they have newly established forums to protect and empower themselves. Those mechanisms, however, have proven to be slower than the world's terrorist hawks, who have laid claim to those emerging areas as headquarters for operating beyond the reach of developing law.

Such non-state terrorist actors were responsible for the brutal 9/11 attack against the world's most prosperous country in 2001. The conservative retaliatory response of the sitting administration at the time continued to escalate until it evolved into a presumptive right to take preemptive military action against not just terrorist groups but other states, using measures of questionable legality by either national or international standards.

Important as they are, the economic issues facing the United States in a global world are a mere integral part of the challenge mandated by the 2008 election. Having broken the global racial glass ceiling to continue on its path as a country blessed with abundance to lead the world by providing opportunity, America in the new Obama era was faced with adjusting to a world in which the developing rule of law was not only sacrosanct but essential for survival.

Rule of law has been the standard for human relations since England's 1215 Magna Carta set limits on the rights of monarchs and gave rights to the people in the form of common law and Babylonia's King Hammurabi set down the principles of governance and conflict dispute in 1250. The rule of law is upheld through national, bilateral, multilateral and international compacts, treaties and accords, all of which are agreements to abide by standards for settling differences, disputes and conflicting approaches to attaining aims without the resort to armed conflict.

In essence, the rule of law signifies cooperativeness and implies constraints on the deepest human primal instincts for the drama of conflict. In the twenty-first century and a nuclear age in which the weapons of conflict are a lucrative staple of human commerce, the resistance to the rule of law represents a terminal activity. It takes the form of suicide bombings, nuclear threats or the promulgation of warnings about cooperating with a global world.

End the War on Drugs

2009-06-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

America has had a lot of wars, and that isn't even counting the military wars! The "War on Poverty," the "War on Crime," and the "War on Terror," why so many wars? Naming something a war invokes automatic patriotism and support from many groups, both conservative and liberal. That makes it an effective political tactic.

There is another: the "War on Drugs" declared in 1972 by President Richard Nixon as he was winding down the Vietnam War.

Illegal drug use costs America huge sums of money every year through crime, cost to punish offenders, and lost productivity. Yet, even though we make no progress in this war, we continue to use the same tactics year after year, decade after decade. No one disagrees that illegal drug use does great harm, both to our people and the economy. The question is what to do to reduce that harm.

Some argue a lack of progress is because America does not fund the problem adequately. More resources, they argue, will net better results. Others argue the exact opposite; the more America spends to fight the drug problem, the more it reinforces the illegal drug underground; they argue for decriminalization. Some of those arguing for decriminalization do not match the profile you would expect.

Below are a noted political conservative, a Nobel Prize winning economist, and a former police chief, all in support of decriminalization.

CONSERVATIVES FOR AN END
William F. Buckley, founder of the iconic conservative magazine, National Review. Mr. Buckley was asked by the New York Bar Association to make a statement to a panel of lawyers considering the drug question. He made the following statement in 1996.

"We are speaking of a plague that consumes an estimated $75 billion per year of public money, exacts an estimated $70 billion a year from consumers, is responsible for nearly 50 per cent of the million Americans who are today in jail, occupies an estimated 50 per cent of the trial time of our judiciary, and takes the time of 400,000 policemen-yet a plague for which no cure is at hand, nor in prospect."

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winning economist in 1991.

"...drug dealers have a financial incentive to create addicts. If they can create an addict, they have a captive customer. Under a legalized system, you don't see anybody on the street corners giving away bread.

It doesn't pay to give away bread because if you create somebody who loves bread, he can buy it at the cheapest place. It would not pay anybody, for financial reasons, to create addicts...I am not questioning for a moment that the number of drug addicts is likely to go up. What I am saying is that the innocent victims created by even a much higher level of addiction would be vastly smaller than the number now created by drug prohibition."

Joseph McNamara, former San Jose Police Chief. Joseph McNamara has been responsible for enforcing drug laws and viewing their consequences:

"A corrections administrator responsible for running San Francisco jails told me recently that when the county of San Francisco decided that smoking would no longer be allowed in public buildings, cigarettes were banned in the jail. The immediate consequence: The price of cigarettes in the underground jail market went to $120 a pack. It sums up prohibition; $500 worth of drugs in a foreign country can bring as much as $100,000 on the streets of an American city merely because they are illegal. All the armies, cops and prisons in the world can not stop that kind of economic force."

In a San Francisco Examiner, April 9, 1995 article, McNamara, now at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, surveyed nearly 500 police chiefs, police officers, district attorneys, public defenders, lawyers, judges and Stanford students. Here are the results:

95% of the police officers believe the U.S. is losing the war on drugs
98% think drug abuse is not primarily a police problem
Over 90% of the cops said increased prevention/treatment could control drugs more effectively
Over 30% of the cops felt decriminalization would decrease drug use or have no effect

WAR ON DRUGS IS INEFFECTIVE

The most on-point critics of our war on drugs come from within the federal government's own ranks; the Government Accountability Office. The GAO provides insight on the ineffectiveness of "war on drugs". After decades, the government still has not developed methods to measure either the extent of the drug problem in America or how to measure whether interdiction is successful.

How can the government state with any accuracy they are having any positive effect without such measurements? And since when is it effective to spend most of your time on the lesser crimes (marijuana) at the cost of enforcement of the larger crimes?

Refer to the GAO report titled: Briefing Report, 09/26/96, GAO/GGD-96-189BR at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov/

You can visit other GAO reports on drug interdiction efforts by the federal government. The theme is ineptitude and lack of results.

Since the government is unable to effectively stop drugs from entering the United States, it turned its effort to eradicate them at the source of origin. Whether in Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia, or else where in Latin America or Asia, the same inefficiencies blocked success.

The effort to stop illegal drugs from entering the United States has one important effect; it raises the price of drugs, which provides drug dealers with more money to corrupt Bolivian politicians, buy more effective weapons, and combat U.S. intelligence. Four years after the GAO recommendations, the government still had not adopted proper measures and still uses the unsuccessful plans of the past.

If the U.S. had a chance for a successful interdiction program, it would be in Afghanistan. The stakes are high politically and strategically, in the war against the Taliban. The U.S. has a strong military presence, support from the American public, and a need to control the war lords. Additionally, the U.S. knew going in that controlling opium production was vital to long-term success in eliminating Afghanistan as a source of terrorism. Yet, the same difficulties found elsewhere have prevented any significant level of success in Afghanistan.

PROBLEMS NEVER ADDRESSED

When Nixon started the war on drugs in 1972, his own national commission anticipated key problems. The government had the experience of alcohol prohibition in the 1920's, and were warned of similar problems facing the task force in war on drugs (National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, Drug Use in America, 1972). Yes, more than 35 years after Nixon's ill-conceived war on drugs, our government continues to chase a failed policy.

The war on drugs and its drug czar are an institutionalized bureaucracy without proper oversight, and without any tangible benefit to the American people. The damage that drug wars and drug money cause in our inner cities is matched only by the devastation that American's craving for drugs has caused throughout much of Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. And yet we continue on this course, with no real dialogue taking place in our government. It is truly shameful!
After obtaining a degree in political science, I embarked on a career in insurance and government. For the last 21 years, I have worked for local government and government associations. I have written articles, as well as manuals, assisting local government in effectively managing their activities and exposures. I have also provided training in these areas, been a frequent speaker at educational seminars, and acted as President of an association of governmental employees.

Jefferson on Democracy

2009-06-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Not surprisingly, Jefferson's view of democracy was closer to what we think of today as conservatism, than to what our current Democratic Party to stands for today. Jefferson, like most of the founding fathers, had a fundamental distrust of government and understood the enormity of temptation borne by power wielding politicians to perniciously manipulate government. The formation of the party itself was a reaction to the current spending policies of the day. I dare say Thomas Jefferson would cringe at what our country's government has turned into today and at what the current Democratic Party has become.

Jeffersonian Democracy promoted a small federal government with no standing army, although Jefferson wanted to promote freedom globally. Government was to have elected representatives that would put the interests of the people above the interests of one particular person or interest. Checks and balances were put into place to keep power distributed and keep the focus of government on the needs of the people. Government was not to meddle in religion or sanction any particular religion.

With its opposition to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 the then Democratic Republican Party made clear it's stance that freedom of speech and freedom of the press were bedrock democratic principals and necessary for a healthy republic. Jefferson understood well that disclosure of our representatives' words and actions, as well as criticism thereof, is vital to keeping them honest and about the peoples' business.

Fast forward to 2009:

Judges legislate from the bench; the government is the largest employer in the country and employs almost 50% of the workforce; there are an estimated 30 million illegal aliens here; the government is taking over banks and deciding what businesses should exist and which shouldn't; in the past year the government has decided to spend more than 1.5 trillion dollars on anything they want.

Before the existence of the United States of America, it was thought that a large democratic republic like the United States could not exist because the people's diverse interests and geographical disparities would be too great. The Roman republic first became an Empire and later fell to the Huns. Are we about to go the same route?

It may be impossible for man to be able to maintain a democratic republic. Karl Marx stated, "within a republic are sewn the seed of its own destruction." Are we tasting the fruits of those seeds now? Will man always condemn himself to slavery because of his own, greed, avarice and slothfulness?

It appears the great experiment is coming to an end, although it does not have to. It can go on if we remember who we are and where we came from. If we can fill our minds and hearts with the dreams of our founding fathers, if we can love our country more than self and treasure the gift of freedom above all else, then we have a chance at keeping our democratic republic.
Without an understanding of our history both recent and ancient our judgment of our political leadership is diminished. Without an understanding of political, economic and social principles we are inadequate employers unable to discern the proper qualifications for leadership and doomed to lead the ship of state on a course to destruction. Ignorance is our greatest enemy. I encourage you to take a few minutes out of your day to learn more about your countries history and politics.

»Surya Foundation: JHINJHOLI Sadhana Sthali BY PARAG BALI Ex TGR

2009-04-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

JHINJHOLI Sadhana Sthali
Situated at Jhinjholi in Haryana, away from the hustle bustle of Delhi is the Training Centre of Surya Foundation with sprawling lawns and gardens. Aptly named SADHANA STHALI the campus resembles the ancient GURUKUL providing an ideal environment for the trainees.
A Swimming Pool, Computer Laboratory, Library, facilities for Indoor and Outdoor Games, Shooting Range and many other facilities are available in the campus which attract persons of all age groups. A Naturopathy Centre offers opportunity to remain as close the nature as possible.
Jhinjholi provides the right environment for learning and development.
Youth Development‘Catch Them Young’ is the motto followed by Surya Foundation. Today's child is tomorrow's Bharat! The Youth Development Programme, therefore, targets young children in their formative age. Surya Foundation conducts over 1200 Personality Development Camps each year in various parts of the country, benefiting about 25,000 youths.
Naturopathy & YogaNaturopathy & Yoga is a preventive as well as curative therapy. It is the most effective and least expensive method for a healthy and disease free living. Mahatma Gandhi had desired that Naturopathy should reach each and every village and to all our countrymen.
Surya Foundation has undertaken a massive project for the promotion of Naturopathy and Yoga in all states of the country with the help and support of many NGOs and well wishers.
Think Tans for National Developmentl Constitutional Reforms l Economy l Education l Energy l International Relations l National Security l Power l Police Reforms l Public Administration l Railways l Rural Development l Surface Transport l Telecom l Tourism l Water Resources
Surya Foundation Think Tanks have been established with a view to carrying out studies and research in the areas of vital national interests. These consist of eminent intellectuals, experts, retired bureaucrats, judges, legal experts, academics and scholars who deliberate various issues. Recommendations of the Think Tanks are made available to the Govt. Departments, PSUs, Members of Parliament and all concerned.
IDEAL VILLAGE PROJECT
"The path to development of the country passes through its villages" Surya Foundation conceived the 'Ideal Village Project' with the underlying idea to develop villages by—
• Improving the literacy rate• Bringing peace and harmony• Helping them development of their village• Personality Development & Character Building

Village youth, including young children are the vehicle of this project. BAAL VIKAS KENDRAS or the Coaching Centres have been established in the villages for children who are school going, dropouts, or illiterates. Coaching Centres conduct various activities such as:—
• Education / Literacy• Games • Shram Dhan through Community Participation • Yoga & Karate• Adventure Programmes• Personality Development Camps

RESPECTED SREE JAI PRAKASH AGARWAL BY PARAG BALI Ex TGR

2009-04-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

From a small beginning in 1973 as a tube making unit, Surya Roshni Ltd. Has emerged today as a vast conglomerate with the largest ERW pipe manufacturing plant and a large cold rolling strip mill at Bahadurgarh (Haryana). It has also two lighting units at Kashipur (UP) and Malanpur (MP) producing fluorescent tube lights, GLS lamps and various other components. The Kashipur unit is the largest FTL lighting factory in the country.With its firm commitment to excellence in quality, its wide range of products in different specifications, constant technological up gradation and deep concern for customer satisfaction the company is justifiable a brand leader in both steel pipe and lighting industry. The company has a wide marketing network with its branches and dealer and retailer outlets spread across the length and breadth of the country.
With a turnover of over Rs.1200 crores (US $ 275 millions), the company’s quest for growth is never ending. There are regular expansions of capacity and installation of balancing facilities for augmenting the production to meet the growing demand in both lighting and steel segments... Surya Roshni is taking big strides in its chosen areas with tested skills, commited workforce, vast experience and mature leadership.Values we nurtureWe shall endeavour to maintain leadership through quality products and cost control, explore new avenues in product development, marketing and exports, create a stronger bond with our employees, suppliers and shareholders, contribute to social development, and constantly strive for excellence in all spheres of our global activities

Founding Ideas of Our American Government

2009-04-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Maybe these words won't be so well liked, as a tradition of approving something that may be wrong gives it the fake appearance of being right.
Most people actually think that society or economy and government are the same. In fact, they are fundamentally opposites. Economy is produced by our desires, and government by wickedness. Economy promotes our happiness by uniting our desires, and government negatively influences it by restraining our vices. One is a patron and the other a punisher.
Economy in any state is a blessing, however, even in its best state government is but a necessary evil. In its worst state an intolerable one. When we suffer the same things from our government that we might suffer in a state without government the misery is far worsened because we are required to provide the means (money) that funds such and pain causing government. We're paying for a disservice.
But because we cannot all abide by our conscience to God, we find it necessary to give up part of our wealth as a means to protect the rest. It becomes the least of two evils. Whatever the form of government, the purpose is to secure the most freedom for the least cost.
What is necessary for a government is that the governors do not develop an interest that is separate from the people that they govern over. This is the principle evil of government: that a governing individual will have selfish interest and be anything less than noble, hence the reason dukes and lords referred to themselves as nobles.
So the institution of a republic has only made the government more subtle in there pursuit of these selfish interests, not more just.
"Oppression is rarely a means to get wealth, but it is often the consequence." - Thomas Paine
The only way to root out these conflicting interest is to expose the actions of every governing person. Unfortunately the media is more concerned with exposing the selfish actions of business leaders, than they are of political ones.

Obama - World Disorder - The Blind Follow the Blind

2009-04-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

Let's see what we find in the Obama box today. Turkey, he says is a much needed friend, one we can trust, and Christian and Muslim, works together. Perhaps there is some truth to this, but it stops at a very narrow corner I do believe. Our values are different, the Western World hasn't figured this out since the 11th Century, and how long does it take. Whatever friendship we build, and I have Muslim friends, the center is hollow. I know this and they know this, but for coexistence we also know, not to carry guns on our person when we say hello. Foolishness comes at a price.
On another note, related to the above slightly, is the only thing President Chavez of Venezuela had to say that was correct, that I ever heard come out of his mouth was Obama doesn't know what he's doing, and he is so right.
On North Korea: We stood by and watched North Korea send a rocket into the sky, soon it will be a nuke, we all know this, and we all scream to the high moon as if North Korea could care, they careless. It has taken us 50-years to figure this out, that we should have taken charge when we had a chance, back in 1954. Now they have big toys, I don't know what we are waiting for, perhaps for them to get the Nuke on the tip of that rocket, and nuke Japan or South Korea, so it would seem, and that will be their blackmailing gimmick soon. If I was one of those countries, I'd be building me some fast flying missiles, and aiming them directly at the one doing all the threatening. Perhaps the better choice here is for Japan to wakeup and smell he rotting roses, from their passive past, and be the great warriors they are known for. South Korea, simply doesn't believe their neighbors will butcher them, Kuwait, felt the same way with Iraq.

The Huge Demand For Barack Obama Bumper Stickers

2009-03-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

During last year's presidential election, a phenomenon was born -Barack Obama bumper stickers. The popularity of Democratic candidate Barack Obama stirred the imagination of even those amongst us who rarely get so involved in politics.
Perhaps it was simply the 'perfect storm'? A widely unpopular incumbent President. A failing economy, a disastrous foreign policy and an unpalatable war. So when a man named Obama came along who, let's be honest, seemed the polar opposite to President Bush, it gave hope to many that finally a national nightmare would soon be over.
The one great thing about bumper stickers is that they reflect the nations zeitgeist at the time. The are a running commentary on the way we feel and wish others to feel also.
For many bumper sticker manufacturers, being in the center of such an exciting election as this, was a memorable time. We have been through elections before, but nothing quite like this. There was immediately something different and iconic about Obama. He became a superstar almost overnight.
And so when it came round to the time Obama would announce his running mate, the savviest bumper sticker printers were poised and ready with Barack Obama bumper stickers designed to simply drop the name 'Biden' in quickly and get them up on the internet. The sales were immediate and overwhelming. It took many by surprise. 24/7 printing was the order of the day to try and meet the growing demand.
Even the official Obama web site declared a two week delivery time. Eventually, it announced that it would cease to produce stickers, to concentrate it's resources on other campaign material. As you can imagine, after that announcement demand went through the stratosphere.
It wasn't just his name either, people wanted his image. He was photogenic. The now famous 'Hope' poster by artist Shepard Fairey has to be attributed with part of the mythical persona that emanated around Obama. It hardly needs stating that this would never have happened if Kerry or Gore had become President. John Kerry's face on a t-shirt anyone?
Although the frenzy has calmed down now to some degree, Barack Obama bumper stickers are still a hot item. Many choose to let their pre-election sticker remain on their vehicle as a post election trophy. A reminder to others that they did indeed back the right candidate. Others are choosing the less subtle 'Rub it in the face of McCain supporters' approach, with stickers proudly proclaiming "Yes we did" (A continuation of thought from the 'Yes we can' campaign slogan.

New Beginnings For US Foreign Policy

2009-03-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Secretary Clinton has been as busy girl. Not even six weeks into the job and she has visited major allies and potential partners and is on deck to visit more within the next two weeks. Already she has earned criticism and courted controversy in her handling of issues and her style.
In her most important trip to date, meeting with Chinese officials and leaders in Beijing, she has displayed great candor and pragmatism in her public comments. When pressed to comment about how she proposed to address human rights with Chinese officials, she acknowledged that, while she would stress the need for respect of the human rights of Chinese citizens by its government, it was unlikely that the situation would change. She was immediately attacked for her comment by those who took it as a sign of a lack of commitment by Secretary Clinton to rectify human rights abuses by the Chinese government against its people. She has spent the bulk of her trip dealing with the more practical issues that face our two nations, such as environmental standards, energy usage, trade, and the nuclear situation in North Korea, but has not made human rights a prominent public issue on this visit.
Personally, I do not equate a realistic approach to China and their treatment of human rights with a lack of commitment. Nowhere did Secretary Clinton say that it was the US's intention to condone the present situation or to stand by and remain silent. The Chinese are not likely to change overnight and any initiatives that the US would be able to bring about in the Chinese government's handling of human rights would take place over an extended period of time. The CCP has been more successful in bringing about positive change for its people than other communist states such as the USSR, so dramatic overthrow of their system of government is unlikely. The CCP has also shown more tolerance for the creeping influx of capitalism at a rate that does not threaten the status quo, but that also makes an increasingly less isolated populace content.
Over the last 50 years or so, the US has claimed to be the world's major proponent of liberty and freedom around the world. We have told the world that self-determination of a nation's people is a birthright granted to all and that no government should infringe on that right. We have invaded and gone to war in foreign countries and aided the civil wars of many more nations to further this belief . However, I find the paradox of this very disturbing.
In Western thought, rights belong to the individual from birth. People give society authority by recognizing its importance enough to give up some these rights to the society at large, such as the rights to judge and to punish. Society is not justified in taking away any of the rights remaining to the individual, because they do not have the authority to do so. Individuals are the sole holders of rights, so the needs of society do not outweigh the inalienable rights of the individual, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
China, like many other societies and nations in this world, is far older than we are. They have cultural, religious, and societal traditions spanning over thousands of years. Unlike the Western world, Chinese culture, indeed most Asian cultures, is distinctively collectivist in nature. There are no individual rights because the individual per se has no value. A person's value exists in relation to the whole; worth is measured by their contribution to society. If a society does not recognize the value of the individual on hies own merit, then it does not recognize the inalienable rights belonging to the individual.
Does a society that does not recognize the individual lose its right of self-determination or the liberty to decide how to govern itself based on traditions that have existed for thousands of years and are at the core of its belief system just because they don't think like us?
If we believe that every nation's people has the right to decide for itself, without intrusion, what form of government it wants, then why should the US feel justified in trying to tell other nations how they should govern themselves and what rights and value systems they should promote? While I desire to live in a country that values my rights and freedoms as an individual because that is the value system I was raised under, is it right to assume that everyone else in the world feels like me, even if the values they were raised under are different? Seems a bit self-righteous and egotistical to me. If freedom is the right of all, don't other nations and their people have the freedom to disagree with us?
Secretary Clinton, in her comments, has shown a willingness to understand that other nations with differing values than ours have different priorities. Maybe when we start practicing what we preach on a world stage instead of trying to tell everyone else how they should live, especially as our country struggles with its own issues, we would earn the right to suggest to other nations how they should govern. Until we can truly be a beacon of hope and a model of inspiration, we should just agree to disagree and respect the right of self-determination of all the nations of the world.

Is America Very Slowly Losing Her Rights and Becoming Totalitarian and Fascist?

2009-03-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

For so long, the United States lived with the idea that they were completely safe in their country in the New World. We weren't going to be attacked and we were able to do whatever it was that we wanted. We could run any business we wanted and believe in anything. Religiously, economically, and politically, we were free people.
What if I told you that while you were living with the belief that you were free, in actuality, you were lining yourself up to live under a tyranny? I can imagine the people replying to me saying that this is absolutely ridiculous. We live in a great, free Democracy that protects her people no matter what. Even if some liberties are taken, the United States is free!
Compared to a lot of totalitarian governments, our nation is tremendously free. However, times have changed and through acts of fear, the government of the United States has, in part, taken some liberties from the American people and, in turn, this has created a situation where we are potentially living under a tyranny.
One Soviet leader once said that turning America into a communist nation is an impossible task. However, if you slowly feed them with the ideas of socialism, the next thing you know, America will wake up communist. In this year alone, the government has bailed out companies, banks, and has come very close to becoming nationalized.
Fascism and totalitarianism is an absolute political mentality. Once the government is this way, it is much harder for the people to turn around and say, "Yeah, we'd like our power back." The truth is, once the government has become a tyranny, the only way to get the power back is to revolt. Fortunately, the United States is not there yet and there is still hope.
One of the most important things that the people of this country can remember is that if we give our liberties away, the government will take it. Although it will happen slowly, the more we give away, the more they are going to want to take. So, the only thing that Americans can do is ensure that their elected officials don't do anything they don't like. If something sounds off, tell them or vote them out. That's about the only thing you can do. Or...Become a politician and try and change things from within. That could always work.

Will President Obama End UFO Secrecy?

2009-03-14T09:21:00.001-07:00

When Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976, he promised that he would see the public learned the truth about UFOs. He was convinced he had seen an unidentified flying object, but never confirmed whether he thought it was an alien spacecraft.
UFOlogists call the particular sighting "The Jimmy Carter UFO incident." It happened one evening in 1969, two years before he became the governor of Georgia. He was giving a speech at the Lion's club when a guest called his attention to an object in the sky. The object was reported to be 30 degrees above the horizon and Carter described it as being "bright white" and being as bright as the moon. It was said to have appeared to have closed in on where he was standing but to have stopped beyond a stand of pine trees some distance from him. The object is then said to have changed color, first to blue, then to red, then back to white, before appearing to recede into the distance.
One of the things President Obama did on Day One is open up the Freedom of Information Act. He reversed Ashcroft's restrictions on Freedom of Information Act requests as well as changes to the Presidential Records Act, and adopted general principles on transparency and open government. According to Obama's memo, presented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation: "All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA."
This week Fate Magazine, a magazine that has been around since the 1940s and reports on true incidents of UFO events and other areas of the paranormal, released the following press release.
In one of his first official acts as president, Barack Obama issued a memorandum that could lead to the disclosure of previously unknown UFO secrets.
"For a long time now there's been too much secrecy in this city," said Obama. "The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed. That era is now over. Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known."
Obama's memorandum directs US government agencies to respond favorably to Freedom of Information Act requests unless there are compelling reasons not to. This could be of great assistance to journalists and citizen researchers, including those investigating the government's involvement in the UFO phenomenon.
Whether Obama plans a proactive release of UFO secrets is unknown, but there is citizen pressure on him to do so, as reflected in comments made to his transition team's website. Comments promoting UFO disclosure finished among the top 100 submissions posted to the Citizen's Briefing Book at Change.gov, which no longer exists it is now the WhiteHouse.gov
In an "unofficial poll" conducted by Billy Booth's "Guide to UFOs" he says that In an interview with the late Tim Russert, Obama once remarked that he was more interested in the plight of everyday Americans than aliens. That is understandable, considering the economic and social problems we are experiencing at this time. However, that does not necessarily mean he won't try to release information on UFOs, as long as there is a concerted effort among Americans to make their desires known.
Ufologist are hopeful mainly because with the Freedom of Information Act being more open to the public than in the past 8 years and because of the President's insistence to have government transparency, then this could be the time when everyone finally learns the TRUTH about UFOs. The truth is out there.

A Breath of Fresh Air in Washington

2009-03-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

It seems that our politicians in Washington are a bit confused. They say things, repeat them a thousand times, and then they start all over again and say the same thing over and over. Republicans such as John Boehner from Ohio, John McCain, and Mr. McConnell from Kentucky can't seem to get past "earmarks" and "Oh My God" when it comes to the staggering amount of the budget. Maybe, just maybe, they just couldn't find the words to express themselves when Mr. Bush was President for eight years, and just now, with Mr. Bush hiding in the hills because of all the chaos, the disaster of the economy, and the two wars that were never included in the budget, their voices are coming back, but only in mono-syllables.
There is something very strange in Washington and seasoned lawmakers just can't put their finger on it. This strange cloud over Washington is known to the citizens of the U.S. and to the world as "Truth." Truth has not been around very much in Washington, and if it did come up for air, the likes of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney basically stomped it back down until everyone started forgetting just what Truth was, what it stood for, and how very essential it is.
There is a breath of fresh air in the hallowed halls of the White House. The windows of secret meetings and shredded e-mails have been opened, and the doors of anti-bipartisan-ship on the part of the Republican Party are also open and allowing the voters, their families, and every man, woman, and child to know exactly what is going on in their government, even though at times it might be hard to swallow. The "real" owners of the White House, Congress, and the Senate are alive and well, and for once, they are given a chance to see the sunlight and to be heard.
While speech is coming slowly to the Republican Party, particularly when they just can't phantom how the economy got this way, you have to give them at least credit for waking up and smelling the roses - the beautiful fragrance and luscious blooms of "Truth." The economy did not take a turn for the worse since January 20th, but we can give them some time. However, if Truth Be Known, what didn't work for eight years is at the root of a lot of the chaos and devastation America is facing. More of the same is not the cure. If you have a cold, you don't stand in the snow and rain and hope that it goes away. You embrace change, think differently, and realize that people are not insignificant, they do count, and they can and do make a difference in the careers of politicians. So let Truth be Free and as in the old Bambi movies, I would like the Republican Party to realize this - If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. For if you do, your foot may never come out of your mouth and how are you going to campaign for 2012? Something to think about ©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

What Now Mr Obama?

2009-02-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

Since I am a retired military member perhaps my loyalties lie more with my country then someone who was raised in some foreign nation that is notably unfriendly to the US. With Obama's recent idea to appease the liberal elements within our society as well as the Muslim fraction it did not take him long to close the gates to Cuba's Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He was quick to issue orders to close this jail area down however he failed to consider where he would place the 250 terrorist suspects after he does so.
More then likely the ultimate location will be either upon American soil or even worse by letting them go. If he so chooses the later we can be assured of continued damage as they further develop their anti American activities which are meant to harm our servicemen and perhaps our fellow countrymen. Granted that this was Obama's efforts to capture the American voters eyes and have them applaud his compliance of a campaign promise but I certainly feel that prior to signing that executive order he should have spent a bit more time on details. Several suggestions have recently been made as to places were the terror suspects could be permanently housed and intrigued into the American prison system. Several of these suggestions revolve around United States military installations such as Fort Leavenworth or Camp Pendleton. This in reality would be a very bad move on Obama's part. He would endanger not just the military assigned to those locations but also the surrounding civilian communities. These criminals should not be housed anywhere on American soil. To house these people anywhere on our mainland would be a very bad error of judgment. Any location that is assigned to them would instantly attract other anti American elements bent upon jihad against us. The low life would arrive from around the world and either attempt to break these animals free from their holdings or even worse take hostages from the nearby communities. All these efforts completed in their ceaseless goal of attaining their comrade's release. I firmly believe that Mr. Obama needs to return to the thinking table and stop all this nonsense before someone gets seriously hurt