Student body ID cards with RFID-embedded chips (Image from Northside Independent School District)

A federal judge has ruled that a 15-year-old Texas girl must wear an identification badge to her high school for monitoring purposes or else face suspension.

US District Judge Orlando Garcia decided with a Tuesday ruling that John Jay High School student Andrea Hernandez has only two choices: be tracked from classroom-to-classroom or go somewhere else.

Hernandez, backed by the support of her parents and civil liberties groups alike, says she shouldn’t have to a wear an ID badge to school, particularly the kind that’s embedded with RFID chips to track the movements of students. San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District made those devices mandatory in the fall in order to more accurately track attendance figures, but Hernandez objects because she says it’s the equivalent to walking the halls with the “Mark of the Beast.”

“‘We must obey the word of God,” her father said in court documents obtained by Wired. “By asking my daughter and our family to participate and fall in line like the rest of them is asking us to disobey our Lord and Savior.”

Attorneys for Hernandez have hoped that the court would grant an injunction against the district to keep the girl badge-free, but this week Judge Garcia said the requirement of wearing a card “has an incidental effect, if any, on (Hernandez’s) religious beliefs.”

Herndanez’ refusal to follow the rules, ruled the justice, “is clearly a secular choice, rather than a religious concern.”

Under the district’s new “Smart ID” program, roughly 4,200 students between two area schools are required to wear the cards. Hernandez says that, for not using the badge, she has been unable to participate in certain school functions and told she can’t enter certain rooms, such as the cafeteria and library.

“I had a teacher tell me I would not be allowed to vote because I did not have the proper voter ID,” Hernandez told WND last year. “I had my old student ID card which they originally told us would be good for the entire four years we were in school. He said I needed the new ID with the chip in order to vote.”

Northside has offered Hernandez an ID badge that is not outfitted with a microchip, but her parents and attorneys both say they will not accept that as a compromise.

“For Hernandez, a Christian, the badges pose a significant religious freedom concern in addition to the obvious privacy issues,” explains the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties and human rights group that has represented the student throughout her legal battle. “Andrea’s religious objection derives from biblical teachings that equate accepting a personalized code – as a sign of submission to government authority and as a means of obtaining certain privileges from a secular ruling authority – with a form of idolatry or submission to a false god.”

The court seemed less certain with that interpretation, however, insisting “The accommodation offered by the district is not only reasonable it removes plaintiff’s religious objection from legal scrutiny all together.”

The Northside School District hailed the judge’s decision by releasing a statement saying the ruling “affirms NISD’s position that we did make reasonable accommodation to the student by offering to remove the RFID chip from the student’s smart ID badge.”

Hernandez now has until January 18 to decide to either wear the badge or else go to a different school. Her legal counsel with the Rutherford Institute says they will file an appeal, though.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that government officials may not scrutinize or question the validity of an individual’s religious beliefs,” Rutherford Institute President John W. Whitehead says in a statement. “By declaring Andrea Hernandez’s objections to be a secular choice and not grounded in her religious beliefs, the district court is placing itself as an arbiter of what is and is not religious. This is simply not permissible under our constitutional scheme, and we plan to appeal this immediately.”

Chris Steinbach, the chief of staff for a Republican state lawmaker who wants to outlaw the technology in Texas schools, tells the AP it’s unusual to see the story attract the attention of such a diverse crowd.

“How often do you see an issue where the ACLU and Christian fundamentalists come together?” he asks the AP.

Moments ago, MSNBC showed a clip in which “gun tzar” VP Joe Biden made it clear that “the President is going to act” on the issue of gun control, and that “executive orders and executive action can be taken.” Of course “can” does not mean “will” as the fallout from an executive order bypassing Congress would be rather dramatic, especially on a topic so near and dear to at least half of America, and the response, to put it mildly, would make the Piers Morgan vs Alex Jones screaming match seems like a tranquil discussion between two dignified stoics. If “can” however, does become “will“, America may have far bigger issues over the next two months than the debt ceiling, kicking the sequester down another several months, or even the quadrillion yen tuna.

January 9, 2013  |  

 When Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina warned on national television over the weekend that Chuck Hagel “would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense toward the state of Israel in our nation’s history,” either his memory served him very poorly — or he was simply lying to smear his former Senate colleague. For whatever Hagel’s perspective on Mideast policy may be, it would be absurd to compare him with the Secretary of Defense whose hardline hostility toward Israel became notorious during the Reagan administration.

That would be the late Caspar W. Weinberger, of course.

Weinberger, a longtime Reagan confidant, ran the Pentagon from 1981 until 1987, when he was forced to resign over his involvement in the cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair (a ruinous scandal that involved the secret sale of missiles to the Iranian mullahs and the illegal transfer of profits from those sales to the Nicaraguan contra rebels — and that almost sent Weinberger to prison along with more than a dozen administration officials).

In contrast to other members of the Reagan cabinet known for their sympathy toward the Jewish state, including Secretary of State George Shultz and the president himself, Weinberger developed a reputation not only for opposing Israel’s interests directly but for seeking to prevent any action, including counter-terrorist operations, that might upset Arab allies of the United States.  Until the Iran-Contra scandal broke in 1986, Weinberger was perhaps best known for orchestrating the sale of AWACS jets — the highly advanced airborne surveillance, command and control system built by Boeing — to Saudi Arabia. Opposed by Israel and much of the American Jewish community, the Saudi AWACS deal generated enormous controversy.

Weinberger’s views on the Mideast were often said to derive from his career at Bechtel Corporation, the mammoth international construction firm where, as general counsel, he had approved compliance with the Arab boycott of Israel.  Construction in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states was a major source of profits for Bechtel, and the firm’s support of the boycott was so blatant that Edward Levi, a Republican attorney general, filed a civil lawsuit against the California-based company, which led to a consent decree and prolonged litigation.

Among the most outspoken sources on Weinberger’s record was retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, the former Reagan White House aide and intelligence operative who oversaw the Iran-Contra fiasco. In his 1992 memoir “Under Fire,” North explained what everyone in Washington had long known about the former Defense Secretary: (Weinberger) seemed to go out of his way to oppose Israel on any issue and to blame the Israelis for every problem in the Middle East. In our planning for counterterrorist operations, he apparently feared that if we went after Palestinian terrorists, we would offend and alienate Arab governments — particularly if we acted in cooperation with the Israelis.

Weinberger’s anti-Israel tilt was an underlying current in almost every Mideast issue. Some people explained it by pointing to his years with the Bechtel Corporation … Others believed it was more complicated, and had to do with his sensitivity about his own Jewish ancestry.

As an Episcopalian whose paternal grandparents converted to Christianity — and who later worked at Bechtel, a company with a terrible reputation for anti-Semitism — Weinberger’s personal feelings about Jews and Judaism may well have been “complicated.” But his record as defense secretary was straightforward enough — and considering that Graham is a self-styled expert on Reagan administration foreign policy, the South Carolina senator certainly ought to know it.

To find out more about Joe  Conason, visit the Creators Syndicate website at  www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2013  CREATORS.COM

Apple won’t back the “Endgame: Syria” app, saying it is “targeting a real government.” Questions remain on how ethical it is to simulate an ongoing conflict, with RT’s Egor Piskunov- who’s tested the game- saying it lacks objectivity.

­“Endgame: Syria” has been rejected by Apple’s App Store as it violates the company’s guideline policy, which prohibits games to “solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity.”

The game, launched by UK’s Auroch Digital in December, simulates situations in the Syrian conflict with regime’s forces on one side and the rebels’ forces on the other.

The player is allowed to take the rebels’ side only.

The developers have argued that the product offers a unique medium for understanding the situation in Syria as it “reflects events happening in the real world.” The game, which the developers claim is “based on research from a wide range of sources”, is also said to have multiple endings depending on player’s choices.

It is “definitely unethical” to make a computer game out of an ongoing conflict, where thousands lives have been lost, RT’s Egor Piskunov said on completing “Endgame: Syria.”

But Auroch Digital team has a different opinion, as they plan to resubmit the game to Apple. It possibly involves changing the actual term “game” to “simulation,”“exploration,” or “interactive guide” to make people “more comfortable,” as the team’s creative director said in a launch trailer.

It is questionable, though, if the game has really been based on objective media reports, as some aspects of the game play contradict such a statement, Piskunov said.

In an effort to simulate the political picture around the Syrian conflict, the game puts countries like Russia among those who openly support the regime.

Still from YouTube video/gamethenewsnet

Back in the real world, Russia has repeatedly said that it is not taking any sides in this conflict.

“This is one of the points which make you doubt how objective this game really is,” Piskunov stated.

Another point is that the peaceful solution is not really “popular” with the side the player is playing for.

“The game itself says that even if the player takes this option, does go for this peace treaty then he wouldn’t really gain that much respect points from the ‘rebels’ — and you’re always playing one side. You can’t take the side of the regime,” Piskunov explained.

However, you can freely supply weapons to the ‘rebels’ from some virtual Western states, he added.

While the gamers are trying out a virtual interpretation of the conflict, Syrians face a much grimmer reality with a total of 60,000 killed and nearly 600,000 having had to flee their land. At least 1 million people are also said to be starving, with UN humanitarian aid unable to reach them.

The real life international community is struggling to find a solution to the Syrian conflict and a trilateral meeting of Russian and American diplomats, along with the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, is scheduled for Friday.

Apple won’t back the “Endgame: Syria” app, saying it is “targeting a real government.” Questions remain on how ethical it is to simulate an ongoing conflict, with RT’s Egor Piskunov- who’s tested the game- saying it lacks objectivity.

­“Endgame: Syria” has been rejected by Apple’s App Store as it violates the company’s guideline policy, which prohibits games to “solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity.”

The game, launched by UK’s Auroch Digital in December, simulates situations in the Syrian conflict with regime’s forces on one side and the rebels’ forces on the other.

The player is allowed to take the rebels’ side only.

The developers have argued that the product offers a unique medium for understanding the situation in Syria as it “reflects events happening in the real world.” The game, which the developers claim is “based on research from a wide range of sources”, is also said to have multiple endings depending on player’s choices.

It is “definitely unethical” to make a computer game out of an ongoing conflict, where thousands lives have been lost, RT’s Egor Piskunov said on completing “Endgame: Syria.”

But Auroch Digital team has a different opinion, as they plan to resubmit the game to Apple. It possibly involves changing the actual term “game” to “simulation,”“exploration,” or “interactive guide” to make people “more comfortable,” as the team’s creative director said in a launch trailer.

It is questionable, though, if the game has really been based on objective media reports, as some aspects of the game play contradict such a statement, Piskunov said.

In an effort to simulate the political picture around the Syrian conflict, the game puts countries like Russia among those who openly support the regime.

Still from YouTube video/gamethenewsnet

Back in the real world, Russia has repeatedly said that it is not taking any sides in this conflict.

“This is one of the points which make you doubt how objective this game really is,” Piskunov stated.

Another point is that the peaceful solution is not really “popular” with the side the player is playing for.

“The game itself says that even if the player takes this option, does go for this peace treaty then he wouldn’t really gain that much respect points from the ‘rebels’ — and you’re always playing one side. You can’t take the side of the regime,” Piskunov explained.

However, you can freely supply weapons to the ‘rebels’ from some virtual Western states, he added.

While the gamers are trying out a virtual interpretation of the conflict, Syrians face a much grimmer reality with a total of 60,000 killed and nearly 600,000 having had to flee their land. At least 1 million people are also said to be starving, with UN humanitarian aid unable to reach them.

The real life international community is struggling to find a solution to the Syrian conflict and a trilateral meeting of Russian and American diplomats, along with the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, is scheduled for Friday.

The right wing is especially good at the art of projection, that special thing where they pin their own behavior on others. Let’s all cry for the persecuted Breitbots. Big, drippy salt tears.

Breitbrat Ben Shapiro, who has been with the Breitbart site for awhile and represents the Young Turk-style Smartass Breitbot, has written a book all about mean lefty bullies.

Evidently it’s not bullying to intentionally edit videos to make it look like people who did things right actually did them wrong. Someone should ask Shirley Sherrod, or the ACORN folks, or even Nadia Naffe how the Breitbots stand up against the bullies.

Nay, nay, it’s all the meanies on the left. What a bunch of whiners. From Shapiro’s article:

Obama isn’t against bullying. Neither is the left more broadly. After all, when someone stands up to a bully — say, Israel standing up to Islamic terrorists, or even George Zimmerman standing up to a young bully pounding his head into the pavement — the left goes berserk.

Actually, the American left has become the greatest purveyor of bullying during the last half-century. That’s the dirty little secret: buried beneath all of the left’s supposed hatred for bullying is a passionate love for bullying–the use of power to force those who disagree to shut up, back down, or face crushing consequences up to and including loss of reputation, career destruction, and even death.

In order to accomplish their bullying tactics, however, the left has to portray itself as the defender of victimized groups. Those who oppose their political agenda are then portrayed as oppressors of those victimized groups, morally deficient folks who deserve to be run out of town on a rail. The agenda supposedly starts with anti-bullying. It ends with bullying the hell out of everyone on the other side of the aisle.

The left’s goal is to shut down the political debate by decrying their opponents as victimizers. They label their opponents racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic, benighted, backwards bitter clingers. They liken them to Nazis, KKK members, terrorists. Then they cast them out like lepers from the political debate. Because who would bother debating a Nazi, or a KKK member, or a terrorist?

Yes, because our founding fathers clearly thought it was fine to call someone a slut on national radio. Not once, not twice, but over and over and over again. That’s not bullying. Not at all. No, that’s liberty, by Breitbot standards. Liberty, my ass.

This, more than anything is what makes me sick. Shapiro ends his little book promo/rant by claiming that the LEFT has divided the country.

Because the left decided Obama should be a one-term president?

Because the left told uninsurable people to STFU, sit down and die?

Because the left blocks every single thing, no matter how trivial, no matter how small it might be?

Because the left nearly blew up the economy and the recovery in 2011 over something routine and is threatening to do it again?

No, the LEFT did not do this, Ben Shapiro, you little twerp. The day Barack Obama was inaugurated you TeaBirchers crawled out from under your rocks in the form of Breitbots and wingers and decided you were going to drive everyone in the country onto one side or the other. Pick sides? Oh hell, yes. The day you all told me to shut up and die with your umpty-zillion attempts to repeal Obamacare you forced me to pick one side, and so it is with me, and with many, many others.

My spouse gave up hating four years ago, which is why he also gave up conservatism as a political philosophy. He was tired of the hate and the vitriol and the lies, which the right wing relies on as the grist for their hate mill. Right-wing hate is destroying conservatism and rendering it irrelevant. Shapiro is reacting to that, not any real bullying.

Ben Shapiro will probably sell a few copies of his book, and the wingnut welfare fairies will buy up a lot more so they can push it up the bestseller lists. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s nothing more than a self-indulgent whine which is a waste of the paper used to print it.

Conservatism and libertarianism fail because they do not understand the concept of living in a society where people act for the good of that society. Witness the meltdown at FreedomWorks, and subsequent dirty laundry airing, including the wingnut welfare for Rush and Beck. When everyone serves no one but themselves, there is no loyalty to anyone else, and so Dick Armey felt perfectly justified in doing damage to the organization he helped to create.

As for Ben Shapiro, one day he will probably discover that “I” is a lonely state. It’s achingly selfish and banal. At that point, perhaps he’ll understand what it means to have a government of, by, and for the people. Also? Learn the definition of bullying before you try and write a book about it.

A board written in Arabic reminds prisoners of their basic rights under the Geneva Conventions, outside Camp Redemption, at the Abu Ghraib jail, on the outskirts of Baghdad, 24 July 2004. (AFP Photo/Karim Sahib)

A US contractor responsible for torturing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid 71 former detainees $5.28 million in compensation, a meager amount compared to similar cases in the US.

Between 2003 and 2007, the prisoners were subjected to mock executions, severely beaten, stripped naked, threatened with rape and forced to drink water until vomiting blood.

“Private military contractors played a serious but often under-reported role in the worst abuses at Abu Ghraib,” Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells the Associated Press. “We are pleased that this settlement provides some accountability for one of those contractors and offers some measure of justice for the victims.”

The Virginia-based defense contractor Engility Holdings Inc. was heavily involved in the treatment of the Iraqi detainees and agreed to pay a total of $5.28 million in payments to 71 former inmates because of it during a deal reached last year. Only now, however, has the AP become aware of the details of the settlement.

L-3 Services Inc., a subsidiary of Engility, sent more than 6,000 private translators to Iraq and “permitted scores of its employees to participate in torturing and abusing prisoners over an extended period of time throughout Iraq,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. in 2008. The company “willfully failed to report L-3 employees’ repeated assaults and other criminal conduct by its employees to the United States or Iraq authorities.”

One inmate says he was subjected to a mock execution, in which contractors pointed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger for the entertainment of the staffers. Another was knocked unconscious by being repeatedly slammed against a wall. One man says he was stripped naked with his hands and legs chained together, fearing rape. Some of the inmates claim the contractors did indeed rape them, after which they were beaten and left naked for long periods of time.

In 2004, photographs were released picturing naked inmates piled on top of each other, hooded and wired for electric shocks. A military investigation that year discovered 44 incidents of detainee abuse at the prison, but did nothing to stop L-3 Services from working for the federal government.

But it wasn’t until 2008 that a lawsuit was filed against the defense contractor and until 2012 that the victims were compensated. Such compensation is rare: the US Army has been unable to document a single US government payment for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and other defense contractors accused of being involved have refused to make settlements. The Virginia-based company CACI International Inc., which provided interrogators to the US military during the Iraq War, is facing a separate lawsuit by four Iraqis who accused the company’s employees of subjecting them to torture. CACI is taking the case to trial, claiming the “plaintiffs bring claims seeking money damages for their detention and treatment while in the custody of the US military in the midst of a belligerent occupation in Iraq.”

Although monetary compensation in such cases is rare and Engility has been praised for its settlement, the contractor’s payments to the victims are scant in comparison to settlements made in the US. If divided equally, the settlement equates to about $74,000 per detainee. Azmy declined to tell AP how the money was distributed between the victims.

But in the US, victims of mistreatment are often awarded hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in compensation. The wrongful arrest of 55-year-old Doug Miller and his 30-year-old son in Palm Beach County, Fl., ended up in a $600,000 payment. An elderly couple in Baltimore received $500,000 for being falsely arrested for kidnapping their grandchild.

Settlements for prison abuse in the US have been even higher: an inmate who had his head slammed against a cement wall by a corrections officer in a New Jersey state prison received a $1.5 million settlement for his mistreatment. In Virginia, nine women who sued a state prison for sexual harassment were paid $10 million — more than $1 million each.

Even in cases where hundreds of prisoners are involved, the compensation numbers are higher than those paid to the Iraqi victims. The state of Michigan paid $100 million to about 500 female prisoners who said they were sexually assaulted by prison guards, which equates to about $200,000 per victim, if divided equally.

The average $74,000 compensation for each Abu Ghraib victim of rape, torture, death threats and physical harm seems almost inconsiderable in comparison, especially given the high levels of torture the Iraqi prisoners were subjected to. And many more Iraqi victims of abuses are unlikely to receive any sort of compensation at all.

“No court in the United States has allowed aliens — detained on the battlefield or in the course of postwar occupation and military operations by the US military — to seek damages for their detention,” CACI told the federal court.

A board written in Arabic reminds prisoners of their basic rights under the Geneva Conventions, outside Camp Redemption, at the Abu Ghraib jail, on the outskirts of Baghdad, 24 July 2004. (AFP Photo/Karim Sahib)

A US contractor responsible for torturing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid 71 former detainees $5.28 million in compensation, a meager amount compared to similar cases in the US.

Between 2003 and 2007, the prisoners were subjected to mock executions, severely beaten, stripped naked, threatened with rape and forced to drink water until vomiting blood.

“Private military contractors played a serious but often under-reported role in the worst abuses at Abu Ghraib,” Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells the Associated Press. “We are pleased that this settlement provides some accountability for one of those contractors and offers some measure of justice for the victims.”

The Virginia-based defense contractor Engility Holdings Inc. was heavily involved in the treatment of the Iraqi detainees and agreed to pay a total of $5.28 million in payments to 71 former inmates because of it during a deal reached last year. Only now, however, has the AP become aware of the details of the settlement.

L-3 Services Inc., a subsidiary of Engility, sent more than 6,000 private translators to Iraq and “permitted scores of its employees to participate in torturing and abusing prisoners over an extended period of time throughout Iraq,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. in 2008. The company “willfully failed to report L-3 employees’ repeated assaults and other criminal conduct by its employees to the United States or Iraq authorities.”

One inmate says he was subjected to a mock execution, in which contractors pointed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger for the entertainment of the staffers. Another was knocked unconscious by being repeatedly slammed against a wall. One man says he was stripped naked with his hands and legs chained together, fearing rape. Some of the inmates claim the contractors did indeed rape them, after which they were beaten and left naked for long periods of time.

In 2004, photographs were released picturing naked inmates piled on top of each other, hooded and wired for electric shocks. A military investigation that year discovered 44 incidents of detainee abuse at the prison, but did nothing to stop L-3 Services from working for the federal government.

But it wasn’t until 2008 that a lawsuit was filed against the defense contractor and until 2012 that the victims were compensated. Such compensation is rare: the US Army has been unable to document a single US government payment for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and other defense contractors accused of being involved have refused to make settlements. The Virginia-based company CACI International Inc., which provided interrogators to the US military during the Iraq War, is facing a separate lawsuit by four Iraqis who accused the company’s employees of subjecting them to torture. CACI is taking the case to trial, claiming the “plaintiffs bring claims seeking money damages for their detention and treatment while in the custody of the US military in the midst of a belligerent occupation in Iraq.”

Although monetary compensation in such cases is rare and Engility has been praised for its settlement, the contractor’s payments to the victims are scant in comparison to settlements made in the US. If divided equally, the settlement equates to about $74,000 per detainee. Azmy declined to tell AP how the money was distributed between the victims.

But in the US, victims of mistreatment are often awarded hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in compensation. The wrongful arrest of 55-year-old Doug Miller and his 30-year-old son in Palm Beach County, Fl., ended up in a $600,000 payment. An elderly couple in Baltimore received $500,000 for being falsely arrested for kidnapping their grandchild.

Settlements for prison abuse in the US have been even higher: an inmate who had his head slammed against a cement wall by a corrections officer in a New Jersey state prison received a $1.5 million settlement for his mistreatment. In Virginia, nine women who sued a state prison for sexual harassment were paid $10 million — more than $1 million each.

Even in cases where hundreds of prisoners are involved, the compensation numbers are higher than those paid to the Iraqi victims. The state of Michigan paid $100 million to about 500 female prisoners who said they were sexually assaulted by prison guards, which equates to about $200,000 per victim, if divided equally.

The average $74,000 compensation for each Abu Ghraib victim of rape, torture, death threats and physical harm seems almost inconsiderable in comparison, especially given the high levels of torture the Iraqi prisoners were subjected to. And many more Iraqi victims of abuses are unlikely to receive any sort of compensation at all.

“No court in the United States has allowed aliens — detained on the battlefield or in the course of postwar occupation and military operations by the US military — to seek damages for their detention,” CACI told the federal court.

The “Yi Long” drone by China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) is displayed during the 9th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai on November 13, 2012. (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

(32.1Mb) embed video

The development and acquisition of drones has become crucial to the ever-expanding arms race between China and Japan, as tensions over disputed islands in the East China Sea could soon reach boiling point.

Weaknesses in Japan’s surveillance capability and the ongoing territorial dispute over the Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, have spurred Tokyo to purchase an advanced drone model from the US.

Japan’s vulnerability was highlighted late last year when Japanese radar failed to detect a low-flying Chinese aircraft passing over the group of disputed islands.

The drones will seemingly be deployed “to counter China’s growing assertiveness at sea, especially when it comes to the Senkaku islands,” the Kyodo news agency quoted an unnamed defense ministry official as saying.

Japanese concerns that the islands will be used by China as a prelude to testing regional power balances, prompted Japan’s Defense Ministry to request $2.4 billion dollars from hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose conservative government swept to power on December 26.

The funds will be used for extra PAC-3 missile interceptors and upgrades for F-15 fighter planes, Bloomberg cites a document distributed by the ministry as saying.

Japan has further decided to increase overall defense spending to some $54.3 billion, the first defense hike in a decade. Abe further promised on the campaign trail to bulk up the country’s army and coast guard.

James Corbett, editor of the Japanese-based Corbett Report news website, told RT the latest conflict had yet to filter down to the citizen level in Japan like it had in China, where nationalistic sentiment is on the rise.

With the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands serving as the focal point for the current standoff, Corbett says Sino-Japanese military conflict will likely become the new norm.

“…now that Abe is in power — he’s known as a hardline nationalist — and now that Xi JinPing is taking the helm of China for the next 10 years, I think he’s looking to put his stake down as someone who is really a strong defender of China. So I think we’re really going to see an entrenched position on both sides and it looks like there is a new normal of wars and increasing [military] expenditures that are likely for the next several years.”

China has taken measures to significantly ratchet up its drone program in a move which US analysts described as a “worrisome trend.”

In October Chinese state media said 11 drone bases would be built along China’s coastline, and “at least one drone will be stationed at each base,” the Guardian cites China Radio International as reporting.

China rolled out eight new models in November at an annual air show in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, photographs of which were featured prominently in the state-owned media.

In December it was further announced that the People’s Liberation Army were readying to test-fly a domestically developed drone, which analysts said is likely a clone of the US’s carrier-based X-47B.

The unclassified document published by the US Defense Science Board in July outlined fears China “could easily match or outpace US spending on unmanned systems.”

Sino-Japanese relations took a drastic turn for the worse after the Japanese government purchased the disputed islands from a private Japanese owner last September.

Tensions have continued to rise, as an increasingly frequent cat and mouse came between Chinese surveillance planes and Japanese F015 fighters risks descending into a potentially deadly game of brinkmanship.

Chinese government ships have entered Japanese-controlled waters on multiple occasions in recent months, prompting regular standoffs with the Japanese coast guard.

On Tuesday Japan summoned China’s ambassador to Tokyo to protest an incursion by 4 Chinese maritime surveillance ships, allegedly occurring Monday.

China remained undaunted, with Reuters quoting the Communist Party chief of China’s marine surveillance corps, Sun Shuxian, as saying “Japan has continued to ignore our warnings that their vessels and aircraft have infringed our sovereignty.”

“This behavior may result in the further escalation of the situation at sea and has prompted China to pay great attention and vigilance.”

The “Yi Long” drone by China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) is displayed during the 9th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai on November 13, 2012. (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

(32.1Mb) embed video

The development and acquisition of drones has become crucial to the ever-expanding arms race between China and Japan, as tensions over disputed islands in the East China Sea could soon reach boiling point.

Weaknesses in Japan’s surveillance capability and the ongoing territorial dispute over the Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, have spurred Tokyo to purchase an advanced drone model from the US.

Japan’s vulnerability was highlighted late last year when Japanese radar failed to detect a low-flying Chinese aircraft passing over the group of disputed islands.

The drones will seemingly be deployed “to counter China’s growing assertiveness at sea, especially when it comes to the Senkaku islands,” the Kyodo news agency quoted an unnamed defense ministry official as saying.

Japanese concerns that the islands will be used by China as a prelude to testing regional power balances, prompted Japan’s Defense Ministry to request $2.4 billion dollars from hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose conservative government swept to power on December 26.

The funds will be used for extra PAC-3 missile interceptors and upgrades for F-15 fighter planes, Bloomberg cites a document distributed by the ministry as saying.

Japan has further decided to increase overall defense spending to some $54.3 billion, the first defense hike in a decade. Abe further promised on the campaign trail to bulk up the country’s army and coast guard.

James Corbett, editor of the Japanese-based Corbett Report news website, told RT the latest conflict had yet to filter down to the citizen level in Japan like it had in China, where nationalistic sentiment is on the rise.

With the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands serving as the focal point for the current standoff, Corbett says Sino-Japanese military conflict will likely become the new norm.

“…now that Abe is in power — he’s known as a hardline nationalist — and now that Xi JinPing is taking the helm of China for the next 10 years, I think he’s looking to put his stake down as someone who is really a strong defender of China. So I think we’re really going to see an entrenched position on both sides and it looks like there is a new normal of wars and increasing [military] expenditures that are likely for the next several years.”

China has taken measures to significantly ratchet up its drone program in a move which US analysts described as a “worrisome trend.”

In October Chinese state media said 11 drone bases would be built along China’s coastline, and “at least one drone will be stationed at each base,” the Guardian cites China Radio International as reporting.

China rolled out eight new models in November at an annual air show in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, photographs of which were featured prominently in the state-owned media.

In December it was further announced that the People’s Liberation Army were readying to test-fly a domestically developed drone, which analysts said is likely a clone of the US’s carrier-based X-47B.

The unclassified document published by the US Defense Science Board in July outlined fears China “could easily match or outpace US spending on unmanned systems.”

Sino-Japanese relations took a drastic turn for the worse after the Japanese government purchased the disputed islands from a private Japanese owner last September.

Tensions have continued to rise, as an increasingly frequent cat and mouse came between Chinese surveillance planes and Japanese F015 fighters risks descending into a potentially deadly game of brinkmanship.

Chinese government ships have entered Japanese-controlled waters on multiple occasions in recent months, prompting regular standoffs with the Japanese coast guard.

On Tuesday Japan summoned China’s ambassador to Tokyo to protest an incursion by 4 Chinese maritime surveillance ships, allegedly occurring Monday.

China remained undaunted, with Reuters quoting the Communist Party chief of China’s marine surveillance corps, Sun Shuxian, as saying “Japan has continued to ignore our warnings that their vessels and aircraft have infringed our sovereignty.”

“This behavior may result in the further escalation of the situation at sea and has prompted China to pay great attention and vigilance.”

Huntersville Police Officer Jeff Nowacki watches students depart Huntersville Elementary School in Huntersville, N.C., December 18, 2012. In the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Conn., officials are reviewing security protocols, like lockdowns and building entry procedures, and considering stationing armed guards in schools. (Photo: Travis Dove / The New York Times)It took a while, but we finally figured out what bothered us most about the proposal by Wayne LaPierre.

As most people know, within days of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association executive responded to fierce criticism of the abundance of unrestricted firearms in America with his solution: every school should have an armed guard.

What’s wrong with that scenario? Perhaps nothing–but likely plenty… to the very constituency the NRA represents.

It’s a matter of elementary math, and of considering how Americans feel about new bureaucracy and additional spending. It’s also about a host of practical obstacles and questions that would need to be addressed.

According to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, elementary and secondary schools already have approximately 29,740 guards at an average cost of $31,420. That’s a total of $934,430,800. According to recent numbers from the National Center for Educational Statistics, there are about 98,817 public schools in the United States. Assuming armed guards, requiring far greater skills and risks, cost a lot more, say, at least $50,000 a year including benefits, the price tag would be at least $4,940,850,000 to the U.S. school budget annually–and that doesn’t include the costs of the weapons, special garb and their upkeep. (The NRA, very generously, actually pegs the cost at closer to $8 billion.)

At a time of fiscal cliffs and other metaphors for disaster, this is unlikely to sit well with anyone.

Which begs the question, who is actually employing these guards? The states? The federal government? Local school districts? Who would most people like to pay their taxes to and see implement this new bureaucracy?

Just to hire nearly 100,000 new (unionized?) government employees would require substantial expansion of some bureaucratic entities, but which ones: the Department of Education, the ATF, thousands of school boards across the country?

And who is screening and certifying that these guards are qualified to carry weapons around children?

That’s just for starters. What sort of guns are these guards going to have: police- type handguns or automatic weapons?

Where will the weapons be kept: in the school or in the possession of the guards? And who will pay for them?

Where exactly will these guards be stationed: at the front door with visible weapons greeting children as they enter the school? Prowling the school grounds?

Once the children are safely inside their classrooms, what do the guards do? Do they walk around all day or do schools create special guard boxes, like those outside embassies and consulates? And if the guard is stationed in such a box does he not then become the first target for any gunman? Would each guard then be equipped with a bullet-proof vest and other combat gear?

And the more protected he is, won’t that just increase young children’s own apprehension and enhance the not uncommon notion that school is “jail?” How will parents feel about sending their young ‘uns off to be guarded by Rambo?

So, to recap, if we do as Wayne LaPierre suggests, we would be creating the equivalent of a vast new government agency with authority to vet and oversee these guards and equip them with all sorts of expensive hardware for a job that will entitle those who survive long enough to gain a pension for the rest of their lives.

Somehow it doesn’t seem like this will go over well with conservatives in Congress (and state houses and city halls and town meetings) who have been calling for the abolition of the Department of Education and trying to de-legitimize public employee unions and the ATF, and cut budgets at all governmental levels to the bone…and then some.

The NRA had to come up with…something. People are tired of LaPierre and his cronies  just saying, every time some innocent American dies, that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” while ignoring the vast arsenal that has turned every classroom, every bowling alley, every bar and movie theatre in America into a potential gunfight at the OK Corral.

If the NRA really wants to be a force for positive change it will have to try harder. LaPierre’s dubious scheme represents exactly the type of bureaucratic overreach that many gun owners say they fear most. On closer examination, it cannot possibly appeal to anyone on any side of the gun violence debate.

United States Army photograph of Bradley Manning. (Photo: US Army)The nine months Pfc. Bradley Manning spent in a windowless cell in Quantico, Virginia – at times without any clothing – amounted to illegal pretrial punishment, a military judge ruled Tuesday.

But Col. Denise Lind refused to dismiss charges against the 25-year-old Army Intelligence analyst, and instead decided that any sentence Manning receives if he is convicted should be reduced by a little more than three months.

Manning was arrested in May 2010 and charged with leaking thousands of diplomatic cables and classified documents to WikiLeaks, an online organization that publishes secret information from anonymous sources.

The veteran of the Iraq war is currently being held at Fort Leavenworth, charged with espionage, aiding the enemy and 20 other counts that could, if convicted, land him in prison for life. His trial is scheduled to begin March 6.

Manning’s attorney David Coombs notified Lind in November that his client may plead guilty to at least some of the charges. But on Tuesday, he asked for a dismissal of all charges.

“Dismissal of charges is not appropriate,” Lind said, except in the case of “outrageous” conduct.

Lind also noted Manning’s pretrial detention was “more rigorous than necessary” and the conditions “became excessive in relation to legitimate government interests.”

Still, there was “no intent [to] punish the accused by anyone on the brig staff,” Lind concluded, according to a report published by blogger Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake, who has been covering Manning’s pretrial hearings. The intent of brig officials was to ensure Manning “did not hurt or kill himself and was present for trial.”

The Washington Post reported that while Manning was incarcerated, he became “so bored and starved for companionship that he danced in his cell and played peekaboo with guards and with his image in the mirror – activity his defense attorney [David Coombs] attributed to ‘being treated as a zoo animal.'”

He was barred from exercising in his cell and slept on a mattress with a built-in pillow. He had no sheet, only a blanket designed so that it could not be shredded.

Manning testified that he thought about committing suicide after his arrest and later sought to assure prison guards that he was not a danger to himself, but he was unsuccessful as the conditions of his confinement worsened.

“Forensic psychiatrists who saw Manning testified last month that there was no medical reason for him to be on suicide watch,” the Washington Post reported.

The government admitted last month that Manning was improperly kept on suicide watch for about a week.

Last year, Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Torture concluded the United States government subjected Manning to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment after he was arrested in Iraq.

In an addendum to a report presented to the UN General Assembly on the protection of human rights, Juan Méndez wrote that “imposing seriously punitive conditions of detention on someone who has not been found guilty of any crime is a violation of his right to physical and psychological integrity as well as of his presumption of innocence.”

Mendez, himself a survivor of torture during Argentina’s “Dirty War,” spent 14 months investigating Manning’s treatment. He accused US officials in a December 2010 letter of using harsh tactics, like solitary confinement, against Manning “in an effort to coerce him into ‘co-operation’ with the authorities … allegedly for the purpose of persuading [Manning] to implicate others.”

Méndez stressed in his UN report that “solitary confinement is a harsh measure that may cause serious psychological and physiological adverse effects on individuals regardless of their specific conditions.”

According to the Mendez report:

To the Special Rapporteur’s request for information on the authority to impose and the purpose of the isolation regime, the [US] government responded that the prison rules authorized the brig commander to impose it on account of the seriousness of the offense for which [Manning] would eventually be charged.

Additionally, “[d]epending on the specific reason for its application, conditions, length, effects and other circumstances, solitary confinement can amount to a breach of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to an act defined in article 1 or article 16 of the Convention Against Torture.”

The US government countered, according to Méndez’s report, that Manning was not subjected to “solitary confinement,” rather he was under “prevention of harm watch,” a point Col. Lind highlighted during Tuesday’s hearing at Fort Meade.

Méndez told Truthout during an interview in December 2011 that he had “frank conversation[s] with the [Department of Defense] about the conditions of [Manning’s] incarceration” and requested that he be permitted to visit and speak with the soldier confidentially.

“I was allowed to see him, but with no guarantees of confidentiality, terms that I could not accept,” said Méndez, who highlighted this point in his report. “I offered to see Manning nonetheless, through his lawyer, if he wanted to see me, but he preferred not to waive his right to a truly private conversation.”

Col. Lind did not find anything unusual about Mendez being denied a private visit with Manning and said brig officials were well within their rights to deny the UN official an unmonitored visit with Manning.

Lind spent more than 90 minutes reading from each page of her ruling. She did this because, as Gosztola noted, “there is no ruling for the public to read.”

According to Gosztola, as reported in Firedoglake:

The reading of the ruling today was a prime example of why a challenge against secrecy in the court martial proceedings brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights to grant the press and the public access to court filings, such as government motions, court orders and transcripts of proceedings is critical.

Truthout filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last year with the Department of the Army to gain access to the court documents in Manning’s case. Last September, we received a response stating that “it has been recommended by our Legal Office to withhold any information pertaining to this case.”

Robert Parry: Current TV could have played a critical role taking on the Bush presidency, instead it followed a confused “youth” strategy.

TRANSCRIPT:

PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay in Baltimore.

Current TV, as most people have probably heard by now, is being sold to Al Jazeera, which has been looking for a home on American cable TV for years. Current TV was founded primarily (although not on his own) by Al Gore, who was a major shareholder. And Al Gore’s been mostly in the news explaining why Current TV was sold.

And to give us his take on what all of this means, the significance of these events, is Robert Parry. Robert joins us now from D.C. He’s an investigative journalist that broke many of the Iran—Contra stories in the 1980s. His latest publication is America’s Stolen Narrative. And he’s the director and principal writer at ConsortiumNews.com.

Thanks for joining us, Bob.

ROBERT PARRY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Thanks, Paul.

JAY: So what’s your take on the significance of this sale?

PARRY: Well, it’s kind of another sad case where an effort at a progressive media entity has not worked out the way some had hoped. When Current was being first talked about, back in the–maybe a decade ago, there was a lot of hope that it would be an effort to provide a progressive voice on news and to take on some of the challenges that were then very serious in the country–the invasion and occupation of Iraq, George W. Bush’s assault on the Constitution, issues like torture. So there were a number of important issues that really needed to be confronted.

Instead, Current TV decided to go and be a sort of a voice for the 18 to 35 demographic group, providing sort of a MTV with a conscience approach. They base themseleves in San Francisco, as far as you can get from the Washington battle lines in the continental U.S., and ended up not having much impact at all. It went through a number of years of being fairly unwatched; then it went–and finally–and it wasn’t until 2011 when it decided to do what it should have done back in 2004 and 2005 when it was getting off the ground, and that was to be more of a political news oriented news outlet. By then it was too late.

JAY: And that’s when Keith Olbermann was asked to join, after Keith left MSNBC. But then Olbermann leaves The Current not too long after that.

PARRY: Right. It was sort of a mess all around. But at that point in 2004 and 2005, when Current was being set up, there was a tremendous need–and it would have been very hard to take on the Bush administration on these issues the way they needed to be taken on. And the decision by Al Gore, who, ironically, on an individual basis, had spoken up–he had spoken up against the Iraq War, he had spoken up against the violations of the Constitution. But when it came to putting together this business entity, he either chose to or went along with advisers who wanted to go with this sort of softer, less ideological, less political approach.

JAY: Yeah. I was out there during that time. I was–when we were getting Real News off the ground, we were doing some fundraising in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and we were talking to some of the same funders that Al Gore either knew or were involved with him, or some of the advisers, and essentially it had started with this vision of being this independent news organization, and then they decided it wasn’t going to be profitable enough, they weren’t going to get a big enough return on their money, and perhaps, too, what you suggest in your article, they didn’t want to take on the Bush administration, although I think that also had an economic angle. You know, at the time, public opinion after 9/11 was mostly with Bush, and they didn’t want to fight that and they didn’t want to piss off the cable channels that were carrying them. And I was arguing at the time that, you know, this is the problem with a for-profit news model, that, you know, eventually this is what’s going to happen to it. And, of course, as you said, it wasn’t very long afterwards they gave up the whole news mandate completely and became just sort of youth-culture oriented.

PARRY: Right. And the ironic thing was that MSNBC, which in the period of that 2003–the Iraq War timeframe was trying to out-Fox Fox–if you remember, MSNBC got rid of Phil Donahue, who had a lot or a few antiwar voices on his show. They wanted to be even more super patriotic than Fox. They ran these propaganda videos showing American troops liberating Iraq. They avoided the ugly pictures of civilian casualties and children being harmed. They did all the same stuff, with the idea of playing to what they thought was what the American audience wanted.

But it turned out that MSNBC could not get into that market, that Fox had already cornered the conservative, super patriot market. So then with Keith Olbermann arriving and beginning to be more critical of the Bush war in Iraq and showing that it could be done–as much as Olbermann may be a difficult personality in many ways, he had the courage and the talent to devise a program which took on not just the Bush administration but Fox News and other parts of this what at that time was considered the emerging Republican majority, the permanent Republican majority, if you recall the thinking at the time.

So MSNBC saw that they could make some money in this approach, and over time they added more and more sort of liberal-oriented programming in the evening. And it worked out for them, and they developed a fairly strong following and marginalized CNN with its sort of phony-balance approach to the news and was more of a competitor to Fox. So that’s what happened. So it turned out that the business model that might have worked was the one that MSNBC eventually followed.

But Current had sort of already forsaken that and gone with this youth-oriented thing, which never attracted much of an audience. And by the time they switched over, after Olbermann leaves MSNBC, they hire him at Current in 2011, by then it was too late to really–by then people were watching MSNBC if they wanted that kind of news [crosstalk]

JAY: You wrote a piece about this on Consortium–Consortium News–I should say the whole thing, ConsortiumNews.com, so you get a full plug. You wrote a piece, and it was kind of an assessment of Gore himself, that this isn’t the first time Gore didn’t stand up at a critical moment.

PARRY: Well, that’s true. I mean, I must say Gore obviously has stood up at different times, and I’ve been to situations where he’s given speeches. He did come out against the Iraq War fairly–before it started and was one of the few voices doing that in the sort of mainstream, if you will.

But at other key junctures he hasn’t shown the kind of fight that was probably needed. The situation, obviously, during the disputed election in 2000, when he actually won the election in 2000 and did pursue through the courts an effort to get a reasonable recount in Florida, which we now know that if all the legally cast votes in Florida had been counted, he would have narrowly won that state and carried, therefore, the White House, too. However, he didn’t. He chose to work within the system. And when that system turned out to be corrupt, when the Supreme Court of the United States, with five Republican partisans coming up with some made-up reasons decided to hand the election to George W. Bush, Gore had not rallied the public, and he therefore had no choice but to hand over the presidency to Bush, which then had its own horrendous consequences for the American people and the world.

So there are different times he has tried to sort of maintain his, quote, credibility within the mainstream, and that has led to him not being tough enough and aggressive enough in pursuing what really was the–what would have been in not only the democratic choice of the public, which did vote for Gore by a narrow margin, but also for what was ultimately the good of the country, which would have been not to have Bush as president.

JAY: Right. Now, you go back to the business model we were talking about at MSNBC, I mean, their model on the whole, really, is to be sort of the Fox version, but for the Democratic Party. They’re almost uncritical of the Obama administration. I think there’s moments midway through the administration where they were sort of critical of some of Obama’s policies. You could see a bit on Rachel Maddow and maybe one of the couple of the other shows. But as soon as you get anywhere within smelling distance of an election, they go straight partisan.

PARRY: Well, I think their foreign policy has been their weak point. On domestic material they have done some good coverage. Ed Schultz, for instance, covered rather tightly the issues in Wisconsin around the labor fights. But when it comes to foreign policy, they really do–they don’t challenge the conventional wisdom. And I think it’s not just the Democratic position but often the Republican position. They don’t really want to be seen, for instance, as being critical of the intervention in Libya. There was very much a rallying around that. Similarly, they pretty much follow not just the Democratic line, but the general mainstream position on Syria. There’s not much critical reporting or critical thinking that goes on when it comes to those kinds of very tough, difficult foreign-policy issues.

JAY: I’m seeing now even on domestic issues, like, I found, like, sort of partway, midway through the term, Obama’s first term, they get critical of certain Obama policies on economic stuff, bailing out the banks and not Main Street and such, but, you know, in the leadup to this last election, they became full, 100 percent Obama supporters. I personally don’t watch it all the time, but whenever I did, I did not hear much of a critique. And it’s continuing now. Like, if you look at their coverage of the fiscal cliff issue, they’re buying into the whole thing about the fiscal cliff being this horrible thing that’s going to happen, and we have to make a deal, these terrible Republicans for blocking the deal and then praising the deal that is reached, which any progressive economist I’m talking to is trashing.

PARRY: Well, I think that’s a fair criticism. I do think they tend–they can be critical of Obama on certain narrow kinds of points, for instance, his performance in the first debate–they pretty much trashed that. But overall, overall I think they were–.

JAY: I think that was easy. Even he had to trash that eventually.

PARRY: But I do think that most of their focus was on the Republicans–and therefore implicitly, I guess, more supportive of Obama. But some of the work, I think, has been good. I think some of what Reverend Sharpton has done, for instance, on the issue of efforts to suppress the vote was quite important.

But that said, I think–you know, the point I was making in the article was that Current TV failed to even do that. They didn’t want to engage in the kind of political battles that would have been incurred if they had sort of pointed out why Bush’s war in Iraq was bad, why some of his approaches on the Constitution were threatening. Even if they had just covered what Al Gore was saying in his speeches would have been an improvement over what Current ended up doing, which was to have kind of a nice–the shows I did watch on Current were mostly things done by sort of youngish producers who looked at environmental issues. It had a conscience to it, but it had no edge to it.

JAY: Well, I think that’s the problem, in the sense that it was a for-profit model from the beginning, and it helped drive most of their decisions, and in the end they cash out, they do get their venture capitalist payback in the end.

PARRY: Well, I think they probably got a sweetheart deal from Al Jazeera. I’m not sure that what Al Jazeera’s paying for is entirely worth what they’re getting. But Al Jazeera desperately wants to have some foothold in the American media world, which I think it deserves. It’s a serious although also flawed and limited operation, but one that has a voice that Americans probably should hear. And so I guess they felt that was very important, and they were willing to pay money to get it. But it is ironic that after not having a very good business model at Current and ultimately failing and having very few viewers, that Current was able to find a way to make some money at the end of the day.

JAY: In the end, it was a real estate investment. Thanks very much for joining us, Bob.

PARRY: Thank you, Paul.

JAY: And as for our assessment of Al Jazeera America, of course, we’ll wait till it’s on. As for current English Al Jazeera, we have done some pieces fairly critical about some of their coverage, though I agree with Bob, other coverage has been very good. And we will post some of our Al Jazeera pieces below. Thanks very much for joining us, Bob.

PARRY: Thank you, Paul.

JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.

Context: As yet there are no context links for this item.

Transcript

A proposal is currently being considered by the US Postal Service to sell its building in downtown Berkeley, CA and relocate its services. This is just one city that is feeling the impact of a crippling financial crisis currently affecting the Postal Service. In fiscal year 2012 it lost approximately 5.9 billion. And now thousands of buildings may be sold and thousands of workers laid off in what USPS says is an attempt to save itself, but critics argue is a step toward privatization.

It’s commonly understood that the internet and e-communication is causing the demise of USPS, but that’s not the full story. What seems to be the prime cause is actually a little-known law passed in 2006.Susan Hammers, APWU: The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires prefunding of pensions 75 yrs into the future.Augustine Ruiz, USPS: This is a huge burden on us and it’s unfair.Gray Brechin, UC Berkeley faculty/activist: It seems as though it was designed to destroy the postl service. Postal revenue has taken a drop over the years, but until now the postal service has been able to get by and survive solely from its own revenue, receiving absolutely no US tax dollars, as stipulated by the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act.However, the pension prefunding is a mandatory requirement, and so in an attempt to address its budget shortfall USPS has begun a program of drastic restructuring. One effort underway is a massive reduction in its workforce. Currently the postal service provides around 550,000 middle-class jobs. But actions proposed by the Postmaster General could cut the workforce down to approximately 300,000, which union representatives say would have a devastating effect not only on workers and their families, but on the overall US economy as well.In addition to curtailing labor costs, current plans likely include the closing of around 3,700 post offices, although at other times it has been suggested that up to 15,000 locations may be considered for closure, almost half of the 32,000 USPS operates.Ruiz: we’re going to get rid of space we don’t need, become more efficient, and continue to offer our services in other smaller locations. Then we can stay in business.But unions and community organizations say it is hardly a solution to the budget problems. They stress this one-time cash injection will never be able to be repeated, so it’s hard to see how this will help alleviate the ongoing pension payments. Additionally, services are often being relocated from the sold buildings to new rented locations, meaning ongoing monthly payments often estimated at a cost greater than maintaining the already owned buildings.Activists argue this is part of an ongoing divestiture of assets that, along with $12 billion of annual outsourcing, is a significant step toward the privatization of the US Postal Service. While USPS denies there is a concerted effort to privatize, privatization does have its strong advocates. Tad DeHaven, for instance, of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, believes in full privatization. DeHaven sees the current measures as merely a band-aid, and the entire government-run model as a failure. Tad DeHaven, Cato Institute: If we don’t privatize US taxpayers will have to pick up the tab. This is a failing business model. I envision customers saying what services they need and entrepenuers filling that role with no government provision. Also championing paths toward privatization are UPS and FedEx. Already FedEx is the postal service’s number one private contractor, transporting Express, Priority, and First Class Mail. In 2011 the company earned postal revenues of $1.495 billion, an increase of $122 million over 2010. Like Tad DeHaven, FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith is also a member of the Cato Institute, and in the past has been on its Board of Directors. In 1999, long before the postal service’s current crisis, Smith testified before a congressional committee urging it to consider privatization:“Closing down the Postal Service,” he stated, “like any other government agency that has outlived its usefulness, is an option that ought to be considered seriously.”In response to these outright demands for privatization, postal service advocates assert the current crisis is manufactured, not a result solely of a poor business model. The additional measures, they insist, are only further debilitating the postal service and making it less functional, thereby setting itself up for a further loss of revenue.Hammers: They’re cutting window staff, so there’s longer lines. They’re closing centrally located branches, so it’s harder to get to. This is costing us customers and revenue.During this process, some private contractors will do quite well off of the ongoing USPS fiscal crisis. CBRE, for example, is the world’s largest commercial real estate broker, chaired by San Francisco billionaire Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Diane Feinstein. Last year CBRE won a contract from the USPS to be the sole manager of its property sales, as well as an advisor on which properties should be sold. Brechin: CBRE also arranges the leases, so it’s involved in all aspects of the sale. They’re making a ton of money off this.CBRE has played this role before. In October 2009, the firm was contracted by the State of California to sell over $2 billion in office buildings the state wanted to privatize because of its own financial problems. But USPS dismisses any possible conflict of interest CBRE may have in performing its services.Ruiz: They’re just giving advice, it’s up to us if we want to take it.Activists agree the postal service needs to adjust its model if it hopes to succeed. Instead of scaling back, however, they believe a reinvestment in the institution would lead to a revitalization and bring customers and revenue back to the postal service. But their immediate priority is a congressional repeal of the tremendous burden that is the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.Hammers: Congress created this problem, they have to fix it.Meanwhile, the Downtown Berkeley Post Office, a nationally registered historic landmark, may soon be up for sale. Under the proposal the building would be sold and current services would be relocated to a leased storefront. But the news has not gone over well in Berkeley.Brechin: People are organizing and protesting. We’re not going to let them sell our post office.Ruiz: People are passionate about this, but they have to understand our fiscal responsibility.As activists in Berkeley and elsewhere across the country attempt to alter the current course–whatever motives may be behind it–what is clear is that unless something changes, the likely path will result in drastically less public ownership of assets, thousands fewer unionized employees, and more outsourcing, or in other words a semi-privatized US Postal Service. That is, of course, if it can stay in business. Reporting from Berkeley, CA, this is David Zlutnick for the Real News Network.

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So how’s that austerity been working for you, Mr.Cameron?

Unemployment in the euro zone rose to a new high in November, according to data released Tuesday that also showed that the troubles in the 17-nation currency bloc were straining its strongest member, Germany.
The euro zone jobless rate rose to 11.8 percent in November from 11.7 percent in October, according to Eurostat, the statistical agency of theEuropean Union.

Eurostat estimated that 18.8 million people in the euro zone were unemployed in November, two million more than a year earlier.Germany has provided momentum to the European economy over the past three years, as strong exports protected the country from the crisis.But on Tuesday, the Federal Statistics Office in Berlin said that German exports declined 3.4 percent while imports slid 3.7 percent in November from a month earlier. The weakness narrowed Germany’s trade surplus to €14.6 billion, or $19 billion.German factory orders also fell in November amid weak demand from outside the euro area, the Economy Ministry said Tuesday. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, slid 1.8 percent from October, when they jumped 3.8 percent.

You don’t say! But the Beltway Villagers and teaBirchers are demanding the same policies for America. And you’ve probably read about the new IMF mea-culpa while admitting to really fuc*&ng up on their austerity projections.

The International Monetary Fund is revising its metrics on how fast governments should cut their budgets, with the IMF’s top economist making the case that Europe’s fiscal diets were too severe.In a new paper published Thursday, IMF Economic Counsellor Olivier Blanchardand research-department economist Daniel Leigh show the IMF recommended slashing budgets too fast early in the euro crisis, starving many economies of much-needed growth.

In “Growth Forecast Errors and Fiscal Multipliers,” Messrs. Blanchard and Leigh calculate IMF and European economists underestimated the euro-for-euro effect of cutting government budgets. While economists expected that cutting a euro from the budget would cost around 50 cents in lost growth, the actual impact was more like 1.50 per euro.

Republicans like Goober Graham repeatedly fret over the US becoming Greece and call for raising retirement ages and slashed benefits for our entitlements, but the policies they are trying to force us into will actually pave the way to a Greek-like state of mind.

As my friend Georgia Logothetis writes:

In Greece, which has implemented draconian austerity measures at the request of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank in order to receive bailout funding, the results are seen on the streets where a middle class has plummeted into poverty. One out of three Greeks now lives in poverty and average salaries have been slashed to just several hundred net euros a month. Homelessness, which was rarely seen in that country, is now endemic in certain parts of Athens. The unemployment rate has reached a record 26 percent, with more than 50 percent of Greece’s youth out of a job.

Greece received billions of euros in bailout funds, but a large part of why austerity didn’t work in Greece is because it wasn’t offset by any growth strategy. In a shocking example of how twisted reality became, Greece’s bailout funds at one time were simply wired into an escrow account that the government couldn’t touch and then wired back for debt service to European banks just days later (read the NYT report here). In other words, not only were there painful cuts, but any money coming into the country was spent almost exclusively on debt reduction rather than on stimulating the economy.

Here’s Goober:

I’m not going to raise the debt ceiling unless we get serious about keeping the country from becoming Greece, saving Social Security and Medicare [sic]. So here’s what i would like: meaningful entitlement reform – not to turn Social Security into private accounts, not to take a voucher approach to Medicare – but,adjust the age for Social Security, CPI changes and means testing and look beyond the ten-year window. I cannot in good conscience raise the debt ceiling without addressing the long term debt problems of this country and I will not.

Graham brings up Greece almost every time he goes on TV.
The evidence is overwhelming that turning to austerity during a down economy only destroys it further and turns us into Greece.

That is what has been happening with a vengeance in Greece, where fund forecasters, as part of the country’s first bailout program in 2010, predicted that the nation could cut deeply into government spending and pretty quickly bounce back to economic growth and rising employment.Two years later, the Greek economy is still shrinking and unemployment is at 25 percent.Of course no two circumstances are alike. Shut out of international bond markets, Greece had little choice but to begin bringing its public finances into line or face a catastrophic default. Financing wasn’t available to sustain prior spending levels. For an economy that has been reeling for several years, however, a billion or two in extra government programs or investment could have kept a few small businesses open and kept a few more families employed and spending.

When will they all get the message? Portugal’s President is fighting back against the draconian cuts now. Only Keynesian philosophies can save us.

Does President Obama get this, too?

A brake problem has forced an All Nippon Airways flight to be cancelled in Japan – the third glitch in as many days involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

It was scheduled to fly from the Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport..

But the domestic flight was grounded by Japan’s ANA because brake parts to the rear left undercarriage needed replacing, a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube Airport said.

An ANA spokeswoman said: “In the cockpit, an error message related to its brake system was displayed.

“The exact nature and the cause of the error message is not clear yet.”

All 98 passengers on board were switched to another flight for Tokyo.

On Tuesday, a Japan Airlines jet was grounded at Boston Logan International Airport in the US following a fuel leak, a day after another plane of the same type suffered a fire.

About 40 gallons (150 litres) of fuel spilled from the jet that was supposed to be bound for Tokyo from Boston last night.

Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman Richard Walsh said the plane had 178 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

The plane was evaluated and departed the same afternoon. JAL said the crew had reported a “mechanical issue.”

On Monday, a fire broke out in a battery pack in the belly of a different Boeing 787 operated by JAL at the same airport.

Just minutes after all 173 passengers and 11 crew disembarked, the aircraft’s cabin and cockpit filled with smoke.

It had just landed at Boston, following a non-stop flight from Tokyo.

The blaze, which was extinguished within 20 minutes, is being investigated by US aviation officials.

Both episodes have added to growing concerns about the aircraft, which has been beset with problems.

Electrical faults have affected flights and delayed deliveries of the new jet to operators.

The model, originally planned for launch in 2009, was first delivered late in 2011 because of technical problems.

The latest episode comes after the Federal Aviation Administration – the US aviation watchdog – had already launched a probe and discovered fuel line assembly errors.

It said that the faults could result in fire risk from leaks dripping on hot engine parts or causing the aircraft to run out of fuel.

Japan Airlines said it had no plans to change placed orders of 38 Boeing 787 Dreamliners following the two incidents.

The company has ordered 45 in total, seven of which it is already operating.

A spokesman said six were currently in use, the other at Boston Logan International Airport.

All Nippon Airways, which has placed orders for 66 Dreamliner aircraft, including 17 already in use, also said it had no plans to change its orders.

British Airways has ordered 24 Dreamliners from Boeing and is still expecting its first 787 in May, with a further three due for delivery before the end of 2013.

Virgin Atlantic has 16 jets on order and told Sky News it still expects its first delivery in 2014.

Thomson Airways has also placed orders for the hi-tech long-haul Boeing plane, which has been marketed as being more comfortable and environmentally friendly than other aircraft.

A spokeswoman for Thomson told Sky News: “Our first Thomson Dreamliner is still on track to be delivered early this year. Boeing has reassured us that they are taking action to rectify the issues highlighted to them.”

Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has expressed hope that Tehran’s upcoming talks with the UN nuclear agency will yield positive results.

“The last round of talks between Iran and the [International Atomic Energy] Agency [IAEA] was good and both sides described it as positive and constructive,” Mehmanparast said on Wednesday.

“We hope to reach good agreements in the next round of negotiations,” the Iranian official said, adding that recognizing Iran’s nuclear rights, however, is necessary for negotiations to yield positive results.

Top officials from Iran and the IAEA held talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program on December 13, 2012.

Following the meeting, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said progress had been made during the talks, adding that more negotiations are due with Iran on January 16.

The Iranian official said, however, if IAEA representatives ignore the Islamic Republic’s nuclear rights, talks will not reach a positive result.

Mehmanparast stated that Iran is ready to allay any concern the IAEA might have and clear ambiguities.

Commenting on talks between Tehran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany), Mehmanparast said, “We are always ready for logical, effective and constructive talks which recognize the rights of independent nations including Iran.”

The Iranian official said some members of the P5+1, however, mistakenly think that if they mount pressures on Tehran they can force the country to forgo its rights.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

MYA/HGH/SS

Pham To looked great for 78 years old. (At least, that’s about how old he thought he was.) His hair was thin, gray, and receding at the temples, but his eyes were lively and his physique robust – all the more remarkable given what he had lived through. I listened intently, as I had so many times before to so many similar stories, but it was still beyond my ability to comprehend. It’s probably beyond yours, too.

Pham To told me that the planes began their bombing runs in 1965 and that periodic artillery shelling started about the same time. Nobody will ever know just how many civilians were killed in the years after that. “The number is uncountable,” he said one spring day a few years ago in a village in the mountains of rural central Vietnam. “So many people died.”

And it only got worse. Chemical defoliants came next, ravaging the land. Helicopter machine gunners began firing on locals. By 1969, bombing and shelling were day-and-night occurrences. Many villagers fled. Some headed further into the mountains, trading the terror of imminent death for a daily struggle of hardscrabble privation; others were forced into squalid refugee resettlement areas. Those who remained in the village suffered more when the troops came through. Homes were burned as a matter of course. People were kicked and beaten. Men were shot when they ran in fear. Women were raped. One morning, a massacre by American soldiers wiped out 21 fellow villagers. This was the Vietnam War for Pham To, as for so many rural Vietnamese.

One, Two… Many Vietnams?

At the beginning of the Iraq War, and for years after, reporters, pundits, veterans, politicians, and ordinary Americans asked whether the American debacle in Southeast Asia was being repeated. Would it be “another Vietnam”? Would it become a “quagmire”?

The same held true for Afghanistan. Years after 9/11, as that war, too, foundered, questions about whether it was “Obama’s Vietnam” appeared ever more frequently. In fact, by October 2009, a majority of Americans had come to believe it was “turning into another Vietnam.”

In those years, “Vietnam” even proved a surprisingly two-sided analogy – after, at least, generals began reading and citing revisionist texts about that war. These claimed, despite all appearances, that the U.S. military had actually won in Vietnam (before the politicians, media, and antiwar movement gave the gains away). The same winning formula, they insisted, could be used to triumph again. And so, a failed solution from that failed war, counterinsurgency, or COIN, was trotted out as the military panacea for impending disaster.

Debated comparisons between the two ongoing wars and the one that somehow never went away, came to litter newspapers, journals, magazines, and the Internet – until David Petraeus, a top COINdinista general who had written his doctoral dissertation on the “lessons” of the Vietnam War, was called in to settle the matter by putting those lessons to work winning the other two. In the end, of course, U.S. troops were booted out of Iraq, while the war in Afghanistan continues to this day as a dismally devolving stalemate, now wracked by “green-on-blue” or “insider” attacks on U.S. forces, while the general himself returned to Washington as CIA director to run covert wars in Pakistan and Yemen before retiring in disgrace following a sex scandal.

Still, for all the ink about the “Vietnam analogy,” virtually none of the reporters, pundits, historians, generals, politicians, or other members of the chattering classes ever so much as mentioned the Vietnam War as Pham To knew it. In that way, they managed to miss the one unfailing parallel between America’s wars in all three places: civilian suffering.

For all the dissimilarities, botched analogies, and tortured comparisons, there has been one connecting thread in Washington’s foreign wars of the last half century that, in recent years at least, Americans have seldom found of the slightest interest: misery for local nationals. Civilian suffering is, in fact, the defining characteristic of modern war in general, even if only rarely discussed in the halls of power or the mainstream media.

An Unimaginable Toll

Pham To was lucky. He and Pham Thang, another victim and a neighbor, told me that, of the 2,000 people living in their village before the war, only 300 survived it. Bombing, shelling, a massacre, disease, and starvation had come close to wiping out their entire settlement. “So many people were hungry,” Pham Thang said. “With no food, many died. Others were sick and with medications unavailable, they died, too. Then there was the bombing and shelling, which took still more lives.

They all died because of the war.” Leaving aside those who perished from disease, hunger, or lack of medical care, at least 3.8 million Vietnamese died violent war deaths according to researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Washington. The best estimate we have is that 2 million of them were civilians. Using a very conservative extrapolation, this suggests that 5.3 million civilians were wounded during the war, for a total of 7.3 million Vietnamese civilian casualties overall. To such figures might be added an estimated 11.7 million Vietnamese forced from their homes and turned into refugees, up to 4.8 million sprayed with toxic herbicides like Agent Orange, an estimated 800,000 to 1.3 million war orphans, and 1 million war widows.

The numbers are staggering, the suffering incalculable, the misery almost incomprehensible to most Americans but not, perhaps, to an Iraqi.

No one will ever know just how many Iraqis died in the wake of the U.S. invasion of 2003. In a country with an estimated population of about 25 million at the time, a much-debated survey – the results of which were published in the British medical journal The Lancet – suggested more than 601,000 violent “excess deaths” had occurred by 2006. Another survey indicated that more than 1.2 million Iraqi civilians had died because of the war (and the various internal conflicts that flowed from it) as of 2007. The Associated Press tallied up records of 110,600 deaths by early 2009. An Iraqi family health survey fixed the number at 151,000 violent deaths by June 2006. Official documents made public by Wikileaks counted 109,000 deaths, including 66,081 civilian deaths, between 2004 and 2009. Iraq Body Count has tallied as many as 121,220 documented cases of violent civilian deaths alone.

Then there are those 3.2 million Iraqis who were internally displaced or fled the violence to other lands, only to find uncertainty and deprivation in places like Jordan, Iran, and now war-torn Syria. By 2011, 9% or more of Iraq’s women, as many as 1 million, were widows (a number that skyrocketed in the years after the U.S. invasion). A recent survey found that 800,000 to 1 million Iraqi children had lost one or both parents, a figure that only grows with the continuing violence that the U.S. unleashed but never stamped out.

Today, the country, which experienced an enormous brain drain of professionals, has a total of 200 social workers and psychiatrists to aid all those, armed and unarmed, who suffered every sort of horror and trauma. (In just the last seven years, by comparison, the U.S. Veterans Administration has hired 7,000 new mental health professionals to deal with Americans who have been psychologically scarred by war.)

Many Afghans, too, would surely be able to relate to what Pham To and millions of Vietnamese war victims endured. For more than 30 years, Afghanistan has, with the rarest of exceptions, been at war. It all started with the 1979 Soviet invasion and Washington’s support for some of the most extreme of the Islamic militants who opposed the Russian occupation of the country.

The latest iteration of war there began with an invasion by U.S. and allied forces in 2001, and has since claimed the lives of many thousands of civilians in roadside and aerial bombings, suicide attacks and helicopter attacks, night raids and outright massacres. Untold numbers of Afghans have also died of everything from lack of access to medical care (there are just 2 doctors for every 10,000 Afghans) to exposure, including shocking reports of children freezing to death in refugee camps last winter and again this year. They were among the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have been internally displaced during the war. Millions more live as refugees outside the country, mostly in Iran and Pakistan. Of the women who remain in the country, up to 2 million are widows. In addition, there are now an estimated 2 million Afghan orphans. No wonder polling by Gallup this past summer found 96% of Afghans claiming they were either “suffering” or “struggling,” and just 4% “thriving.”

American Refugees in Mexico?

For most Americans, this type of unrelenting, war-related misery is unfathomable. Few have ever personally experienced anything like what their tax dollars have wrought in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia in the last half-century. And while surprising numbers of Americans do suffer from poverty and deprivation, few know anything about what it’s like to live through a year of war – let alone 10, as Pham To did – under the constant threat of air strikes, artillery fire, and violence perpetrated by foreign ground troops.

Still, as a simple thought experiment, let’s consider for a moment what it might be like in American terms. Imagine that the United States had experienced an occupation by a foreign military force. Imagine millions or even tens of millions of American civilians dead or wounded as a result of an invasion and resulting civil strife.

Imagine a country in which your door might be kicked down in the dead of night by heavily-armed, foreign young men, in strange uniforms, helmets and imposing body armor, yelling things in a language you don’t understand. Imagine them rifling through your drawers, upending your furniture, holding you at gunpoint, roughing up your husband or son or brother, and marching him off in the middle of the night. Imagine, as well, a country in which those foreigners kill American “insurgents” and then routinely strip them naked; in which those occupying troops sometimes urinate on American bodies (and shoot videos of it); or take trophy photos of their “kills”; or mutilate them; or pose with the body parts of dead Americans; or from time to time – for reasons again beyond your comprehension – rape or murder your friends and neighbors.

Imagine, for a moment, violence so extreme that you and literally millions like you have to flee your hometowns for squalid refugee camps or expanding slums ringing the nearest cities. Imagine trading your home for a new one without heat or electricity, possibly made of refuse with a corrugated metal roof that roars when it rains. Then imagine living there for months, if not years.

Imagine things getting so bad that you decide to trek across the Mexican border to live an uncertain life, forever wondering if your new violence- and poverty-wracked host nation will turn you out or if you’ll ever be able to return to your home in the U.S. Imagine living with these realities day after day for up to decade.

After natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy or Katrina, small numbers of Americans briefly experience something like what millions of war victims – Vietnamese, Iraqis, Afghans, and others – have often had to endure for significant parts of their lives. But for those in America’s war zones, there will be no telethons, benefit concerts, or texting fund drives.

Pham To and Pham Thang had to bury the bodies of their family members, friends, and neighbors after they were massacred by American troops passing through their village on patrol. They had to rebuild their homes and their lives after the war with remarkably little help. One thing was as certain for them as it has been for war-traumatized Iraqis and Afghans of our moment: no Hollywood luminaries lined up to help raise funds for them or their village. And they never will.“We lost so many people and so much else. And this land was affected by Agent Orange, too. You’ve come to write about the war, but you could never know the whole story,” Pham Thang told me. Then he became circumspect. “Now, our two governments, our two countries, live in peace and harmony. And we just want to restore life to what it once was here. We suffered great losses. The U.S. government should offer assistance to help increase the local standard of living, provide better healthcare, and build infrastructure like better roads.”

No doubt – despite the last decade of U.S. nation-buildingdebacles in its war zones – many Iraqis and Afghans would express similar sentiments. Perhaps they will even be saying the same sort of thing to an American reporter decades from now.

Over these last years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of war victims like Pham Thang, and he’s right: I’ll probably never come close to knowing what life was like for those whose worlds were upended by America’s foreign wars. And I’m far from alone. Most Americans never make it to a war zone, and even U.S. military personnel arrive only for finite tours of duty, while for combat correspondents and aid workers an exit door generally remains open. Civilians like Pham To, however, are in it for the duration.

In the Vietnam years, there was at least an antiwar movement in this country that included many Vietnam veterans who made genuine efforts to highlight the civilian suffering they knew was going on at almost unimaginable levels. In contrast, in the decade-plus since 9/11, with the rarest of exceptions, Americans have remained remarkably detached from their distant wars, thoroughly ignoring what can be known about the suffering that has been caused in their name.

As I was wrapping up my interview, Pham Thang asked me about the purpose of the last hour and a half of questions I’d asked him. Through my interpreter, I explained that most Americans knew next to nothing about Vietnamese suffering during the war and that most books written in my country on the war years ignored it. I wanted, I told him, to offer Americans the chance to hear about the experiences of ordinary Vietnamese for the first time.

“If the American people know about these incidents, if they learn about the wartime suffering of people in Vietnam, do you think they will sympathize?” he asked me.

Soon enough, I should finally know the answer to his question.

Nick Turse is the managing editor of TomDispatch.com and a fellow at the Nation Institute. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and regularly at TomDispatch. He is the author most recently of Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (The American Empire Project, Metropolitan Books). Published on January 15th, it offers a new look at the American war machine in Vietnam and the suffering it caused. His website is NickTurse.com. You can follow him on Tumblr and on Facebook.

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released a log under the Freedom of Information Act, making clear the ongoing human cost of the conflict in Afghanistan.

According to the disclosed data, dozens of children were killed and many more were injured by the British troops in Afghanistan in 2012 in a lost war which serves no purpose other than to protect the reputations of the countries involved in the occupation.

In the information released to the daily The Guardian, the MoD said it paid out compensation to an Afghan man, whose family of six, including a mother and her child, was killed when a rocket overshot a target and hit the compound in which they were living.

The rocket incident, which wiped an entire family, was caused due to a “weapons malfunction”, according to the MoD.

This is just one among dozens of cases, in which, the British military had to pay compensation amounting to £510,728 in 2011. It paid a sum of £537,684 for compensating Afghans human and property loss in 2012, and £1.3m in 2010, the report said.

However, in a change of policy, the MoD has decided against giving details of how much was paid out for individual incidents, despite being criticized in the past for a lack of transparency in relation to the payments.

Sarah Holewinski, the executive director of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (Civic), said that every line of the log “represents some type of loss”.

“Sometimes it’s 15 jerabs of corn, but often it’s the death or serious injury of a loved one, the lists creating a numerical picture of human struggle in war,” she said.

“Yet the scant details available and the lack of transparency of the UK amends programme only leads me to ask more questions, like how claims are handled, what losses are eligible, and how these amounts are arrived at. Understanding those basic guidelines is the only way we can begin to make sense of what these numbers mean”, added the executive director of Civic.

Among the incidents from last year which were listed in the log were two in July involving Apache helicopter strikes. One on 23 July resulted in injury to five children. Another 20 days earlier resulted in the death of a boy, whose sister lost her foot below the knee.

MOL/SZH/HE

A political commentator says the West attacks Press TV because the channel focuses on the truth and the topics that the world’s mainstream media tends not to cover.

“Iran’s 24/7 English-language international news channel hit the airwaves in 2007. Press TV appeared on TV screens around the world to cover the story – with a focus on topics that the ‘free’ world’s mainstream media tends not to cover. From revealing the real faces of democracy-looking dictatorships in Europe to divulging covert ties between the West and terror rings in Syria and highlighting the plight of women and children in war-torn countries, Press TV has sought to be a voice for the voiceless,” wrote Hamid Reza Emadi in an article on Press TV’s website.

“Press TV has established a distinctive discourse that communicates the message directly to the audience like no other,” he noted.

Emadi further explained that Press TV has raised several fundamental questions in the minds of its audience, posing a serious challenge to the West which has controlled the flow of information via its mainstream media ever since the first television program was aired.

“And the West has realized the extent of this challenge and has decided that it needs to be contained. And just like that, satellite companies are ordered to take Press TV off the air in a desperate attempt to stop the message reaching its global audience,” he added.

Referring to the removal of Press TV from several European platforms, the political commentator stated that EU is not the only organization behind the all-out war against Press TV.

Emadi pointed out that the pro-Israeli lobby group, American Jewish Committee, AJC, issued a celebratory statement on its website after Spanish satellite group Hispasat pulled the plug on Press TV and Hispan TV on December 20, 2012.

“But why are Israelis so angry with Press TV?…The answer lies in the fact that Press TV was the only international news channel with four correspondents on the ground in Gaza when Israel launched its deadly war on the besieged Palestinian coastal strip at the turn of 2008-2009.”

“They do not want Press TV to enlighten television viewers around the world. But what they just don’t seem to get is that their all-out war on Press TV only serves to show how successful the channel has been. And since it is literally impossible to silence a media outlet in the information age, the channel will continue to do what it’s been doing over the years despite the bumps and bruises,” Emadi concluded.

TNP/SS

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has offered to resign as party chief over allegations of fraud from the country’s anti-corruption watchdog.

The premier offered a conditional resignation on Wednesday based on the opinion of his center-right wing party, who will cast a vote of confidence over the accusations and the leader’s defense.

“I will offer my resignation from the SDS (Slovenian Democratic Party) leadership to the party’s council on Wednesday,” Jansa said on Tuesday.

“If my arguments do not satisfy them that will also mean my resignation as prime minister,” he added.

Slovenia’s anti-corruption watchdog accused Jansa of withholding information of bank accounts and personal assets with a value of 210,000 euros between 2004 and 2012.

Mayor of Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, Zoran Jankovic had also apparently concealed 2.4 million euros in assets and bank accounts, which the watchdog revealed on Tuesday.

Jankovic, also leader of the center-left opposition group Positive Slovenia, came under fire after the watchdog opened an investigation in 2011 on all parliamentary leaders to clear out corruption in Slovenia.

The commission’s findings come as thousands of Slovenians have protested over corruption in political parties and the government’s austerity measures.

On Monday, protesters demanded the resignation of all City of Maribor council members because of their association to former Ljubljana Mayor Franc Kangler, who resigned over corruption allegations on December 6, 2012.

A similar protest was held in the city on December 3, 2012. Police forces arrested some 40 people during the demonstration.

The recession-hit eurozone state has seen a wave of protests in recent months over public sector spending cuts and tough austerity measures.

GVN/SZH

Malaysia’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (Reuters/Bazuki Muhammad)

The Sultan of the Malaysian state Selangor has issued a decree that the sacred word ‘Allah’ can be used only by Muslims. The move put more fire into controversy in the state where language peculiarities also make Christians use the term.

­“Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah made a decision and decreed that the word ‘Allah’ is a sacred word specific to Muslims and it is prohibited to be used by any non-Muslim in Selangor,” the Islamic Affairs Council of the Selangor state said Tuesday. The body added “a stern action” was ordered against those questioning the new fatwa, but did not elaborate.

The sultan, mufti and council convened after the chief minister of another state, Penang, urged the central government to allow the word ‘Allah’ to be used in the Malay translation of the Bible, national daily The Star Online reported.

Christians in Indonesia and Malaysia also use ‘Allah’ to refer to God in their languages. This comes through traditional translations of the Bible made back in the 16th-17th centuries which put the Hebrew’s ‘Elohim’ (‘God’ in English holy books) as ‘Allah’.

But in 2007 the central Malaysian government decided to put an end to the old tradition and limited the usage of the term to the Muslim context only. This was revoked by the High Court two years later; the judges said the law was unconstitutional. The government appealed the ruling and the short-lived implementation of the 2009 court verdict has since been suspended.

Sultan Sharafuddin’s decree could not but create an immediate political standoff. It comes on the eve of a broad meeting called by Pakatan Rakyat, a national affiliation within the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). For the convention, Pakatan Rakyat allowed the use of ‘Allah’ to all groups, including non-Muslims.

Just minutes after the forbidding decree, PAS leadership endorsed by other opposition parties proclaimed they stand firm by their decision.

“‘Allah’ in its original Koran meaning stands for ‘The One and Only God’ and it should not be misused by others against the Muslim community, to the point of creating confusion,” PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said. “Nevertheless, Islam does not stop followers of other religions from using the word ‘Allah’ in practicing their faith, although it might not be equitable to the actual meaning of the original Koranic word.”

Malaysia’s Council of Churches also said it will continue to use the word “Allah” in the Malay version of the Bible.

“Many indigenous communities in our nation have incorporated this word in their everyday language. That being the case, we shall continue this practice, and call on all parties to respect this fundamental right,” the prominent organization said in a statement adding the practice was a right “guaranteed to them in the country’s Federal Constitution” under Article 11, which secures freedom of religion.

However, officials across the country reacted positively to the reaffirmed ban on the word, some of them saying that Sultan Sharafuddin has every right to issue such decrees, him being the head of the state’s Islamic affairs.

By Dan Parker

Late last year, TD bank chief economist Craig Alexander released a report stating ”tighter mortgage rules should do the job of cooling Canada’s hot housing market in the short term, but higher interest rates will be needed to return the market to saner levels”.

For a longer lasting solution to the overheated market, Alexander said “Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will need to hike interest rates to make borrowing more difficult and expensive. Interest rates simply cannot stay at current levels indefinitely”. Mr. Alexander’s main concern is the record level of debt the average Canadian consumer is carrying. By his estimation, raising interest rates is the way to decrease that indebtedness.

This banker treatise is questionable. First, it suggests that loan officers have no control over the amount of money they lend to a borrower. According to Mr. Alexander, low interest rates means that your local loan officer has no choice but to give you a bigger loan. The truth is the banks can simply adjust their credit ‘scoring’ system so that buyers with a certain disposable income qualify for loans that are less than they do now. The difference here is that this solution will actually decrease indebtedness, instead of increase it, which higher interest rates would do for anyone who has an existing loan coming up for renewal.

Another concern has to do with the fact that a main determinant of extending credit is the amount of the loan payment. If the bank feels you can pay $2,000 a month on a mortgage, then you generally qualify for the loan, if you have the right credit record and collateral.

In the first five years of that mortgage, because banks charge far beyond the quoted interest rate at the beginning of a mortgage, your monthly $2,000 dollars might average out so you pay off $1,000 in loan principal, and $1,000 in compounding interest charges to the bank. Raise the interest rates, and for a new loan, you might still qualify for the same $2,000 a month payment plan, all other things being equal. However, less of your loan payment would go to pay down the principal and more would go towards the compound interest charges of the bank. This would keep you in debt longer and not so coincidentally increase the profits of the bank.

It is worth noting here that the money your bank loans for a mortgage is created out of thin air at the push of a button. They do not lend the money of their depositors for this.

The only way higher interest rates decrease the overall debt is when they push a substantial number of individuals and businesses into bankruptcy. After these entities are financially and otherwise destroyed, their loans are written off, thereby bringing down the nation’s debt. One can only guess why this destructive policy is advocated, rather than bringing down overall debt by the far less damaging method of gradually tightening lending requirements.

What is more, interest charges are built into just about every product and service available. Higher interest rates means businesses would have to charge more to recover their loan costs. This would again make for a tougher financial situation for the average consumer and business. For an extreme example of what can happen one only has to turn back the clock to the 1980s, when 20% interest rates destroyed many businesses and individual lives; the victim’s only crime being a belief in the essential fairness and rationality of the financial system.

That our mainstream media can print information about raising interest rates as being the only way to decrease debt, without comment, shows just how compromised these corporations are. In essence, they are in a massive conflict of interest situation. Interlocking boards of directors and the financial industry have essentially subverted the news that most people rely on to make their democratic decisions.

The so-called right wing C. D. Howe institute joined in the chorus. It released a report averring that inflation rates were understated because of the way Statistics Canada measures this. The problem, says Philippe Bergevin, a senior policy analyst with the institute, is that the statistical agency calculates changes in the costs associated with owning a home, not the actual changes in the prices of homes sold. The article goes on to say “Low interest rate policy for extended periods is what got the world in a mess in the first place, Bergevin points out.”

The only thing that Bergevin truly ‘points out’ is that we do not get good financial information from the mainstream media. Mr. Bergevin also suggests that loan officers and banks have no control over the amount of money they lend, which is untrue. However, Bergevin goes further and blames the last financial crash on low interest rates. There is no mention of the derivatives mess and other gambling by the banking industry that drove much of the last financial meltdown. Or that to facilitate this gambling, banks in the U.S. engaged in so-called NINJA loans, the acronym standing for no income, no job loans. In truth, a 16 year old clerk at the 7-11 would be deemed incompetent if they used such judgement.

Deeper than this, it is the design of the money itself that continually pushes booms and busts. The primary flaw is charging compound interest on newly created money. Without going into too much detail, this concept is confirmed by high school math. It is fact that compound interest is an example of an exponential formula. It is fact that exponential formulas are highly unstable and guaranteed to eventually crash whatever system they are mirroring. Beyond this, banks are causing even more problems because of what is really the mother of all gambling addictions.

Yet once again, it is the average consumer that is blamed for the problems created by the so-called experts. The reality is that if a person wants to stay informed about economic matters, they must step away from our mainstream information sources. Alternatively, one could take each aforementioned quote by the experts, reword it to mean the exact opposite, and thereby have a better understanding of the situation.

Dan Parker lives in Whitecourt, Alberta and for the past 10 years has published the only mass media print product in western civilization that tells the truth about the money system. 5,500 copies of the monthly Community Advisor are mailed out to every individual and business in Whitecourt, with more copies dropped off at coffee shops, waiting rooms etc. All issues are available online at communityadvisor.net.

The government’s much anticipated mid-term audit has been criticised for failing to provide the “completely unvarnished” assessment of the coalition the prime minister had promised.

The 119 page document details the government’s pledges and what it has done to fulfil them – but the document seems to have had some Ronseal added, with the government breezing over U-turns such as its failure to implement House of Lords reform.

The document merely notes: “The Government took the decision not to proceed with the Bill following second reading in the House of Commons and the lack of support for the necessary timetabling motion.”

The government published an audit of the coalition government’s first two-and-a-half years in office

The audit was released after Number 10 adviser Patrick Rock was seen carrying a “restricted” document warning of “broken pledges” in the coalition agreement, which suggested the government had delayed publication to avoid overshadowing the favourable media coverage they expected to receive from Monday’s mid-term review.

The self-assessment also notes that the badger cull to help control bovine TB has been “postponed” and a free vote on repealing the hunting ban has “not yet been taken forward.”

The Labour party has released its own “audit of broken promises”, listing 40 areas in which it said the coalition had failed to live up to its pledges.

Top of the list of broken promises identified by Labour was the failure to balance the nation’s books within five years – something which is not now expected to happen until 2018 at the earliest.

On deficit reduction, the government say it is their “most urgent priority”, failing to note borrowing has risen since they came to power.

Michael Dugher MP said: “It turns out that the document David Cameron tried and failed to cover up is now itself a cover-up.

“There’s no mention of his government’s failure on growth, of the double-dip recession or of £212 billion extra borrowing. It tries to gloss over David Cameron’s broken promises on the £3 billion NHS reorganisation and 7,000 fewer nurses, and doesn’t even mention his tax cut worth £107,000 for 8,000 millionaires while millions of hard-working families on low and middle incomes are paying more.

“This is a government that lurches from failure to fiasco. They promised change but things are getting worse, not better, and they stand up for the wrong people.”

The audit said that the independent Office for Budget Responsibility had confirmed the government was “on course to meet our fiscal mandate” of balancing the books, which was based on a rolling five-year period and not on the fixed target date of 2015.

The government on: NHS reform

Promise: We will ensure that there is a stronger voice for patients locally through directly elected individuals on the boards of their local primary care trust (PCT). The remainder of the PCT’s board will be appointed by the relevant local authority or authorities, and the Chief Executive and principal officers will be appointed by the Secretary of State on the advice of the new independent NHS board. This will ensure the right balance between locally accountable individuals and technical expertise.

Audit: In light of the abolition of PCTs, we are ensuring greater democratic legitimacy in healthcare through the transferral of responsibility for public health to local authorities. We are also introducing Health and Wellbeing Boards (within local authorities), which will set the overall strategies for healthcare in their localities.

READ: The full coalition audit

Iran’s counterweight role vis-à-vis the US sinister behavior in Latin America explains why Washington is countering Tehran’s growing influence in that strategic region, an Iranian academic says.

“For Washington and allies, Iran is not a real threat but rather an ‘axis of annoyance’, a thorn in their side, a political counterbalance to their sinister modus operandi in the region,” Ismail Salami wrote in a column for Press TV.

“Without a doubt, the influence of Iran has travelled far beyond the Middle East and has reached Latin America, a fact which has ruffled many feathers in Washington,” he added.

Salami described US President Barack Obama’s enactment in December 2012 of ‘Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012’, as “blatantly overt interference in Iran’s affairs.”

He stated that Iran’s “ever-increasing influence” might be hindering the US “political and military equations” across the globe.

Since 2005, Iran has opened six new embassies in Latin America. It now has 11 embassies and 17 cultural centers in the region.

“In recent years, the Islamic Republic has formed a solid alliance with a number of Latin American countries which have readily welcomed Iran’s goodwill gestures,” Salami noted in his article.

In reaction to the Act, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on January 1 that the US leaders are still living in the Cold War era and imagine that Latin America is still their backyard.

Iran has been seeking to expand relations with Latin American countries over the past few years, describing the endeavor as one of its important foreign policy strategies.

Major Latin American nations have also enhanced their diplomatic and trade ties with Iran in recent years, while their relations with Washington have been downgraded amid popular demands for an end to dependence on the United States.

KA/HGH/SS

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is set to host a meeting with acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo to pave the way for unity and reconciliation among the Palestinian rivals.

Official sources reported on Wednesday that Abbas and Meshaal will first “meet Egypt’s intelligence chief, before holding a three-way meeting with President Morsi.”

According to reports, Meshaal and a number of other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo, from the Qatari capital city of Doha on Tuesday for the visit.

Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official, said that Abbas was travelling to Egypt at Morsi’s invitation to join the meeting in the capital, Cairo.

Morsi also mediated a ceasefire that put an end to the Israeli regime’s deadly offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip in November, 2012.

On Monday, al-Ahmad said Abbas wants to end the political rift between Fatah and Hamas and the current ‘stalemate’ in inter-Palestinian negotiations.

On January 4, Abbas called on rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, to end their five-year-long dispute and unite during a televised speech addressing his supporters in a massive rally organized by the Fatah movement in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also expressed hope that his faction and Fatah would resolve their differences.

Hamas, who seized control of the coastal enclave from Fatah in 2007, authorized Fatah to stage the rally to mark its 48th anniversary. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City’s Saraya Square to voice their support for unity among Palestinians.

MKA/SZH

Iran is planning to present Persian passion play (Ta’zieh) conference and performance at the Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex in Tehran.

Ta’zieh program will be held to mark the rituals’ registration on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011.

Iranian National Commission for UNESCO has organized the event in collaboration with Mellat Cultural Institute and Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex.

Ta’zieh as an Iranian national and religious dramatic musical performance recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales through poetry, recitation, music, song and motion.

The traditional and folkloric play, Ta’zieh, narrates the story of martyrdom of Imam Hussain (PBUH) and his companions and their tragedy in Karbala with its own specific style and rituals.

Ta’zieh rituals symbolize the eternal and unwavering stance of truth against falsehood and humanity’s struggle against tyranny realized by Imam Hussein (PBUH).

This Persian passion play was registered on the UNESCO list during the fifth session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2011.

The 3-day event is scheduled to kick off on January 10, 2013.

FGP/FGP

Iran is planning to build a pipeline to carry natural gas to Iraq and Syria, Oil Ministry spokesman says.

“Based on agreements already reached, a 56-inch pipeline is to be laid out from Assaluyeh [near South Pars Gas Field in southern Iran] to the Iran-Iraq border to feed three Iraqi power plants running on gas,” Alireza Nikzad Rahbar said on Wednesday.

“In the near future, a trilateral meeting will be held in Baghdad between Iran, Syria and Iraq to devise the necessary plans for extending the pipeline from Iraq to Syria,” he added.

The official stated that Iraq has requested 30 million cubic meters per day (mcmpd) of natural gas from Iran in the first phase, which is scheduled to come on-stream by next summer.

Nikzad Rahbar said Syria has requested 25-30 mcmpd of gas, but the route for the extension of the pipeline from Baghdad to the Syrian border and from there into the country has not been surveyed yet.

He noted that the pipeline would be designed to deliver gas to Muslim countries like Jordan and Lebanon and that, if necessary, it could be extended to reach European countries

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in July that the Islamic Republic is expected to start exporting natural gas to Iraq by March 2013 upon the completion of the Iran-Iraq gas pipeline project.

The South Pars Gas Field, which is shared with Qatar, holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.

Iran, which sits on the world’s second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is making efforts to up its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in South Pars Gas Field.

KA/HGH/SS

British Prime Minister David Cameron has faced a fresh setback as he lost his second minister Lord Marland in as many days.

Tory business minister Lord Marland told Cameron of his resignation decision on Tuesday, January 8, a day after the departure of Lord Strathclyde as Leader of the House of Lords.

Marland, 56, said he was frustrated with the grind of Whitehall and prefers to concentrate on business career.

“He has been frustrated by the day-to-day business of government. He also wants to get back to the private sector and there isn’t the time to do that and perform all the duties of a minister at the same time”, a senior government source told The Daily Mail.

Marland’s surprise resignation decision could be seen as a sign of ongoing difficulties within the Conservative Party who spent much of last year fighting with the backbenchers.

MOS/MOL/HE

An Iranian trade official says the country’s foreign trade volume has exceeded USD73 billion in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year [started March 20, 2012].

Deputy Head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said on Wednesday that the volume of Iran’s foreign trade has exceeded USD73 billion despite the illegal US-engineered sanctions.

“Of this amount, 42 billion dollars was the import volume, which showed 8-percent fall compared to the same period last year,” He said.

The official stated that Iran’s non-petroleum exports have undergone a 28-percent growth in the first three months of the current Iranian year “despite restrictions” against the country.

Kermanshahi noted that Trade Promotion Organization of Iran support non-petroleum exports, which are essential to the country’s economic growth.

The Islamic Republic’s non-oil exports mainly include condensate, mineral fuels, chemical products, plastic products, fruits, nuts, carpets and fertilizers.

PG/HGH/SS

January 9, 2013  |  

With a temporary ceasefire declared in the war over Christmas, fundamentalist Christian conservatives are looking for other places that religion may be under attack – and one radical thinks that that place may be the military.

Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, a right-wing Christian think tank that has been classified as a hate group, has flipped out over a “wacky” new initiative being tested in U.S. military training programs. No, it’s not the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell” – it’s yoga and meditation classes.

A new Mind Fitness Training program being tested in the U.S. military has integrated yoga, breathing classes and meditation alongside other more traditional training regimes to keep soldiers calm and mentally fit and to reduce depression and use of alcohol and drugs. To Perkins, however, this new initiative is a stand-in for one’s personal relationship with God.

When he heard about the goals of the program – that yoga promotes relaxation, mental calm, productivity and restraint from substances– he exploded:

“What a coincidence—so does faith! Unfortunately, the military seems intent on driving religion out and replacing it with wacky substitutes,” he said on his morning radio program. “They’ve added atheist chaplains, Wiccan worship centers, and now, meditation classes. But none of them are as effective or as constructive as a personal relationship with God. Unfortunately, though, it’s mind over what matters—and that’s faith.”

Perhaps one shouldn’t tell Perkins this, but faith hasn’t really been keeping up its end of the bargain lately – at least as far as the mental health of service members goes. The suicide rate of active service members has skyrocketed in the last few years. In 2012, the U.S. military averaged one suicide every single day, with service members were – shockingly – more likely to commit suicide than be killed on the battlefield. 

Meanwhile, there is already a disturbing pattern of aggressive Christian proselytizing and accusations of government-sponsored prayer in major military institutions, including at West Point and the US Air Force Academy, which some say is more divisive than healing. A Yale Divinity School study voiced “concern that the overwhelmingly evangelical tone of general Protestant worship encouraged religious divisions rather than fostering understanding among basic cadets.”

On the other hand, new programs like the Mind Fitness Training program are, in part, a non-religious response to these soaring suicide rates and the recognition that, for active service members, mental health and well being is just as important as physical training.

So far, service members appear to appreciate the program.

“A lot of people thought it would be a waste of time,” Sgt. Nathan Hampton said to the Washington Post.

 “But over time, I felt more relaxed,” he continued. “I slept better. Physically, I noticed that I wasn’t tense all the time. It helps you think more clearly and decisively in stressful situations. There was a benefit.”

Unfortunately, Perkins is devoted to espousing his twisted religious doctrine, even if it threatens the health and safety of U.S. service members. How …. godly of him.

List to his whole rant:

January 9, 2013  |  

As Tim Geithner packs his bags, America will be treated to a new Treasury Secretary. It seems that Citigroup alumnus Jack Lew is President Obama’s pick. What can we expect? What sort of Secretary do we need? And what are we likely to get?

Straight from the horse’s mouth, this is how the U.S. Department of the Treasury describes its mission: 

“Maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable economic growth and stability at home and abroad, strengthen national security by combating threats and protecting the integrity of the financial system, and manage the U.S. Government’s finances and resources effectively.”

Note what the mission statement does not say: that Treasury exists only to preserve the vestiges of a crony capitalist system. Or that it’s only about saving financial players rather than enforcing the law. Or that it’s supposed to be incompetent in bailout negotiations. Yet somehow since the days of the Clinton Administration, the Treasury Secretary has morphed into the custodian of Wall Street interests, paying little or no heed to the concerns of Main Street on matters of economic growth or employment. This new-fangled Secretary tends to ignore the mandate to establish a genuinely stable financial system. It’s all about papering over cracks and simply setting us up for a bigger financial crisis down the road.

If one is to judge from the discussions of the likely new Treasury Secretary, it appears that nothing will change. It is sadly ironic that the last person to occupy this office who cared at all about US interests outside of finance was James Baker.  Even under the Presidency of George W. Bush, Enron executives were jailed, yet over the past few years we have read much of widespread criminality and a total disregard for ethics and values. Led by Treasury, however, the authorities have seen fit to go soft on the banks and will prosecute only a few rogue traders when it seems many were involved. The point is that we are not talking about the isolated act of a rogue trader or two. Criminality and greed is embedded in the culture of the financial sector and only major reform will get rid of it. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration, largely through the actions (or non-actions) of Tim Geithner, has been a major impediment to adopting the kinds of reforms that would allow the Treasury genuinely to fulfil its mission statement.

We have a financial system today in which the volume of financial transactions in the global economy is 73.5 times higher than the entire world economic output (GDP). The overall increase in financial trading is exclusively due to the spectacular boom of the derivatives markets. Most of the financial flows comprise wealth-shuffling speculation, transactions which have nothing to do with the facilitation of trade in real goods and services across national boundaries, as economist Bill Mitchell has noted.

In fact, we’ve really done nothing but tread water economically since the onset of the Great Recession of 2008.  In the United States, financial institutions are still failing and as of May 2012, a whopping 441 FDIC-insured banks had failed. The employment-population ratio has dropped sharply. Nine million jobs were lost from the peak of January 2008 and, at the current pace of sluggish job creation, it will take at least seven and half years to regain them; only in the Great Depression did it take longer for employment to recover in the U.S. Worldwide, as of May 2012, fifty million jobs are still missing compared to the pre-2008 crisis. According to the International Labor Organization, they are not expected to be regained until late 2016.

The coalition government’s plans to cut the value of benefits payments will hit half of British working households, according to a government body’s analysis.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said about 7 million working households will have their incomes slashed by the benefits cap introduced by the Chancellor George Osborne.

The think-tank’s analysis also warned that the legislation would affect far more working households than workless ones as child benefits, maternity pay, and low pay tax credits are included in the cap.

The IFS’s announced the benefits crackdown “exposes the poorest to inflation risk” if prices increase unexpectedly in future.

This is while that, Osborne claimed in his last month’s autumn statement that the plans are to guarantee that “families out of work will not get more than the average family gets for being in work”.

The new IFS findings contradict the Chancellor’s stated intention of being fair to hard-working people as the plan will hit a whole range of Britain’s professions.

MOS/MOL/HE

More than 50 people injured after ferry crashes into New York pier (Still from ABC video)

More than 50 people were injured after a ferry crashed into a New York pier. One of the injured is reportedly in critical condition.

The ferry from New Jersey made a hard landing while docking in lower Manhattan during Wednesday morning rush hour.

Emergency workers carried the injured off in flat-board stretchers, their heads and necks immobilized.

Around a dozen passengers strapped to stretchers were spread out on the dock, with emergency workers tending to them.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Still from ABC video

Still from ABC video

Context: As yet there are no context links for this item.

Transcript

PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay in Baltimore.

President Obama announced his nominations for the new secretary of defense and director of the CIA, Chuck Hagel at defense and John Brennan for the CIA. Now joining us to discuss these appointments is Ray McGovern. Ray is a former CIA analyst for several decades. He’s a prolific writer, does many things, including he’s an often-contributor to The Real News. Thanks for joining us, Ray. So let’s start with Chuck Hagel at Defense. You wrote a piece for The Baltimore Sun where you thought it would be a good idea for President Obama to select Hagel, and he did. But why did you think that would be a good idea?RAY MCGOVERN, CIA AGENT (RET.): Well, in short, Paul, Hagel is no chickenhawk. He volunteered to go to Vietnam at the worst of the fighting, wounded twice. He’d been there, done that. Okay? And he’s been very, very upfront about his reluctance or anyone’s reluctance should be to send U.S. troops into battle for no good reason.JAY: And chickenhawk, for those that don’t know, although I suppose everybody does, is somebody who sits in Washington ordering other people to go fight.MCGOVERN: That’s exactly right. Or you could go back to George W. Bush, who, you know, his daddy got him a job with the Texas National Guard because expressly, explicitly George Bush said he didn’t want to go to Vietnam. Or you look at Dick Cheney, with five deferments. How many deferments do you think Joe Biden had? Five. Okay? So you’ve got a bunch of people that have no direct experience in war. That is really important. Chuck Hagel would be the first person with combat experience to be secretary of defense in 30 years. Mel Laird was the first one. He was a naval–he was a midshipman.JAY: Okay. You would think with this kind of a record it would be a rather popular choice. He’s a Republican. You would think Republicans would embrace him. But as we know, far from embracing him, there’s a campaign to block this nomination. In fact, there’s already a lobby group been formed with lots of money to take out ads against Hagel. Apparently there’s been some website created specifically just to attack Hagel. So what’s getting them all riled up?MCGOVERN: Well, Paul, Hagel has not been sufficiently passionately attached to Israel. He said some things that have really rubbed some noses out of joint. For example, he had the temerity to say that I am the American senator, not an Israeli senator. Oh. Now, on the face of that, you know, who could object to that? Well, there’s an awful lot of people, like the felon Elliot Abrams, who I heard at NPR yesterday saying that Hagel was anti-Semitic. He’s anti-Semitic because he’s the senator from the U.S. [crosstalk]JAY: Well, no, they say he’s anti-Semitic ’cause he talked about the Jewish lobby and not the Israel lobby. He used the–he didn’t say Zionist or Israel; he said Jewish.MCGOVERN: Yeah. Well, okay. So he said that. The problem really is that these folks–they’re called the neocons–these folks who have real difficulty distinguishing between the objective aims or the strategic aims of Israel on the one hand and the strategic needs of the United States on the other, those are the people that think that Hagel might decide that contrary to even what the president has said in terms of marching in lockstep with Israel, that Hagel might say, wait a second, wait a second, does this really make sense. I mean, Mr. President, I know you said before the Super Bowl last year that your primary objective is the defense of the United States, and also Israel; I think we should give the United States a separate sentence this year and say, your primary objective is to secure the United States, and then if you want to add as a second sentence, “And we’re also interested in defending Israel,” that’ll be alright. But people need to know that you’re interested first and foremost in U.S. policy toward the Middle East bereft of any passionate attachment, the kind of attachment that George Washington himself warned against in his–.JAY: It’s a very interesting appointment by Obama, because he had to know the pressure that was going to be brought to bear against him on this. He knew that the Likud, the right-wing party in power in Israel, and their allies in AIPAC and the lobby group in the United States and all the senators and members of the House, he knew this was going to be not very well liked, and he did it anyway.MCGOVERN: Yeah, and that’s a very good sign, Paul. It shows that there’s a little bit of maybe a spine implant that Obama has gotten over Christmas. This is big. Last year was really a rollercoaster with respect to U.S.-Israeli relations. In February, as I already said, Obama’s saying, we’re going to march in lockstep with Israel. Israel is equal foot in terms of our determination to defend it. Come around September, come around late August, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is saying, I don’t want to be complicit if the Israelis attack Iran. Hillary Clinton is saying, you know, these red lines about Netanyahu, that’s BS; we’re not interested in that. And the president is saying, sorry, I have to be on The View on TV. I can’t meet with you, Netanyahu, when you come to the United States. There was a sea change there. Obama faced them down. Now, this appointment, which I dearly feared would be in jeopardy because of all this opposition, Obama stood by it. And that speaks volumes. It means that the second part of 2012 is the continuity here and not the blind, the blind support of whatever Netanyahu does, including the settlements that keep going on with just verbal opposition from the United States. But that’s the thing of the past, that this is a new era, and Hagel’s going to make some changes.JAY: Well, we don’t know yet whether there’s any change in terms of Obama and pressure on Israel vis-à-vis settlements and resolution with the Palestinians and two-state issues and those kinds of questions. What we do know from Obama’s history–and if you look at what he said about the Iraq War, he opposed the Iraq War not because he’s against projecting U.S. power all over the world; he just thought it was a stupid war, the Iraq War. And I think what this is telling us is he thinks an attack on Iran would be stupid and doesn’t want to do it. It doesn’t mean he’s against projecting U.S. power. And you can see this from his second appointment of John Brennan–the guy he’s been sitting with choosing who to kill with drones is now head of the CIA.MCGOVERN: Well, you’re right about that. But, you know, he also realizes now, four years later, that Afghanistan is a fool’s errand and he needs support in the Senate to contend with the backsniping that is already occurring about losing Afghanistan. So the Iran thing is crucial. And Hagel is one of the last people that would think that we could send U.S. service people into war with Iran simply because Israel started it or simply because Israel wanted us to do it. So that is big. Okay?Now, with respect to projecting power, you know, there’s only a limited amount of power you can project. And what we’re seeing now is a retrenchment. You know the problems here in this country. I think Obama will be helped by Hagel in sort of delimiting the defense budget, which is going out of all proportion to the threats that Americans face.JAY: I guess my point is I think it’s a rational, it’s a good thing that Hagel’s there, because–I don’t know if people on The Real News have heard me say this; I’ve been saying it informally right from the first day Obama was president, that the one thing I was actually hopeful for is he might be more rational on Iran than the Republicans would be. I didn’t have a lot of expectations otherwise. And I think this Hagel appointment is that. But when you look at Brennan going to the CIA, does it not mean sort of an expansion of this drone assassination program?MCGOVERN: Sure. Now, Paul, just one little footnote about Hagel. Hagel has served on the president’s foreign intelligence advisory board. That is key. He knows intelligence back and forth. And he knows very well that in November 2007, the entire intelligence community pronounced itself unanimously and with great confidence that Iran had stopped building a nuclear weapon at the end of 2003. And that judgment has been revalidated every year since by the director of national intelligence. I think Hagel will be able to use that cudgel against the neocons, say, why do we have to attack a country that’s not building nuclear weapons. So that’s a key thing. You’re right to focus on Iran. I’m more hopeful now than I would have been if the president had sort of caved again and [crosstalk]JAY: Alright. So what do you make of the John Brennan appointment as director of the CIA?MCGOVERN: Well, I wish I could be more optimistic, Paul. I know Brennan. I know him as a young sort of failed analyst. The way you promote yourself these days at Washington is you find a job in the White House and catch the attention of people like George Tenet, who was at the White House. And Tenet brought him back when Tenet became deputy CIA director, brought him back to CIA and made him into what he is today. He even sent him to Saudi Arabia to be a chief of station. Now, Brennan pretends to know Arabic. He can say Abdulmutallab just really good–I’ll practice that: Abdulmutallab. Okay? So when he goes before the press and he says “Abdulmutallab,” that’s very impressive. But when Helen Thomas asks him, why do they hate us, why did they do these things, why did Abdulmutallab try to knock down that plane over Deroit, he says, they’re hardwired to hate us. It’s their religion. Helen says, oh, so it’s the–. Well, it’s not the religion; it’s the way–I–they just hate us, they hate us, and they’re a danger to our homeland.Now, either Brennan is dumb (and that’s possible, you know) or he’s really sold out to the people who are profiteering on these unending wars. Right? Why would you continue to press these things? Pakistan has 175 million people. What are we doing? We’re alienating hundreds of them every day with these drone strikes. They also have nuclear weapons. So, you know, it doesn’t make any sense, unless–.JAY: Well, just to refresh everybody’s memory here, Brennan sits in the White House with President Obama deciding who they’re going to kill with drones. He helps draw up the kill list. Is that correct?MCGOVERN: That’s right. Yeah. That’s pretty confirmed now. You know, picture it. Now, I’ve been in the White House. I used to brief there. But, you know, my picture is Brennan comes in on Tuesday, ’cause that’s the day they do the kill list, and he says, Mr. President, we have 13 here, here are the names, can you sign off on this. And Obama looks at him, and he says, well, number three–didn’t you tell me last week number three has three small kids? Well, yes, Mr. President, but we know, we know he’s a suspected militant, we know. So, well, look, take three, put him in–let’s do three next week, and let’s just do 12 this week. Sign off. And then he goes–Barack Obama goes to have a nice lunch with his wife.Give me a break. That’s what goes on in the White House now. You know, that’s almost as bad as Condoleeza Rice presiding over demonstrations of enhanced interrogation techniques, which were also done at the White House.JAY: And this was more or less leaked to The New York Times, right? It’s not like you’re speculating. The New York Times kind of described these meetings.MCGOVERN: Well, yeah. This was when the White House saw some incentive in showing the president to be a tough guy like Brennan, you know. I know Brennan. He’s from northern New Jersey. He’s a tough guy. When he says, yeah, we do this without due process, well, don’t be stupid here. We do due process right here in the White House. That’s how we do due process now. Eric Holder says so. Give me a break. That’s the kind of mentality you have there. And what really, really is missing here: where’s the legal profession in this country? You know? Due process means the judiciary, it means the courts. And here they’re letting these people get away with saying no, no, we do due process here in the White House. It’s unconscionable.JAY: So what does it mean for the CIA? Any changes from the way it’s acting?MCGOVERN: Well, Paul, as you know, there are two CIAs, one the analysis CIA that Truman envisaged and set up. That’s the one I worked in, and that’s the one that prevented a war with Iran–that’s no exaggeration, with that estimate saying they had stopped working on a nuclear weapon in 2003. That one still has some people of integrity in it. The other one that Truman never envisaged, this operational, you know, covert actions sort of thing, well, they’re riding high. They’re flying drones all over the place. And Brennan can be expected to enhance the military capabilities that really should not belong in the CIA. And Truman said so before he died.JAY: And now President Obama has his guy controlling those drones. So in a sense it’s an extension of the drone program and what they’ve been doing together.MCGOVERN: I think Obama, you know, has a certain confidence in Brennan that he has in nobody else. I hope it’s not a misplaced confidence. Brennan’s a pretty treacherous guy, and I think the way Obama looks at the CIA is, if he has his own man controlling the CIA, Brennan, that there’s less danger that the CIA will play games, less prospect that the CIA will get involved in the kinds of things against John F. Kennedy that happened then.JAY: Thanks for joining us, Ray.MCGOVERN: Most welcome.JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.

End

DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.

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Ilya Kovalchuk, player of the Russian national hockey team (RIA Novosti/Grigoriy Sokolov)

Ilya Kovalchuk will entertain the Chelyabinsk crowd at this weekend’s KHL All-Star game. The New Jersey star forward has decided to stay in Russia at least until Sunday despite an unofficial end to the NHL lockout.

He was supposed to appear in the Russian Urals city of Chelyabinsk together with other prominent NHLers including the likes of Zdeno Chara, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeny Malkin and Alex Ovechkin.

But all of them headed to North America for pre-season training soon after Sunday’s talks breakthrough between the NHL and the players association.

Meanwhile, Kovalchuk is taking his time. “Will I stay in Russia? We’ll see. Time will tell. We shouldn’t rule it out,” he says.

Last December, the 29 year old was included in the Western Conference All-Stars team, and despite the other All-Stars on contracts with NHL clubs having already been replaced, the KHL pledges Kovalchuk will take part.

Kovalchuk, who has scored 18 goals and made 22 assists in 35 games with conference-leading SKA this season, says that he is fully entitled to stay in Russia because the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement has yet to be signed.

In the early morning hours on Tuesday, a ship carrying two Patriot anti-missile systems set out from the northeastern German seaport Lübeck-Travemü nde for Turkey. A separate convoy of German soldiers was expected to fly later in the day from the Dutch city of Eindhoven, along with Dutch troops, where they will prepare for the defense systems’ arrival in several weeks.

Germany, the Netherlands and the US agreed to deploy the defense systems in reponse to a request for NATO assistance.. .along its border with Syria. They are the only three members of the Western military alliance that have the most advanced models of the Patriots, which are designed to intercept enemy missiles or aircraft.
DW.DE

NATO approved the military assistance in early December…

“Turkey is a NATO member, it is obvious that we will stand by our allies,” said [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel.

Germany has said it plans to deploy just under 400 troops in the coming weeks.

kms/rg (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Czech News Agency
January 7, 2013

Czechs to leave for NATO mission on Turkish-Syrian border

Prague: Four Czech military specialists will leave for a NATO mission on the Turkish-Syrian border on Thursday to protect Turkey against the Syrian regime, server Lidovky.cz wrote Monday.

Signallers from north Moravia will ensure connection between the operation command and units.

The Czechs will leave for Turkey with Slovaks and Poles from the 3rd NATO communication battalion.

Soldiers from several NATO countries will take part in the mission. U.S., German and Dutch Patriot missile systems will be deployed to protect the Turkish border land.

Four three-month rotations of specialists are planned for this year. It is expected that NATO will ask the Czech Republic to participate in each of them, the server wrote.

The signallers’ mission is yet to be approved by the government.

Government spokesman Michal Schuster said the point is not on the agenda of the government’s Wednesday meeting, Lidovky.cz wrote.

The EU’s Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn (AFP Photo/Georges Gobet)

The eurozone is unlikely to split anytime soon, but the countries should push forward structural reforms to bring the region’s economy back on track, says EU Commissioner Olli Rehn.

­“The danger of the eurozone’s split is over,” European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn told Germany’s Tageszeitung. “But we shouldn’t be off guard”. He stressed the eurozone should continue its austerity policy. “Achieving economic growth is our major concern, so we must implement structural reforms to ensure it,” he said. “Fiscal consolidation should be implemented at the early momentum”.

Many experts, even euro-skeptics, agree the situation in the debt-troubled member countries is now under better control. “The risks facing the eurozone have been reduced since the summer,” Nouriel Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business wrote in an article for Project Syndicate in December.

The European Central Bank’s “outright monetary transactions” program was very effective, bringing interest-rate yields for Spain and Italy down by 250 points, Roubini explained.

But most important, Germany’s attitude toward the eurozone has changed, Roubini wrote. “German officials now understand that, given extensive trade and financial links, a disorderly eurozone hurts not just the periphery but the core. They have stopped making public statements about a possible Greek exit, and just supported a third bailout package for the country”

However, experts warn that the risks for the currency union still exist and could it fail in the near future, despite all the efforts.

“2013 may not be the year the eurozone falls apart completely — but within the next 5-8 years, I see a serious and complete retrenching of the “have” economies versus the “have-nots” in the region, which results in a “re-imagining” of the eurozone,” economic expert Margaret Bogenrief from ACM Partners told RT. “I don’t just see Greece, Italy, and Spain leaving the Euro — but also Portugal and Ireland. In short, one country “leaves,” and the dam will be “broken”.

So far the indebted member countries are determined to continue harsh austerity reforms throughout 2013 in effort to return their debt to sustainable levels.

Pres. Obama just made a hideous appointment.

He replaced the disgraced David Petraeus at the CIA with John Brennan, Dr. Drone.

This is a hideous appointment.

Brennan, as Obama’s counterterrorism czar, has overseen the massive proliferation of our drone warfare.

He’s called it “ethical and just,” and he even went so far as to say that the United States hadn’t killed a single civilian in over almost a year’s span of drone attacks.

That might be because he and the Administration claimed that any adult male killed by a drone was de facto a member of a terrorist group.

In any event, the drone attacks actually have killed hundreds and hundreds of innocent people — and not just men – in Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, enflaming hatred against us. The next issue of The Progressive is carrying an article by a reporter who went to North Waziristan and actually talked to family members who lost loved ones to drones.

One man, Wakil Khan, lost his wife and three children. “May God curse the U.S.A. because they don’t differentiate between the innocent and the guilty,” he said.

One of the leading opposition figures in Pakistan, Imran Khan, the cricketer turned politician, bases much of his campaign on opposition to drones.

In Yemen, the effect of drones is similarly counterproductive.

“Testimonies from Qaeda fighters and interviews I and local journalists have conducted across Yemen attest to the centrality of civilian casualties in explaining Al Qaeda’s rapid growth there. The United States is killing women, children and members of key tribes,” wrote Gregory D. Johnsen in an op-ed in The New York Times in November.

Johnsen, the author of “The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia,” quoted one Yemeni as saying: “Each time they kill a tribesman, they create more fighters for Al Qaeda.”

“Living Under Drones,” a recent report by Stanford Law School and NYU Law School, “provides new and firsthand testimony about the negative impacts US policies are having on the civilians living under drones.”

It cites one journalistic source as saying that U.S. drones have killed 176 children in Pakistan alone.

And the report concludes that drone attacks “undermine respect for the rule of law and international legal protections and may set dangerous precedents.”

One dangerous precedent is the killing of U.S. citizens by our own government, which Brennan justifies. He saw nothing wrong with the killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki, the alleged Al Qaeda propagandist and conspirator, in a drone strike that also killed another U.S. citizen, Samir Khan, a young editor of an allegedly pro-Al Qaeda publication. But Brennan has no justification for the killing of Al-Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, an American citizen who loved the Simpsons. A U.S. drone wiped out young Abdulrahman two weeks after his father and Khan were killed. The ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights have a case pending against the U.S. government simply to get an accounting of its actions in these three American deaths.

And as Glenn Greenwald pointed out shortly after Obama won the Presidency the first time,

Brennan “was an ardent supporter of torture and one of the most emphatic advocates of FISA expansions and telecom immunity.”

John Brennan is a liar, and he’s a dangerous man. And now he has only more power to be dangerous.

The policy of unrelenting austerity adopted by the European political elite has driven up unemployment across the continent to record levels, as shown in data released Tuesday by the Eurostat statistics agency.

Unemployment in the 17 European countries that make up the euro zone rose in November to 11.8 percent, with the number of jobless workers hitting 18.8 million. This is the highest figure since the single currency was introduced in 1999.

Euro zone unemployment rose by 0.1 percent compared to the previous month and was up by 1.2 percent from November 2011. Joblessness across the 27 members of the European Union was 10.7 percent and topped 26 million for the first time.

The biggest increases in unemployment have occurred in those European countries that have been selected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union for economic shock treatment. Joblessness in Greece soared to 26 percent in September, an increase of over 7 percent from September of 2011. The European leader for unemployment, however, is the continent’s fourth largest economy, Spain, where 26.6 percent of the work force was registered as unemployed in November.

Commenting on the latest European statistics, the chief economist at the British Institute of Directors, Graeme Leach, said, “It is clear that the economic implosion of several member states continues at a troubling pace… The headline figures spell bad news, but that is compounded by the political and human impact of terrifying levels of youth unemployment in Spain, Greece and Italy.”

According to the Eurostat figures, youth unemployment is currently hovering around 50 percent in Greece and Spain and topping 30 percent in Italy. All of the leading economic indicators point to a worsening of the economic situation in Europe and a further increase in unemployment in 2013.

The bald statistics fail to reveal the enormous suffering and despair gripping tens of millions of families across the continent. The inevitable consequence of record levels of unemployment is levels of poverty in some of the most developed economies of Europe on a scale unseen since the 1930s.

In a recent report, the Oxfam Aid charity warned that the austerity measures introduced by the Spanish government at the end of last year, which include severe cuts to unemployment benefits, could drive the number of people categorized as living in poverty to 18 million, or 40 percent of the population, over the next 10 years.

In Greece, more than a third of the population now lives below the poverty line, according to official estimates. Soup kitchens have become commonplace in major cities, and bartering communities have been established in parts of the country to enable the income-less poor to exchange commodities.

At the end of January, a series of cuts to the incomes of pensioners and civil servants will take effect as part of the latest cuts package approved by the government in Athens. Many workers’ incomes, which have already declined by 40 percent in recent years, will fall further.

Aliki Mouriki, a sociologist at the National Centre for Social Research, warns of the political consequences of the austerity policies imposed by the EU and IMF: “Joblessness will continue to grow, the recession will get worse, more businesses will close. The big question is who will survive?… Anger and despair are building up… unless people see a way out of this deplorable situation there will be an explosion.”

In fact, mass unemployment and widespread poverty have been factored in by the European ruling elite in the course of drawing up plans for what one economic commentator has described as “perma-austerity.”

At the end of the year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that when it came to determining the wages and social conditions of European workers, China was the bench mark. A huge army of unemployed living on the brink of destitution is being created in order to push down the wages of those still employed and achieve the levels of super-exploitation found in the free trade zones of China. The extremes of social devastation and poverty prevailing in Greece, Spain and Italy are to be exported across the entire continent.

Merkel’s own government is drawing up plans for the introduction of drastic austerity measures in Germany in 2014, following federal elections this autumn. The recent adoption of the German debt brake, which strictly limits levels of debt, will force all other euro zone countries to take the same path.

Outside the euro zone, British Chancellor Cameron has made clear that the Westminster government intends to maintain its own program of “fiscal pain” until at least 2018. Not least among the cuts planned for this year by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is the introduction of a ceiling for welfare payments, which will mean massive cuts to the incomes of the poorest layers of society.

All of these attacks across the continent have been made possible by the compliance of the trade unions, which support the policy of the European ruling class of slashing workers’ wages and conditions to close the labor exploitation gap with China.

Context: As yet there are no context links for this item.

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Russian and US diplomats are expected to meet with UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Geneva to discuss a solution to end Syria’s months-long unrest, report says.

“The trilateral meeting between (Russian Deputy Foreign Minister) Mikhail Bogdanov, (US Deputy Secretary of State) William Burns, and Lakhdar Brahimi has been planned for [Friday] January 11 in Geneva,” Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying on Wednesday.

The three diplomats first met in Geneva on December 9.

On December 30, 2012, Brahimi unveiled a new plan that “could be adopted by the international community” to end the crisis in Syria.

The UN envoy said he had discussed the plan with Russia and Syria, and that it was a political solution based on the Geneva Declaration adopted in June.

Under the Geneva plan, opposing sides would cease fighting and a transitional body would be formed until elections are held.

On December 29, Brahimi also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow over the unrest in Syria.

Brahimi’s previous attempt to secure a temporary truce in Syria for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in October failed after militants refused to follow the ceasefire.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

SAB/SZH

The UK’s military and economic and industrial assets are at risk of being “fatally compromised” by cyber attack because the government has not fully grasped “the opportunities and vulnerabilities that” the cyber world presents, say MPs.

­The potential vulnerability of vital UK assets must be urgently addressed, a report compiled by the Commons Defense Select Committee, released Wednesday says.

Some recent examples of high profile cyber attacks on British interests include the leaking of thousands of email addresses and encrypted passwords, including 221 military officials, 242 NATO staff, and staff from the Joint Intelligence Organization, as well as the loss of 800 million pounds (US$1.28 billion) in revenue by a British company following cyber attacks by a foreign state.

The MPs also highlighted worrying gaps in strategy saying it was unclear exactly who would be in charge if the UK came under sustained cyber attack.

They also expressed alarm that the MoD and the British military were now totally reliant on cyber systems for communication and that the technology upon which they rely has no proven back-up.

“The evidence we received leaves us concerned that with the armed forces now so dependent on information and communications technology, should such systems suffer a sustained cyber attack, their ability to operate could be fatally compromised,” the committee warned.

An unmanned official told the Independent in December last year that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) was under almost daily attack.

The MPs delivered a scathing attack on the government’s cyber-crime strategy, concluding, “The government needs to put in place —as it has not yet done — mechanisms, people, education, skills, thinking and policies.”

While they said the MoD had done a lot to secure its own systems, they expressed concern that other companies and organizations which work with the military on a daily basis, such as the firms that overhaul fighter jets, were often vulnerable to cyber-attack and this gave a “backdoor” route into the MoD.

Witnesses that the MPs talked to seemed to give “the impression that they believed an admission of the problem took them close to resolving the problem, it does not,” the report stated.

“It is not enough for the armed forces to do their best to prevent an attack…the government should set out details of the contingency plans it has in place should such an attack occur. If it has none, it should say so — and urgently create some,” the MPs said in a withering critique of the status quo.

Culprits hard to prove

Professor Paul Cornish, a professor in international security at the university of Bath and a contributor to the report, believes the nature of the cyber threat has, “blurred between military and civilian, and between the physical and the virtual; power can be exerted by states or non-state actors, or by proxy. Cyberspace has made it possible for non-state actors, commercial organizations and even individuals to acquire the means and motivation for warlike activity.”

The UK government has refused to publicly blame the countries it considers to be most likely responsible for carrying out cyber attacks, but MP’s drew on evidence given by the Security Community and GCHQ.

They said that, “The greatest threat of electronic attack continues to be posed by state actors and of those, Russia and China, are [suspected of carrying out] the majority of attacks. Their targets are in government as well as in industry.”

Although the report notes that the main purpose of these attacks is espionage and the acquisition of information, rather than to disrupt activities.

Aleksandr Gostev, chief virus analyst at Kaspersky Labs, told RT that such practices are commonplace amongst the major global powers, although all the evidence points to China as the most active player in this field.

“There are two main types of Chinese hackers, freelance teams who sell their information to anyone including the government, and specifically-assembled government operations, who have a specific task and target,” said Gostev.

He explained that as well as stealing technology one of the main targets of these cyber attacks is “ ‘mapping’ — finding weak spots in an existing security network, so that a serious attack can be carried out at a later time.”

The UK’s Cyber Security Strategy admits that the nature of the “borderless and anonymous nature of the internet, [makes] precise attribution difficult and the distinction between adversaries is increasingly blurred.”

But Jim Murphy, the shadow defense secretary, warned the report was worrying.

“Policy progress is falling behind the pace of the threat the armed forces face. Vulnerabilities must be tackled urgently and minsters must respond in detail to the demands in this report,” he told The Guardian.

Taxpayer cash funneled into cyber wars

The government, however, insists it is not being complacent.

“The MoD takes the protection of our systems extremely seriously and has a range of contingency plans to defend against increasingly sophisticated attacks,” Andrew Murrison, the minister for international security strategy at the MoD, told The Guardian.

As a result of the strategic defense and security review (SDSR) the coalition made cyber security a priority, setting aside 650 million pounds ($1.04 billion) to bolster the UK’s defenses, support online safety campaigns and boost investment at GCHQ, the government’s electronic eavesdropping center.

The MPs’ report draws on observations of former US Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn, who wrote that in cyberspace it is always the offense that has the upper hand.

“The internet was designed to be collaborative and rapidly expandable and to have low barriers to technological innovation; security and identity management were lower [priority] policies.”

Still from YouTube video/mchsMogilev

A cat has been rescued by the powers of a Russian social network after a video of him locked in a car went viral and reached the vehicle’s owner.

­The poor creature spent at least four days locked in the car in the Belarusian city of Mogilev. Throughout this time activists put a lot of effort to rescue the furry prisoner.

Under the country’s law neither police nor emergency services could open the car without permission from the owner, who did not show up to his ride for days.

The desperate kitty was first spotted by those passing the car every day. Realizing the cat must have been locked in the vehicle for days, a group of self-organized activists started a rescue operation.

First they put signs all over the car urging the owner to unlock it and “to release the kitten.”

Then someone made a video of the kitten and uploaded it to one of the most popular Russian social networks, Odnoklassniki (Classmates), which is also extensively used in Belarus.

The video went viral and the missing owner was at last found. The man immediately went to rescue the kitten.

The owner confessed that he had not used the car for a about a month ever since some troubles occurred. Through all this time it was parked on the same spot and locked.

It is not known how the cat managed to slip into the locked vehicle.

Still from YouTube video/mchsMogilev

A new study suggests that blood pressure drugs, beta blockers in particular, can protect brain against changes linked to Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.

There is a link between the use of all types of high blood pressure treatments and fewer signs of dementia, according to preliminary data presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in San Diego on January 7, 2013.

Researchers analyzed the brains of 774 elderly Japanese-American men after their death who had taken part in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study from 1991 to 2012.

They studied 610 men who had high blood pressure and were being treated for high blood pressure with different prescribed medicines.

The study also looked at the relationship between brain lesions at autopsy with beta-blocker treatment compared with other antihypertensive drugs, according to Dr. Lon White of the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute in Honolulu and colleagues.

Some 15 percent of men had taken beta blockers alone and 18 percent had received beta blockers along with another high blood pressure medication while the rest had been given other blood pressure drugs.

The study revealed that all types of high blood pressure and hypertension medicines were effective in protecting the brain against abnormalities, though beta-blockers alone were superior to other forms of treatment.

The result indicated that those men who had received beta blockers as their only blood pressure drug had less brain atrophy or other abnormalities compared with those who had not been treated, or those who had been given other high blood pressure medicines.

FGP/FGP

Pakistan has once again denied India’s allegations with regards to the killing of two Indian soldiers during a recent border attack in Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that India’s claim is propaganda to divert attention from the attack by Indian troops, which killed one Pakistani soldier on Sunday.

“Pakistan is prepared to hold investigations through the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan on the recent cease-fire violations on the Line of Control,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry added.

Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 60 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.

Despite a 2003 cease-fire along the Line of Control, the area still witnesses violence by both sides.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar also said Wednesday that Islamabad is appalled at the statements made by India, noting that they could ask the United Nations observers to do investigation on the matter.

The comments come as India has summoned Pakistan’s envoy to New Delhi to protest to the killing of two Indian soldiers.

Two Indian soldiers were killed when a battle broke out in Kashmir on Tuesday. According to military sources, an Indian patrol was ambushed by Pakistani soldiers in southern Kashmir’s Mendhar sector, 173 kilometers (107 miles) west of Jammu.

Indian authorities say the body of one of the soldiers was “badly mutilated.”

The Tuesday border clashes came after Pakistan said one of its forces had been killed in the area.

On January 6, Islamabad said Indian troops had crossed the de facto border in Kashmir called the Line of Control, storming a military checkpoint. Pakistani officials added that one soldier had been killed and another injured.

TNP/SZH/SS

A social and political rights movement of Indigenous people is rising across Canada and making international headlines. Protests by the ‘Idle No More’ movement began last month and continue to grow.

The movement has rallied daily across the country in shopping malls, at U.S. border crossings and on major railway lines. Three days ago, it compelled Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to climb down from his refusal to meet with Indigenous leaders to discuss the very deep concerns of Indigenous people. He has agreed to meet a delegation on Friday, January 11. It remains to be seen if anything will issue from this gathering, but it is a significant political victory nonetheless. Protests will continue in the meantime, including an international day of solidarity action called for the day of the planned meeting. (See the Facebook event here.)

The social conditions and concerns that have given rise to this movement in Canada are strikingly similar to those in Haiti. In both cases, a long history of political interference, violations of national sovereignty and failed or harmful social policies are sparking firestorms of protest.

Omnibus Legislation Bulldozes Democratic Consultation

Two overriding concerns have sparked the Idle No More movement. One is the “omnibus” federal budget legislation, Bill C-45, that was approved by the Conservative Party-controlled Parliament and Senate last month.

Bill C-45 significantly amends laws in ways that further degrade sovereign and social rights of Indigenous peoples as well as the natural environment. The amended laws include the Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Canada Labour Code.

“Bill C-45 will not be enforced or recognized by First Nations,” declared a December 14 statement by the Chiefs of Ontario Political Confederacy. The statement echoes Indigenous opinion right across the country. The Confederacy includes the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Anishinabek Nation, Grand Council Treaty No. 3, Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians and Independent First Nations. These sovereign bodies represent 250,000 people.

Ontario Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Stan Beardy, a signator of the statement, commented on the adoption of C-45 in saying, “The Canadian government just gave birth to a monster.”

Indigenous leaders are also sounding the alarm about a further wave of legislated changes that the federal government is pressing forward. These would deeply alter the funding and management of education and fundamentally degrade communal property laws and traditions on Indigenous territories.

Housing and Social Rights Uprising

The second spark to the Indigenous uprising is the calamitous social conditions on most Aboriginal territories. One community in northern Ontario, Attawapiskat, has come to symbolize the calamity. It blasted into national news headlines more that one year ago when its leaders declared a state of emergency over the chronic lack of housing, potable water, economic development and other social woes. Years of failure by the federal government to adequately fund social services in that community created conditions where some individuals and families were living year-round in tents or in construction trailers converted into single room dormitories.

One member of Parliament as well as national media undertook to report and publicize the deplorable conditions at Attawapiskat. The emergency declaration and resulting publicity galvanized similar, unresolved grievances right across the country.

Notwithstanding government promises one year ago to begin to address the concerns at Attawapiskat, next to nothing was done. So last month, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence began a hunger strike in Ottawa that has made national and international headlines.

The key demand of her hunger strike has been that the federal government undertake meaningful discussion with Indigenous leaders to address longstanding and deepgoing concerns. She will be in attendance at the January 11 meeting but has warned there may not yet be enough pressure on the government to bring about meaningful policy changes, the problems are so widespread and long-standing. That’s why protests are continuing unabated.

For example, more than 2,000 people from north-central Manitoba are still living in makeshift housing in the city of Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba, almost two years after their communities were deliberately flooded in order to divert spring, snow melt water from the capital.

In a 2006 report, the International Housing Coalition cited estimates by the Assembly of First Nations that 80,000 housing units are needed in Canada’s 630 Indigenous communities. According to the 2001 Canadian census, 54 per cent of housing units on Indigenous territories were substandard. Many of those were a danger to human health.

According to the National Aboriginal Housing Association (NAHA), one in five non-reservation, Aboriginal households are in core need of housing, compared to one in eight in the general population. In 2006, Aboriginal people made up 0.5 per cent of the population of Toronto but 26 per cent of its homeless. In Edmonton in 2008, the corresponding figures were five per cent and 40 per cent.

NAHA represents non-reserve Aboriginals. According to the 2006 census in Canada, 60 per cent of the Indigenous and Metis population of some 1.2 million (four per cent of the population of the country) are urban residents. Many have moved to urban settings to escape the dire poverty prevalent on most Indigenous territories.

Drinking water contamination and proper sanitation are also critical concerns in many Indigenous communities. In November 2011, CBC News reported on a federal government-commissioned assessment of water and sewer services on reserves that was released in April 2011. It looked at the water and sewer systems of 571 First Nations with 112,836 dwellings and a total population of 484,321. Thirty nine per cent of systems examined were deemed “high risk” to human health.

Mirror of Haiti

The parallels between Canada’s failure to adequately assist in housing its Indigenous population and the inadequacies and failings of its post-2010 earthquake aid to Haiti are striking. In Haiti, too, popular demands for a meaningful housing policy and for clean water and sanitation systems have been ignored and, as a result, protests are on the rise. Close to 400,000 Haitians are still living in harsh, displaced person tent camps with next to no services. Hundreds of thousands more have crammed into damaged buildings, into the homes of friends and relatives, or into informal shelter settlements, including very large settlements on the outskirts of Port au Prince.

In both circumstances, millions and billions of dollars are thrown at the problems and nothing seems to get done. Poor understanding of the plight of the victims and why the aid efforts fail, and the weakness or absence of advocacy on victims’ behalf opens space for prejudicial and racist interpretations of the problems to fester.

Racism is on the rise against the Idle No More movement as opponents of Indigenous rights and sovereignty strike back. Accusations of corruption, favoritism and incompetency against Indigenous communities and leaders are tossed about in ways that mislead and miseducate about the real sources of the policy failures in Indigenous communities.

Haiti received a dose of this treatment last Thursday from none other than Canada’s Minister of International Cooperation, Julian Fantino. Using his brief and only visit to Haiti last November as his prop, the minister blamed Haitians for their plight in an off-the-cuff, telephone interview with a journalist at the Montreal daily La Presse. The minister was newly appointed last year and has no international development experience.

Minister Fantino said Haitians can’t be bothered to organize themselves to clean up their cities and neighbourhoods. They can’t get a national government in place to get meaningful economic development going. They are simply looking for international handouts to solve their problems. “We [Canada] are not a charity foundation,” he said.

The minister used the interview to announce that Canada will freeze all new aid projects in Haiti. The Haitian government learned about the announcement through subsequent news reports.

Fantino’s comments join a string of recent, damaging decisions by Canada concerning Haiti, including sending more Canadian police and soldiers to the country, issuing a travel advisory warning just as Haiti is trying to launch tourism initiatives, and announcing that henceforth, international aid spending will serve first and foremost to promote Canadian business interests.

In Haiti as in Canada’s Indigenous communities, much of the millions and billions of dollars that are said to have been directed toward needy recipients have in fact remained entirely in the control of the donors, be they foreign governments or outside aid agencies. The funds could not be misspent by the recipients because they were never in their hands in the first place. Furthermore in Haiti’s case, half of the funds that were raised or promised for earthquake aid and recovery have not been spent and are not committed to future projects.

The failings or absence of housing and other social policy in Haiti and in Aboriginal territories in Canada can be traced to the deliberate and systematic weakening of political sovereignty and democratic institutions of the affected peoples. The fight to regain that sovereignty is a growing struggle that links the fate of the peoples of the two countries and is a key to their survival and progress. –

Watch a one and a half minute video of the Idle No More march at the U.S.-Canada border at Cornwall, Ontario (Akwesasne) on January 5, 2013. Listen to an informative, 20-minute interview on CBC Radio on January 7 with Idle No More spokesperson Pam Palmateer and former vice-president of United Native Nations in British Columbia, Ernie Crey.

CHAN statement: “Three years after Haiti’s earthquake.”

Roger Annis is a coordinator of the Canada Haiti Action Network. He can be reached at rogerannis@hotmail.com. This article first published on the rabble.ca website.

Image from play.google.com

Excessive drinking by women has become a huge problem according to the Scottish Government. Health officials have created a special mobile app which they hope will stop women from over consuming alcohol. It is called a Drinking Mirror.

The new Android app is aimed to help Scottish women drink less and prevent illnesses caused by alcohol abuse, by showing them just how their appearance will chance in 10 years if they drink 10 glasses of wine per week.

The Scottish Health Secretary’s office introduced the free app on Tuesday. The initiative is part of the government’s campaign named “Drop a Glass Size” aimed at persuading women to reduce the number of glasses of wine they drink weekly.

The Drinking Mirror app is designed to show your future face depending on how much you drink. You simply make a self-portrait, then and answer how many 175 ml glasses of wine you drink every week. Than the app make some calculations and voila! The app creates an uglier, older and much less attractive reddened and swollen you.

Even though the app creates images that can be far from truth, the result is still scary enough to make drinkers reconsider their habits.

According to Health Secretary Alex Neil, “Scotland has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol…” The number of alcohol-related deaths among women aged between 30 and 44 has doubled in the last 20 years, while the chronic liver disease and cirrhosis death rate has tripled.

Senate confirmation on both is required. Expect little opposition to Brennan. More on him below.

Republicans will challenge Hagel. At issue is political opportunism more than who serves. Questions about Obama’s nominee are exaggerated. More on that below.

Rarely ever are presidential nominations rejected. Expect nothing different this time. Candidates are carefully vetted. Selection depends on full support for US policies.

Hagel is a reliable imperial supporter. His Senatorial voting record offers proof. The Peace Majority Report rated him highly. The lower the score, the higher the rating. He scored 5%. John McCain got 4%, Joe Lieberman 26%, and Bill Clinton 74%.

The American Conservative Union called him solidly Republican. It gave him a lifetime 84% rating.

In 1996, Hagel suspiciously defeated Nebraska’s popular Democrat governor Ben Nelson.

At stake was a US Senate seat. Polls suggested a close race. Hagel won by 15 points. Few Nebraskans knew about Hagel’s ties.

He was part owner, chairman and CEO of Election Systems & Software (ES&S). It’s an electronic voting machine company.

At the time, it was called American Information Systems. AIS’ parent company founder, Michael McCarthy, was Hagel’s campaign treasurer. His easy victory made winning suspect.

He never disclosed his business ties. A Senate Ethics Committee investigation was requested. It was rejected. Nothing followed. Expect little or nothing said now.

Hagel serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council (ACUS). In 1961, former Secretaries of State Dean Acheson and Christian Herter established it. It was done to support NATO.

It’s headquartered in Washington. It supports Washington’s global agenda. Past and current members include a rogue’s gallery of reliable American imperial supporters.

Among others, they include Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, James Schlesinger, James Baker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, James Jones, Condoleezza Rice, Richard Holbrooke, Susan Rice, and an array of current and former top military officials.

Frederick Kempe is president and CEO. He’s a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, editor and associate publisher. He’s a regular major media commentator.

Damon Wilson is executive vice president. Formerly he served on George W. Bush’s National Security Council. He’s committed to strengthening NATO. Like all past and current ACUS members, he supports America’s imperial project.

The Washington Post listed other Hagel credentials. Past and current ones include:

• US senator (Nebraska-R.) from 1997 — 2009;

• chairman of the US Vietnam War Commemoration Advisory Committee;

• co-chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and Defense Policy Board member;

• Private Sector Council president and CEO;

• Vanguard Cellular Systems co-founder, director and executive vice president;

• Communications Corporation International LTD chairman;

• Hagel & Clarke co-founder, director and president;

• president McCarthy & Co,;

• Veterans Administration deputy administrator;

• Firestone Tire & Rubber government affairs director; and

He’s no dove. He’s solidly right-wing. He supported Bush’s war on terror. He backs it now. He voted for every National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). He endorsed NATO’s 1999 Yugoslavia war.

At the time he said: “When you’re in a war, you’re in a war to win.” He called Slobodan Milosevic “a butcher loose in the backyard of NATO.” He viewed Kosovo as a “goal-line stand.”

He said if America doesn’t respond, “we will be tested every day for the next who knows how many years.” He favored sending US forces to Kosovo. He said “never….take any military option off the table.”

He voted for the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts. He endorsed an “urgent need” for missile defense. He called the 1972 US/Soviet Russia Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) “obsolete.”

He said “We can’t hold America’s national security interests hostage to any threats from some other nation.”

After Bush withdrew from ABM in December 2001, he said “What the president did was responsible. I support it. I think it was the right thing to do.”

He accused North Korea of being “on the verge of fielding a ballistic missile capable not only of striking my home state of Nebraska, but anywhere in the United States.”

He supported the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) for “the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.”

The Afghanistan war followed. It rages. It shows no signs of ending. It’s America’s longest war. It was lost years ago.

Hagel supported the 2003 Iraq war. When it was too late to matter, his tone got more dovish.

He favors lawless warrantless surveillance. He opposes habeas and due process rights for Guantanamo detainees.

On January 7, the Washington Post headlined “On Israel, Iran, and spending, Chuck Hagel looks a lot like Robert Gates,” saying:

His opponents claim he’ll dramatically change defense spending and America’s position on Israel and Iran. Reality suggests otherwise.

“The bottom line is that” Hagel and Gates “are remarkably similar and appear to share a number of policy preferences.” They include drawing down in Iraq and arguing against Libyan intervention.

Both men differ somewhat on Iran. Gates is more hardline. Hagel tried having it both ways. On the one hand, he claimed sanctions are counterproductive. At the same time, he said they’re “working.”

In his first post-nomination interview, he said critics “completely distorted” his record.

“I have said many times that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism,” he stressed. “I have also questioned some very cavalier attitudes taken about very complicated issues in the Middle East.”

Nonetheless, he favors “direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks with the Government of Iran.”

He called for direct Hamas/Hezbollah engagement. In 2008, he endorsed direct talks with Syria and North Korea.

There’s “not one shred of evidence” that he’s anti-Israeli, he said. “Israel is in a very, very difficult position. No border that touches Israel is always secure. We need to work to help protect Israel so it doesn’t get isolated.”

He calls “distortions about (his) record….astonishing.” During Senate confirmation hearings, he welcomes “an opportunity to respond” to critics.

At the same time, Politico quoted him saying “I’m not an Israeli senator. I’m a United States senator. I support Israel, but my first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States, not to a president, not to a party, not to Israel. If I go run for the Senate in Israel, I’ll do that.”

Politico added that:

“In 2006, (he) used the term ‘Jewish Lobby,’ ” saying:

“The political reality is….that the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here. I have always argued against some of the dumb things they do because I don’t think it’s in the interest of Israel. I just don’t think it’s smart for Israel.”

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) head Abe Foxman responded, saying:

“What I find more troubling is, he had sufficient time to distance himself from the ‘Jewish lobby’ quote, to explain, and he hasn’t.”

“He let it stand. I find that more troubling than the original statement. He sees it out there. He sees it being seen as this truly conspiratorial view, that the Jewish lobby controls foreign policy, and there’s no comment.”

AIPAC withheld comment. The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) said:

“While we have expressed concerns in the past, we trust that when confirmed, (Hagel) will follow the president’s lead of providing unrivaled support for Israel — on strategic cooperation, missile defense programs, and leading the world against Iran’s nuclear program.”

On January 8, the right-wing Jerusalem Post headlined “Ayalon: Hagel sees Israel as ‘true and natural’ ally,” saying:

Ayalon is Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister. He’s positive on Hagel’s nomination. “I have met him many times,” he said, “and he certainly regards Israel as a true and natural US ally.”

Netanyahu withheld comment. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin expressed concerns. “Because of his statements in the past, and his stance toward Israel, we are worried,” he said.

He added that Washington’s ties to Israel don’t depend on “one person.”

The New York Times commented on Hagel and Brennan. Obama chose “two trusted advisers,” it said.

Expect Senate hearings for Hagel to be “bruising,” it added. Confirming both will likely follow.

John Brennan is Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. He’s Obama’s chief counterterrorism advisor.

He heads the administration’s Murder, Inc. agenda. He chairs a panel of National Security Council officials. CIA, FBI, Pentagon, State Department, and others are involved.

America’s war on terror is wide-ranging. It includes direct and proxy wars. Special Forces death squads operate in 120 or more countries. CIA agents are virtually everywhere. They’re licensed to kill.

US citizens are fair game. They’re vulnerable at home and abroad. Obama’s kill list picks targets. Brennan advises on who next to assassinate. Victims are a closely held secret.

Anyone can be targeted anywhere in the world. Ordinary people, distinguished ones, or officials are fair game. Their crime is opposing US imperialism.

Drone wars are prioritized. Human lives don’t matter. Rule of law principles are spurned. Summary judgment overrides them.

Obama usurped diktat authority. He appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. He and Brennan meet regularly. Eliminating America’s enemies matter most.

Washington calls innocent victims “terrorists.” Names go on kill lists. It’s called America’s “disposition matrix.” Brennan’s in charge of global assassinations. Prioritizing them made him top CIA director choice.

Inflation in Russia keeps on touching its historic lows, standing at 6.6% in 2012. The Central Bank of Russia is now saying a turning point has been passed, with prices ‘doomed’ to follow a downward motion in 2013.

Prices grew at an even slower annual pace in 2011, when the inflation rate was 6.1%, according to the official data of Russian Statistic Service (Rosstat).

In 2012, food prices underpinned the largest part of the overall increase, as they were up 7.4% year on year. Meat, fish, eggs and milk — the basics of most people’s daily diet — gained the most. Among non — food items the cost of tobacco products jumped the highest — by 21.2% in 2012.

While a bad crop in 2012 forced the Russian Government to abandon initial plans to keep inflation below 6%, such fundamental factors as a slowing economy, de — facto floating of the rouble, coupled with budget constraints did their part and kept the final figure sound, says Kommersant daily.

Russians increased their saving at the end of 2012, as the Deputy Head of the Ministry for Economic Development commented then, which was coupled with increased deposit rates. Though lower spending could eat into the pace of economic growth in 2013, price stability seems to remain a priority for the monetary authorities in Russia.

“Starting from 2Q of next year we’ll be back to our target of between 5% and 6% for the index of consumer prices, if we don’t commit a lot of follies or anything extreme happens in the world,” the first deputy head at CBR told Interfax in December 2012.

An advertising poster by one of Polish mobile operators featuring a caricature of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is pictured in Warsaw on January 8, 2013. (AFP Photo/Janek Skarzynski)

A leading Polish mobile operator had to retract its newly-launched advertising campaign featuring Soviet communist leader Vladimir Lenin after facing a wave of protests.

In the ads for Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, a cartoon of Lenin urged customers to sign up for the company’s newest offer.

The use of Lenin for marketing purposes outraged Polish activists. Lukasz Kaminski, head of the Institute of National Remembrance, condemned the campaign, saying it “is irresponsible and trivializes mass crimes and their victims.”

INR is a Polish government-affiliated organization mainly investigating Nazi and Soviet crimes committed in Poland between 1939 and 1989.

The mobile company reacted immediately by shutting the controversial campaign down.

“In view of the unfavorable comments that have been expressed against the campaign, as well as the emergence of ideological threads in the discussion, we have decided to end [the campaign],” the company said in the official statement.

Along with other Soviet Communist leaders, the name of Lenin invokes negative sentiment in Poland, as many still remember the crimes committed by the Soviet Union against the Polish people.

In May 2012, protests broke out in Polish Gdansk as Lenin`s name was temporarily reinstated for a movie shoot.

Over a hundred protesters gathered together singing “We will hang communists on the trees instead of leaves” and throwing eggs at portraits of communist leaders.

The Syrian army has killed several foreign-backed militants in suburbs of the southern Syrian city of Dara’a.

Meanwhile, a mortar shell has hit a hotel in the Syrian capital Damascus, causing damages to the building.

SAB/SS

Former Channel 4 racing pundit John McCririck is seeking £3m in damages – claiming he was axed by the broadcaster due to his age.

The 72-year-old presenter was among a number of faces axed by the channel after it awarded the production contract to IMG Sports Media, ending its previous agreement with Highflyer.

McCririck spoke out last October at the time of the decision, which he blamed on ageism.

He has now issued a statement setting out his case: “Channel 4 and production company IMG Sports Media were yesterday each served a letter before action for age discrimination.

“After 29 years with Channel 4 Racing, on a rolling annual contract, I have been sacked without any consultation or cogent explanation. I am 72.

“For loss of future earnings, unfair career damaging, public humiliation, stress and mental anguish, I will be seeking £500,000.

“Ageism is illegal. For tens of thousands of employees it has become the feared scourge of our society.

“This litigation should prove to be a watershed. There’s no upper limit to the amount of damages employment tribunals can award under the Equality Act 2010 .

“I am seeking a further exemplary, punitive £2.5m, part of which will be donated to charitable organisations helping to prevent negative prejudice in the workplace.”

McCririck said he was being represented on a no-win no-fee basis by employment and sports law specialist solicitor Stephen Beverley, of the London West End Cavendish Legal Group.

Hong Kong authorities have proposed a new law which would allow company directors to keep their personal details secret from the public.

­According to the draft legislation submitted to the Legislative Council, corporate chiefs could apply to keep their residential addresses, phone numbers and identity card numbers secret. If approved the new legislation will come into effect in the first quarter of 2014, Reuters reported.

The paper was prepared by Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau as well as the Companies Registry after a series of media scandals concerning the wealth of some Chinese political leaders.

In October, the New York Times revealed that the family of China’s outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao had had a wealth of $2.7 billion, citing corporate and regulatory public data.

Last year Bloomberg News relied on Hong Kong and Chinese identity card numbers provided in corporate filings to disclose details on the wealth possessed by the family of Xi Jinping, the new General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.

According to the data, obtained by Bloomberg, the families of late top officials of CPC such as Wang Zhen, Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun, controlled or still control state-owned enterprises worth $1.6 trillion.

China has blocked access to the websites of Bloomberg and the New York Times after they published the articles.

Last year Reuters with the help of Hong Kong data highlighted companies belonging to Xu Ming, a key business ally of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai. Bo was expelled from the CPC in 2012 after being suspected in the cover-up of a murder committed by his wife as well as abuse of power and corruption.

More than 100 bushfires are still raging across southeastern Australia, following a heatwave that saw the region scorched by record temperatures.

Cooler weather has now brought some relief – but highs of 50C are forecast for the weekend.

Meteorologists have been forced to readjust their scales to accommodate the unprecedented heat.

After facing one of the highest-risk fire days in its history on Tuesday, residents in hard-hit New South Wales woke to shifting winds that caused temperatures to drop significantly.

While the mercury topped 42C in Sydney on Tuesday, it was forecast to peak at just 25C today, while the Victorian capital Melbourne was down to 20C.

The ratings on many bushfires were downgraded with none now at the “catastrophic” level which signifies fires will be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast-moving, and evacuation the only safe option.

But NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned against complacency, with new fronts breaking out despite the colder weather and a total fire ban still in place.

Speaking from Bookham, a small village in Yass Shire west of Canberra where a fire has so far burnt out 16,000 hectares, he said: “It is far from over when it comes to the threat to New South Wales.

“We need to sustain the vigilance today. We are not out of the woods yet, the risk is very real and there’s a long day ahead and a forecast for a return to hot conditions toward the weekend and into next week.”

More than 2,000 firefighters worked through the night tackling more than 140 blazes across New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, with 30 of those uncontained.

New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell said an estimated 10,000 sheep had perished in the Yass area alone.

The state of Victoria has also been experiencing extreme conditions with four homes destroyed and six people treated for minor burns or smoke inhalation in a bushfire in the farming community of Carngham, which was evacuated.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the federal and state governments were working together in the recovery effort and to support victims.

“Firstly, it’s all hands on deck fighting the fires, dealing with the emergency, and then we move into the recovery phase,” she said.

No deaths have so far been reported.

While it was initially believed as many as 100 people could be missing in the southern island of Tasmania after wildfires razed more than 100 homes over the weekend, police said there was confusion about movements during the crisis.

“We know there have been no significant injuries, which is amazing, and we are encouraged that we haven’t found any human remains at this stage,” Tasmanian acting police commissioner Scott Tilyard told Sky News.

Wildfires are a fact of life in arid parts of Australia. Some 173 people perished in the 2009 Black Saturday firestorm, the nation’s worst natural disaster of modern times.

The Union Flag is being raised on Belfast City Hall today to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge, but it is unclear whether it will it help or hinder efforts to resolve the crisis over the emblem in Northern Ireland.

Five weeks have passed since the city’s council voted to restrict the flying of the Union Flag to 17 designated days, such as royal birthdays, but tension surrounding the issue has continued unabated.

The east of the city witnessed disturbances for a sixth consecutive night – albeit on a reduced scale – but there is no such thing as an acceptable level of violence as far as the First Minister is concerned.

Peter Robinson told Sky News: “Many people have already distanced themselves from the protests because of the violence.

“When I hear those who purport to lead the protest talk about the Police Service of Northern Ireland as ‘terrorists’ or ‘Nazis’, they are not using the language of unionism, they are using the language of republicanism.”

Loyalists will welcome the fact that the Duchess’s birthday is being marked in the traditional fashion, but they recognise that the return of the flag is only temporary – so far short of what they demand.

On one hand, it is about the flag – a potent symbol of their Britishness – but it is also about demographics. Protestants no longer hold sway in Belfast and some working class unionists have lost faith in politics.

Peter Robinson and Mike Nesbitt, the leaders of the two largest unionist parties, invited disaffected Protestants to raise their concerns through a forum, but protesters have already dismissed the effort.

The First Minister added: “Here is a mechanism whereby you can channel your frustration, where you can indicate the kind of things you want in your area, and political leaders will be listening.

“Now, if you offer a political alternative and people don’t take it, then very clearly those are people who are against the process and against democracy.”

The crisis has caused enormous damage to the image of Northern Ireland, scheduled to host the G8 Summit of world leaders in June, and a temporary hoisting of the flag is not going to resolve it anytime soon.

Stephen Lawrence’s brother claimed to have been stopped by police up to 25 times because of his skin colour as he launched a legal battle against the Metropolitan Police.

Stuart Lawrence, 35, alleges officers from Scotland Yard have repeatedly targeted him as part of a sustained campaign of harassment.

The teacher, whose teenage brother was murdered in a racist attack, has now consulted lawyers over the “ludicrous” police action. He said he was moved to act after he was pulled over by two officers in November while he sat in his VW Scirocco near his home in Peckham, south London. When he asked why he was stopped, one officer told him the pair were “naturally suspicious” of him, he claimed.

He told a newspaper: “I am being targeted because of the colour of my skin, I don’t think it’s because I am Stephen’s brother. Whenever I have been stopped, I have never subsequently been charged with anything, and nothing has ever been found to be wrong with my car. I have never, ever done anything wrong. I have never been in trouble with the law. I have paid my road tax and my insurance, and always tried to keep my cars in a roadworthy state.”

He said he has been stopped around 25 times but was pulled over at police checkpoints – where officers were apparently checking drivers’ tax and insurance – on only two of these occasions. This was down to “no other reason, apart from racism”, he said.

A letter of complaint was sent to Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe on Tuesday, naming the officers allegedly involved in the latest incident.

Mr Lawrence, who is engaged to be married and has a two-year-old son, said he felt “angry and frustrated” and believed there had been little progress in the way police deal with black people.

His brother was stabbed to death by a gang of five or six attackers in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993, at the age of 18. The original investigation into his death failed to solve the case and was dogged by allegations of corruption and racism.

The Macpherson Inquiry later concluded the Metropolitan Police was “institutionally racist”. Only two of the killers have been convicted. Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey last year after a cold case review team discovered tiny traces of forensic evidence linking them to the murder.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Mr Lawrence’s complaint, which we received last night, is a very serious matter and it will be investigated thoroughly and speedily. Stop and search is an important tool to combat crime and is supported by the community if it is used professionally and fairly.

People planning to retire this year expect to be living off the lowest average incomes recorded in six years, it is claimed.

This year’s retirees expect to have a typical annual income of £15,300, making them around £3,400 a year worse off than workers who retired in 2008, according to the Prudential.

The gap becomes much worse when taking into account the effects of inflation’s erosion of people’s household budgets.

Someone who retired last year would have needed an annual income of £21,400 to have the same spending power as an average person who entered retirement in 2008 on a typical income of £18,700, the Prudential said.

However, the average amount private employees retired on last year was £15,500, leaving them £5,900 worse off in real terms than workers who retired in 2008.

Across Britain there is also a £5,700-a-year difference between the regions with the highest and the lowest anticipated incomes for people retiring this year.

Londoners expect to retire on an annual income of around £18,200 this year, while retirees in the West Midlands have the lowest anticipated incomes, at £12,500.

Post-financial crash, annuity rates have dropped 33% and wiped thousands of pounds off retirees’ incomes in recent years, while pensioners have faced a perfect storm of high living costs and low returns on their savings.

Experts also warned that possible changes to the way that Retail Price Index (RPI) is worked out could lead to more people being forced to put their retirement on hold due to the squeeze on their incomes.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “For people approaching retirement, that is a huge blow to their expectations at a time when it is probably too late for them to do anything about it.”

Hargreaves Lansdown said that a 65-year-old man with a £100,000 pension pot could have secured an annual income of £7,855 by buying an annuity in the summer of 2008 but if he was doing so in December 2012, that figure would have fallen to £5,338.

Quantitative easing (QE) has been blamed for pushing down annuity rates which set the size of someone’s retirement income for life.

QE makes it cheaper for companies to borrow by pushing down the yield on government bonds, but annuity incomes are also based on these yields, meaning that new pensioners see their incomes reduced.

The Office for National Statistics has also been consulting on changes to the RPI and the recommendations from this will be announced on Thursday.

This trend downward is set to continue as baby boomers pass the age of 65, with 55% of 55 to 64-year-olds drawing a salary, compared with 41% in February 2010, Aviva has said.

The consolidation of Syrian military’s positions across the country and the withdrawal of foreign-backed militants from their strongholds have fuelled speculations that Saudi Arabia is considering shifting its policy towards Syria, a report says.

A recent report released by the Lebanese As-Safir daily has suggested a likely withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from among the list of foreign states that are funding and supporting the Syrian opposition.

The Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah’s recent meetings with Syrian officials along with Jordanian intelligence officers seem to have provided apparent proof for the case.

The paper touches upon Riyadh’s worries over the intensification of the crisis across Syria and the Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers’ willingness for a political resolution of Syrian crisis, which is deemed as a major shift in the two states’ stance on Syria.

Communication is currently under way between Riyadh and Damascus with an Egyptian security delegation visiting Syrian officials in the capital, according to the report.

The speculation comes after Riyadh’s estimations about Syria turned out to be wrong and the extremist Salafi groups started creating problems for the Saudi government, particularly a recent explosion in Saudi capital for which they were blamed.

Syria, however, has rejected any compromise with Saudi officials unless the Arab kingdom puts an end to funding and militarizing the terrorists. The Syrian government has also called for the withdrawal of foreign-backed militants from the country, the report went on to say.

Syria’s 22-month-long resistance and the dangerous consequences of Salafists’ actions for Riyadh and Washington seem to be the major reasons behind the alteration of the Saudi approach toward Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a large number of the militants in Syria are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes in Syria.

AO/PKH

Israeli Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin has expressed worry over the nomination of former US Senator Chuck Hagel as the next American defense secretary, amid similar reactions invoked by the regime’s backers in the US.

Hagel, meanwhile, has insisted on his support of Israel and made clear in a Monday interview that his critics have “completely distorted” his record on Israel and that there is “not one shred of evidence that I’m anti-Israel.”

However, Hagel made clear that he has previously refused to sign a number of pro-Israeli resolution and letters supported by large majorities of US lawmakers when he was in office from 1997 to 2009 because they “were counter-productive and didn’t solve a problem.”

“I support Israel, but my first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States, not to a president, not to a party, not to Israel,” Hagel has further been quoted as saying.

Such independent remarks by Hagel, however, have enraged many Israelis and Jewish groups in the US, which have labeled him an anti-Semite or anti-Israel.

Roughnecks wrestle pipe on a True Company oil drilling rig outside Watford, North Dakota (Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

Underpinned by the shale revolution, daily oil production in the US is set to fly sky high in 2014, marking the highest level since 1988, according to US government.

Domestic crude oil production should continue to rise to 7.3mn bbl/d in 2013, after it increased 0.8mn bbl/d to 6.4mn bbl/d during 2012, according to estimations by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This is to be followed by a further increase to 7.9mn bbl/d in 2014, which will bring growth to 23% in the next 2 years.

The daily production rate will jump 900,000 barrels between 2012 and 2013, a record for growth in a single year, as media quotes the agency’s administrator, Adam Sieminski, talking in a conference call to reporters.

“That is the largest single-year growth in U.S. production all the way back to the Drake oil well in Titusville, Pa., in 1859,” Sieminski said — referring to the beginnings of US oil production. “That is pretty impressive.”

In November 2012 the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said that shale would largely help the United States become a net fuel exporter by 2030 and achieve energy independence by 2035. But one of the key components of developing shale resources — hydraulic fracturing process — remains a key issue for the real developments and a point of heated debate.

Protesters say the process is too costly and ecologically unfriendly, while advocates insists bigger energy production from shale is a way to energy independence and lower imports.

Any regulatory changes that affect the production of oil and gas from shale could change the rosy outlook pretty quickly, Sieminski warned.

“If there were to be changes associated with hydraulic fracturing, which is the basis for the growth in natural gas and oil, that would raise costs in that area that could have some impact,” Sieminski said.

Hydraulic fracturing is a major concern for environmentalists across the globe. It is a controversial technique in which high-pressurized water and chemicals are pumped into rock formations deep below the earth’s surface to produce gas and oil, carrying a risk of earthquakes and water pollution.

Most recently, in early December 2012 people in the UK protested against a possible lift of the temporary ban on the method. Activists sent a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron stating that ‘fracking’ is a “an unpredictable, unregulatable process” that is damaging to the environment. The advocates, in turn, say that the method is set to increase UK’s energy supply and cut the country’s energy imports.

Foreign-backed militants in Syria have released the 48 Iranian pilgrims who had been abducted near the capital city of Damascus, Press TV reports.

The abductees were set free in a swap deal between the Syrian government and the armed militants.

An undisclosed number of Turkish nationals arrested by Syrian security forces in recent months were among those released by Damascus in the swap deal.

On August 4, 2012, 48 Iranian pilgrims, who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of the Syrian capital were abducted by the militants.

In a video aired by the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network, the militants threatened to kill all the Iranian abductees if the Syrian government did not release the captured militants and if it did not stop operations against the armed groups in the country within 48 hours. The threat, however, was never carried out.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

TE/PKH/HJL

Training session by Russian bicycling team Katusha (RIA Novosti/Mikhail Mokrushin)

Uncertainty over the Russian Katusha cycling team continued Tuesday after they were denied a 2013 Giro d’Italia wild card as race organizers issued invitations to other teams.

The three available extra slots were given to Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox, Colombia and local team Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, despite Katusha’s top rider Joaquim Rodriguez claiming overall second place in last year’s race.

The international cycling union, the UCI, refused to give Katusha a 2013 World Tour race license citing the team’s sub-standard anti-doping program.

The ruling means Rodriguez and Co. risk missing the Giro, the Vuelta a Espana and the Tour de France, and must now rely on wild card invitations from the Grand Tour events organizers.

The team has filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has the power to overturn the UCI’s decision.

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on October 4, 2012 and released by Al-Baraa Brigade shows an unidentified Syrian rebel standing in front of 30 hostages who the brigade said are Iranian prisoners at an unidentified location in Syria. (AFP Photo/YouTube)

Syrian rebels have released 48 Iranian hostages held captive since last August as part of a prisoner swap in Damascus, according to Iranian state TV. In return for the hostages Syria will release 2,130 rebel prisoners.

Rebels claim the hostages were carrying out covert operations for the Syrian government, while Iran maintains they are retired members of the armed forces who were on a pilgrimage south-east of Damascus.

The Free Syria Army, who captured the group of ‘pilgrims’ back in August, claimed they had evidence that the hostages belonged to the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guardsand had come to Syria to “serve the regime.”

 Rebels claim the hostages were carrying out covert operations for the Syrian government, while Iran maintains they are retired members of the armed forces, civil servants and students who were on a pilgrimage south-east of Damascus.

The Free Syria Army, who captured the group of ‘pilgrims’ back in August, claimed they had evidence that the hostages belonged to the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards and had come to Syria to “serve the regime.”

An image from Al Arabiya TV exclusive footage

An image from Al Arabiya TV exclusive footage

After attempting to show strength in the stumbling coalition government by drawing comparisons between his leadership and a can of DIY varnish, David Cameron struggled to paint an impression of an ‘in control’ leader as PMQs kicked-off for 2013.

Sure, he was punchy, confident, even (well, sometimes) likeable in his Flashman-style distain — we expect all of that from Cameron. But it’s less what he said and more how he reacted which revealed what the PM is really thinking right now.

“The only little red pests I pursue these days are in this House,” said Cameron in answer to a question on fox hunting, rage bubbling under the surface.

Commentators noted the PM’s anger on this first encounter of the year

Miliband had plenty of ammo to fire at the PM including details of how Patrick Rock, Mr Cameron’s political adviser, was seen carrying a “restricted” document warning of “broken pledges” in the coalition.

Maybe it was the tired, but effective, accusations from Miliband of Cameron heading up the “nasty party” or Ed’s claim the PM is ‘just a PR man who can’t even do a relaunch’ or the questions about whether the PM rated women or not — either way, Dave wasn’t on his game.

He spent most of the session as puce as Ed Balls’ tie.

Eds Balls and Miliband found a reason to smile – how long will that last?

The comment he made right at the end that “I’m closer to all Conservatives than I am to anyone from any other party” probably tells us all we need to know about how the next few years of the Ronseal coalition will go.

Neither man landed a killer blow. Instead today was more a case of running off the Festive season flab.

Yet it was Cameron’s bizarre comment “I’ve never broken the law” mid-way through the session which had most people talking afterwards.

There’s plenty of people on social networks who seem to think they can prove differently.

VERDICT: Draw

QUOTE OF PMQs
This goes to the PM, who often makes his most revealing comments when trying to swipe his way out of a corner in a fit of rage. When quizzed about fox hunting he responded: “The only little red pests I pursue these days are in this House.” Boom.

WORST OUTFIT OF PMQs
Without a shadow of doubt it was Theresa May — that 1970s Clothkits look must end.

Harlequin gone wrong: What is Mrs May wearing? Suggestions below, please

WEIRD QUESTION DELIVERY OF PMQs
Chris Evans MP *purses lips* hmmmmmmmm

You had one chance, young man, ONE CHANCE! And you fluffed it!

An Iranian lawmaker says the plan proposed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resolve the country’s crisis is based on the current realities of the Arab state.

Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said on Wednesday that foreign countries are supporting terrorists in Syria and providing them with weapons, while the people are standing by their country.

“This crisis will result in the massacre of the people,” said the spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

“Terrorists will never overcome the Syrian people and government,” Naqavi-Hosseini noted, saying that Assad has considered the reality that the ongoing war in Syria is between foreign powers on the one side and the Syrian people and government on the other.

In a key speech on Sunday, Assad said his government is always ready to hold talks with the opposition and political parties and will call for a “comprehensive national dialog” after foreign parties end their support for the militants and the terrorist activities end in the country.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since early 2011 and has witnessed the deaths of many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel in the violence.

TE/PKH/HJL

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has described as ‘very constructive’ his recent meeting with his Argentinean counterpart Hector Timerman over the AMIA case.

“The meeting with Mr. Timerman to achieve [results] and make progress in the legal proceedings for the AMIA [Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina or Argentine Israelite Mutual Association case] was very constructive and I hope that the issue will continue to make progress and yield good results,” Salehi told reporters on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said resolving the issues pertaining to the AMIA case, a 1994 bombing attack in Argentina, was the main focus of the meeting held in the Swiss city of Zurich on January 3.

Mehmanparast said the talks were carried out in a friendly and constructive atmosphere, stressing that Tehran welcomes the continuation of the talks and hopes the negotiations will bear a favorable result that is acceptable by both countries.

A press communiqué released by the Argentinean Foreign Ministry on Monday also considered the meeting as “highly productive,” saying that progress was being made with Iran regarding the legal proceedings of the case.

Under intense political pressure imposed by the US and Israel, Argentina formally accused Iran of having carried out the 1994 bombing attack on the AMIA. The attack on the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and wounded 300 others.

The Islamic Republic has vehemently and consistently denied any involvement in the terror bombing.

Salehi and Timerman had agreed during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2012 that both sides would continue discussions over the case until a mutual agreement is reached.

AR/PKH/HJL

“DreamPlay” app developed by Soon-Shiong’s NantWorks company and JAKKS, is seen on a tablet in this undated handout photograph. (Reuters/JAKKS Pacific)

Many children dream their toys will come to life, so Disney Corp, JAKKS Pacific toy-maker and Los Angeles’ billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong have teamed up to create a new app that will make toys walk and talk— on tablet and smartphone screens.

­DreamPlay, is a new product, developed by JAKKS and Soon-Shiong’s technology company NantWorks, that works via an app which can be downloaded on tablet or smartphone. It provides animation on-screen when a device’s camera is trained on a toy designed for DreamPlay. The app’s images and video clips are stored in the cloud on remote servers and are streamed to devices after recognition of specific toys.

“One of our top priorities is to integrate cutting-edge technology with our incredible Disney content to transform traditional toys into interactive storytelling experiences that are uniquely Disney,” said Disney consumer products president Bob Chapek in a press release.

“Our goal is to combine physical toy play with a digital experience incorporating the unique content that only Disney can provide.”

Disney, JAKKS and Soon-Shiong will present DreamPlay on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The first DreamPlay toys from the Disney Princess line will hit the shelves in October in the US, before spreading out internationally in 2014. US retailers Target and Toys R Us are among the first chains that will begin selling DreamPlay. Nordic retailing giant Top-Toy and Chinese supermarket operator Beijing Hualian Group are next in line.

No prices have been announced yet, but DreamPlay are expected to be “a couple of dollars” costlier than the regular version, according to Stephen Berman, JAKKS president and CEO.

Meanwhile, Disney is going to present another new toy — Disney Infinity, a sandbox video game, at a Hollywood event next week. The game was developed by Disney, Pixar and Avalanche Software. In the game players will be able to use different Disney and Pixar characters.

Space alert: Hazardous asteroid nears Earth

All eyes are set at the skies as a big hazardous asteroid is nearing Earth. According to scientists there is an actual possibility that the 300-meter-wide Apophis will eventually strike our planet, but the catastrophe is not imminent.

On Wednesday the dangerous space traveler is passing Earth at 14 million km — the distance which raises no concerns. Apophis near approach, which may have been observed around 00:00 GMT, was traced by Slooh Space Camera.

The asteroid is planning a series of come backs of which the one in 2036 is said to be most threatening.

Named after the Ancient Egyptian evil demon, Apophis was discovered in 2004. The initial estimations indicated the probability that in 2029 the asteroid would strike Earth. However, additional calculations lessened this possibility and postponed it till 2036.

According to NASA scientists in 2029 Apophis may pass through a gravitational keyhole which would change his orbit causing imminent collision with Earth in 2036.

Russian scientists are planning to plant the asteroid with a radio beacon to trace its orbit and the risks Apophis pose to our planet. But the mission will only take place after 2020.

According to NASA calculations if the hazardous asteroid collides with Earth the effect will be equivalent to an explosion of 510 megatons of TNT, which is roughly 10 times more than the effect of the biggest hydrogen bomb ever exploded.

The effect would vary depending on the angle. The collision would cause massive destruction across thousands of square miles, however would not bring any long-term global consequences.

In May 2012 NASA released report revealed that there are about 4,700 asteroids of 100 meters diameter and larger representing significant threat to Earth with only one third of them located and the rest under the radar.

This NASA image shows asteroid Apophis. The asteroid Apophis, which should barely touch the Earth in 2029 and could possibly hit in 2036, approaches earth on January 9, 2013 at a distance of 14.4 million kilometers, astronomers said January 8, 2012. (AFP Photo/NASA/JPL UH/IA)

Violent protests in the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast over the Union flag controversy have continued for a sixth straight night.

Loyalists protesters continued their violent demonstrations in east Belfast on Tuesday for the sixth consecutive night over the decision to stop flying the Union flag above Belfast City Hall all year round.

Protesters attacked Northern Ireland police with petrol bombs, fireworks, bottles, bricks and stones during another night of disorder in the capital Belfast.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said “calm has now been restored” to Templemore Avenue, off the Lower Newtownards Road, eastern Belfast.

Police officers fired baton rounds and deployed water cannon on protesters during the fifth night of unrest.

The pro-British loyalists’ riots began after local councilors decided on December 3 that the British flag should be flying over the Belfast City Hall only for 17 designated days rather than all year round, as was formerly the norm.

The decision has led to a wave of persisting violence by pro-British unionists who want no limitation on flying the Union Jack over the building.

More than one hundred arrests have been made, and dozens of police officers have been injured since the unrest began.

The union flag has been flown at Belfast City Hall on January 9 for the first time since a decision not to display it sparked protests. The move marks the Duchess of Cambridge’s 31st birthday.

The cost of policing the Belfast protests over the union flag is reported to have reached over £7 million.

SSM/HE

A British Foreign Office Minister has criticized the Bahraini regime for human rights abuses, while the UK government is considered as one of the most supportive of the Al Khalifa monarchy.

Following the Arab country’s top court ruling to uphold prison terms for 13 pro-democracy activists, including eight life sentences, British Minister for Middle East Alistair Burt claimed that he was “deeply dismayed” at the appeal verdicts.

On January 7, Bahrain’s highest court rejected the jailed activists’ appeal and upheld their sentences for their roles in anti-regime protests in 2011.

“I call on the government of Bahrain to meet all its human rights obligations and guarantee its citizens the fundamental liberties to which they are entitled,” Burt said in a statement.

The British official’s remarks come as the UK government faces censure for supplying the Manama regime with weaponry to crush peaceful pro-democracy protests in the tiny Persian Gulf island.

Bahrain, the home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been gripped by anti-regime demonstrations since February 2011. The Manama regime has been crushing the protests using harsh security tactics that have so far killed dozens of people and injured many more.

In October last year, The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee alleged that the UK government is playing double games on human rights issues, as it introduced its own boycott of the Euro 2012 football championships in Ukraine but it failed to take any action over Bahrain’s controversial Formula One Grand Prix held in April 2012.

However, British Foreign Secretary William Hague described the UK’s relation with the Arab kingdom as “strong and deep-rooted”, hailing the Bahraini regime for what he claimed to be efforts to address concerns about human rights, after a meeting with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in London on November 20, 2012.

SSM/HE

Photo from www.komros.info

A Russian Communist party that positions itself as an alternative to the long established and popular KPRF is now seeking to prevent the participation of US athletes in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Communists of Russia Party says a ban on the US Olympic team will be a proper response to the Magnitsky Act, recently approved in the United States. Moreover, one of the party leaders told the Izvestia daily that such a move would have a greater effect than the Dima Yakovlev bill — a set of reciprocal measures introduced in Russia from January 1 this year. Russia should show the international community the “irreversibility of responsibility of the US establishment before the international community”, Maksim Suraikin announced in his trademark old school propaganda style.

However, the announcement was coldly received in Russian political circles. In part it could be because the country was on a lengthy Christmas holiday, but also due to the reputation of the Communists of Russia Party. The party was founded in 2012 after the rules were made easier for political party registration. It came about through the merger of the youth branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF (the successor of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with a faction in the Lower House) and two organizations known for political extravagance — the Communists of the Leningrad Region and the Communists of the Far East.

Over the past few years the Communists of the Leningrad Region have been making relentless (and usually successful) attempts to attract attention. These included the suggestion to jail British rock star Sting for promoting Marijuana, to outlaw the Avatar movie that they thought was abusing the Soviet sci-fi authors and shaming actress Olga Kurilenko for her role of a bond girl or, as the Leningrad Communists put it “the girlfriend of a man who has killed hundreds of Soviet people, Cubans, Vietnamese, Koreans, Chinese and Nicaraguans”.

The Communists of Russia proved to be good successors of this tradition. In its short history the party has already demanded an investigation into the Russian Culture Minister for extremism (the official suggested to bury Vladimir Lenin’s body), to issue Russian passports to spermatozoids and lately — to investigate the legality of granting Russian citizenship to the French film star Gerard Depardieu.

Such a legacy is probably the reason why the latest initiative by the Communists of Russia Party got a cold reception from fellow politicians. United Russia MP and former boxing champion Nikolai Valuyev called the statement a PR event and emphasized in a press interview that there must be no link between the Magnitsky Act and the Olympics.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

Calls to crackdown on bogus foreign students have driven large numbers of genuine overseas applicants to competitor countries, damaging not only universities but also the UK economy, a university chief has warned.

Chief executive of Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge, said repeated statements by ministers to be tougher on immigration had made international students feel unwelcome.

She said universities are reporting a significant drop in the number of students applying from overseas, particularly from India, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia,

“These are countries that send large numbers and also they are important countries in terms of international engagement, so we want to be promoting and fostering relations with them, not erecting barriers,” she told The Guardian.

Any fall in foreign applicants will impact not only universities but also on the economy and international relations, she warned.

“They bring connections that reap dividends in financial and cultural and social terms way into the future,” she said.

“We are concerned about the language and the atmosphere being created, not least because it plays very, very badly internationally.

“Whatever the intentions of the politicians are … every time these sorts of comments are made by the Home Secretary or others it does have a potentially very damaging impact internationally.”

LIKE HUFFPOST UK STUDENTS ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

In November, Boris Johnson issued a warning over prejudice against foreign students in the UK, saying new visa rules introduced by ministers sent out the “wrong signal”.

Following the London Mayor’s visit to India, a private Indian university announced its plans to open a campus in London for 15,000 foreign students.

Overseas students are estimated to be worth £8bn a year to the British economy, a figure projected to rise to £16.8bn by 2025, according to a study by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Home Secretary Theresa May last month announced the introduction of face-to-face interviews for 100,000 applicants for student visas a year.

She said the government’s success in closing down bogus colleges and cutting student visa numbers by 74,000 (26%) last year as part of a drive to reduce overall net migration but insisted that there was no cap on legitimate students from outside the EU.

Dandridge said politicians need to portray the UK as being open and welcoming to international students without compromising immigration laws.

Mark Harper, the immigration minister, added: “The UK’s education system is one of the best in the world but to maintain this reputation it is vital that we tackle the abuse of the student route, while making sure Britain remains open for business.”

Check out the HuffPost UK international students section for up to date news on foreign students

SEE ALSO:

Ban Creates ‘Appalling Image’ Of Britain

Students Fear Deportation

2,600 Students Face Being Shipped Back Home

London Met Students ‘Couldn’t Speak English’ Insists Immigration Minister

As the European debt crisis shows no signs of ending experts are divided on whether the Eurozone is doomed or the project is viable, even if some of its member drop out of the euro.

­“The eurozone is headed for deeper, more intense, and much less retractable trouble in 2013. There is no foreseeable way for the region to recover as it exists today in its current form,” economic expert Margaret Bogenrief from ACM Partners told RT.

With Greece’s exit from the Eurozone looming and a lack of agreement between EU leaders on crisis fighting measures, the region’s economy was on the verge of collapse several times last year.

Root of the Greece

In 2012 America’s Citigroup raised the chances of Greece leaving the euro in the next year to 90%.

“Over the next few years, the euro area end-game is likely to be a mix of EMU exit (Greece), a significant amount of sovereign debt and bank debt restructuring (Portugal, Ireland and, eventually, perhaps Italy, Spain and Cyprus) with only limited fiscal burden-sharing,” Citigroup said in its July report.

Since 2009 when Greece’s economy began falling apart under its huge debt burden the country has been dependent on international rescue loans with a total of €240 billion provided to Athens. As of now, €149 billion have been distributed to Greece from the Troika of international lenders.

That hardly solves all of Greece’s problems, and experts seriously considered the scenario of Greece’s default and probable exit from the Eurozone. According to the ECB it would be manageable but very expensive, not only for the crisis-troubled country, but for the whole region.
“It would be associated with a loss of growth and higher unemployment and it would be very expensive — in Greece, Europe as a whole and even in Germany,” ECB policymaker Joerg Asmussen said in August.

By the end of the year Greece managed to gain back investor confidence. Standard & Poor’s ratings agency upgraded Greece’s credit grade to a B-, the highest since June 2011, although the bonds are still at junk status. Athens successfully accomplished a bond buyback, and reduced its debt by €20 billion. Trying to hold control of the economy at the end of 2012 Greece adopted a 2013 budget that involves €9.4 billion of spending cuts, mainly in state wages, pensions and benefits, all of which have already been significantly reduced over the past two years. The decision resulted in strikes and protest across the country. Tough austerity measures have also led to a drastic surge of unemployment — in the third quarter of 2012 it reached a record 24.8%, up from 17.7% during the same period in 2011.

Greece’s neighbor Cyprus also found itself on the verge of default, crippled by the losses on Greek bonds. S&P slashed Cyprus’ credit rating by two notches to CCC+ last December. Cyprus’s request for an EU bail-out, which could amount to €17.5 billion, will be considered by eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on 21 January. Cyprus’s President has already said the international aid could cost the country its financial sovereignty. Earlier in 2012 the island nation got a €2.5 billion loan from the Russian government. Then three major companies provided the government with a €175m loan to stay afloat.

European creditors EU, IMF and ECB, said they consider a further reduction of Greece’s debt if the country manages to achieve a significant primary surplus by 2016. Earlier they agreed to cut Greece’s debt by €40 billion, reducing it to 124% of GDP by 2020 from around 190% in 2013.

Hard times not over

Europe saw its public debt reach 90% of the value of the union’s economy at the end of the second quarter of 2012, according to the data provided by Eurostat. Meanwhile the total jobless rate in the eurozone reached a record high of 11.7%, meaning 19 million people in the bloc were out of work with Southern member countries among the worst affected.

Experts warn that though the situation in Greece is under better control now, the crisis still poses risk to euro stability.

“Unfortunately, the eurozone crisis is likely to remain with us for years to come, sustaining the likelihood of coercive debt restructurings and eurozone exits,” Nouriel Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business wrote in his article for Project Syndicate in December. “The fundamental crisis of the eurozone has not been resolved, and another year of muddling through could revive these risks in a more virulent form in 2014 and beyond,” Roubini said, citing ‘Grexit’ and probable massive loss of market access in Italy and Spain.

So far the debt-stricken countries are determined to continue unpopular austerity reforms which have already resulted in mass protests across Southern Europe throughout 2012. The looming multi-billion bailout for Spain, Europe’s fourth largest economy, has become a major headache for the eurozone. Last September Spain announced its plan for drastic economic reform, and a tight 2013 budget which includes 58% spending cuts and 42% increase in taxes. As the Spanish crisis spread several regions asked for bailout, while Catalonia, the country’s richest region accounting for fifth of GDP turned down “participation in the liquidity fund,” the 18bn euro body set up by Madrid to finance troubled regions and called for independence.

Saving the euro

In 2012 eurozone countries managed to agree on two ambitious initiatives aimed at keeping the Eurozone afloat — the establishment of a European stabilization fund and a banking union. The two instruments will be operational in various spheres: the European stabilizing fund will offer help to weak economies pumping money from the strong ones. EU has also agreed to appoint the ECB the single regulator for the biggest banks in the euro zone as a step towards a “banking union,” or common euro area approach to dealing with failing banks.

The only thing which European politicians do not want to do is to let debt-stricken countries carry out free floating. However, here they are pursuing their selfish interests, Chief of the Analytical Department of the IK Grandis Capital Denis Barabanov told the Voice of Russia.

“The strong countries of the eurozone are getting big preferences and advantages as the members of the eurozone because on the one hand, they are killing rivalry in weaker countries and on the other hand, they always have a reliable and profitable commodity market, which enables them to sell highly competitive goods within the framework of their union,” Barabanov said.

With all the efforts, even optimistic experts don’t expect the Europe’s economy to recover in the near future. In its new paper “New Recession in the Eurozone” S&P rating agency suggests the eurozone GDP will shrink by 0.8% in 2012. Growth in 2013 is expected to be zero compared to the earlier forecast of up 0.3%, according to the study.

Splitting the eurozone is still considered to be an option by some experts. Billionaire George Soros proposed Germany, Europe’s so far best performing economy, should leave to save the Eurozone, among other options. “The problem would disappear into thin air,” as the value of the euro declines and yields on the bonds of debtor countries adjust, CNBC quoted Soros as saying. On the other hand, euro-sceptic and financial consultant Stephan Werhahn, grandson of a statesman seen as the architect of the EU, believes the euro should be limited to a handful of similar northern European countries, the Daily Mail reports. “Europe will fail’ if debt-stricken countries are forced to stick with the euro,” Werhahn said.

However, Italy, Greece and Spain are very unlikely to leave the Eurozone, according to Maksim Zaytsev, senior analyst at Nord Capital Group. “They have made significant progress over the recent months in reducing their budget deficit,” Zaytsev told RT. “Now their budget gaps are lower than 9% — a critical level when countries face problems with debt refunding.”

The ECB has also contributed to easing the situation in Europe, he added. “ECB launched a bond-buying program which also supported debt markets,” Zaytsev said. “This program allows the ECB to buy bonds without limits while setting aside some funds to avert a risk of inflation.” The 700bn euro European Stability mechanism is also very important as it de facto issues euro bonds supported by all.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

The chair of Ukip’s youth division has been sacked after he revealed he was reprimanded by party bosses for supporting gay marriage.

Olly Neville, 20, chair of the Young Independence wing of the eurosceptic party, took to Twitter late on Thursday night claiming party authorities had “insulted his intelligence” on the issue of gay marriage.

He then posted two screengrabs of emails from Stephen Crowther, chairman of the UK Independence Party, condemning him for comments he made on the BBC’s World At One on New Year’s Eve, about gay marriage and the European elections.

Olly Neville, former chair of Ukip’s Young Independence

Neville has since deleted the screengrabs he posted.

The emails, which Ukip has confirmed to The Huffington Post UK as genuine, were critical of how Neville said “a) the European elections were a ‘sideshow’ and the real action is at Westminster, and (b) that you were a supporter of Gay Marriage and that the Prime Minister was right about it.”

Ukip’s chairman told Neville that his views on gay marriage were “quite simply completely at odds with the Party’s policy [which is] extremely important to us at this time.

“We have said specifically and repeatedly that we are opposed to the government’s proposals on this, and that the prime minister has got it spectacularly wrong.”

He warned that Nevile might have “seriously set back the party’s growth.”

Crowther told Neville his views on the European elections, although admitting they were “realistic”, were “politically… contrary to party policy.

“To have the (Acting) chairman of YI on record as saying that the win, when it comes, is a “sideshow” will be damaging to us.”

Neville was condemned as “politically inept” for his comments about Westminster, for “providing ammunition to the media and our opponents who say we are irrelevant.” Ukip does not have any MPs in Westminster.

A screengrab of the email sent to Olly Neville by Ukip’s Steve Crowther

Ukip’s spokesman Gawain Taylor told The Huffington Post UK Neville had not been sacked for his comments on gay marriage, but for subsequent comments, where he “misrepresented party policy”.

“There’s no doubt people were annoyed about the comments made on the World At One. They were unhelpful. But that was not the reason he was removed.”

Taylor refused to confirm exactly which comment led to Neville’s dismissal.

Neville posted a second email from Crowther, saying that the party’s executive committee had resolved he “should not continue to act as interim chairman of YI, owing to the problems regarding party policy and public statements about which we have corresponded.” The email was copied into Jonathan Arnott, Ukip’s General Secretary.

A second email sent to Neville by party bosses

Neville joined Ukip aged 18 and describes the party on his website as “the only political party I have ever been a member of and the only one I would ever want to be in.”

“My entire politically active life I have been a member of Ukip. I joined as soon as I possibly could and have done everything I can to help move this party forward.”

Many tweets last night showed an outpouring of support for Neville from party activists, and led to the hashtag #ollyshambles. Gareth Shanks, a YI elections officer, tweeted that he had resigned in support.

On Wednesday morning, YI Yorkshire’s chair Arnie Craven and vice chair Christina Annesley both tweeted they had also resigned in protest. Annesley defected to Ukip from Conservative Future in early 2012.

Ed Miliband says “the door is open” for his brother David to join the Labour front benches.

Speculation in Westminster that the former foreign secretary may be preparing the way for a return to frontline politics was reignited when he made a barnstorming speech attacking the Government’s “rancid” policy on benefit cuts.

The elder brother’s address in the Commons echoed criticisms made by the Labour leader, who accused David Cameron of pursuing a “divide and rule strategy” by trying to pitch low-paid workers against the unemployed.

Westminster rumours have suggested that David Miliband may have his eye on the job of shadow chancellor, and Ed Miliband declined to guarantee that Ed Balls would keep the post up to the 2015 general election.

He said that time had healed some of the bruises from the 2010 leadership election in which he defeated David by a wafer-thin margin, but told the Daily Mirror that this should not be seen as an indication that his brother was about to join the shadow cabinet.

Ed has always said he would like to have his brother in his top team, while David has made clear over the past two-and-a-half years that he wants to stay away from the front line.

Speaking to the Mirror, Ed Miliband said: “Of course it was a bruising leadership contest and as time goes on that sort of recedes and that’s good for our relationship.

“But I wouldn’t take it as indication about a change in his view he’s not coming back to the shadow cabinet, but the door is open.”

SEE ALSO: David Miliband Attacks Gordon Brown

Asked if Balls was guaranteed to hold the shadow chancellor’s post up to the election, Miliband said: “I have the same rule for everybody across the shadow cabinet. And it’s a very principled position.

“I am going to do nothing that’s about measuring the curtains. It’s the measuring the curtains thing – you start naming your Cabinet two and a half years before the election? Honestly.

“I think Ed Balls is doing a great job but I am not going to get into that.”

Miliband revealed that he and David had a family get-together during the Christmas break.

He and Justine gave David and wife Louise some wine “and other gifts”. David gave him a book on the Boston Red Sox.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

Ed Miliband has accused Cameron of attempting to “divide and rule” after the House of Commons voted in favour of legislation to impose real-terms cuts on welfare.

Wednesday’s vote exposed tensions between the coalition parties, with four Liberal Democrat MPs – including ex-minister Sarah Teather – rebelling by voting against the Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill, while former leader Charles Kennedy abstained.

Mr Kennedy said he wanted to see changes to the legislation, which caps benefit rises at a below-inflation 1% for the next three years, before it becomes law.

Miliband accused Cameron of attempting to divide and rule

Charities which work with poor families voiced dismay at the outcome of last night’s vote, which saw MPs give the Bill a second reading by a majority of 56, clearing the way for more detailed scrutiny in committee.

But Mr Cameron insisted the cap – branded a “strivers’ tax” by Labour – was “fair” at a time when wages are increasing only slowly.

In a message on Twitter, the Prime Minister said: “The Commons vote to limit benefit rises to 1% while pay is only rising at 1% is fair. Labour have the wrong priorities.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told MPs that benefit levels had grown by 20% since the beginning of the recession, while incomes for those in work have risen by just 10%.

“What we are trying to do over the next few years is get that back to a fair settlement and then eventually it will go back onto inflation,” he said.

Cameron branded it a ‘strivers’ tax

The cap, announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement last year, is aimed at slashing £5 billion from the welfare bill over the next five years.

Mr Osborne has previously justified it by asking: “Where is the fairness… for the shift-worker, leaving home in the dark hours of the early morning, who looks up at the closed blinds of their next-door neighbour sleeping off a life on benefits?”

But Mr Miliband said the benefits debate marked “a fork in the road for the country”, citing figures showing that almost 70% of those who will lose out from the changes are in employment.

“It’s now clear what the government’s strategy is: it’s a divide and rule strategy,” the Labour leader told the Daily Mirror.

“They haven’t succeeded in the first two-and-a-half years so they want to point the finger of blame at someone else so it doesn’t get pointed at them. And therefore they are trying to divide and rule.

“They are cutting taxes for millionaires while hitting low-paid people, those people whose curtains are open when George Osborne gets up and still open when he goes to bed.”

Mr Kennedy, who voted in both the Yes and No lobbies to register his abstention, said he was now “looking now to work with like-minded Lib Dems to amend the bill in its later stages”.

Ms Teather, who lost her job as children and families minister in September last year, hit out at Tory ministers’ characterisation of the measure as a division between “shirkers and strivers”, warning it would have “long-term impacts on public attitudes, on attitudes of one neighbour against another”.

She was joined in the No lobby by fellow Liberal Democrats David Ward, John Leech and Julian Huppert. Andrew George also abstained by voting in both lobbies and a further three Lib Dems who had earlier voted against a Labour amendment were absent for the key division.

Labour former foreign secretary David Miliband said the “rancid” bill was motivated by “the politics of dividing lines”.

“The enemy within is not the unemployed, the enemy within is unemployment. I don’t want to live in a society where we pretend that we can enjoy the good life while our neighbours lose their life chances,” he said.

But Mr Duncan Smith accused the last Labour administration of “spending taxpayers’ money like drunks on a Friday night” and “buying votes” by increasing handouts.

Labour had tied increasing numbers of households into the benefit system and created a “ridiculous nonsense” which made nine out of 10 families with children eligible for tax credits, he said.

Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie warned that MPs risked condemning children in Britain’s poorest families to “growing up stuck in the poverty trap, as their parents struggle to cover basic costs of living”.

And Oxfam’s director of UK poverty, Chris Johnes, said working-age benefits which poor families rely upon were being made to bear the brunt of Government cuts.

“Already, compared to average earnings, benefits are at their lowest levels since the welfare state was founded,” said Mr Johnes

“On top of this, inequality will deepen as the proposed changes in the bill are undoubtedly going to hit poor families hardest.”

Ed Miliband has said “the door is open” for his brother David to join the Labour front benches, amid speculation he may be preparing to come back after making a barnstorming Commons speech attacking the Government’s “rancid” policy on benefit cuts.

Miliband attacked the coalition from the left, saying the government’s “rancid” legislation that would see benefits rise below inflation at 1% – a real terms cut.

“We all know the style. Invent your own enemy. Spin your campaign to a newspaper editor short on facts — or high on prejudice. ‘Frame’ the debate,” he said.

Ed Miliband has said “the door is open” for his brother David to join the Labour front benches

Ed Miliband has accused David Cameron of pursuing a “divide and rule strategy” by trying to pitch low-paid workers against the unemployed.

Westminster rumours have suggested that David Miliband may have his eye on the job of shadow chancellor, and Ed Miliband declined to guarantee that Ed Balls would keep the post up to the 2015 general election.

He said that time had healed some of the bruises from the 2010 leadership election in which he defeated David by a wafer-thin margin, but told the Daily Mirror that this should not be seen as an indication that his brother was about to join the shadow cabinet.

Ed has always said he would like to have his brother in his top team, while David has made clear over the past two-and-a-half years that he wants to stay away from the front line.

Speaking to the Mirror, Ed Miliband said: “Of course it was a bruising leadership contest and as time goes on that sort of recedes and that’s good for our relationship.

“But I wouldn’t take it as indication about a change in his view he’s not coming back to the shadow cabinet, but the door is open.”

Asked if Balls was guaranteed to hold the shadow chancellor’s post up to the election, Miliband said: “I have the same rule for everybody across the shadow cabinet. And it’s a very principled position.

“I am going to do nothing that’s about measuring the curtains. It’s the measuring the curtains thing – you start naming your Cabinet two and a half years before the election? Honestly.

“I think Ed Balls is doing a great job but I am not going to get into that.”

Miliband also revealed that he and David had a family get-together during the Christmas break.

He and Justine gave David and wife Louise some wine “and other gifts”. David gave him a book on the Boston Red Sox.

© Copyright 2010 Press TV. All rights reserved.

Leaders of the rebellion against Syria’s President Bashar Assad are attending a top-secret conference in Britain planning for political transition in the Middle Eastern country.

The two-day conference at Wilton Park in West Sussex will bring together officials, experts and academics, including representatives of Arab states and multilateral agencies, as well as leaders of the opposition Syrian National Coalition.

In a Twitter message about the conference, Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “Assad’s departure from power is inevitable. Vital that international community plans ahead for the day after in Syria.”

At least 60,000 have been killed during the Syria conflict, the UN said

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The UK’s objective is to galvanise international thinking and planning on a Syrian-led political transition.

“We’re doing everything we can to bring an end to the violence in Syria and achieve a genuine political transition.”

Syrian experts and academics are expected to share their thinking on post-conflict stabilisation and to discuss options for the international community to be ready to support a future Syria.

The meeting is intended to support efforts to understand what kind of challenges Syria will face in transition and how the international community can provide support to a future transitional authority to overcome these challenges.

No UK government ministers are expected to attend the conference and participants are not expected to speak publicly about their discussions.

The UK’s armed forces are now so dependent on information and communication technology that they could be a “fatally compromised” by sustained cyber attacks.

The Defence Select Committee has produced a report that questions the military’s contingency plans and urges the Government to do more to address the threat.

“It is our view that cyber security is a sufficiently urgent, significant and complex activity to warrant increased ministerial attention,” said committee chairman James Arbuthnot MP.

“The Government needs to put in place – as it has not yet done – mechanisms, people, education, skills, thinking and policies which take into account both the opportunities and the vulnerabilities which cyberspace presents.”

Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude is the minister responsible for cyber security but the report recommends that more ministers should engage and take on responsibility.

“Unless we have a really vigorous approach to defending against the sort of cyber attacks that are developing at a rather quick rate day by day minute by minute second by second, unless we have a really vigorous approach we are at risk of our armed forces as well as the whole of the rest of the government infrastructure being compromised,” Mr Arbuthnot told Sky News.

Dr Andrew Murrison, the Minister for International Security Strategy, has defended the Government’s efforts.

He said: “There’s no complacency and we will continue in a very rapidly evolving field to make sure we do absolutely everything to reduce the chance of there being a significant attack here.”

GCHQ, the Government’s communications headquarters, is considered a world leader.

Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010, £650m was allocated to a new cyber security programme.

It showed significant recognition of the threat but in truth no budget can ever be big enough. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the UK is the best prepared country to face a cyber-attack.

But countries like Israel, China and the United States are well advanced and are bettering their systems at a quicker pace.

Major General Jonathan Shaw, the former head of the Defence Cyber Security Programme, told Sky News that the UK competes favourably.

He said: “The way that British government is organised and the security side is actually extremely effective at coping with threats.

“It’s a very collegiate atmosphere and the ability of GCHQ to spread their knowledge across government actually gives us a real advantage over someone like the United States which has a much more stove pipe government system.”

What is not known is how offensive the UK’s strategy is. The Government is clear about the threat it faces but declines to speak about any aggressive action it takes against states regarded as hostile.

The Defence Select Committee’s report should be seen as an attempt to reinvigorate the military and government’s efforts not as an outright criticism of what has been done.

Shooting attacks in the United States have killed an average of 18 people every day since the carnage of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, a study shows.

The study, which was conducted by Slate.com and the anonymous twitter user @gundeaths, indicates that there have been over 406 gun deaths since the Newtown school shooting.

Although @gundeaths has tried to report every instance of fatal shootings, the data is still incomplete, meaning the number of gun victims exceeds the 406 figure.

In a similar study, the Huffington Post recently chronicled the gun deaths since the Sandy Hook massacre, showing that over 100 such killings took place within a period of exactly one week after the Newtown incident.

Out of the 406 victims reported by Slate.com, six were children under the age of 13, and 21 were youths under the age of 17.

Pundits have repeatedly criticized Washington over lax legislation on gun ownership, as the United States is the leading country in the world in terms of having the largest number of guns per capita.

Similar experiences of mass shootings in other countries indicate that all those nations have enacted strict gun safety legislation following the tragedies and achieved a dramatic reduction in the number of gun-related deaths.

The United States has experienced several mass killings over the past six months, including the August 2012 killing spree at a Sikh temple, which left seven dead. In Newtown, twenty children and six adults were killed.

After the Sandy Hook massacre, a Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans would like stricter gun laws and a ban on high-capacity firearms.

More than 100,000 Americans have signed an online petition to the White House, dubbed “We the People,” asking the administration of President Barack Obama for a renewed national debate on gun control.

ASH/HSN

JAMMU, India (Reuters) – India slammed arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday over a fire fight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two of its soldiers were killed, and said the mutilation of one of the bodies was “inhuman”.

India also summoned Pakistan’s envoy to New Delhi to protest over Tuesday’s incident, in which – according to India – Pakistani troops crossed the territory’s heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) and fired at one of its army patrols.

The body of one of the soldiers was found “badly mutilated” in a forested area on the side controlled by India, Rajesh K. Kalia, spokesman for the Indian army’s Northern Command, said. However, he denied Indian media reports that one of the bodies had been decapitated and the throat of another had been slit.

“Pakistan Army’s action is highly provocative,” Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, told reporters in New Delhi shortly before Pakistani High Commissioner Salman Bashir was summoned to meet India’s foreign secretary over the incident.

“The way they treated the dead body of the Indian soldier is inhuman. We will convey our protest to the Pakistan government.”

Firing and small skirmishes between the two countries are common along the 740-km (460-mile) LoC despite a ceasefire and slowly improving bilateral ties. The Indian army says eight of its soldiers were killed in 2012, in 75 incidents.

However, incursions by troops from either side are rare, and one Indian media report said that Tuesday’s incident – about 600 metres from the de facto border – marked the “first major ingress” since the ceasefire was agreed in 2003.

Indian army officials said cross-border firing broke out hours after the clash but on Wednesday the LoC was quiet.

“PAKISTAN CAN BE NAMED AND SHAMED”

Pakistan has denied India’s allegations, with an army spokesman describing them as “propaganda” aimed at diverting attention away from an Indian incursion two days earlier in which one Pakistani soldier was killed. India denies that its troops crossed over the line during last weekend’s incident.

A Pakistani foreign ministry official dismissed the latest clash. “These small issues have been going on for years – I don’t think it will have much overall effect on the (peace) talks going on,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

There was little coverage of the skirmish in Pakistani media, but a succession of commentators voiced fury on Indian TV news channels and the main opposition party urged the government to expose Pakistan’s actions to the international community.

“Pakistan can be named and shamed for this brutal attack,” Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.

India considers the entire Kashmir region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory. Pakistan contests that and demands implementation of a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region.

Some commentators drew parallels between Tuesday’s clash and a conflict in 1999 when Pakistani-backed Islamist infiltrators occupied the Kargil heights in the north of Indian Kashmir. India lost hundreds of troops before re-occupying the mountains after bitter fighting that almost triggered a fourth war.

Away from the border, however, ties had appeared to be improving. Pakistan’s cricket team completed a two-week tour of India on Sunday, the first time it had visited in five years.

(Additional reporting by Arup Roychoudhury and Satarupa Bhattacharjya; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has revealed a record-breaking Christmas trading period, with total sales (excluding fuel) up 3.3% in the third quarter.

The retailer, which sits in third position behind Tesco and Asda, said Christmas was the 32nd consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth.

It said stores open over a year saw sales rise 0.9% (excluding fuel), in the 14 weeks to January 5.

Sainsbury’s said it served a record number of customers over the festive period, with the week before December 25 its busiest ever.

£16m of sales were achieved in one hour alone, between 12pm and 1pm on Sunday, December 23.

Meanwhile, it saw its online business grow by over 15% in the three months.

More follows…

A new US poll once again highlights the extreme unpopularity of American lawmakers among their constituents but marks a record low in public trust of the nation’s legislative branch with only nine percent voicing a favorable view.

A whopping 85 percent of 830 Americans taking part in the Public Policy Polling survey conducted over the past week and released on Tuesday said they were distrustful of their legislators in the US Congress.

The poll was taken January 3rd through the 6th, just following a last minute congressional vote that averted the much dreaded “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts.

Persisting partisan bickering over the budget deal led to a forced passage of compromised agreement merely to delay the resolution of the nation’s staggering fiscal issues for a few more months.

Officials of the institution that conducted the survey emphasized that US lawmakers are even less popular among the public than lice and cockroaches.

“We all know Congress is unpopular,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling.

“But the fact that voters like it less than cockroaches… really shows how far its esteem has fallen with the American public over the last few weeks,” he added.

Other public surveys over the years on the popularity of the US Congress among American citizens have consistently found a wide majority of unfavorable regard for the country’s lawmakers, who are often criticized for looking after the interests of wealthy corporations and individuals that contribute to their election campaigns rather than their constituents that vote them into office.

MFB/MFB

A harrowing 911 call has revealed the Aurora gunman fired more than one a shot a second at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

The call was played on Tuesday in court during a pre-trial hearing at which the prosecution is outlining its case against the accused, James Holmes.

It was claimed at least 30 shots could be heard during the 27-second call, which came 18 minutes into the showing.

Police also played a 911 call from a teenage cousin of six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest person to be killed in the Colorado cinema.

A dispatcher tried to talk her through CPR resuscitation but she could not hear because of the noise in the auditorium.

Holmes stared straight ahead as the calls were played, showing no emotion.

FBI bomb technician Garret Gumbinner described how Holmes allegedly set up an elaborate booby trap system to pull police away from the cinema.

The device included improvised napalm and thermite, which burns so hot it cannot be extinguished with water.

Mr Gumbinner said three different ignition systems were found in Holmes’ apartment.

A thermos full of glycerin was placed over a skillet full of another chemical. Flames and sparks would have been created if they were mixed and a trip wire linked the thermos to the door.

Police said Holmes hoped a boom box on a timer would lure someone to the apartment.

The hearing, in Centennial, Colorado, will determine whether Holmes should stand trial.

Twelve people were killed and dozens more wounded after shots were fired at the packed Batman screening in the Denver suburb.

Defence lawyers will call witnesses on Wednesday.

They are expected to highlight Holmes’ mental instability as a possible reason he should not go on trial.

Curious behaviour by Holmes during police questioning has already been detailed.

At one point he tried to stick a metal staple into a power socket. At another he played hand puppets with gloves that had been put on him to preserve evidence.

On Monday, one of the first police officers at the scene told the court he initially thought Holmes was a policeman because he was wearing body armour and a gas mask.

Holmes could face the death penalty if convicted, but lawyers are expected to plead insanity if the case goes to a full trial.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has stressed the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy to expand relations and cooperation with African countries.

“It is the will of the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran to expand relations with Africa,” Salehi said in a meeting with Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole on Tuesday night.

He said Iran and Africa can cooperate well in different sectors, given the cultural affinity between the two countries as well as Iran’s capabilities and experience.

He called for the exchange of delegations between Tehran and Ouagadougou in order to identify further capacities for cooperation in different areas, including economy, trade, agriculture, industry and hygiene.

Salehi also officially invited his counterpart to visit Iran.

Bassole, for his part, hoped that Salehi’s visit would pave the way for the further development of bilateral ties.

He lauded Iran’s progress in different areas and expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate with Iran and use Tehran’s experience in the areas of agriculture and hygiene.

The two officials also discussed regional and international developments and the two countries’ role in resolving challenges in their regions.

In a separate meeting, Salehi also met with Burkina Faso’s Parliament Speaker Vatar Songalou Apolinz, where he called for the further expansion of the ties between the two countries in economic, trade, agricultural, cultural, scientific and technical fields.

He described the political relations between the two countries as good and stressed the importance of mutual consultations and cooperation for the restoration of global peace, stability and security. Salehi also invited Apolinz to visit Tehran on behalf of Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani.

The African official also said that Salehi’s visit could help enhance the relations and underlined the need to develop mutual ties between the two countries.

Salehi began his tour of Africa on Saturday. He arrived in Burkina Faso on Tuesday, and is scheduled to leave for Egypt on Wednesday.

AR/PKH/HJL

Councils are making huge profits from parking charges while cutting road safety spending, according to new figures.

Councils in England took more than £411m in parking charges in 2011/12 – an increase of almost 15% on 2010/11, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) said.

Yet at the same time, the amount spent by councils on road safety, education and safe routes to schools, decreased by 18% to £105m, the IAM said.

It added that overall revenue spending on highways and transport reduced by 6% between 2010/11 and 2011/12, while capital expenditure (on construction, tarmac etc) reduced by an estimated 13%.

Peter Box, a councillor and chairman of the Local Government Association’s economy and transport board, said: “With the number of cars on our roads increasing, it’s more crucial than ever that parking is properly managed.

“Councils spend billions of pounds a year on transport services and are currently facing general budget cuts of up to 33% and a £442m reduction in their highways maintenance budget.

“This means they have far less to spend on roads and transport initiatives.”

Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said: “The analysis by the Institute is wrong.

“Income from on-street and off-street parking only rose by 3.7% in the last year, which is lower than the prevailing rate of inflation.

“The Institute have failed to adjust for the fact that councils have cut costs through efficiency savings.”

The IAM said the top council “earners” from parking in 2011/12, all in London, were:

:: Westminster – up 8.7% from 2010/11 to £38m

:: Kensington and Chelsea – up 31% to £27.5m

:: Camden – up 18% to £25m

Outside London the biggest earners were:

:: Brighton and Hove – up 18.9% to £13.7m

:: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire – up 9.3% to £6.5m

:: Newcastle upon Tyne – up 51% to £6.2m

After weeks of protests by the indigenous communities in Canada, the United Nations has urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper government to set up a meaningful dialogue with the aboriginal leaders of the country.

UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya stressed on Tuesday that the Canadian government should set up talks in accordance with the standards expressed in the organization’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

During the past month, the leaders of aboriginal communities, the First Nation, and activists have carried out nationwide rallies under the name ‘Idle no more,’ accusing the Canadian government of violating the aboriginal’s basic rights and undermining previously agreed treaties on the use of lands and resources.

Since December 11, 2012, Chief of Attawapiskat First Nation in Northern Ontario Theresa Spence has been on a hunger strike demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

A meeting is set to be held on January 11, after Harper announced a week earlier that he is prepared to hold talks with some leaders of the aboriginal communities to discuss issues of concern.

Commenting on Spence’s situation, the UN expert, Anaya, said, “I would like to add my voice to the concern expressed by many over the health condition of Chief Spence, who I understand will be joining indigenous leaders at this week’s meeting.”

Demonstrations by the aboriginals in Canada have been held since the government approved Bill C-45 through parliament to change the rules about aboriginal land.

CAH/HJL

The ten things you need to know on Wednesday 9th January 2013…

1) THE POOR GET POORER. NEXT UP, PENSIONERS

Surprise, surprise – from the Huffington Post UK:

“The Government’s controversial plans for a real-terms cut in working-age benefits have cleared their first Commons hurdle by 324 votes to 268, majority 56.

“…The vote followed a tempestuous five-hour debate in parliament in which senior Tory and Labour MPs clashed over the benefits bill.

“Some four Liberal Democrats, including former minister Sarah Teather, rebelled against their leadership to vote against the below-inflation cap, while former leader Charles Kennedy and backbencher Andrew George voted in both lobbies – the traditional way of registering an abstention.”

Much was made ahead of yesterday’s debate – by Lib Dem rebels such as Sarah Teather and even Tory MPs such as Sarah Wollaston – of the crude and divisive rhetoric of ‘strivers vs shirkers’, of ‘scroungers’ and ‘skivers’. The morning after the vote, little has changed – consider the splash headline on the front of today’s Daily Express:

“Party Is Over For Benefit Skivers”

Charming. The harsh truth, hoever, is that benefits are now at their lowest levels since the founding of the welfare state more than 60 years ago. And as the economist Stewart Lansley has written, the government’s Benefit Uprating Bill “marks a new low in the post-war history of welfare in the UK… it is unprecedented since the war. The last deliberate political move to lower the real incomes of the poorest members of society was more than eighty years ago in 1931.”

Speaking after the vote, Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said: “By voting to break the link between benefits and inflation today, MPs have risked condemning children in Britain’s poorest families to growing up stuck in the poverty trap, as their parents struggle to cover basic costs of living.”

But onwards and upwards, eh? Or should that be downwards? The Times and the FT both splash on news that the coalition may be turning its attention to pensioners’ benefits next; from the Times:

“David Cameron is being urged by senior Conservatives to scrap benefits paid to richer pensioners as part of an overhaul of the welfare system.

“Ministers are pressing Mr Cameron to ensure that payments such as the £300-a-year winter fuel allowance are withheld from wealthy pensioners.”

The FT says:

“Wealthy pensioners will no longer be insulated against the full force of austerity measures after the next election… Tory strategists said it was time to stop shielding better-off pensioners from cuts.

“In a sign of things to come, Iain Duncan Smith is looking at stopping winter fuel payments to pensioners living in Spain, Greece and other warm countries by applying a ‘temperature test’.”

No mention in any of these reports that means-testing tends not to work, or that Britain has one of the worst rates of pensioner poverty in the European Union.

Still, let’s not forget that it was benefit claimants and the elderly who caused the crash with their dastardly credit default swaps and excessive bonuses. Oh wait…

2) ’70 MISSED PLEDGES’

From the Telegraph:

“David Cameron and Nick Clegg will on Wednesday publish a candid assessment of the Coalition’s successes and failures that was excluded from its Mid-term Review, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

“The Deputy Prime Minister declared last month that the Government would provide voters with an audit of which targets it had missed and which it had achieved alongside the official review.

“But the annex, which consists of about 100 pages, was not published on Monday. Its existence emerged only when one of Mr Cameron’s senior advisers was photographed in Downing Street on Tuesday carrying a document that discussed the advantages and disadvantages of releasing it. The audit is understood to concede that the Coalition has missed dozens of pledges covering pensions, road building and criminal justice.

“… However, its existence was unknown to many ministers and advisers.

“It is understood that the Coalition has missed more than 70 pledges.”

Oh dear. But to be fair to the coalition, that’s 70 out of the 480 measures in the 2010 coalition agreement, i.e. less than 15%. Then again, to be unfair to the coalition, didn’t they just mark their own answer papers? How is that credible?

3) LABOUR’S DAVID BOWIE

More news from DavidMilibandWorld. Let’s begin with Ann Treneman’s Times sketch, which focuses on David Miliband’s impressive and impassioned intervention in yesterday’s welfare debate in the Commons, in which the former foreign foreign secretary denounced the coalition’s benefit uprating bill as “rancid”:

“It seems that Bowie is not the only David making a comeback these days. Mr Milibanana, as he will always be to me, has made it clear that he is a man chafing in the confines of the cell that he has made for himself. Yesterday was a David Bowie moment and he was loving every moment of the attention.”

“… He sat down, a man in search of applause. David Bowie’s new single is called Where Are We Now?. In Mr Milibanana’s case, though, the real question is, where is he heading?”

Well, the Mirror’s Jason Beattie might have an answer for us. He begins his ‘exclusive’ interview with the Labour leader today with this paragraph:

“Ed Miliband today paves the way for his brother’s political comeback by revealing time has healed their bitter rift. In his first major interview of 2013, the Labour leader fuels speculation David could return to the Shadow Cabinet by also refusing to guarantee that Ed Balls will stay on as Shadow Chancellor until the 2015 general election.”

Beattie adds:

“Although they did not spend Christmas Day together, they did have a family get together to exchange presents.

“[Ed] and Justine gave David and Louise some wine ‘and other gifts’. David gave his brother a book on the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

“‘Look, of course it was a bruising leadership contest and as time goes on that sort of recedes and that’s good for our relationship,’ says Ed…”

Meanwhile, the Telegraph’s James Kirkup notes how the elder Miliband took a bit of a dig at “the political tactics of Gordon Brown”:

“Mr Miliband, who quit the Labour front bench in 2010 when his brother Ed beat him to the leadership, said trying to use the [welfare] issue against the Opposition showed ministers were taking a similar approach to the former prime minister.

“‘This rancid Bill is not about fairness or affordability,’ he said. ‘It reeks of politics, the politics of dividing lines that the current Government spent so much time denouncing when they were in opposition in the dog days of the Brown administration. It says a lot that within two years it has fallen into the same trap.'”

Ouch.

4) PRIVATISE, PRIVATISE, PRIVATISE

Oh look: yet more privatisation of bits of the public sector. So much for the coalition staying on ‘the centre ground’.

From the Guardian:

“The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, will today outline plans for the wholesale outsourcing of the probation service with private companies and voluntary sector organisations to take over the rehabilitation of the majority of offenders by 2015.

“The public probation service is to be scaled back and ‘refocused’ to specialise in dealing only with the most dangerous and high-risk offenders and public protection cases. The majority of services will be contracted out on a payment by result basis.”

According to Harry Fletcher, of Napo, the probation union: “This move is purely ideological. It is being rushed through without proper thought to the consequences. It will be chaotic and will compromise public protection.”

Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust isn’t impressed, either:”Why not build on the success of joint work by probation, police and voluntary organisations, rather than break up the probation service and put the public at risk?”

5) LORDS-A-LEAPING

From the Sun:

“Trade Minister Lord Marland last night became the second Tory peer to quit in two days.

“The blow to David Cameron came just 24 hours after Lord Strathclyde said he was resigning as Leader of the House of Lords.

“Lord Marland told the PM he felt his ministerial responsibilities were making it difficult for him to sell British business around the globe.

“…Friends of the former businessman said he shared Lord Strathclyde’s frustrations with being in a Coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats.”

Oh dear.

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR…

Watch this video of a bird (!) dancing to Dubstep.

6) SO HOW ‘LIBERTARIAN’ IS UKIP?

The UK Independence Party’s critics on the left and the right were rubbing their hands with glee last night.

From blogger Sunny Hundal’s Liberal Conspiracy website:

“UKIP is facing a backlash tonight from its own members after the chair of Young Independence (the party’s youth wing), Olly Neville, was abruptly ousted from his role.

“His offence? Stating his opinion in the media that Cameron was right to pursue the legalisation of same sex marriage. So much for the party’s dedication to libertarianism.

“Olly Neville himself published emails on Twitter that recounted his removal as chair.”

Former Tory MP Louise Mensch weighed in from New York, via – where else? – Twitter:

“So #UKIP show themselves to be every bit the bunch of loons we thought they were – sacking a youth leader for supporting gay marriage.”

Meanwhile, Ukip spokesman Gawain Towler tweeted:

“@OllyNeville removed as YI Interim Chair for misrepresenting UKIP policy (not marriage views).”

Hmm…

7) THE PRO-EU FIGHTBACK BEGINS…

…with – what else? – a letter to the Financial Times:

“British business leaders have warned David Cameron that the UK premier risks damaging his country’s economy by taking it out of the EU, if he seeks ‘wholesale renegotiation of … membership’. Mr Cameron will this month set out, in a speech in the Netherlands, his plan to renegotiate Britain’s membership and put the outcome to a referendum in the next parliament.

“But leading business figures, including Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group chairman, and Chris Gibson-Smith, chairman of the London Stock Exchange, warned, in a letter to the Financial Times, that Mr Cameron’s renegotiation plan could fail.

“‘…To call for such a move in these circumstances would be to put our membership of the EU at risk and create damaging uncertainty for British business, which are the last things the prime minister would want to do,’ the letter said.

“Other signatories are Roland Rudd, chairman of the Business for New Europe campaign group; Sir Roger Carr, CBI president; Lord Davies of Corsair Capital; Gerry Grimstone of TheCityUK; Jan du Plessis of Rio Tinto; Sir Michael Rake of BT; Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP; and Malcolm Sweeting of Clifford Chance.”

8) WATCH OUT! THE CYBER ATTACKERS ARE COMING

From the BBC:

“The UK is at risk of an attack in cyberspace because of government “complacency”, MPs have warned.

“The Defence Select Committee said the threat that cyber attackers posed could ‘evolve at almost unimaginable speed’, and called for rapid action to protect national security.

“The committee also said the British military’s reliance on technology could leave it fatally compromised.”

9) ‘TROLLING’, UNIONIST-STYLE

There’s been violence on the streets of Belfast for six nights in a row, with 60 police officers injured and the police bill soaring to more than £7 million.

So how best to calm things down? Why not fly the Union Flag to mark Kate Middleton’s birthday?

Eh?

From the HuffPost UK:

“[P]olice are gearing up for a tense day as the Union Flag is flown for the first time since the controversy over its use, to mark the Duchess of Cambridge’s birthday.

“The occasion of Kate’s birthday is one of the United Kingdom’s official ‘flag days.'”

This won’t end well.

10) CONGRESS VS COCKROACHES

You think our elected politicians in Westminster are unpopular? Check out the US Congress’s latest approval ratings over in the United States. According to a new report from Public Policy Polling:

“Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light. We’ve seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking about how unpopular Congress is but really, what’s the difference between an 11% or a 9% or a 7% favorability rating? So we decided to take a different approach and test Congress’ popularity against 26 different things.

“And what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback… Now the news isn’t all bad for Congress: By relatively close margins it beats out Lindsey Lohan (45/41), playground bullies (43/38), and telemarketers (45/35).”

Hurrah!

PUBLIC OPINION WATCH

From the Sun/YouGov poll:

Labour 44
Conservatives 32
Lib Dems 10

That would give Labour a majority of 120.

140 CHARACTERS OR LESS

@OwenJones84Desperately waiting for coherent, confident opposition to Tories’ onslaught on working poor and the unemployed from Stephen Timms #newsnight

@Mike_Fabricant I regret to admit that instead of listening to @owenjones84 on #newsnight , I was mesmerised by a zit on his forehead…..#

@BorowitzReport AIG suing the US government is like a drowning man who’s been pulled from the ocean kicking the lifeguard in the balls.

900 WORDS OR MORE

Mary Riddell, writing in the Telegraph, says: “Labour believes George Osborne will be snared by his own welfare benefits trap.”

Daniel Finkelstein, writing in the Times, says “Cameron holds the aces”: “In the struggle between Europhiles, Eurosceptics and Europhobes, the middle ground is stronger than people think.”

Seumas Milne, writing in the Guardian, says: “This economic model isn’t delivering jobs or decent wages. The real scroungers are greedy landlords and employers.”

Got something you want to share? Please send any stories/tips/quotes/pix/plugs/gossip to Mehdi Hasan (mehdi.hasan@huffingtonpost.com) or Ned Simons (ned.simons@huffingtonpost.com). You can also follow us on Twitter: @mehdirhasan, @nedsimons and @huffpostukpol

Yemeni citizens, rights groups and lawmakers have vehemently condemned the presence of US Marine troops on Yemeni soil and the transformation of a five-star hotel in the capital, Sana’a, into a US military base, Press TV reports.

In interviews with Press TV, the legislators and human rights activists harshly criticized the conversion of the capital’s Sheraton Hotel into a military building and said they considered the presence of American forces as an occupation of their country.

The Yemenis argued that the US move to bring in the Marines for the protection of its diplomatic mission is merely a pretext for US domination on the ground.

“American Marines entered the country before the revolution and their numbers have increased… it’s similar to what happened when Britain occupied southern Yemen decades ago. The presence of Marine forces in the large number can only be described as an occupation,” political activist Abdu Ahmed said.

The US embassy in Sana’a reportedly booked all the rooms in the Sheraton Hotel, firing 200 members of the hotel’s staff after paying them a severance payment equal to six months of salary.

“We feel insecure. Anyone who goes up on the rooftop of his building will be targeted with a red light pointed to his chest. So if we can’t feel safe in our own country where can we find security and peace of mind?” said a Yemeni citizen.

The growing US domination has sparked numerous mass demonstrations, particularly in the Sada’a governorate to the north of the capital Sana’a.

The protesters in these demonstrations expressed the peoples’ total rejection of foreign intervention in their country’s affairs.

The increasing number of US assassination drone attacks, which mostly target innocent civilians, were also lambasted by the human rights groups.

The activists said the growing US interference in Yemen’s affairs is considered a flagrant violation of the Middle Eastern country’s sovereignty.

“Giving [approval to] US Marines to violate the country’s sovereignty is treason and those giving approval must be prosecuted. The assassinations are carried out right after the US intelligence apparatus received names of people suspected of being involved in al-Qaeda. There are a number of normal people on these lists, who can be easily arrested and brought to justice if found guilty,” human rights activist Abdulrahaman Barman noted.

Washington uses its assassination drones in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Somalia, claiming that they target the terrorists. The attacks, however, have mostly led to massive civilian casualties.

AO/HJL

(Reuters / Brendan McDermid)

Russian stocks, back to normal trading schedule after New Year holidays, are expected to be looking westward for good news. That’s after the country’s key indices went up on Tuesday, upbeat about developments over the ‘fiscal cliff’ issue.

The November index for industrial production in Germany will become the most important market driver on Wednesday, Grigory Birg of Investcafe told RT via email. The indicator lost 2.6% in October, with a further decline likely to have a negative impact on a share market.

Tuesday marked the first working day for Russian floors in 2013 after a 10—day pause for traditional New Year celebrations. Both the RTS and the MICEX had a good start to the year, rising 3.22% and 2.72% respectively. This is because the floors were winning back the news that the US has so far managed to escape the fiscal cliff.

In the early hours of 2013, US politicians finally agreed a deal on tax and spending, stipulating raising income tax for individuals making $400,000 and coupling earning $450,000 from 35% to 39.6%, as well as permanently extending Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $400,000 annually.

On top of that, the legislation proposes a one-year extension on unemployment insurance benefits, which are about to expire for 2 million people. The bill doesn’t include any cuts to entitlement programs such as social security or Medicare. It also does not tackle the issue of raising the debt ceiling from the current limit of $16.4 trillion, which the US is about to cross. At present, the US national debt stands at $16.438 trillion.

In the US, the stocks were in the red for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. That’s at a time when aluminum giant Alcoa opened a reporting season for corporate America with better-than-expected quarterly results. The company reported sales of $5.9 billion in Q4, above analysts’ estimates of a drop to $5.6 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closed down between 0.2% and 0.4%, bouncing back from steeper declines ahead of the close.

European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The CAC 40 gained 0.03%, while the DAX led the FTSE 100 lower. They fell 0.48% and 0.18% respectively.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.89% while the Hang Seng gained 0.36% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.03%.

(Reuters / Brendan McDermid)

Russian stocks, back to normal trading schedule after New Year holidays, are expected to be looking westward for good news. That’s after the country’s key indices went up on Tuesday, upbeat about developments over the ‘fiscal cliff’ issue.

The November index for industrial production in Germany will become the most important market driver on Wednesday, Grigory Birg of Investcafe told RT via email. The indicator lost 2.6% in October, with a further decline likely to have a negative impact on a share market.

Tuesday marked the first working day for Russian floors in 2013 after a 10—day pause for traditional New Year celebrations. Both the RTS and the MICEX had a good start to the year, rising 3.22% and 2.72% respectively. This is because the floors were winning back the news that the US has so far managed to escape the fiscal cliff.

In the early hours of 2013, US politicians finally agreed a deal on tax and spending, stipulating raising income tax for individuals making $400,000 and coupling earning $450,000 from 35% to 39.6%, as well as permanently extending Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $400,000 annually.

On top of that, the legislation proposes a one-year extension on unemployment insurance benefits, which are about to expire for 2 million people. The bill doesn’t include any cuts to entitlement programs such as social security or Medicare. It also does not tackle the issue of raising the debt ceiling from the current limit of $16.4 trillion, which the US is about to cross. At present, the US national debt stands at $16.438 trillion.

In the US, the stocks were in the red for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. That’s at a time when aluminum giant Alcoa opened a reporting season for corporate America with better-than-expected quarterly results. The company reported sales of $5.9 billion in Q4, above analysts’ estimates of a drop to $5.6 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closed down between 0.2% and 0.4%, bouncing back from steeper declines ahead of the close.

European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The CAC 40 gained 0.03%, while the DAX led the FTSE 100 lower. They fell 0.48% and 0.18% respectively.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.89% while the Hang Seng gained 0.36% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.03%.

Crazy money: Rich Russians shrewd super spending in the crisis

In crisis they say, the rich get richer, and in 2012 Russia’s rich increased spending on the most bewildering of things. Delivering a live penguin to Monaco or finding a $500,000 present were among the unusual challenges for concierge services.

An order to deliver a woodpecker or 10 cheeseburgers to a circus, as well as some less sophisticated whims created some tough jobsfor Russia’s concierge services, or so-called “lifestyle managers,” such asQuintessentially Group, Vertu Concierge and PrimeConcept/PRIME, according to Kommersant daily.

In 2012, the number of orders not just came back to “pre-crisis levels of 2008, but went significantly beyond that,” said PrimeConcept. The number of orders grew by an average of 10-20% in 2012, according to Quintessentially.

Organizing trips was the most popular order for concierge services in Russia, with booking a hotel room and reserving a table in a restaurant coming next on the list. In numbers, PrimeConcept’s clients ordered 4,100 trips in 2012, with another 2,200 table reservations at restaurants. Renting an aircraft, or a limousine, or a night club wouldn’t seem to be something completely out of the box today.

Making the most unthinkable things come true is at the upper end of the concierge services’ job, with some more down to Earth, but still difficult to organize things being among their daily “routine.” “They [concierge services] can provide a massage therapist or a hairdresser at any time of a day and in any place on Earth. Or, for example, everybody knows that hiring a taxi in France is a headache… And Prime always finds good cars, adequate drivers, so one can forget about the problem,” says Mark Garber, a managing partner at Fleming Family & Partners.

As for the favorite destinations for Russian moneybags, Italy and France became the absolute leaders. Switzerland and the UK were also popular, but some more secluded places in Europe, as well as the US have been gaining popularity during 2012.

Among the most exotic orders of 2012 were a request to find two geishas and a translator in the Japanese city of Kyoto, as well as to help with the purchase of a €10mn villa in the Cote d’-Azur,Quintessentially said.

Also, Russia’s wealthy have been increasingly turning to arts, the agency added. Quintessentially have already organized trips to such art fairs as Frieze London and other huge scale auctions

Concierge services “are gradually ceasing to be perceived as a service for the wealthy and is moving to the category of everyday needs,” Kseniya Mezentseva, President at PrimeConcept, concluded.

Crazy money: Rich Russians shrewd super spending in the crisis

In crisis they say, the rich get richer, and in 2012 Russia’s rich increased spending on the most bewildering of things. Delivering a live penguin to Monaco or finding a $500,000 present were among the unusual challenges for concierge services.

An order to deliver a woodpecker or 10 cheeseburgers to a circus, as well as some less sophisticated whims created some tough jobsfor Russia’s concierge services, or so-called “lifestyle managers,” such asQuintessentially Group, Vertu Concierge and PrimeConcept/PRIME, according to Kommersant daily.

In 2012, the number of orders not just came back to “pre-crisis levels of 2008, but went significantly beyond that,” said PrimeConcept. The number of orders grew by an average of 10-20% in 2012, according to Quintessentially.

Organizing trips was the most popular order for concierge services in Russia, with booking a hotel room and reserving a table in a restaurant coming next on the list. In numbers, PrimeConcept’s clients ordered 4,100 trips in 2012, with another 2,200 table reservations at restaurants. Renting an aircraft, or a limousine, or a night club wouldn’t seem to be something completely out of the box today.

Making the most unthinkable things come true is at the upper end of the concierge services’ job, with some more down to Earth, but still difficult to organize things being among their daily “routine.” “They [concierge services] can provide a massage therapist or a hairdresser at any time of a day and in any place on Earth. Or, for example, everybody knows that hiring a taxi in France is a headache… And Prime always finds good cars, adequate drivers, so one can forget about the problem,” says Mark Garber, a managing partner at Fleming Family & Partners.

As for the favorite destinations for Russian moneybags, Italy and France became the absolute leaders. Switzerland and the UK were also popular, but some more secluded places in Europe, as well as the US have been gaining popularity during 2012.

Among the most exotic orders of 2012 were a request to find two geishas and a translator in the Japanese city of Kyoto, as well as to help with the purchase of a €10mn villa in the Cote d’-Azur,Quintessentially said.

Also, Russia’s wealthy have been increasingly turning to arts, the agency added. Quintessentially have already organized trips to such art fairs as Frieze London and other huge scale auctions

Concierge services “are gradually ceasing to be perceived as a service for the wealthy and is moving to the category of everyday needs,” Kseniya Mezentseva, President at PrimeConcept, concluded.

Tokyo has decided to inject an extra USD 2.1 billion into its military spending, one day after announcing a separate increase of USD 1.15 billion.

A Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman made the announcement on Wednesday, highlighting that the extra cash is separate from a requested raise in the military budget for the next fiscal year that was called for on Tuesday.

“We will request 180.5 billion yen (USD 2.1 billion) to be allocated to military spending from a stimulus package,” the official said, adding that Tokyo would use some of the money to purchase PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile systems and to renovate four F-15 fighter jets.

On Tuesday, the East Asian nation’s newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party had announced that the country planned to increase its defense budget by more than 100 billion yen (USD 1.15 billion) for the first time in more than a decade in the next fiscal year, which starts from April.

Japan’s announcements for the increased military spending came amid a bitter territorial row with Beijing.

Japan and China remain locked in an ongoing territorial dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan under the name Senkakus, but claimed by China as the Diaoyus.

On Tuesday, the Japanese government summoned China’s envoy to Tokyo Cheng Yonghua to protest at the presence of Chinese ships in waters around the disputed islands claimed by both nations.

The Tuesday protest move came a day after four state-owned Chinese surveillance ships entered the waters surrounding the islands.

Tensions heightened between the two countries after Japan signed a deal on September 11, 2012 to buy three of the islands from their private Japanese owner in line with plans to nationalize the archipelago.

The spokesman also highlighted that out of 180.5 billion yen, the ministry intends to employ 60.5 billion yen to “prepare for the changing security environment surrounding Japan.”

The owner of the islands would have exclusive oil, mineral, and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.

Japan’s Finance Ministry should approve the request for funds before it could be officially included in the stimulus that the government wants to announce later in January.

MR/HJL

Brazilian sex workers (Reuters / Paulo Whitaker)

As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup, prostitutes in one of its major cities are no exception, signing up for free English classes to help them better communicate with foreign clients.

Some 20 sex workers have already lined up for the courses, organized by the Association of Prostitutes in Belo Horizonte, a southeastern regional capital. The group’s president, Cida Vieira, said she expects at least 300 of the association’s 4,000 members to join the classes due to start in March.

She added that her organization is seeking volunteer teachers. “I don’t think we will have problems persuading English teachers to provide services for free,” she said as quoted by AP. “We already have several volunteer psychologists and doctors helping us.”

“It will be important for the girls who will be able to use English to let their clients know what they are charging and learn about what turns them on,” Vieira told the news agency, adding that the association is also thinking of offering free French and Italian classes.

The announcement however sparked indignation from some Brazilians, with newspaper Folha de Sao Paolo publishing a comment by a reader who called the news “unbelievable.”

“This is a country that wants to be taken seriously?… that pretends to fight sexual tourism and other exploits worthy of a 18th century colony,” Nereu Augusto said, conceding that his country can be indeed “surreal.”

Belo Horizonte is set to host three matches of the Confederations Cup this summer and six games of the World Cup in 2014.

Brazilian sex workers (Reuters / Paulo Whitaker)

As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup, prostitutes in one of its major cities are no exception, signing up for free English classes to help them better communicate with foreign clients.

Some 20 sex workers have already lined up for the courses, organized by the Association of Prostitutes in Belo Horizonte, a southeastern regional capital. The group’s president, Cida Vieira, said she expects at least 300 of the association’s 4,000 members to join the classes due to start in March.

She added that her organization is seeking volunteer teachers. “I don’t think we will have problems persuading English teachers to provide services for free,” she said as quoted by AP. “We already have several volunteer psychologists and doctors helping us.”

“It will be important for the girls who will be able to use English to let their clients know what they are charging and learn about what turns them on,” Vieira told the news agency, adding that the association is also thinking of offering free French and Italian classes.

The announcement however sparked indignation from some Brazilians, with newspaper Folha de Sao Paolo publishing a comment by a reader who called the news “unbelievable.”

“This is a country that wants to be taken seriously?… that pretends to fight sexual tourism and other exploits worthy of a 18th century colony,” Nereu Augusto said, conceding that his country can be indeed “surreal.”

Belo Horizonte is set to host three matches of the Confederations Cup this summer and six games of the World Cup in 2014.

U.S. soldiers prepare to board a C-130 plane in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

White House officials said Tuesday that they were considering a full pull-out from Afghanistan once the NATO combat mission there finishes next year. It comes ahead of a Friday meeting between the two countries’ presidents.

­It was the first time Washington had publicly said it was weighing a zero-troop presence in Afghanistan any time in the near future, and goes against statements by Pentagon officials, who advocate leaving a thousands-strong American force in the country to train local army and law enforcement and keep Al-Qaeda under control.

At different points in time, the Obama administration has made various estimates regarding what it might do following the end of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. One option was to leave a residual troop presence as small as 3,000, with another option leaving as many as 15,000 depending on various factors and military goals.

“The US does not have an inherent objective of ‘X’ number of troops in Afghanistan,” said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

There are currently 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan, down from the all-time high of roughly 100,000 in 2010.

In response to a journalist’s question over whether zero troops would be an option, Rhodes said it was something the Obama administration “would consider.”

The statement comes three days before Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to visit the White House to meet with US President Barack Obama. The leaders are expected to discuss their partnership following troop withdrawals in 2014, but they are known to disagree over several other issues likely to come to the table. One is the American demand that US troops remaining in Afghanistan after combat comes to a close would be immune to prosecution there. With Karzai resisting this demand, the White House has been trying to trade troop immunity for a stabilizing post-2014 US presence.

White House military advisor Doug Lute told reporters Tuesday that Kabul would have no choice but to allow US forces certain “authorities” if it wanted them to stay and help law enforcement. The comment was taken to be referring to the immunity issue.

“As we know from our Iraq experience, if there are no authorities granted by the sovereign state, then there’s not room for a follow-on US military mission,” he continued, referring to Iraq’s 2011 refusal to grant US troops immunity from the law that resulted in a full American pull-out from that country.

U.S. soldiers prepare to board a C-130 plane in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

White House officials said Tuesday that they were considering a full pull-out from Afghanistan once the NATO combat mission there finishes next year. It comes ahead of a Friday meeting between the two countries’ presidents.

­It was the first time Washington had publicly said it was weighing a zero-troop presence in Afghanistan any time in the near future, and goes against statements by Pentagon officials, who advocate leaving a thousands-strong American force in the country to train local army and law enforcement and keep Al-Qaeda under control.

At different points in time, the Obama administration has made various estimates regarding what it might do following the end of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. One option was to leave a residual troop presence as small as 3,000, with another option leaving as many as 15,000 depending on various factors and military goals.

“The US does not have an inherent objective of ‘X’ number of troops in Afghanistan,” said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

There are currently 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan, down from the all-time high of roughly 100,000 in 2010.

In response to a journalist’s question over whether zero troops would be an option, Rhodes said it was something the Obama administration “would consider.”

The statement comes three days before Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to visit the White House to meet with US President Barack Obama. The leaders are expected to discuss their partnership following troop withdrawals in 2014, but they are known to disagree over several other issues likely to come to the table. One is the American demand that US troops remaining in Afghanistan after combat comes to a close would be immune to prosecution there. With Karzai resisting this demand, the White House has been trying to trade troop immunity for a stabilizing post-2014 US presence.

White House military advisor Doug Lute told reporters Tuesday that Kabul would have no choice but to allow US forces certain “authorities” if it wanted them to stay and help law enforcement. The comment was taken to be referring to the immunity issue.

“As we know from our Iraq experience, if there are no authorities granted by the sovereign state, then there’s not room for a follow-on US military mission,” he continued, referring to Iraq’s 2011 refusal to grant US troops immunity from the law that resulted in a full American pull-out from that country.

Activists Organize March And Rally Against Police Stop And Frisks. (AFP Photo / Mario Tama)

In a victory for civil rights advocates, a New York City judge has deemed an important part of the city’s controversial “stop and frisk” program unconstitutional. The program has long been criticized as an illegal abuse of law enforcement.

­Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Sheindlin ordered New York’s police to end their policy — part of the city’s “Clean Halls” program — of stopping people outside residential apartment blocks and subjecting them to random search. “Clean Halls” exists only in New York’s generally impoverished Bronx section, which contains some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in town. 

“While it may be difficult to say when precisely to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it when making trespass stops outside buildings,” Scheindlin’s ruling reads.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) argued in the case that “Clean Halls,” despite being billed as a preemptive crimefighting method, generally leads to Bronx residents being harassed, and sometimes even detained, near their place of residence for no reason.

The NYCLU’s case centered on Jaenean Ligon, a Bronx teen stopped and searched by four police officers — two of them undercover — as he left his building to buy groceries for his mother in summer 2011.

When police contacted Ligon’s mother to verify that he had a reason to be on the block, she feared he was in serious trouble or had been killed.

NYCLU lawyers argued that Ligon’s experience with “stop and frisk” is a normal one in higher-crime areas of the city.

Civil rights advocates including the NYCLU have long been vocal in their criticism of “stop and frisk” and “Clean Halls.” Statistics released by the group in 2011 showed, for example, that the number of young black men stopped as part of “Stop and Frisk” was actually greater than the total number of young black men living in the city. 

People blow whistles to protest the New York Police Department policy of “stop-and-frisk” in the Harlem section of New York. (AFP Photo / Stan Honda)

­Reasons New York cops are allowed to make random stops under “stop and frisk” include “inappropriate attire off season” and “furtive movements.” Until recently, police could randomly stop taxis to search passengers.

And though the NYPD has claimed that the program has stopped New Yorkers from carrying guns on the city’s streets, NYCLU statistics show that though the annual number of random stops has increased by nearly 525,000 since 2003, only 176 more guns have on average been found.

Judge Sheindlin’s ruling was compounded by an order for a January 31 hearing on what other measures might be taken to clean up “stop and frisk” and “Clean Halls.”  

“For those of us who do not fear being stopped as we approach or leave our own homes or those of our friend and family, it is difficult to believe that residents of one of our boroughs live under such a threat,” she wrote.

Activists Organize March And Rally Against Police Stop And Frisks. (AFP Photo / Mario Tama)

In a victory for civil rights advocates, a New York City judge has deemed an important part of the city’s controversial “stop and frisk” program unconstitutional. The program has long been criticized as an illegal abuse of law enforcement.

­Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Sheindlin ordered New York’s police to end their policy — part of the city’s “Clean Halls” program — of stopping people outside residential apartment blocks and subjecting them to random search. “Clean Halls” exists only in New York’s generally impoverished Bronx section, which contains some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in town. 

“While it may be difficult to say when precisely to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it when making trespass stops outside buildings,” Scheindlin’s ruling reads.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) argued in the case that “Clean Halls,” despite being billed as a preemptive crimefighting method, generally leads to Bronx residents being harassed, and sometimes even detained, near their place of residence for no reason.

The NYCLU’s case centered on Jaenean Ligon, a Bronx teen stopped and searched by four police officers — two of them undercover — as he left his building to buy groceries for his mother in summer 2011.

When police contacted Ligon’s mother to verify that he had a reason to be on the block, she feared he was in serious trouble or had been killed.

NYCLU lawyers argued that Ligon’s experience with “stop and frisk” is a normal one in higher-crime areas of the city.

Civil rights advocates including the NYCLU have long been vocal in their criticism of “stop and frisk” and “Clean Halls.” Statistics released by the group in 2011 showed, for example, that the number of young black men stopped as part of “Stop and Frisk” was actually greater than the total number of young black men living in the city. 

People blow whistles to protest the New York Police Department policy of “stop-and-frisk” in the Harlem section of New York. (AFP Photo / Stan Honda)

­Reasons New York cops are allowed to make random stops under “stop and frisk” include “inappropriate attire off season” and “furtive movements.” Until recently, police could randomly stop taxis to search passengers.

And though the NYPD has claimed that the program has stopped New Yorkers from carrying guns on the city’s streets, NYCLU statistics show that though the annual number of random stops has increased by nearly 525,000 since 2003, only 176 more guns have on average been found.

Judge Sheindlin’s ruling was compounded by an order for a January 31 hearing on what other measures might be taken to clean up “stop and frisk” and “Clean Halls.”  

“For those of us who do not fear being stopped as we approach or leave our own homes or those of our friend and family, it is difficult to believe that residents of one of our boroughs live under such a threat,” she wrote.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, will not attend his inauguration, scheduled for January 10. Chavez’s health problems have fueled political uncertainty and fears of outside meddling.

Government officials said Tuesday that the swearing-in would be postponed as the 58-year-old president is not fit to return to Caracas by Thursday.

“The commander president wants us to inform that, based on his medical team’s recommendations, the post-operative recovery should extend past January 10,” Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a letter read to the country’s legislature.

No particular date has been announced, but the letter stated that Chavez will be sworn in before the Supreme Court instead of the legislature.

According to the Venezuelan Constitution, the presidential oath should be taken before lawmakers in the National Assembly on January 10, but the president may also take the oath before the Supreme Court if he or she is unable to be sworn in before the assembly. The constitution however does not specify what happens if the president does not take office on this particular date.

The delay has outraged the opposition, which insists that the president should attend the swearing-in on January 10, underlining that the government’s term ends on Thursday.

Opposition leaders argue that Congress chief Diosdado Cabello should take over — as mandated by the constitution — if the president’s absence is formally declared. However, Cabello, a close Chavez ally, has stated that the president continues to be in charge.

“Venezuela is not a monarchy. Ours is not the Cuban system where power is passed around without an election,” opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost last year’s presidential election to Chavez, told reporters on Tuesday.

Maduro has called the inauguration ceremony a “formality,” accusing the opposition of erroneously interpreting the constitution.

On Monday, the government said that Chavez was “stable” in a Cuban hospital receiving treatment for a severe respiratory infection. It added that he’s coping with “respiratory deficiency,” but did not specify the severity. Chavez has not appeared in public since undergoing his fourth cancer surgery on December 11.

Pepe Escobar, from Asia Times Online, told RT that many could try to take advantage of the situation to undermine Chavez’s government.

In the case that Chavez’s health takes a turn for the worse, there will be an internal power struggle among his allies, Escobar told RT. “And at the same time we are going to have more possibilities of foreign interference trying to maneuver this process, and I mean specially our friends in Washington.”

He maintains that even if a new election those endorsed by Chavez will remain frontrunners. “In the last elections, Chavez won with over 60 per cent of the vote. The absolute majority of Venezuela’s population is in favor of what’s been happening for these past 13 years.”

“Chavismo without Chavez would remain in terms of developing Venezuela,” Escobar said, adding that the question would be, who is going to lead it.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)

(39.2Mb) embed video

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, will not attend his inauguration, scheduled for January 10. Chavez’s health problems have fueled political uncertainty and fears of outside meddling.

Government officials said Tuesday that the swearing-in would be postponed as the 58-year-old president is not fit to return to Caracas by Thursday.

“The commander president wants us to inform that, based on his medical team’s recommendations, the post-operative recovery should extend past January 10,” Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a letter read to the country’s legislature.

No particular date has been announced, but the letter stated that Chavez will be sworn in before the Supreme Court instead of the legislature.

According to the Venezuelan Constitution, the presidential oath should be taken before lawmakers in the National Assembly on January 10, but the president may also take the oath before the Supreme Court if he or she is unable to be sworn in before the assembly. The constitution however does not specify what happens if the president does not take office on this particular date.

The delay has outraged the opposition, which insists that the president should attend the swearing-in on January 10, underlining that the government’s term ends on Thursday.

Opposition leaders argue that Congress chief Diosdado Cabello should take over — as mandated by the constitution — if the president’s absence is formally declared. However, Cabello, a close Chavez ally, has stated that the president continues to be in charge.

“Venezuela is not a monarchy. Ours is not the Cuban system where power is passed around without an election,” opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost last year’s presidential election to Chavez, told reporters on Tuesday.

Maduro has called the inauguration ceremony a “formality,” accusing the opposition of erroneously interpreting the constitution.

On Monday, the government said that Chavez was “stable” in a Cuban hospital receiving treatment for a severe respiratory infection. It added that he’s coping with “respiratory deficiency,” but did not specify the severity. Chavez has not appeared in public since undergoing his fourth cancer surgery on December 11.

Pepe Escobar, from Asia Times Online, told RT that many could try to take advantage of the situation to undermine Chavez’s government.

In the case that Chavez’s health takes a turn for the worse, there will be an internal power struggle among his allies, Escobar told RT. “And at the same time we are going to have more possibilities of foreign interference trying to maneuver this process, and I mean specially our friends in Washington.”

He maintains that even if a new election those endorsed by Chavez will remain frontrunners. “In the last elections, Chavez won with over 60 per cent of the vote. The absolute majority of Venezuela’s population is in favor of what’s been happening for these past 13 years.”

“Chavismo without Chavez would remain in terms of developing Venezuela,” Escobar said, adding that the question would be, who is going to lead it.

As much of Latin America braces itself for the possibility of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s death, observers around the world would do well to note the stark contrasts that exist within the region. On the one hand, there are the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) countries, united by Chavez in their rejection of US imperialism and neoliberal capitalism. On the other hand, there are those countries which are still very much living under the hegemony of the United States.

In El Salvador, this means subservience to Washington and international investors who seek nothing less than total control of that nation’s economic destiny. This attempt at economic monopolization can be summed up with one word: privatization. It is precisely this strategy with all the union-busting, wage gouging, and propaganda disinformation that it entails, that is rearing its ugly head in El Salvador.

Public-Private Partnership (P3) Law

The corporate-financier drive to privatize the Salvadoran economy has taken the form of the proposed Public-Private Partnership law which, if approved, would grant the government the right to sell off national resources, infrastructure and services to foreign multinationals. In effect, it would allow for the privatization of those sectors of the economy traditionally controlled by the state. As Gilberto Garcia of the Salvadoran Center for Labor Study and Support stated, “Essentially, they want to take a strategic service from the state in favor of a multinational.” [1] The ultimate goal of this legislation is not merely to cede control of state institutions to private interests, it is also to subvert and ultimately eliminate the power of organized labor and thereby reduce wages and the standard of living of working people in the country.

Public sector workers in El Salvador earn a minimum wage of $300 per month while their private sector counterparts earn anywhere between $187 and $219 per month.[2] The drive to privatize is, at least in part, aimed and driving down the wages of industrial workers while maximizing profits for foreign investors. However, the law is aimed not only at lowering wages, but weakening the public sector unions on a fundamental level in order to prevent mass resistance to the implementation of the neoliberal policies that have been so destructive in other parts of Latin America and the developing world. Many of the public sector unions have mounted effective resistance to these sorts of policies in the past, therefore making them high-priority targets for corporate bosses seeking to transform the economy for their own benefit.

This transformation of the economy affects the working class and the poor most acutely. Not only is access to vital social services and resources reduced, but the prices are increased dramatically. One clear example of this is the privatization of much of the electrical distribution system in El Salvador back in 1996 which resulted in an average increase in price of 47.2% for the lowest-level consumers.[3] Essentially then, the poor and working class of the country have to pay to subsidize the selling off of their own resources and services to powerful multinational corporations. It is for this reason that tens of thousands have begun mobilizing against this legislation and in support of organized labor. However, in order to fully appreciate the vast scope of this issue, one must understand the larger framework within which the P3 law was created.

The US and the “Partnership for Growth”

The Public-Private Partnership legislation is merely an outgrowth of the Obama Administration’s so-called “Partnership for Growth” bilateral agreement, signed with the Funes government in 2011. This agreement “embodies a key administration policy of seeking to elevate broad-based economic growth as a top priority of our development assistance, ensuring that our investments and policies are guided by rigorous assessments of how countries can achieve higher levels of growth,”[4] according to Mark Feierstein, assistant administrator for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the innocuous diplomatic rhetoric, the bilateral agreement intends to create a climate conducive to foreign exploitation of the resources and services of a country that is, in many ways, entirely dependent upon the United States for its economic survival. It should be noted here that, on more than one occasion, the Obama administration ambassador to El Salvador, Mari Carmen Aponte, has threatened to withhold crucial aid if the Public-Private Partnership law is not enacted.[5] In effect, the Partnership for Growth lays the foundation for a dependent relationship in which the United States, acting as the benefactor, controls the direction and type of development that El Salvador is allowed to have.

It is essential to understand the foundations of the Partnership for Growth in order to fully appreciate its far-reaching implications. One of the primary mechanisms by which the substance of this agreement is enacted is a so-called “Growth Council” whose goal is to create a business-friendly environment conducive to foreign corporations.[6] Made up of five wealthy capitalists and five government bureaucrats, the council acts as a sort of advisory board to the President, speaking on behalf of business interests and promoting the agenda of private business at the highest levels of the Salvadoran government. This council is, for all intents and purposes, the mouthpiece of international finance capital, collaborating with foreign interests to destroy the labor movement and reduce the standard of living for the working class and the poor while enriching themselves.

The Partnership for Growth recently had its first annual review in which delegates from the US and the Growth Council met to discuss the progress made in implementing the agreement. The delegates “gave a positive evaluation of the progress made on the PFG’s (Partnership for Growth’s) 20 goals and actions for achieving them…the delegation cited new bilateral security initiatives, programs to train youth for jobs with US fast food restaurants, hotels, and Wal-Mart; and new laws presented to the Salvadoran legislature to incentivize foreign investment.”[7] What should be evident from this is the fact that, in the minds of these representatives of corporate interests, growth can be understood as improving the investment climate while training young people to work in low-wage sectors in the service of multinational corporations, rather than promoting young people to work in the interests of their own country. This falls directly in line with the goal of the Partnership, namely furthering the interests of the wealthy while stifling the progress of the working class and the poor.

Another key player in this “partnership” is USAID. Promoting itself as an institution “extending a helping hand to those people overseas trying to make a better life,”[8] it is in fact merely an extension of the imperialist ruling class of the United States. USAID is intimately linked to this drive toward privatization in El Salvador. In fact, USAID works in close collaboration with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to disburse funds to countries that follow the prescribed neoliberal reform formula. As James Parks, Deputy Vice President for Policy and Evaluation at Millennium Challenge Corporation was quoted on USAID’s own website, “”El Salvador’s economic growth can be increased by enacting sound policies that enhance the ability of Salvadoran businesses to compete in the global economy…A more competitive El Salvador can create new jobs on the basis of a stronger private sector and more foreign investment. The key goal of the partnership is to help unlock the country’s full economic potential.”[9] What becomes clear is that USAID is instrumental in transforming the Salvadoran economy, using the leverage of conditional aid and other economic incentives to bend the government to the will of international capital. However, it is essential to understand that even the definition of the “challenges to prosperity” is purely propaganda.

The Propaganda of “Prosperity”

One of the central aspects of the “Partnership for Growth” campaign is a sustained propaganda assault directed at the people of El Salvador. The attempt is to convince citizens, the middle class especially, that by simply addressing a few key “bottlenecks” in production, the country will be on its way to a brighter economic future. These main “constraints to growth” are crime and low productivity. Those of us in the United States should be familiar with this sort of terminology which is always used as a rhetorical smokescreen to refer to the poor and organized labor. When the Partnership for Growth committee, led by American “advisors” described these twin problems as the central obstacles to growth, it was essentially a declaration of war on the unions and the poor. Moreover, it further legitimizes the abhorrent so-called US drug war and the union-busting policies of neoliberalism.

The attempt is to convince the people of El Salvador that, rather than corrupt puppet governments and a disgraceful and exploitative economic system beholden to multinational corporations, the problems in that country are of their own making. This same logic has been applied to countless other countries in the region for decades and is the root cause of much of the conflict and internal strife in Latin America. One need only look to Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and elsewhere to find examples of countries that, despite tremendous pressure and international demonization campaigns, have been able to take control of their own economic systems, becoming the masters of their own destiny. In this time of uncertainty in Latin America, one must examine how El Salvador is really a microcosm for the United States and the world more broadly both in terms of the assault by corporations on workers and the way in which it represents the class struggles we see throughout the world. By seeing this issue in its broadest possible context, peace-loving anti-imperialists around the world can stand in solidarity with the people of El Salvador and all working people struggling to be free.

Eric Draitser is the founder of StopImperialism.com. He is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. He is a regular contributor to Russia Today, Press TV, GlobalResearch.ca, and other media outlets. You can reach him at ericdraitser@gmail.com.

EN ENTREVISTA CELESTE SÁENZ DE MIERA CON EL INVESTIGADOR MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY

Director de Global Research con sede en Canadá y en exclusiva para voces del periodista, realizó un análisis sobre lo que él llama la destitución social, guerras sin fronteras y mentiras cautivadoras, a partir del debate sobre el fin del mundo.

A continuación transcribimos en forma íntegra la opinión y el análisis de Chossudovsky.

CSM

Profesor, ¿cuáles son las lecturas sobre la distorsión de las profecías Mayas, acerca del fin del mundo?

MC

Es cierto que en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Europa, Asia y Oceanía es el fin del mundo, aunque no para todos, hay un porcentaje elevado de la población que piensa que es el fin del mundo.

Además no conocen el pensamiento Maya, que en realidad esto no es el fin del mundo, es el comienzo de un nuevo ciclo en el calendario es un renacimiento.

En México, ya se conoce este pensamiento, pero lo que está sucediendo es que la prensa, los medios masivos de comunicación, lo están utilizando como un mecanismo para distorsionar la crisis global, la caída del nivel de vida, la guerra sin fronteras; es decir, es un mecanismo que manipula la realidad.

El debate sobre la guerra en medio oriente, la caída del nivel de vida, el empobrecimiento de personas, simplemente no llega a la primera página.

En realidad vivimos una situación que es un poco el fin del mundo para mucha gente, esto en sentido figurado.

No es una cuestión de pobreza, es un mecanismo de destitución social, donde la gente pierde todo: su empleo, su casa, su familia; situación que se ve en distintos países.

En la India donde el campo rural vive una crisis por la falta de subsidios, ha llevado a los campesinos a la bancarrota.

En Siria donde hay una guerra, llevada a cabo por los Estados Unidos y la OTAN, en contra de un pueblo, de una nación. Creando una situación que la prensa lo llama: “Guerra Civil”, no es una guerra civil, es una invasión, una agresión.

Se está fabricando “Un fin del mundo”, catástrofes, crisis; pero la verdadera crisis es la globalización de la pobreza y la guerra sin fronteras, no son un motivo de debate.

Al mismo tiempo, cuando hablamos de soluciones a las crisis económica son medidas de austeridad, que es la medicina del Fondo Monetario Internacional, de tal manera, que la solución a la crisis, se vuelve a la causa de las crisis, esto es, porque la austeridad no va solucionar, al contrario lo va a profundizar.

CSM

Profesor nos ha hablado sobre austeridad y de ahí a la destitución social; que impacta a los que menos tienen; también sobre mentiras cautivadoras que se crean, además de la sofisticación de la mentira que provoca violencia y sobre los medios de comunicación, que se han convertido en armas de cuarta generación, que son además armas de destrucción masiva, armas que destruyen la ética y que promueven pensamientos mágicos, en fin que estupidizan, destruyen y bombardean sistemáticamente la inteligencia emocional.

Como bien lo dices el fin del mundo es una mala interpretación, no son los mayas los que se equivocaron porque ellos hablan de los cambios. Nos hablas además del verdadero fin del mundo para muchos seres humanos en Siria, ese país, que tiene un gobierno secular, y del que tanto se tergiversa, cuando el fin del mundo es el que crean quienes depredan, ¿cómo entender las alianzas de quienes públicamente dicen que son enemigos pero que finalmente son aliados?, que están por escondidos y camuflados pero que son la raíz de esta problemática. Abordabas el tema sobre destitución social.- ¿qué pasa en éste mundo al revés? Siria que es un país que no tiene deuda con ningún organismo financiero, no tiene deudas con el FMI, ni con el banco mundial, punto que es tremendamente positivo, pero que a quienes dominan e invaden no les parece.

MC

Es cierto que Siria, es una civilización antigua: la Mesopotamia, fuente de la civilización, de la urbanización, de la agricultura. Es un país, donde los cristianos y musulmanes conviven juntos desde hace muchos siglos. Aunque no podemos decir, que es una sociedad ideal, desde el punto de vista de derechos humanos, pero de todas formas, existe un gobierno secular, con un modo de pensar, de actuar muy civilizado, muy por encima de lo que he visto en muchos de mis viajes a otras ciudades del mundo.

Lo que sucede en Siria, con la guerra, se está destrozando a un país, se crean condiciones de derrumbe de las instituciones, da imposibilidad de que funcionen, no es una guerra convencional.

Los Estados Unidos dicen, que ellos aplican la guerra no convencional, la guerra no convencional es reclutar a mercenarios islamistas, formados por fuerzas especiales de la OTAN y de la CIA, con metodología establecida.

A estos los llaman rebeldes, son personas ligadas a Al Qaeda, ellos pueden tener en su posesión armas químicas, son grupos controlados por Washington. Aunque también las fuerzas especiales de la OTAN o de la CIA, les faciliten las armas químicas y que utilicen en contra de la población siria y en la lógica de la desinformación mediática, se va a decir que el gobierno es el responsable de matar a su propio pueblo.

En las últimas noticias se está hablando del hecho de que los terroristas tienen en su posesión armas químicas, lo que me da la impresión de que los Estados Unidos quieren desencadenar una crisis humanitaria por el uso de estas armas químicas, por parte de los rebeldes. Aunque hay que aclarar que estos no son los que deciden, la decisión se toma en el pentágono.

Recordaran que el pretexto para invadir Irak, se había utilizado incluso a la ONU, en el que se decía que Saddam tenía armas de destrucción masiva. Colín Powell presento ante el consejo de Seguridad un informe donde se decía que Irak tenía armas de destrucción masiva, lo que fue mentira.

Bush y Blair, dijeron nos equivocamos, esto se dijo después de la guerra, de la invasión.

El caso de Siria es un poco distinto, la alianza militar de occidente no quiere utilizar el hecho de que las fuerzas armadas sirias tienen armas químicas, todos los países tienen armas, pero estas están bien resguardadas. El gobierno sirio ha dicho que no tiene intensión de utilizarlas.

La estrategia mediática de occidente, es decir que los rebeldes pueden tomar esas armas. Están creando un escenario donde los terroristas las tomen y utilizarlas en contra de la población, para provocar una crisis humanitaria.

Al parecer en la ciudad de Alepo ya hubo un caso de utilización de armas químicas, lo que motivo noticas a nivel internacional y local.

CSM

Profesor, vemos en los medios masivos de información, como se sacan de contexto, incluso los discursos como el que dio Vladimir Putin, ¿qué significa dinos Rusia para Siria, como interés estratégico de un equilibrio económico?

MC

Putin ha dado conferencias de prensa, sin embargo subrayo en cuanto a la desinformación cada vez es mayor. Cada vez que Moscú hace un planteamiento la prensa de occidente dice lo contrario.

Hubo un rumor de que Moscú estaba apoyando a los Estados Unidos y la OTAN, la prensa de occidente cita a un ministro del exterior, quien decía que la situación es muy grave, sin fijar su postura, y finalizaba diciendo que apoyaban a Siria.

Al inicio de diciembre Siria tomo las previsiones, al obtener misiles rusos, los más avanzados con la capacidad de defender a su país de cualquier peligro posible de un enfrentamiento. Por otra parte, la OTAN ha instalado misiles Patriot en la frontera con Turquía; lo que está en riesgo de una escalada de enfrentamientos y desencadenar una guerra regional y hasta una tercera guerra mundial.

CSM

¿Qué tanto debemos estar alerta y qué tanta, responsabilidad podemos tener en nuestro análisis? Porque finalmente somos más los que somos receptores de estas mentiras ¿Cómo podemos entender estas realidades que creíamos lejanas? Pero que los financieristas nos traen de vuelta desde el oscurantismo total? ¿Qué opinas sobre el que y él como ya se les desgastó el discurso de su justificación en pro de una supuesta democracia?, mismo que ya no pega , y que además valdría la pena analizar sobre los diferentes conceptos de democracia en un lugar y en otro. Y que mas allá de la razón ahora inoculen odio a partir de fomentar lo que son los dogmas, la fe y que la gente así sea manipulada por la religión de manera fanática en donde ya no hay espacio para argumentar desde bases de razón sino de creencias.

MC

Dos puntos. El primero, la creación del islamismo radical, no es un proyecto de la sociedad musulmana, es un proyecto de los servicios de inteligencia de los Estados Unidos; es un instrumento que la CIA creo para usarlos como combatientes.

El segundo, el contexto del discurso mediático es invertir lo que es mentira y la verdad. La mentira viene a ser la verdad. La guerra es una operación humanitaria. La austeridad es prosperidad. El estado policial, es democracia. Los que quieren la democracia, son verdaderos terroristas. La riqueza es un indicador de progreso, de desarrollo. Toda una serie de conceptos invertidos.

No admiten ningún debate porque no permiten saber la verdad. La guerra es una operación humanitaria, porque es a través de esta que se llega a la paz y a la democracia. Estos conceptos invertidos, forman parte de los medios de comunicación.

En realidad el objetivo primordial es provocar confusión total y obediencia a un orden político, no permiten el derecho a preguntar. La manipulación del fin del mundo, todo es un proceso de esconder la crisis real del capitalismo, que está afectando a la humanidad, la gran depresión del siglo XXI y la posibilidad de una tercera guerra mundial, que no aparece en los diarios.

CSM

Profesor, dices que la verdad es un instrumento de combate ¿qué hacemos con esta sofisticación mundial y deliberada de utilización de la mentira? Y por otra parte vemos la vergüenza de lo que pasa en ese mundo que se ha erigido como súper policía y res guardador de la “justicia”, el que determina qué y quién es “el bueno y el malo”, cuando en sus propias entrañas vemos que son asesinados niños de 6 y 7 años además de algunas profesoras, por la venta de armas. ¿Qué capacidad tenemos de reflexionar? ¿Ya la habrán asesinado también? Qué opinión tienes respecto a las reacciones desde las cúpulas visibles del poder sobre la tragedia en Connecticut además de otras más, cuando se pasa primero por el tamiz del interés económico y como segundo el interés de la vida.

MC

El culto a la violencia, a la matanza que está presente en Hollywood, es cierto es un elemento y por otro lado hay casos más graves que en la escuela de Newtown.

Lo que puedo observar es el fenómeno de la criminalización no solamente en el aparato estatal, ustedes ya conocen eso en México.

Es la criminalización de la economía, del sector financiero, de la prensa. Los criminales están protegidos por un sistema de justicia, que es a su vez criminalizado.

Cuando el jefe de Estado es un criminal según el derecho Internacional, todo el aparato de justicia lo es.

Cuando HSBC tiene vínculos con los cárteles de la droga en México, los verdaderos criminales son la banca, porque la banca está utilizando a los criminales como instrumento, hay una cierta jerarquía. Pero la droga esta manejada por los bancos no tanto por los criminales, que también tienen su responsabilidad.

Es la criminalización del aparato financiero, del aparato jurídico, del sistema de gobierno, donde hay criminales que ocupan un lugar en el gobierno.

El caso de Monsanto, que producen semillas transgénicas, la Unión Europea lo apoya. De tal manera, que cuando una sociedad, donde los grupos financieros actúan de manera criminal, la sociedad está en crisis, porque no puede haber ningún estado de derecho, no existen más.

CSM

Cuando vemos tan evidentemente ese doble discurso desde las esferas del poder donde se dice que su prioridad es combatir al terrorismo y toda forma de crímenes, pero que por otro lado imponen multas que lavan con 1920 millones de dólares, un lavado mucho mayor y del que fue señalado el HSBC así como otros más y no hay evidencia más clara que este y otros casos sobre lavado de dinero, en el que además y detrás de este blanqueo se tejen hechos de sangre, de pauperización de la dignidad humana, secuestros, tráfico de personas, etc. En donde, han cosificado al ser humano. Citando al doctor Cesar Garizurieta recordemos como existen crímenes que para las grandes empresas no se configuran como delitos y en cambio para individuos los mismos crímenes si se califican como delito, ¿Qué nos dices sobre eso?

MC

Los verdaderos criminales, tienen que tener en la base de la sociedad gente que comete delitos, para justificar el hecho de que ellos no son los criminales, esta criminalización es a nivel estructural, de la sociedad en su conjunto.

Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro says President Hugo Chavez will not attend the presidential inauguration this week for his third term in office due to health problems.

In a letter to the Venezuelan National Assembly read out on Tuesday, Maduro said Chavez would miss Thursday’s scheduled swearing-in ceremony as his recovery process “should be extended beyond Jan. 10” on the advice of his medical team.

On Friday, he stated that Chavez invoked a provision in the constitution allowing him to be sworn in before the Supreme Court of Justice at a later date if he is unable to take the oath before lawmakers in the assembly.

The 58-year-old president is in Cuba after undergoing a fourth round of cancer surgery in the Cuban capital Havana on December 11, 2012.

In March 2012, Chavez began radiation treatment in Cuba after undergoing an operation in February 2012 that removed a second cancerous tumor from his pelvic region. Chavez’s first tumor, which was baseball-sized, was removed in June 2011, and then he received chemotherapy.

Chavez, who came to power in 1999, was reelected to a new six-year term in October 2012.

GJH/MHB

Prisoners serving sentences under 12 months will be forced to undertake a period of rehabilitation upon release under proposed reforms.

As part of a “rehabilitation revolution”, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said short custodial sentences will for the first time include a period of rehab in a bid to curb reoffending.

Inmates serving under 12 months only currently undertake rehab on a voluntary basis and are otherwise released into the community with no supervision or support.

High reoffending rates triggered the overhaul with almost half of all prison-leavers reconvicted within 12 months, and for those serving less than a year that figure rises to almost 58%.

The proposals call for greater use of mentors who will meet offenders at the prison gates, while private contractors will provide probation services under “payment by results” contracts.

Revealing the reforms, Mr Grayling said: “What we do at the moment is send people out of prison with £46 in their pocket, and no support at all. No wonder we have such high levels of reoffending. It is madness to carry on with the same old system and hope for a different result.”

The reforms will see the public sector probation service continue to deal with the most high risk offenders, including all serious sexual and violent offenders. The final reforms will be set out in spring this year with the roll-out across England and Wales by spring 2015.

Mr Grayling added: “We know across the public, private and voluntary sectors there is a wealth of expertise and experience – we need to unlock that so we can finally begin to bring down our stubbornly high reoffending rates.

“Our proposals will see all of those sentenced to prison or probation properly punished while being helped to turn away from crime for good. They will also mean we only spend taxpayers’ money on what works when it comes to cutting crime.”

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: “Payment by results in criminal justice is untested, and the Tory-led Government are taking a reckless gamble with public safety. Pilots were already under way to see if payment by results worked and to ensure any problems were ironed out before being rolled out. The new Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, is demonstrating breathtaking arrogance in choosing to ignore the pilots.”

Two unrelated adverts which referred to Jimmy Savile have been ruled harmful and offensive following complaints that they made light of allegations of sexual abuse against the disgraced TV presenter.

An email for clothing company DirtySmart read “Choose your fate” with arrows pointing to a cartoon image of Savile. One person complained that the ad was offensive and irresponsible because it made light of the allegations under investigation.

Another email for Extreme Publishing read “How’s about that then” in large print above a black and white image of Savile wearing underwear and smoking a cigar with a superimposed copy of a magazine in his hand. Two complainants challenged whether the ad was offensive and irresponsible in view of recent media coverage surrounding the abuse allegations.

DirtySmart acknowledged that some people may have found the cartoon image of Savile distasteful but they considered it would not cause serious or widespread offence.

Extreme Publishing, trading as TBM Magazine, said it did not intend to offend or upset anyone by sending the email. The image of Savile, which it said showed him wearing running shorts and not underwear, was “not distasteful in and of itself because pictures of him were prevalent in the media at the time”, it said.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said advertisers are entitled to refer to current news stories but that they need to take particular care in how such stories are used, especially those involving allegations about the sexual abuse of children, to avoid accusations of exploitation in order to sell products or services.

“We considered that the overall tone of the ad was light-hearted and that that approach was likely to be seen as insensitive by its recipients when used in conjunction with references to Jimmy Savile, given the media climate at that time,” the ASA said.

“We also considered that, particularly in view of the email’s subject line, the accompanying text and the large image of Jimmy Savile, who was seen reclining in an armchair wearing few clothes, it was likely to cause serious offence to some. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the code.”

In relation to DirtySmart, it said: “We considered the statement ‘choose your fate’ with a choice between clicking on the image of a Halloween pumpkin or Jimmy Savile was likely to be seen as insensitive by recipients and was likely to cause serious offence to some.”

Rulings for both ads read: “We told them to ensure they prepared their ads with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society, and to ensure they did not cause serious or widespread offence.”

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are set to publish a dossier detailing progress on 480 pledges made by the coalition Government, which will acknowledge that some targets have been missed, it has emerged.

Official sources said the document would be published on a Government website this week, and the Daily Telegraph reported that it could be as early as Wednesday.

The Deputy Prime Minister last month promised a “candid” audit of the Government’s performance, but this did not feature in the Mid-Term Review published with great fanfare on Monday.

The new dossier is understood to be an annexe to the Review, which goes through every one of the 480 measures in the 2010 Coalition Agreement to update the public on what progress has been made.

The Telegraph reported that the document will confirm that the coalition has missed more than 70 pledges in areas ranging from pensions and road-building to criminal justice, and said its publication appeared to have been delayed amid fears that it would overshadow any favourable coverage of the Mid-Term Review.

Its existence was revealed when one of Mr Cameron’s senior advisers, Patrick Rock, was photographed in Downing Street carrying a document discussing the advantages and disadvantages of releasing it, said the paper.

The restricted document reportedly warned that publishing the annexe alongside the Mid-Term Review on Monday could highlight “problematic areas” and lead to “unfavourable copy” identifying “broken pledges”.

The Iranian coast guard has seized two Saudi fishing boats that intruded into Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.

Qalandar Lashkari, the commander of the Bushehr province coast guard, told the Fars News Agency on Tuesday that the Iranian coast guard had seized two vessels that were not flying flags when sighted.

Lashkari stated that the boats were from Saudi Arabia and crossed into Iranian waters to fish.

He said their captains and crew members, all of them Indian nationals, were arrested.

The Iranian coast guard also confiscated the two vessels’ catch of 500 kilograms of fish, Lashkari added.

Last week, forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) second naval zone seized another Saudi vessel and its four crew members after it illegally entered Iranian waters.

The vessel and its four-man crew were later released.

MP/HGL

The president of the Central African Republic (CAR) says the Seleka rebels are supported by “foreign terrorists.”

President Francois Bozizé Yangouvonda made the remarks at a press conference in the CAR capital Bangui on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

He said the rebels seem to be Janjaweed militiamen — who are operating in the Darfur region of western Sudan — along with “people who don’t speak Sango (the primary language spoken in CAR), French, or even English,” and are from another country.

Bozizé also commented on the peace talks that are scheduled to begin in the Gabonese capital Libreville this week.

“If the terrorists come to talk terrorism, the whole world will know it… If they come to discuss defending the cause of Central African Republic, we are going to listen to them. If there is something positive, we will accept it. If it’s armed robbery, we will not accept it,” Bozizé stated.

On Monday, delegations from the two sides were scheduled to leave for Gabon, but the CAR government officials’ plane did not take off from Bangui as scheduled due to a “technical problem.”

However, the Seleka delegation arrived in Gabon on Monday.

Yet, despite the rebels’ decision to attend the peace talks, the Seleka spokesman said in an interview in Paris on the same day that the group still has the ability to seize Damara or Bangui but is concerned about the 700,000 people who live there.

“If we wanted to take Damara, it would already be done. We have the means to take Damara and also to take Bangui today, but we don’t want the capital to suffer attacks,” Eric Massi stated.

However, on Tuesday the CAR president said, “Foreign terrorists are attacking the established power in Central African Republic. Under those circumstances, I am proud of having served my country normally, that democracy is functioning normally.”

The Seleka rebels launched an offensive against the CAR government in December.

The rebels, who have been advancing toward Bangui, say CAR President Francois Bozizé Yangouvonda must step down.

There are many mineral resources, including gold and diamonds, in the Central African Republic. However, the country is extremely poor and has faced a series of rebellions and coups since it gained independence in 1960.

NT/HGL

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 2014, the White House said on Tuesday, just days before President Barack Obama is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The comments by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes were the first signal that, despite initial recommendations by the top military commander in Afghanistan to keep as many as 15,000 troops in the country, the final decision may be to remove everyone, as happened in Iraq in 2011.

Asked about consideration of a so-called zero-option once the NATO combat mission ends at the end of 2014, Rhodes said: “That would be an option that we would consider.”

“Because again, the president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan,” he added, saying the objective was to ensure the training and equipping of Afghan forces and combating al Qaeda.

Rhodes, lowering expectations of any breakthrough in the talks with Karzai at the White House on Friday, said it would be months before a final decision is made on troop levels.

In Iraq, Obama decided to pull out all U.S. forces after failing in negotiations with the Iraqi government to secure immunity for any U.S. troops who would remain behind.

The Obama administration is also insisting on immunity for any U.S. troops that remain in Afghanistan, and that unsettled question will figure in this week’s talks between Obama and Karzai and their aides.

Jeffrey Dressler, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War who favours keeping a larger presence in Afghanistan, questioned what battlefield conditions would allow for a complete U.S. pullout.

“I can’t tell that they’re doing that as a negotiating position … or if it is a no-kidding option,” Dressler said. “If you ask me, I don’t see how zero troops is in the national security interest of the United States.”

U.S. officials have said privately that the White House had asked for options to be developed for keeping between 3,000 and 9,000 troops in the country, a lower range than was put forward initially by General John Allen, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

Allen suggested keeping between 6,000 and 15,000 troops in Afghanistan.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech)

BELFAST (Reuters) – Police in Northern Ireland came under attack for a fifth straight night on Monday as the province’s police chief urged politicians and parents to act to halt the riots on Belfast streets.

The violence is some of the worst in the British-controlled province since a 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict that pitted Catholics seeking union with Ireland against security forces and Protestants keen to remain British.

The unrest was triggered by a decision by Belfast city council – which is dominated by pro-Irish members – to end the century-old tradition of flying the British flag from City Hall every day.

The council met on Monday for the first time since taking the decision last month and a protest passed off peacefully outside City Hall.

But later, in an eastern part of the capital where rival Protestant and Catholic communities live side by side, a crowd about 200-strong threw petrol bombs, fireworks and paint bombs at police who responded with water cannon.

Earlier on Monday, Northern Ireland’s police chief appealed to political organisers and parents of youths involved in the violence – some of whom were as young as 10 – to rein it in.

“As chief constable I’m taking the unusual step of calling directly now for protests, if not to be ended, to take a step back, for the violence to come to an end and for responsible voices to be heard,” Matt Baggott told a news conference.

He said members of pro-British militant groups, who ceased hostilities in recent years, were exploiting and in some cases instigating the riots.

Militant Republican groups, responsible for the killings of three police officers and two soldiers since 2009, have so far not reacted violently to the flag protests.

Some 3,600 people were killed during 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland before the 1998 peace agreement.

(Reporting by Eamonn Mallie; Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

The Islamic Republic of Iran plans to manufacture three domestically-designed passenger planes by 2026, according to a senior Iranian aviation official.

Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Hamid Reza Pahlevani said on Tuesday that the country will build aircrafts capable of carrying 80, 100 and 150 passengers as part of efforts to meet its increasing air transportation demands, the Fars News Agency reported.

Iran is currently cooperating with Ukraine and Russia in the production and operation of the Antonov An-140 airliner, which can carry 52 passengers.

After purchasing the production license for the An-140 from Ukraine in 2000, Iran built its first Iran-140 passenger plane in 2003.

On December 11, 2012, Manouchehr Manteqi, the managing director of Iran Aviation Industries Organization, said the country’s 40-year-old aviation industry has made great achievements in designing aircraft and overhauling the existing aviation fleet.

MP/MHB

The telecoms watchdog is to boost efforts to hunt down companies behind nuisance calls to householders.

The move was prompted after Ofcom said a study found almost half of all adults were subjected to silent or abandoned calls within a six-month period.

The regulator announced a plan to tackle the growing problem after its own research suggested the number of those affected had increased from 24% in 2011 to 47% in 2012.

An abandoned call is one that ends when it is picked up while a silent call is where the receiver hears nothing and has no way of knowing whether there is anyone at the other end of the line.

The figures, released in the regulator’s annual Consumer Experience Report, also reveal that 71% of landline customers received a live marketing call, while 63% received a recorded marketing message over the same six-month period.

Ofcom said its plan to help tackle nuisance calls would include a new study to build a clearer picture of the problems consumers experience.

It has also pledged to work closely with the industry to identify ways to trace companies behind nuisance calls when they try to hide their identity.

Ofcom issued fines totalling more than £800,000 within the last year to HomeServe and npower over silent or abandoned calls. TalkTalk is currently under investigation.

The watchdog has also received numerous complaints from consumers who have been pestered by callers acting on behalf of firms looking to payment protection insurance mis-selling compensation claim firms.

Ofcom’s consumer group director Claudio Pollack said: “Nuisance calls can cause annoyance, inconvenience and anxiety to consumers.

“This is a complex and challenging area, but Ofcom is determined to work with industry and other regulators to help protect consumers. Our new research will help to understand the root cause of the problem.”

Prime Minister David Cameron has lost his second minister in two days, as Lord Marland stepped down as minister for trade.

The peer’s resignation comes just a day after the departure of Lord Strathclyde as Leader of the House of Lords.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “Lord Marland will be stepping down as a minister in order to focus on his role in trade promotion.”

Lord Marland of Odstock, 56, is a businessman and former Conservative Party treasurer who was made a life peer in 2006 and served as an opposition whip and spokesman in the Lords.

He was treasurer for Boris Johnson’s successful campaign for London mayor in 2008 and made an unsuccessful bid for chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2009.

He was appointed to a junior ministerial job in the Department of Energy and Climate Change after the formation of the coalition Government in 2010 and moved to the Department for Business in last year’s reshuffle.

He travelled the world to bang the drum for Britain as Mr Cameron’s trade envoy but garnered bad headlines by joking on a trip to Mozambique last year that he was “just trying to keep the suntan up”.

His resignation comes a day after Mr Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tried to inject some momentum into the coalition Government with the launch of a mid-term review.

The loss of the Conservative minister was announced just hours after Mr Cameron told Tory MPs in a Westminster meeting that it was time to roll their sleeves up in preparation for the 2015 general election campaign.

On Monday, Mr Cameron lost one of his most experienced Cabinet ministers when Lord Strathclyde announced he was quitting to pursue business interests.

Labour vice-chairman Michael Dugher said: “To lose two ministers in two days shows David Cameron’s Government is in total chaos.

“Just one day after their botched relaunch, even people at the very heart of Cameron’s Government are losing faith and abandoning ship.”

An extreme winter activity turned into tragedy, after an orb with two tourists inside lost control and plunged into a creek in Dombay mountain area, in Russia’s south. One of the two young men died, the other suffered a concussion.

Denis and Vladimir came to Dombay ski resort individually, but on January 3 both decided they wanted to take a trip down a slope in an inflatable orb. The zorbing experience, growing in popularity in Russia, cost each of them less than 10 dollars.

One of Denis’s friends filmed the two getting inside the 3-meter (10-feet) balloon and getting harnessed, but the trip was to end in tragedy.

The orb almost immediately fell off the safe route and the man who was expected to halt it down the hill can be seen in the video chasing the giant ball in vain.

Screenshot of a video from mreporter.ru

Bumping and swirling the orb went down a steep slope into the Ganachkhir creep. The one km (half a mile) trip finished on the ice of the lake Pavliny Glaz, Vesti news channel reported.

When the emergencies crews reached Denis and Vladimir, both were still alive. The rescue mission was hard — in places stretchers had to be dragged through snow. Denis, who was 28, died on his way to hospital. Vladimir suffered a concussion and several minor injuries, but is already in good enough health to travel back home.

Though the tragedy took place five days ago, the Ministry of Emergencies reported it only this Monday recounting all the recent occurrences at the ski resort and warning tourists against light-mindedness.

Authorities are now deciding whether a criminal case should be opened. The recreation spot and its owners are under inspected as it remains unclear why the dangerous zone was not roped off.

Screenshot of a video from mreporter.ru

Screenshot of a video from mreporter.ru

Screenshot of a video from mreporter.ru

MPs have voted to back the Government’s plans for a 1% cap on annual rises in working-age welfare payments and tax credits.

After heated exchanges during a Commons debate, politicians voted in favour of the legislation at a second reading by 324 to 268 – a majority of 56.

The Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill limits rises in most working-age benefits to 1% in 2014/15 and 2015/2016 instead of linking them to inflation. Similar measures for 2013/14 will be introduced separately.

The plan is aimed at slashing £5bn from the welfare bill over the next five years.

Ministers say the cap is needed because it is unfair that state handouts have been rising twice as fast as wages during recent years of austerity.

Labour voted against the move to end inflation-linked rises and branded it a “strivers’ tax” as 68% of households caught by the below inflation rise in benefits were in work.

But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith accused Labour of tying working families into the benefits system and “buying votes” by increasing handouts.

He claimed the previous government had created a system in which nine out of 10 families with children could claim tax credits, including those on £70,000-a-year.

He said: “They (Labour) think that helping people is about trapping more and more people in benefits. What is really interesting is that under the tax credit system, nine out of ten families with children were eligible for tax credits.

“This went in some cases up to over £70,000 in earnings. What a ridiculous nonsense they have created.”

Former Liberal Democrat minister Sarah Teather rebelled and warned attacks on the poor could lead to the “fragmentation” of society.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated seven million working families will be £165 worse off a year, compared to £215 for the 2.5 million workless households.

Mr Duncan Smith says the £165 figure only reflects the benefits cap and claims working families will actually be £125 better off each year due to the rise in the income tax threshold.

He said that since the beginning of the recession incomes for those in work have risen by about 10%, while for those on benefits they have risen by about 20%.

He said: “What we are trying to do over the next few years is get that back to a fair settlement and then eventually it will go back on to inflation.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne claimed the Bill was a “hit and run on working families” who were paying the price for the Chancellor’s economic failure.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Alan Greaves, who died after being attacked on his way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

The 68-year-old father-of-four suffered serious head injuries during the assault and died three days later in hospital.

South Yorkshire Police said the arrest came after an excellent public response to an appeal made by detectives on Monday.

CCTV footage of two men filmed just before the attack close to Mr Greaves’ home was also released.

More than 50 police officers have been working on the case.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Following yesterday’s media appeal by senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, and an excellent public response, a 21-year-old man from the High Green area of Sheffield has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Alan Greaves.

“Inquiries are continuing and the investigation team wish to reiterate their appeal to the community of Sheffield to continue to come forward with information.”

Two men were arrested in December in connection with Mr Greaves’ murder and bailed pending further inquiries.

Last week, Crimestoppers put up a £10,000 reward to help find those responsible for his death.

At a service after her husband’s death, Mr Greaves’ widow Maureen said she had wept over the “evil that has been done”.

Criminal charges linked to the so-called Plebgate affair could be brought by the end of the month, Britain’s most senior police officer said on Tuesday.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he hoped to hand a file to prosecutors in a matter of weeks, when the force closes its investigation into whether former chief whip Andrew Mitchell was the target of a conspiracy involving officers.

Hogan-Howe: Charges in ‘a matter of weeks’

Appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Met chief revealed that a police officer arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office will answer bail on January 31, while a relative of the officer will answer bail on January 16.

Mitchell was forced to quit his Cabinet post amid a storm of protest – fuelled by the Police Federation – over claims he called officers “plebs” during an altercation in Downing Street.

Hitting out at the Federation for meddling in politics, Sir Bernard told the Committee it was not for the staff association to get involved with Mr Mitchell’s resignation.

The Commissioner insisted he had an “open mind” to the inquiry in the face of criticism that he had hastily backed the police officers involved.

He admitted he made the comments before seeing the evidence that has since been made available – including CCTV footage of Mitchell exiting the gate to the Prime Minister’s residence.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz recounted Sir Bernard’s assertion shortly after the allegations emerged that the Met boss would “stand by” his officers “100%”.

Vaz asked: “Are you still saying you stand by the events or do you now have an open mind?”

To which Sir Bernard replied: “I do have an open mind. If any comment that I have made left anyone thinking I couldn’t have an open mind, I’m sorry.”

He added: “I’m open-minded. I will pursue the evidence.”

Mitchell has claimed he was the victim of a deliberate attempt to “toxify” the Tories and ruin his career after it was alleged an email from a civilian witness backing up the police account of events was in fact written by another officer.

Sir Bernard criticised public statements made by Police Federation representatives in the wake of the initial allegations against Mitchell.

Local Federation branches organised protests by members wearing “PC Pleb” T-shirts and demanded Mr Mitchell’s sacking.

The Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, has since said it planned an independent review into “issues” with its operations.

Sir Bernard told the Committee: “My concern would be from some of the public statements from the Federation’s representatives is they got explicitly involved with asking for the resignation of a government member, and for me that is too much.

“That’s a decision for the Government to make or the Prime Minister to make – and not for police officers to get involved in.”

Committee member Michael Ellis MP asked: “Are you saying the conduct of the Police Federation was improper?”

To which Sir Bernard replied: “Those are your words, I’ll stick with mine. It’s not for the Police Federation or officers generally to call for the resignation of members of the Government.”

Scotland Yard has decided to take statements from 800 police officers in the diplomatic protection group and 30 detectives are working on the investigation.

Sir Bernard added that part of the investigation was to identify the source of the leaked police log, which recounted the altercation with Mr Mitchell.

He told the Committee that if the allegations against the police officers involved were true, “it would be a very serious matter”.

“I don’t expect police officers to lie,” he said.

Clarifying the terms of the inquiry, Sir Bernard said it set out to “investigate the circumstances surrounding the police officer’s claims to witnessing the incident on Downing Street”.

He said the inquiry set out to “establish if there’s any evidence of a conspiracy between the police and any other persons”.

“We expect we may be able to share a report with the CPS by the end of this month. A matter of weeks before we do as much as we can,” he added.

The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, later told Channel 4 News the allegations of false police accounts of the “plebgate” affair should be seen “in perspective”.

Sir Hugh told C4N: “I don’t think it’s evidence of routine endemic issues around corruption or integrity. We need to get it into perspective.

“It’s an event that is almost unique in my police experience. The relationship between police and Government has to be one where healthy tension is the default position.

“We must get on with the job we are tasked with doing. We must then be held robustly to account, and this is what you saw today.

“We should take seriously any issues that damage the vital bond of trust between police and the citizen.

“Confidence is robustly high, confidence in policing has not been damaged because the public judge us on what we deliver.”

The military judge presiding over the government’s prosecution of Private first class Bradley Manning agreed to take 112 days off the accused WikiLeaks source’s eventual sentence on grounds that he was subjected to unlawful pretrial punishment.

From a courthouse on the grounds of the Ft. Meade military base outside of Baltimore, Maryland Tuesday afternoon, Col. Denise Lind said she would not relinquish charges against Pfc Manning, a 25-year-old soldier alleged to have given roughly 250,000 US State Department diplomatic cables and a trove of other sensitive information to the WikiLeaks whistleblower site. She did, however, agree to erase nearly four months off any sentence Manning is handed in response to the time he spent detained at a military brig in Quantico, Virginia.

If Manning is convicted of aiding the enemy, the most severe of the nearly two-dozen charges he’s up against, he could be sentenced to life in prison. He has expressed interest, however, in pleading guilty to some of the lesser counts in hopes of receiving leniency in terms of sentencing. The actual military trial against Manning – the formal court-martial – is not slated to begin until March 2013.

Col. Lind was presented with the opportunity to drop charges against the soldier after hearing weeks of testimony in December that focused on the time Pfc Manning spent detained at Quantico. For roughly nine months, Manning was kept in a small, isolated cell, subjected to conditions considered tantamount to torture by a special rapporteur for the United Nations.

“The most entertaining thing in my cell was the mirror. You can interact with yourself. I spent a lot of time with it,” Pfc Manning said last month when he took the witness stand for the first time.

His jailers, many of whom also testified at Ft. Meade during the recent unlawful pretrial punishment hearings, largely considered Manning distant, withdrawn and isolated. Citing “erratic” behavior, some Quantico officials said Manning’s actions prompted them to keep him subjected to harsh conditions, at times stripping him of his clothes and keeping him out of contact from all other detainees.

“Would you agree with me that if you’re talking with your jailers and you make causal conversation and then they use that casual conversation to take away your underwear from you, then you might stop talking to your jailer?” Manning’s civil attorney, David Coombs, quizzed Quantico staffers during last month’s hearing.

According to tweets sent from Ft. Meade on Tuesday by blogger Kevin Gosztola, Manning was “not held in solitary confinement” at Quantico. “It means alone and without human contact,” she said. Manning says he was allowed outside of his cell for less than an hour a day.

Additionally, Gosztola writes that the judge “found no evidence of command influence that led to Bradley Manning being kept in unlawful pretrial conditions at Quantico.” Other witnesses at Ft. Meade confirmed that Manning will be credited due to the treatment he received from November 1, 2010 through January 18, 2011, when he was held in Quantico under prevention-of-injury status. Judge Lindh also took into account seven days where Manning was kept on excessive suicide risk and a 20-day period where he was largely prohibited from wearing clothes.

“Judge Lind said Bradley Manning was not in solitary confinement because he was visited daily & could see the hallway outside his cell,” Nathan Fuller, a supporter of the soldier, tweeted on Tuesday.

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder alleged to have received military documents from Pfc Manning, has publically condemned the US justice system in recent weeks during a series of media appearances conducted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Assange, an Australian native who formerly resided in Sweden, has been granted diplomatic asylum from Ecuador to avoid questioning in Sweden unrelated to WikiLeaks. Should he be extradited to Sweden, though, Assange fears he will be sent to the United States and subjected to the same treatment bestowed on his accused source.

“The material that Bradley Manning is alleged to have leaked has highlighted astonishing examples of US subversion of the democratic process around the world, systematic evasion of accountability for atrocities and killings, and many other abuses,” Assange wrote last month in a statement published by WikiLeaks. Speaking to CNN, however, he said that the diplomatic cables credited to Manning aren’t of utmost importance in the grand scheme of things.

“The case is not about whether Bradley Manning allegedly stole cables or not. The case is about the abuse of Bradley Manning,” Assange said.

In regards to what the soldier is accused of leaking, though, Assange maintains that Manning may have had an influential role in ending America’s eight-year-long war in Iraq. One of the documents the government says Manning released, video footage showing the crew of a US helicopter firing at Iraqi civilians, was published by WikiLeaks under the name “Collateral Murder” to much media attention.

“It was WikiLeaks’ revelations – not the actions of President Obama – that forced the US administration out of the Iraq War,” Assange wrote last month. “By exposing the killing of Iraqi children, WikiLeaks directly motivated the Iraqi government to strip the US military of legal immunity, which in turn forced the US withdrawal.”

Also on Tuesday, Coombs said that the defense would like to call Adrian Lamo to testify during the upcoming court-martial. Lamo, a 31-year-old security expert who has faced federal prosecution himself, was approached online by Manning in 2010.

“I was the source of the 12 July 07 video from the Apache Weapons Team which killed the two journalists and injured two kids,” Manning tells Lamo in chat transcripts.

Coombs says he hopes to prove that the information his client is accused of leaking “could not be used to harm the US or advantage any foreign nation,” the Guardian reports. The defense has also expressed interest in having retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis testify during the upcoming court-martial. A former chief prosecutor for the government at Guantanamo Bay, Coombs could ask Col. Davis to discuss the severity of the damage – or lack thereof – caused by Wikileaks’ publishing of Gitmo files, also attributed to Manning.

In an update from Ft. Meade published Tuesday afternoon, blogger Kevin Gosztola reports that the government must show Pfc Manning had “general evil intent” with respect to the “aiding the enemy” charge. In other words, Cpt. Angel Overgaard argued for the prosecution, the US must prove Manning “knew he was dealing with an enemy of the US” when he allegedly handed files to Assange.

According to Ed Pilkington, a journalist with the paper who has covered the case extensively from Ft. Meade, Coombs believes the content of the chat logs with Lamo, coupled with other evidence to be called on at trial, would show his client had no “evil intent” with regards to the WikiLeaks files.

“Every case that charges Article 104 [aiding the enemy] deals with somebody who had given information directly to the enemy. This case is unprecedented,” POLITICO quotes Coombs arguing early Tuesday. “There’s been no case in the entire history of military jurisprudence that dealt with somebody providing information to a legitimate journalistic organization and having them publish it and that involved dealing with the enemy.”

The government is expected to argue that, through WikiLeaks’ publishing of the diplomatic cables, Manning supported al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula. Although a conviction of aiding the enemy typically carries a death sentence, the government says they will not seek capital punishment.

“So as charges currently stand, #BradleyManning faces life in military custody with no chance of parole, minus 112 days,” the Guardian’s Pilkington tweeted from Ft. Meade on Tuesday.

Judge Lind’s decision took over an hour-and-a-half to recite in the courtroom.

An artist’s concept of a Mars mission. (NASA/Pat Rawlings, SAIC )

A US billionaire and co-founder of PayPal, Elon Musk, has made plans to build a settlement for 80,000 people on Mars when technology makes it possible for man to live there — as long as the inhabitants are vegetarians.

Musk is a considered one of America’s most respected private space entrepreneurs and was in charge of creating SpaceX, a space transport company that produced the Falcon 9 rocket that delivers NASA cargo to the International Space Station.

Musk, who is worth about $2 billion, revealed his tactics in a speech at the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was in attendance in order to be presented with a gold medal for his contribution to space exploration in November.

While the idea of a city on Mars may seem far-fetched, scientists predict human settlements on the red planet and elsewhere in space could occur in the near future, possibly within ten years. Eric Anderson, a leading entrepreneur in the industry and chairman of Space Adventures, told RT that technology has almost reached the level where tourists can be sent to space.

“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that there will be a space hotel within the next ten years, in orbit around the Earth,” he said in October.

Musk plans to take it a few steps further by building a city for 80,000 space explorers. The new city would use sustainable technology and send people to space on a rocket powered by liquid oxygen and methane. The billionaire’s estate and prominence in the space industry could make his plans feasible, but the California-based engineer has not left behind his personal ideologies: Musk will only allow vegetarians to live in his settlement.

At a cost of $500,000, vegetarians could choose to travel to the faraway settlement, although Musk did not clarify whether payments could be made using PayPal.

“The ticket price needs to be low enough that most people in advanced countries, in their mid-forties or something like that, could put together enough money to make the trip,” Musk said.

While 800,000 residents may seem like a large number of people to send to Mars, Musk explained that reducing the size would cause the gene and culture pool to be too small, while the risk for civil war would be too high.

“On Mars you can start a self-sustaining civilization and grow it into something really big,” Musk said.

But an undertaking of that magnitude would not eliminate the dangers: space exploration comes with the threat of deep-space radiation, bone-rot and toxic dusk, which space visitors and those constructing the settlement would have to risk acquiring. Still, Musk believes his goal is within a near reach.

And Anderson concurs: the space entrepreneur believes the commercial enterprise will far surpass the works of government-funded agencies like NASA and rapidly bring settlements to other planets.

“With my work, and many others working in the private section, the mission is coming closer to reality,” Musk said.

Police investigating the murder of a church organist who died after he was attacked on Christmas Eve have arrested a man.

Lay preacher Alan Greaves was making his way to midnight mass at St Saviour’s Church, near his home in High Green, Sheffield, when he was subjected to the attack.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of Mr Greaves’s murder, said South Yorkshire Police.

Police said the arrest came after an excellent public response to an appeal made by detectives on Monday. At a press conference, Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick said police had not established a motive for Mr Greaves’s murder.

Police also released CCTV footage of two men filmed just before the 68-year-old grandfather was attacked as he went to the church a few hundred yards away from his home on December 24.

Mr Greaves died from severe head injuries three days later. More than 50 police officers have been working on the case.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Following yesterday’s media appeal by Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, and an excellent public response, a 21-year-old man from the High Green area of Sheffield has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Alan Greaves.

“Inquiries are continuing and the investigation team wish to reiterate their appeal to the community of Sheffield to continue to come forward with information. Anyone with information should contact the incident room on 01709 443723.”

Two men were arrested last month in connection with Mr Greaves’s murder and bailed pending further inquiries. Last week, independent charity Crimestoppers put up a £10,000 reward to help find those responsible for Mr Greaves’s death. The reward will be available to anyone providing information to Crimestoppers leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Mr Greaves’s death.

At a service after her husband’s death, Mr Greaves’s widow Maureen said she had wept over the “evil that has been done”. She told the congregation of St Saviour’s she had felt their love and support since her husband died.

January 8, 2013  |  

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Pham To looked great for 78 years old. (At least, that’s about how old he thought he was.) His hair was thin, gray, and receding at the temples, but his eyes were lively and his physique robust — all the more remarkable given what he had lived through. I listened intently, as I had so many times before to so many similar stories, but it was still beyond my ability to comprehend. It’s probably beyond yours, too.

Pham To told me that the planes began their bombing runs in 1965 and that periodic artillery shelling started about the same time. Nobody will ever know just how many civilians were killed in the years after that. “The number is uncountable,” he said one spring day a few years ago in a village in the mountains of rural central Vietnam. “So many people died.”

And it only got worse. Chemical defoliants came next, ravaging the land. Helicopter machine gunners began firing on locals. By 1969, bombing and shelling were day-and-night occurrences. Many villagers fled. Some headed further into the mountains, trading the terror of imminent death for a daily struggle of hardscrabble privation; others were forced into squalid refugee resettlement areas. Those who remained in the village suffered more when the troops came through. Homes were burned as a matter of course. People were kicked and beaten. Men were shot when they ran in fear. Women were raped. One morning, a massacre by American soldiers wiped out 21 fellow villagers. This was the Vietnam War for Pham To, as for so many rural Vietnamese. 

One, Two… Many Vietnams?

At the beginning of the Iraq War, and for years after, reporters, pundits, veterans, politicians, and ordinary Americans asked whether the American debacle in Southeast Asia was being repeated. Would it be “ another Vietnam”? Would it become a “ quagmire”? 

The same held true for Afghanistan. Years after 9/11, as that war, too, foundered, questions about whether it was “ Obama’s Vietnam” appeared ever more frequently. In fact, by October 2009, a majority of Americans had come to believe it was “ turning into another Vietnam.”

In those years, “Vietnam” even proved a surprisingly two-sided analogy — after, at least, generals began reading and citing revisionist texts about that war. These claimed, despite all appearances, that the U.S. military had actually won in Vietnam (before the politicians, media, and antiwar movement gave the gains away). The same winning formula, they insisted, could be used to triumph again. And so, a failed solution from that failed war, counterinsurgency, or COIN, was trotted out as the military panacea for impending disaster. 

Debated comparisons between the two ongoing wars and the one that somehow never went away, came to litter newspapers, journals, magazines, and the Internet — until David Petraeus, a top COINdinista general who had written his doctoral dissertation on the “lessons” of the Vietnam War, was called in to settle the matter by putting those lessons to work winning the other two. In the end, of course, U.S. troops were booted out of Iraq, while the war in Afghanistan continues to this day as a dismally devolving stalemate, now wracked by “ green-on-blue” or “insider” attacks on U.S. forces, while the general himself returned to Washington as CIA director to run covert wars in Pakistan and Yemen before retiring in disgrace following a sex scandal. 

Still, for all the ink about the “ Vietnam analogy,” virtually none of the reporters, pundits, historians, generals, politicians, or other members of the chattering classes ever so much as mentioned the Vietnam War as Pham To knew it. In that way, they managed to miss the one unfailing parallel between America’s wars in all three places: civilian suffering. 

Frantic 911 calls from the US movie theater where a massacre was underway were played in court Tuesday, on the second day of hearings to decide if the alleged gunman should stand trial.

In the first of some 41 harrowing emergency calls made in a 10-minute period in Colorado, 30 loud booms could be heard in less than 30 seconds, making it difficult for the 911 dispatcher to hear what was being said.

In another, six minutes after the first call logged at 12:38 am, 14-year-old Kaylin Bailey told the emergency operator that her two cousins had been shot, and that one of them did not appear to be breathing.

“We need to start CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on your cousin who’s not breathing,” said the operator.

“I can’t hear you” responded Bailey, amid continuing chaos in the background in the theater in Aurora, outside Denver.

The emotionally fraught preliminary hearings opened Monday with police describing harrowing scenes as they responded to the theater, where 25-year-old James Holmes is accused of opening fire on July 20 last year.

A number of officers choked back tears as they testified about the night, in which 12 people were killed and dozens more injured at the midnight screening of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises.”

The Aurora massacre revived the perennial US debate over gun control — an issue re-ignited even more intensely by last month’s shooting of 20 young children at a Connecticut elementary school.

Much has been said recently in the media about the relationship between the inspiring expression of Indigenous resurgent activity informing the #IdleNoMore movement and the heightened decade of Native activism that led Canada to establish the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) in 1991. I offer this short analysis of the historical context that led to RCAP in an effort to get a better sense of the transformative possibilities in our present moment of struggle.

The federal government was forced to launch RCAP in the wake of two national crises that erupted in the tumultuous “Indian summer” of 1990.

Elijah Harper’s filibuster

The first involved the legislative stonewalling of the Meech Lake Accord by Cree Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper. The Meech Lake Accord was a failed constitutional amendment package negotiated in 1987 by then prime minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, and the ten provincial premiers. The process was the federal government’s attempt to bring Quebec “back in” to the constitutional fold in the wake of the province’s refusal to accept the constitutional repatriation deal of 1981, which formed the basis of the The Constitution Act, 1982. Indigenous opposition to Meech Lake was staunch and vocal, in large part due to the fact that the privileged white men negotiating the agreement once again refused to recognize the political concerns and aspirations of First Nations. In a disruptive act of legislative protest, Elijah Harper initiated a filibuster in the days immediately leading up to the accord’s ratification deadline, which ultimately prevented the province from endorsing the package. The agreement subsequently tanked because it failed to gain the required ratification of all ten provinces within three years of reaching a deal.

The Oka conflict

The second crisis involved a 78-day armed “standoff” beginning on July 11, 1990 between the Mohawk nation of Kanesatake, the Quebec provincial police (SQ), and the Canadian armed forces near the town of Oka, Quebec. On June 30, 1990 the municipality of Oka was granted a court injunction to dismantle a peaceful barricade erected by the people of Kanesatake in an effort to defend their sacred lands from further encroachment by non-Native developers. The territory in question was slotted for development by a local golf course, which planned on extending nine holes onto land the Mohawks had been fighting to have recognized as their own for almost 300 years. Eleven days later, on July 11, one hundred heavily armed members of the SQ stormed the community.

The police invasion culminated in a 24 second exchange of gunfire that killed SQ Corporal Marcel Lemay. In a display of solidarity, the neighbouring Mohawk nation of Kahnawake set up their own barricades, including one that blocked the Mercier Bridge leading into the greater Montreal area. Galvanized by the Mohawk resistance, Indigenous peoples from across the continent followed suit, engaging in a diverse array of solidarity actions that ranged from leafleting to the establishment of peace encampments to the erection of blockades on several major Canadian transport corridors, both road and rail.

Although polls conducted during the stand-off showed some support by non-Native Canadians outside of Quebec for the Mohawk cause, most received their information about the so-called “Oka Crisis” through the corporate media, which overwhelmingly represented the event as a “law and order” issue fundamentally undermined by Indigenous peoples’ anger and resentment-fuelled criminality.

The Innu occupation and blockade of the Canadian Air Force/NATO base at Goose Bay, Labrador

The occupation was led largely by Innu women to challenge the further dispossession of their territories and the destruction of their land-based way of life by the military industrial complex’s encroachment onto the Innu peoples’ homeland of Nitassinan;

The Lubicon Cree struggle against oil and gas development on their traditional territories in present day Alberta

The Lubicon Cree have been struggling to protect a way of life threatened by intensified capitalist development on their homelands since at least 1939. Over the years, the community has engaged in a number of very public protests to get their message across, including a well-publicized boycott of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and the associated Glenbow Museum exhibit, The Spirit Sings;

First Nations blockades in British Columbia

Throughout the 1980s, First Nations in B.C. grew extremely frustrated with the painfully slow pace of the federal government’s comprehensive land claims process and the province’s racist refusal to recognize Aboriginal title within its its borders.  The result was a decade’s worth of very disruptive blockades, which at its height in 1990 were such a common occurrence that Vancouver newspapers felt the need to publish traffic advisories identifying delays caused by First Nation roadblocks in the province’s interior. Many of the blockades were able to halt resource extraction on Native land for protracted periods of time;

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake

By 1989, the Algonquins of Barrier Lake were embroiled in a struggle to stop clear-cut logging within their traditional territories in present day Quebec because these practices threatened their land and way of life. Under the leadership of customary chief, Jean-Maurice Matchewan, the community used blockades to successfully impede clear-cutting activities affecting their community.

The Temagami First Nation blockades of 1988 and 1989 in present-day Ontario.

The Temagami blockades were set up to protect their nation’s homeland from further encroachment by non-Native development. The blockades of 1988-89 were the most recent assertions of Temagami sovereignty in over a century-long struggle to protect the community’s right to land and freedom from colonial settlement and development.

From the vantage point of the colonial state, by the time the 78-day standoff at Kanesatake had begun things were already out of control in Indian Country. If settler-state stability and authority are required to ensure “certainty” over lands and resources to create a climate friendly for expanded capitalist accumulation, then the barrage of Indigenous practices of disruptive counter-sovereignty that emerged with increased frequency in the 1980s was an embarrassing demonstration that Canada no longer had its shit together with respect to managing the so-called “Indian Problem.” On top of this, the material form that these expressions of Indigenous sovereignty took on the ground — the blockade, explicitly erected to impede constituted flows of racialized capital and state power from entering and/or leaving Indigenous territories – must have been particularly troubling to the settler-colonial elite.

All of this activity was an indication that Indigenous people and communities were no longer willing to wait for Canada (or even their own leaders) to negotiate a just relationship with them in good faith. There was also growing concern that Indigenous youth in particular were no longer willing to play by Canada’s rules — especially regarding the potential use of political violence — when it came to advancing their communities’ rights and interests. As then national chief of the Assembly of the First Nations, Georges Erasmus, warned in 1988: “Canada, if you do not deal with this generation of leaders, then we cannot promise that you are going to like the kind of violent political action that we can just about guarantee the next generation is going to bring to you.” Consider this “a warning,” Erasmus continued: “We want to let you know that you’re playing with fire. We may be the last generation of leaders that are prepared to sit down and peacefully negotiate our concerns with you.”

In the wake of having to engage in one of the largest military operations since the Korean War, the federal government announced on Aug. 23, 1991 that a royal commission would be established with a sprawling 16-point mandate to investigate the abusive relationship that had clearly developed between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state. Published two years behind schedule in Nov. 1996, the 58 million dollar, five-volume, approximately 4,000 page Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples includes 440 recommendations which call for a renewed relationship based on the core principles of “mutual recognition, mutual respect, sharing and mutual responsibility.” The material conditions that informed the decade of Indigenous protest that led to the resistance as Kanesatake created the political context that RCAP’s call for recognition and reconciliation was supposed to pacify – namely, the righteous anger and resentment of the colonized transformed into an insurgent reclamation of Indigenous difference that threatened to unsettle settler-colonialism’s sovereign claim over Indigenous people and lands.

The power of economic disruption

With respect to the emergent #IdleNoMore movement, although many of the conditions that compelled the state to undertake the most expensive public inquiry in Canadian history are still in place, a couple of important ones are not. The first condition that appears to be absent is the clear threat of political violence that was present in the years leading to the resistance at Kanesatake. #IdleNoMore is an explicitly non-violent movement, which accounts for its relatively wide spectrum of both Native and non-Native support at the moment.

However, if the life of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence continues to be recklessly put in jeopardy by a prime minister who negligently refuses to capitulate to her reasonable demands, I predict that the spectre of political violence will re-emerge in Indigenous peoples’ collective conversations about what to do next. The responsibility for this rests solely on the state.

The second condition that differentiates #IdleNoMore from the decade of Indigenous activism that lead to RCAP is the absence (so far) of widespread economic disruption unleashed by Indigenous direct action. If history has shown us anything, it is this: if you want those in power to respond swiftly to Indigenous peoples’ political struggles, start by placing Indigenous bodies (with a few logs and tires thrown in for good measure) between settlers and their money, which in colonial contexts is generated by the ongoing theft and exploitation of our land and resource base. If this is true, then the long term efficacy of the #IdleNoMore movement would appear to hinge on its protest actions being distributed more evenly between the shopping malls and front lawns of legislatures on the one hand, and the logging roads, thoroughfares, and railways that are central to the accumulation of colonial capital on the other. For better and for worse, it was our peoples’ challenge to these two pillars of colonial sovereignty that led to the recommendations of RCAP: the Canadian state’s claim to hold a legitimate monopoly on use of violence and the conditions required for the ongoing accumulation of capital.

In stating this I don’t mean to offer an unqualified endorsement of these two approaches, but rather a diagnosis of our present situation based on an ongoing critical conversation about how these differences and similarities ought to inform our current struggle.

Postscript

On January 4, 2013, the Prime Minister’s Office issued an official statement saying that Prime Minister Stephen Harper, along with Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan, have agreed to participate “in a working meeting with a delegation of First Nations leaders coordinated by the Assembly of First Nations on January 11, 2013.” “This working meeting,” the statement continued, will focus on two areas emphasized in the “historic” meeting between First Nations and the Crown last January 11: “the treaty relationship and aboriginal rights, and economic development.” Although the PMO statement doesn’t explicitly indicate that Harper’s decision came as a direct result of pressure placed on his administration by the explosion of activism associated with #IdleNoMore and Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, it clearly indicates a change of direction in the federal government’s approach to managing the fallout of these events.

My prediction is that this ostensible gesture of inclusion and dialogue is too little and too late. In the ever delicate balancing act of having to ensure that one’s social conservative contempt for First Nations doesn’t overwhelm one’s neoconservative love of the market, the Prime Minister erred by letting the former outstrip his commitment to the latter. This is a novice mistake that Liberals like Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin learned how to manage decades ago. As a result, the federal government has invigorated a struggle for Indigenous self-determination that will continue to challenge both colonial racism and free-market fundamentalism in a way that will not be easily co-opted by offering scraps of recognition and the cheap gift of inclusion.

Glen Coulthard is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and an assistant professor in the First Nations Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam First Nation.

Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest, Hungary (Image from wikipedia.org photo by Civertan)

Hungary and Bulgaria will play their next World Cup 2014 qualifiers without spectators due to the anti-Semitic and racist behavior of their supporters.

­The Disciplinary Committee of the world’s football governing body, FIFA, informed the country’s federations of the ruling on Tuesday.

Hungary were punished after their fans chanted anti-Semitic slogans and displayed other offensive symbols during a friendly game against Israel, which took place in Budapest on August 15, 2012.

The Hungarian national team will now face Romania in front of an empty stand in the Brazil 2014 qualifier on March 22.

Bulgaria received the same strict penalty after their supporters racially abused Denmark’s defender Patrick Mtiliga every time he touched the ball in the home World Cup preliminary game on October 12, 2012.

Flares were thrown to the pitch during the match, endangering the footballers and the people in the stands.  

This means the Bulgarian team’s match against Malta on March 22 will also be played without spectators.

Hungary and Bulgaria were also handed fines of $44.000 and $38.000, respectively.

“FIFA strongly condemns all forms of racism in football, and any form of discrimination will not be tolerated and will receive a strong response by the relevant FIFA authorities,” a statement on the organization’s official website said.

The two federations were warned that if incidents of a racist nature reoccur, harsher sanctions, including forfeiting a match, points deduction or disqualification from the competition, may be imposed against them.

January 8, 2013  |  

“He was never drunk when I interviewed him,” the late writer Truman Capote’s biographer told me.

“It was just a mistake. He didn’t hurt anyone,” a friend said of an acquaintance who got a DUI last year.

“She doesn’t drink much,” my husband said of me when a therapist asked about our drinking habits. “Just a little white wine.”

Alcohol is confusing. For one thing, it is selectively addictive. Some people can drink safely; others can’t. For another thing, although alcohol is a depressant, especially in large doses, new research shows that in moderate doses it can also act as a happy stimulant. The first few drinks make the world a better place. The next few have the opposite effect: The drinker “may not be able to grasp the thread of a conversation; his reflexes will be somewhat delayed, his speech slurred, and his gait unsteady,” writes Dr. James Milam in his classic study Under the Influence.

Because ethanol, the active ingredient in alcohol, is a very simple and very tiny molecule, it is the Speedy Gonzales of addictive substances, zooming right through the protective blood/brain barrier and delivering
an immediate punch. Once alcohol enters the bloodstream, it triggers a series 
of responses that can last 24 hours. Many heavy drinkers are always in some 
stage of inebriation or withdrawal, and this changes the way they engage with
the world. There may be hours–entire mornings!–when they appear to be “normal,” but there is no “normal” in the body or brain of a heavy drinker.

Alcohol is metabolized at the approximate rate of one drink per hour. Someone who has two drinks before dinner, three beers with dinner and two nightcaps may pass out and wake up six hours late still drunk. If
 they sleep longer, they wake up with more alcohol out of their system but often in a painful state of withdrawal (along with dehydration and other nasty symptoms caused by the toxins that your body churns out as it processes the ethanol). Hangovers, which arguably have a greater effect on mood than alcohol itself, are the body’s scream for more. Soon enough, driven by a cellular level craving, the heavy drinker with a hangover will have that beer or that brandy in the coffee that quiets the disturbance, at least for a while.

Someone in withdrawal is even less likely to seem drunk than someone who has had a few drinks. But the effects can be deadly. “The strange truth that alcoholics are often in worse shape when their blood alcohol content is descending than when it is at its highest level is an extremely difficult point to grasp,” write Catherine Ketchum in her book Beyond the Influence. “The withdrawal syndrome represents a state of hyperexcitability, or extreme agitation in the nervous system. “ Ketcham uses the tragic example of Henri Paul, the driver of the car in which Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were killed in 1997. Paul, who had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when his body was tested after the accident, had been waiting around the Ritz for two hours to drive during which he had little to drink. “Paul was drunk and he was in withdrawal,” Ketchum writes. “Both facts sealed his doom and the fate of his passengers.”

In Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic, Sarah Allen Benton makes the case that the image of the archetypal alcoholic–the stumbling Bowery bum–has obscured a much more common and infrequently treated type of alcoholic–the alcoholic who can function in the world and appear to be fine. Perhaps because high-functioning alcoholics do not tax government systems and cause social problems, they get far less attention than more dramatic drinkers. Although these high-functioning boozers sometimes do not 
meet the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism, they are desperately in need of help. Examples abound: from former First Lady Betty Ford to actor Robin Williams and musician Eric Clapton. Dr. Mark Willenbring, an addiction specialist, told Benton, “[High-functioning alcoholics] are successful students. They’re good parents, good workers. They watch their weight. They go to the gym. Then they go home and have four martinis and two bottle of wine. Are they alcoholics? You bet.”

Demonstrators call for press freedom in support of journalists from the Southern Weekend newspaper outside the company’s office building in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province on January 8, 2013. (AFP Photo)

A pro-party daily lambasted anti-censorship strikers in China’s Guangzhou, saying their “issue will see no surprise ending.” Several major outlets reposted the piece only with disclaimers, prompting speculation they’d taken a stand against Beijing.

­On Monday, all five of China’s major web portals started publishing an editorial put together by the Global Times, a tabloid associated with the ruling Communist Party. The editorial dwelt on the strike and protest in the southern province of Guangdong, where staff with the paper, Southern Weekly are demanding the resignation of regional publicity chief Tuo Zhen.

They accuse Tuo Zhen of removing their New Year article, which called for guaranteed constitutional rights and more media freedom, and replacing it with one hailing the party.

The Global Times said the protest in Guangzhou was an attempt to incite the media “to engage in confrontation” with “the current system” and accused dissidents, including Chen Guangcheng, of orchestrating it. The editorial said that China is “unlikely to have an absolutely free media” and is not ready for “radical” media reform.

“We hope readers support the Southern Weekly and cooperate to resolve the incident, not forcing it to play a role beyond its reach,” concluded the daily.

Though this is not officially confirmed, it appears that the editorial was forced onto many outlets including Sohu, SINA and Phoenix news portals. Those, however, preferred to distance themselves from the piece supplying the repost with disclaimer like the one below:

“This article represents the opinion of the author, and not that of Phoenix. Phoenix has not verified the reporting, words, or content of the story.  The website does not guarantee the whole story or any part of it, its accuracy, totality, or timeliness.  Readers are advised to treat it as reference and verify the content themselves.”

At least four prominent newspapers even disobeyed orders to publish the editorial as such, report Los Angeles Times correspondent in China.

“It is particularly amazing to see web portals taking part in a protest against censorship — these companies are some of the largest online business in the world, and they rely on numerous licenses from the Chinese government in order to operate,” journalist David Cohen wrote for his column in the Diplomat magazine, which covers Asia-Pacific affairs.

Demonstrators hold banners outside the headquarters of Southern Weekly newspaper in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, January 8, 2013. (Reuters/James Pomfret)

Meanwhile, back in the city of Guangzhou, the Southern Weekly strike and protest reached its second day, with some scuffles taking place. A small group of leftists holding posters of Chairman Mao Zedong came to the daily’s headquarters to oppose what they called “a traitor newspaper“. The two parties first jeered at each other but later confrontation ensued.

Dozens of police had to intervene and separate the two groups. Despite the incident the protest was allowed to continue.

The row surrounding the New Year article first surfaced late last week, with debate mostly circulating via social networks. Numerous messages at Weibo, a Chinese analogue of Twitter, suggest that some editorial staff at the Southern Weekly have refused to work since Sunday.

But sources in the parent Southern Media Group tell Reuters that the paper may still be published on Thursday. Editors from sister publications are expected to be brought in should the strike continue.

In China, all national and local media are subject to government publicity department scrutiny especially when they want to touch upon issues of democracy, corruption, separatism or government’s mistakes. Pieces perceived as “counter-revolutionary” are often suppressed. In a way it also holds true for private outlets which might resort to self-censorship to get all the required licenses from the state.

A policeman films as demonstrators call for press freedom in support of journalists from the Southern Weekend newspaper outside the company’s office building in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province on January 8, 2013. (AFP Photo)

The Government’s controversial plans for a real-terms cut in working-age benefits have cleared their first Commons hurdle by 324 votes to 268, majority 56.

The proposals, which will limit annual increases in working-age benefits to 1% for the next three years, passed despite Labour calls to stop the bill, and threats from several Lib Dem MPs to vote against the coalition, including former minister Sarah Teather.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith speaking during the second reading of the Bill

The move is aimed at slashing £5 billion from the welfare bill over the next five years, however many have argued that the cuts will “punish the poorest“.

The vote followed a tempestuous five-hour debate in parliament in which senior Tory and Labour MPs clashed over the benefits bill.

More to follow…

Public support for a real-terms cut in most working-age benefits is based on ignorance of who will suffer, opponents of the welfare squeeze claimed as MPs prepared for a key vote.

Trade union leaders said polling showed most voters only backed the Government’s proposed 1% annual increase because they believed the jobless were the main target.

Ministers say the cap is needed because it is unfair that state handouts have been rising twice as fast as wages during recent years of austerity. It is projected to slash £3.7 billion from the welfare bill.

But Labour is opposing legislation ending inflation-linked rises, pointing to analysis showing seven million working households will lose out by an average £165 per year, while children’s campaigners warn it will push many more youngsters into poverty.

The vote will also expose tensions within the coalition over the issue, with Liberal Democrat former minister Sarah Teather intending to vote against the Government. In a reflection of the concerns of many Lib Dem activists, the ex-children’s minister said the cap would make already serious levels of child poverty “significantly worse”.

Ms Teather also hit out at Conservative ministers for seeking to make the issue one of “scroungers” versus “strivers” – accusing George Osborne of indulging in “playground politics”. The Chancellor sparked Lib Dem anger after announcing the change with a direct appeal to people angered by neighbours’ closed curtains when they set off for work in the morning.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Monday that it was unhelpful “to try and portray that decision…as one which divides one set of people off against another”. But, standing beside David Cameron at a Downing Street press conference to launch the coalition’s mid-term review, he said it was right to cap benefits when pay was frozen or rising slowly.

Analysis of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found half of working-age households with someone in work would be affected in some way. The average loss would be £165 a year for seven million families – compared with around £215 for the 2.5 million workless households hit by the cap, it said.

Children’s Society chief executive Matthew Reed said a nurse with two children would lose £424 a year by 2015 and an Army second lieutenant with three children £552 a year. He said: “Many more will struggle to pay for food, heat their homes, and provide other basics for their children as they find it increasingly difficult to keep up with rising prices. The Government needs urgently to reconsider this bill.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said its polling showed that people who knew most about benefits were opposed to the squeeze and accused ministers of exploiting public “ignorance”. A survey by YouGov showed overall support for the 1% cap by 48% to 32% but also that a much bigger majority (64% to 21%) that it would mainly affect the jobless. Once told that it would affect low-paid workers, the move was opposed by 40% to 30%.

January 8, 2013  |  

There are many mysteries posed by this world for which science offers no answer: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Who let the dogs out? And, perhaps most confounding, why does anyone take atheist pundit Sam Harris seriously?

In response to the Sandy Hook massacre, Harris stopped sputtering about Muslims long enough to weigh in with a post Sandy Hook essay, ” The Riddle of the Gun.” Unlike the above mysteries, however, the gun is no riddle. As the NRA recently reminded us, firearms are merely a tool. They can be used as a sturdy hammer, a nifty paperweight, a handsome tie clip, a rather crap spaghetti strainer, and, in a desperate pinch, as a convenient murder weapon! Guns are as far from a riddle as one can get. The numbers are brutally simple. According to this Harvard study, and the least bit of common sense, more guns = more gun homicides. And expounding on this topic, without accepting that fact as the moral epicenter of your argument, is tantamount to protecting gun rights over the lives of innocents. Harris, in his continuing quest to overcome the vicious stereotype that atheists are typically rational people, takes a page from NRA President Wayne LaPierre’s handbook of douchebaggery, and suggests the answer to the “riddle” of guns should be, in fact, more guns. Only a corporate shill or a professional philosopher could arrive at this position without realizing (or admitting) how utterly full of shit they are.

Sure, we’d all prefer for this to be a “don’t feed the troll” type situation, but as of this writing Harris’s gushing paean to gun violence (and considering the research cited above, describing it as anything other would be incredibly disingenuous) has received 44,000 Facebook likes, so perhaps it’s best to feed this unwitting troll the fatal poison for which he has apparently no natural immunity: logic! And, after nearly a decade of ostensibly sincere intellectual sewage, Harris is straining Poe’s Law with introductions like this: “Fantasists and zealots can be found on both sides of the debate over guns in America.” Ah, yes, all those awful zealots with their fanatical designs on protecting small children from senseless, preventable gun-murder — based on the simple truth that guns cause death. Tell us more, o convoluted one!

“On the one hand, many gun-rights advocates reject even the most sensible restrictions on the sale of weapons to the public. On the other, proponents of stricter gun laws often seem unable to understand why a good person would ever want ready access to a loaded firearm.”

The lesson here is that Sam Harris has two hands. Two extremist and falsely equivalent hands. And he can count them both! But rest assured, good reader:

“Between these two extremes we must find grounds for a rational discussion about the problem of gun violence.”

Phew! I was beginning to think this was going to be yet another one of Harris’s patented fake-smart-for-dumb-people routines wherein he constructs a series of strawmen then proceeds to knock them down. Oh wait. That’s exactly what this is. Harris fails spectacularly to provide the advertised rational discussion.

Before delving further into this NRA wet-dream of an essay, let us reflect on an important facet of Harris’s personality. The common thread running through all of Harris’s logic-abortions, the key to understanding how a purported “intellectual” can be so consistently wrong and so morally repugnant, is his unbridled cowardice — both of the intellectual variety and an all-pervasive, crapping-his-pants fear that manifests itself in the form of  sophistry and a brazen disregard for following the available evidence to its logical conclusion.

Loyalists protesters in Northern Ireland have continued their violent demonstrations over the decision to stop flying the Union flag above Belfast City Hall all year round.

The protests continued for the fifth night in a row on Monday night with police using water canon and fired baton rounds to disperse rioters.

Some rioters deployed sledge hammer to hit police vehicles and burnt small fires in Belfast’s main street.

The riots erupted after Belfast City Council decided to stop flying the Union Jack in all but 17 days in a year.

Police have so far arrested around 100 people, and more than 60 officers have been injured in the unrest.

A police officers’ representative has said that pro-British paramilitary groups are instigating and exploiting the riots which have rocked Belfast in the past month.

The Northern Ireland flags issue divides the population along sectarian lines. Depending on political allegiance, people identify with differing flags and symbols, some of which have, or have had, official status in Northern Ireland.

There have been various proposals as to what flag could represent Northern Ireland’s various communities as a whole.

The Union Jack, the official flag of the United Kingdom, is routinely used on central government buildings in Northern Ireland. It is often flown by Unionists and Loyalists but Nationalists and Republicans dislike it.

The Stormont government used to fly the Ulster Banner from 1953 to 1972 to represent the government of Northern Ireland. The Ulster Banner was the flag of the former Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland.

When the government of Northern Ireland was suspended in March 1972 and dissolved under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, its arms and flag officially disappeared; however, the flag continues to be used by some local governments, such as the predominantly unionist Castlereagh, which continues to fly it outside its offices, and by some NGOs representing the territory.

Ulster separatists who wish to see Northern Ireland leave the United Kingdom use the Ulster Nation flag.

Some Loyalists in Northern Ireland use St Andrew’s Cross, the flag of Scotland, to highlight their Scottish ancestry.

Now, the decision to stop permanently flying the British flag outside Belfast City Hall has sparked some of the worst violence since the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.

In the late 1960s, the conflict between mainly Protestant loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, and largely Roman Catholic nationalists, who want it to be reunited with the rest of Ireland, exploded into a political and sectarian war, known as “the Troubles.”

The three decades of ensuing violence between loyalists and the IRA claimed nearly 3,600 lives, most of them north of the border. While the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, also known as the Belfast Agreement, effectively ended the conflict, distrust remains between Catholics and Protestants.

Under the terms of the accord, groups on both sides dumped their weapons, and members of Sinn Fein, the political affiliate of the IRA, now work with pro-British politicians in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government.

The Good Friday Agreement created an elected Northern Ireland assembly and devolved government in which power is shared between all sides, with traditional arch-enemies remarkably sitting side by side. The assembly meets in an imposing historic building, Stormont, over which the British flag flies for just 17 pre-agreed days each year.

MOL/HE

Interpol’s Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michel Louboutin says Iran is an effective player in the organization’s international operations.

Louboutin, who is visiting Iran to promote further cooperation between the international organization and the Iranian police, made the remarks during a Tuesday meeting with chief of Interpol section of Iranian police, Colonel Massoud Rezvani.

Stating that Iran is one of the oldest member countries of Interpol, Louboutin said “cooperation between Iran and Interpol is at an acceptable level.”

Louboutin, on his first visit to Iran, stressed that Iranian police have been trained effectively enough to deal with different types of crimes.

Referring to a joint operation between the Iranian police forces and Interpol, Louboutin hailed Iran’s comprehensive efforts in combating drug trafficking.

Rezvani, for his part, said “the Iranian police is ready to improve its communication with Interpol, especially in the area of organized crime.”

Iran has a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan and has frequently been used as the main conduit for the smuggling of Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

The Islamic Republic has spent more than USD700 million to seal the borders and prevent the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past 33 years.

PG/SS

Occupy DC protesters holds a signs January 17, 2012 during a demonstration in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo / Karen Bleier)

Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they believe Washington is causing “serious harm to the country,” shedding further light on the low approval ratings of the most recent US Congress and the widespread pessimism regarding the country’s future.

The overwhelming majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents all believe that Washington politicians are damaging the United States, according to a Dec. 14-17 USA Today/Gallup poll, which was conducted while the 112th Congress was attempting to avert the looming fiscal cliff.

While 77 percent of Americans admitted having no faith in their elected representatives to do good, only 19 percent believed Washington is doing no harm.

Republicans had the most negative opinion, with 87 percent of GOP respondents indicating that Washington is harming the country, while only 68 Democrats and 79 Independents believed the same.

The poll reinforced the consistently low approval ratings of the 112th Congress, which were frequently below 20 percent. A separate poll conducted during the same time period found that Congress’ approval rating remained at 18 percent during the fiscal cliff debate, which is also where it stood a month prior, in mid-November.

“The finding that most Americans think politics are hurting the country fits with a number of additional measures showing that Americans hold the federal government in general and Congress in particular — the main instruments of how American politics work — in low-regard,” Gallup’s Frank Newport says in a press release that accompanies the report.

“The 19 percent of Americans who do not feel negatively about the way politics are being handled is quite close to Congress’ current 18 percent job approval rating,” he adds. “Confidence in Congress as an institution — the percentage with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in it — is at 13 percent, and 10 percent and 14 percent of Americans rate the honesty and ethics of members of Congress and senators, respectively, as high or very high.”

The 113th Congress may have a difficult time changing the public’s perception: only 52 percent of Americans believe that politics will improve over the next decade, while 45 percent predict they will feel equally cynical of their elected representatives’ abilities. But Democrats are overwhelmingly more optimistic than Republicans, with 63 percent believing in a better future, while only 44 percent of the GOP foreseeing an improvement.

But with another Republican House majority and Democratic Senate majority, it may still be difficult for new legislation to pass Congress.

“My sense is that things are not going to be that different because the fundamental divisions that existed in the previous Congress are still there,” Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University, tells CNN.

“On the day people are sworn in they are entitled to dream,” says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “The idea that they are going to bridge the unbridgeable gap between the two parties is indeed a dream.”

On Tuesday, the Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a survey of their own that found that 9 percent of their respondents held a favorable opinion of Congress. In that survey, 85 percent said they considered Congress unfavorably.

“We all know Congress is unpopular,” PPP President Dean Debnam says in a statement. “But the fact that voters like it even less than cockroaches, lice and Genghis Kahn real shows how far its esteem has fallen with the American public over the last few weeks.”

Iraqis have staged mass pro-government demonstrations across the country to express support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in the cities of Basra, Kut, Diwaniyah, Karbala and Samawa on Tuesday to show their support for Maliki.

The demonstrators also dismissed requests for a change in the country’s anti-terror laws, slamming recent calls for abolishing a law that forbids Baath Party members from taking office, saying the county would witness more violence if Baathists were allowed to return to power.

“The demands of the people in the northern region are illegal, unacceptable and against the interests of people,” Hani al-Nuri, a demonstrator, said.

The pro-government rallies were held in response to weeks of anti-government protests in some Iraqi cities, including the western province of Anbar.

Iraq has been the scene of anti-government demonstrations since December 23, 2012, when the bodyguards of Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi were arrested on terrorism-related charges.

The demonstrators allege that the arrests were made on sectarian grounds and demand an end to anti-terrorism laws. But the government says it is up to the parliament to decide on abolishing those laws.

Last week, Maliki said Baghdad would use force to end the protests in Anbar province, where protesters have blocked off a highway linking Iraq to Syria and Jordan. The Iraqi government says there are foreign agendas behind the protests.

HM/PKH/SS

A schoolgirl killed when her family’s car was caught up in a police chase has been named as 13-year-old Wiktoria Was.

Wiktoria was a back seat passenger in the VW Polo when it was hit by another car that was being pursued by police through southeast London.

She was pronounced dead at the scene on Ilderton Road, close to Millwall Football Club on Sunday evening.

Staff at Goffs School in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where Wiktoria was a year nine pupil, confirmed that they have been helping students cope with the loss of a talented pupil.

Headteacher Alison Garner paid tribute to her.

“Wiktoria was a highly valued member of our community, funny, charming, bubbly and with a bright future ahead of her. She will be much missed by us all.”

She added: “I have spoken with all of year nine and arranged for Wiktoria’s form to be talked to separately in their form group. 

“The school counsellor will be available at least this week for students and staff, and we will be encouraging students to think about how they would like to remember Wiktoria – for example via a tree, bench, and memorial assembly – once the initial shock has subsided.”

The Metropolitan Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission are both investigating the pursuit and subsequent collision.

Devon Newell, 32, of Meeting House Lane, Peckham, southeast London, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, and driving with no insurance and no licence.

He appeared by videolink at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody to appear before Woolwich Court on January 15.

Brazil has backed the Venezuelan government’s proposed extension to the inauguration date of President Hugo Chavez.

Foreign Policy Advisor to Brazilian President, Marco Aurelio Garcia, told reporters on Tuesday that — on behalf of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff — Brazil supports the postponing of the inaugural ceremony if doctors declare Chavez unfit to attend.

Since Chavez was already president, the delay would not create “discontinuity,” in Venezuela’s leadership Garcia said.

He said the inauguration could be postponed for up to 180 days, consisting of two 90 day periods, which was “constitutional cover” if Chavez fails to show in Venezuela’s capital city Caracas on Thursday.

Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello on Monday said Chavez can be sworn in by the Supreme Court later, but may be healthy enough for Thursday’s ceremony.

The Venezuelan government has asked Chavez supporters to stage a giant rally in Caracas on Thursday to show support for the president’s return to office for a third term.

The Venezuelan president, much favored in the South Americas, shall receive a visit from Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Friday. Uruguayan President Jose Mujica has recently travelled to Caracas.

Chavez, who first came to power in 1999, was reelected to a new six-year term in October, 2012, however a month before the planned inauguration he underwent a fourth round of cancer surgery in Cuba’s capital Havana.

GVN/PKH

India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid says New Delhi will give a “proportionate” response to Pakistan’s recent deadly attack in Kashmir, which claimed the lives of two Indian soldiers.

“We need to do something about this and we will, but it has to be done after careful consideration of all the details in consultation with the Defense Ministry,” Khurshid said on Tuesday.

“It is absolutely unacceptable, ghastly, and really, really terrible and extremely short-sighted by their part,” the Indian foreign minister added.

According to military sources, an Indian patrol was ambushed by Pakistani soldiers in southern Kashmir’s Mendhar sector, 173 kilometers (107 miles) west of Jammu.

Officials added that one of the bodies was badly mutilated.

The Indian Defense Ministry also condemned the killings as “a provocative action” by Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Islamabad has denied New Delhi’s claims.

The incident comes after Pakistan said one of its forces had been killed in the area on Sunday.

Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 60 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.

SZH/PKH/SS

Troops from the Netherlands and Germany have arrived in Turkey to make required preparations for the arrival of NATO Patriot missiles, which will be deployed along the country’s border with Syria.

Some 30 Dutch and 20 German soldiers arrived at Incirlik Air Base in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, with the main body of European soldiers set to arrive two weeks later.

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to deploy two batteries of Patriot missiles each, under the command of NATO, along the Turkish-Syria border. Each Patriot missile battery has an average of 12 missile launchers. All the six batteries are scheduled to be operational by the end of January.

The Dutch Patriot batteries departed for Turkey on Monday and are expected to arrive by January 22 along with nearly 270 troops.

German Defense Ministry said its Patriots would be shipped Tuesday from the port of Luebeck-Travemuende, and are due to arrive at the Turkish port of Iskenderun on January 21.

The main German contingent of up to 350 soldiers will begin deploying in mid-January.

A team of US military forces have already been stationed in the southeastern city of Gaziantep and a further 400 personnel and equipment would be airlifted there in the coming days.

The NATO military alliance approved a request by Turkey for the deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles in the border region on December 4, 2012.

Turkish people have held several protest demonstrations against the military plan.

The Syrian government has also censured the plan, calling it another act of provocation by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The crisis in Syria began in mid-March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed so far.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in July 2012 that Turkey “has supplied all logistic support to the terrorists who have killed our people.”

HM/PKH/SS

LONDON (Reuters) – British Chancellor George Osborne urged European Union policymakers on Tuesday to seriously consider adopting proposals to separate banks’ retail and investment banking operations.

“There is an interesting proposal on the table … which envisages ring-fencing European banks’ retail and investment arms into separate entities,” Osborne told a Berlin meeting of European officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Britain is already pushing ahead with similar reforms and I think it’s an idea that the EU, including Germany, should give serious consideration to implementing,” Osborne added, according to a statement provided by his office.

Osborne was referring to proposals from Finnish central bank governor Erkki Liikanen to ring-fence banks’ riskier activities, thereby reducing the danger they posed to the rest of the economy during a financial crisis.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Olesya Dmitracova)

This undated handout picture provided by New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW Rural Fire Service) on January 8, 2013 shows a NSW Rural Fire Service worker spraying water on a bush fire at Green Point in New South Wales. (AFP Photo/ NSW Rural Fire Service)

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A heat wave that has already caused devastating fires on the Island state of Tasmania, with 100 people still missing, has now moved to mainland Australia and is reaping havoc in New South Wales, as the heat wave looks to smash records.

­In some areas temperatures have shot up by as much as 20C in three hours and combined with 50 mph winds have created disastrous fire conditions.

Right across Australia records have been broken by the heat wave and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has been forced to add colors to its forecast charts to take account of temperatures of 50-54 degrees Celsius.

Australia’s all-time record of 50.7 degrees; set in January 1960 at Oodnadatta in South Australia is likely to be smashed over the coming days. On Tuesday, in some places temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius were recorded.

“The scale has just been increased today and I would anticipate it is because the forecast coming from the bureau’s model is showing temperatures in excess of 50 degrees,” David Jones , the BoM’s head of climate monitoring, told Fairfax newspapers.

Australia as a whole experienced its hottest day on record on Monday, with average maximum temperatures across the entire country reaching 40.33 degrees breaking the previous record of 40.17 degrees set in 1972.

More than 130 fires are already blazing away in New South Wales (NSW), where fire officials said conditions were among the worst they had ever seen for wildfires. Fires had already burnt more than 30,000 hectares of land across NSW.

There are also wildfires burning in Victoria with 20 homes evacuates in Chepstowe, west of Australia’s second city Melbourne.

Houses destroyed by a bushfire are seen in ruins in Dunalley, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Hobart, January 5, 2013. (Reuters/Chris Kidd/Pool)

­

Land continues to burn in Tasmania where blazes last weekend destroyed 90 homes and 20,000 hectares of farm land and forest.
Officials on the island are still unsure of the fate of 100 people who went missing since last week, after fires destroyed the town of Dunalley.

In the current terrifying conditions, fires can become so hot that they create their own lightning storms, which can in turn ignite more fires, and ember showers can fly up to 15 miles ahead of a fire, igniting new fires in areas not yet alight. Experts warn that the intense heat being generated by the fires can kill people before the flames even reach them.

The conditions hark back to Black Saturday in the state of Victoria in 2009, when 172 people were killed by fires. This time emergency services are not taking any risks and have already closed national parks, ordered tourists out of campsites and are following the movements of known arsonists.

“We are at a catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said that it is important for people to keep themselves safe and listen to local authorities and their warnings. She also stressed that the fires were being called catastrophic for a reason.

The Bega Valley is one of the areas authorities are most worried about, where fast moving scrub and grass fires are threatening homes.
Properties were under threat in the city of Wagga Wagga where the local highway has been closed. The Southern Ranges, the Riverina and Shoalhaven have also been given a catastrophic rating.

The heat, wind and dryness — ideal conditions for wildfires — follow a record four months of dry weather, allowing mere smoldering stumps and embers from areas already burned to blow into unburnt country.

However, the BoM is predicting cooler conditions to arrive across NSW by Wednesday morning.

This undated handout picture provided by New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW Rural Fire Service) on January 8, 2013 shows smoke billowing as a bushfire burns near Green Point in New South Wales. (AFP Photo/ NSW Rural Fire Service)

This undated handout aerial picture provided by New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW Rural Fire Service) on January 8, 2013 shows a bushfire burning 8km south west of Naradhan, north of Griffith in New South Wales. (AFP Photo/ NSW Rural Fire Service)

Smoke rises from the Yarrabin bushfire, burning out of control near Cooma, about 100km (62 miles) south of Canberra January 8, 2013. (Reuters/Tim Wimborne)

This aerial photograph taken on January 5, 2013 shows the devastation to property between Dunalley and Boomer Bay after bush fires swept through the area. (AFP Photo/Pool/Chris Kidd)

Nick Clegg has defended the 1% benefits cap as he faced opposition from some of his own MPs ahead of a Commons vote on the move.

The Deputy Prime Minister reacted angrily when Labour’s Harriet Harman warned the cap would make “millions of families worse off”.

Mr Clegg admitted it would hit “people both in and out of work” but insisted it was essential to make savings.

“The challenge for her and her party is firstly to explain in this house and to the British people why she can support a 1% pay limit to doctors, nurses and teachers in the public sector and not back this approach,” he said.

“And where is she going to find the £5bn that the measures are going to save in the next three years?”

At least two Lib Dem MPs, including a former Government minister, have vowed to rebel in the vote on severing the link between benefits and inflation later.

Another has warned that a “large number” are against the measure, which will see a real-terms cut in most working age welfare payments and tax credits.

Ministers say the cap is needed because it is unfair that state handouts have been rising twice as fast as wages during recent years of austerity.

Labour opposes the legislation, pointing to analysis showing seven million working households will lose out by an average £165 per year.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: “While millionaires get a tax cut, seven million striving working families are paying the price for David Cameron and George Osborne’s economic failure.

“The best way to get the benefits bill down is to get the economy growing and people back to work, not hit striving families.”

The Opposition has now tabled an amendment calling for the Bill not to get a second reading and pushing its own plan for a compulsory jobs guarantee for the long-term unemployed.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith condemned its stance as “pathetic”, “unrealistic” and “ridiculous”.

“We have to still continue to try and tackle the deficit left for us by Labour which is fuelling huge borrowing and will cost taxpayers enormously unless we get it under control,” he said.

“It is also about trying to do it in a way that is fair to those who are in work and are paying the taxes for those who are on welfare.

“The reality is they have seen their welfare payments rise far faster over the last six or seven years than anybody in work.”

Labour was “a pathetic opportunistic group who spend their time trying to pretend to people there are soft options out there”, he added.

Anti-poverty campaigners have warned that families will increasingly struggle to properly feed children if benefits fail to keep pace with rises in the cost of living.

Former children’s minister Sarah Teather has already broken ranks, warning the the measure would make poverty “significantly worse” and accusing Mr Osborne of “playground politics”.

She has now been joined by South Manchester Liberal Democrat MP John Leech, who said the found the Tories’ language “objectionable”.

“I strongly support raising the tax threshold for low paid workers, but this cut will wipe out much of that good work,” he said ahead of this evening’s Second Reading division.

Meanwhile, the Tories are trying to distance themselves from the “skivers against strivers” rhetoric sparked by Mr Osborne’s original announcement.

Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston insisted that the “vast majority” of her party did not use those terms and it was not how they “feel generally”.

The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated seven million working families will be £165 worse off a year, compared to £215 for the 2.5 million workless households.

Mr Duncan Smith says the £165 figures only reflects the benefits cap and claims working families will actually be £125 better off each year due to the rise in the income tax threshold.

Drones have been employed throughout the US for surveillance purposes, but a Kansas City lawmaker perceives this type of spying as a violation of the Fourth Amendment and is working to limit the government’s use of domestic drones.

Kansas City Rep. Casey Guernsey (R), who works in the Missouri House of Representatives, claims that the domestic use of drones is a defilement of American freedom. The state legislator this week introduced the ‘Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act’, which would require law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant in order to use UAV surveillance to gather criminal activity. The bill would also protect agriculture businesses and farmers from being spied on without their knowledge.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have in recent years been employed throughout the US to capture criminals and monitor illegal immigrants. Homeland security claims to use the UAVs to protect US citizens from terrorism and crime, while the drones are also used for “disaster relief, immigration control and environmental monitoring,” according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The National Guard claims to use unmanned drones for wildfire surveillance.

Few drones are currently employed in the US, but the Federal Aviation Administration predicts that 30,000 UAVs will fly over the US in less than 20 years. The surveillance capabilities of the watchful machines has been a cause of concern for privacy advocates, with some claiming that the drones are a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against ‘unreasonable searches.’

“As drones become less expensive, our fear is that police and other agencies could use them for fishing expeditions that infringe on individual’s right to privacy,” Gary Brunk, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, tells the Kansas City Star.

Rep. Guernsey has already become alarmed over the use of drones in Missouri and believes that unless their use is restricted, it won’t be long until the government spies on individuals inside their homes.

“It isn’t far-fetched that we could see government agencies deploy drones to spy on individuals and businesses around the state,” he says.

When it comes to the use of surveillance drones, California is facing similar privacy concerns as Missouri. Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern has made a request to purchase a drone for overhead surveillance above his county. Using $31,646 of a $1.2 million grant dispersed by the California Emergency Management Agency, the sheriff wants to purchase the UAV for “search and rescue, pursuing violent felons, pursuing people evading law enforcement and having the air support during a natural disaster to see the safest routes for people to travel in and out of an area,” Ahern said.

Privacy advocates have called for a public discussion about the sheriff’s request, which Ahern postponed, claiming that his drone request is unrelated to the issue of privacy.

Nationwide, about a dozen law enforcement agencies have or are using a drone for surveillance purposes, which the CRS claims is a rising problem.

“Some members of Congress and the public fear there are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure that drones are not used to spy on American citizens and unduly infringe upon their fundamental policy,” the CRS reports.

Most of the 50 Yemeni women accused of murder in 2012 were arrested for killing their husbands, the country’s ministry of interior has announced. The killings are deemed by many a desperate reaction to rampant gender inequality in the country.

The women were between the ages of 25-50 and had mostly carried out the crime with the aid of male relatives, a report released by the Yemeni Interior Ministry’s Information Security Center revealed.

Domestic violence, marriage inequality, jealousy, a sense of inferiority and economic pressures were cited as the primary motives. Most of the men were shot, poisoned, or beaten to death.

The most infamous crime of this nature occurred in August in a village in the province of Marib, where a 40-year-old woman killed her husband and two sons following a domestic dispute, Dr. Mujib Abdul Bari, a specialist in psychiatric and neurological disorders, told AlArabiya.net.

Bari said statistics relating to such crimes should be published to help facilitate public service campaigns which would help empower women in the country.

“In case women have taken a wrong decision in marriage, they should resort to legal solutions, such as divorce or going back to their families [who can] help them on a psychological level,” he continued.

Despite the recent spike in violence committed by wives in 2012, nearly two times as many women were victims of attempted murder during the same period.

Following the 1994 Yemeni Civil War, gender inequality has drastically increased in the country.

In 1999, the minimum marriage age of 15 was scrapped. Subsequent attempts a decade later to introduce legislation requiring women to be 17-years or older, were halted by conservative parliamentarians, Rebecca Murray from IPS news agency reports.

United Nations figures compiled in 2004 show 17.2% of girls aged 15-19 were either married, divorced or widowed.

While sexual intercourse with girls who have not reached puberty is illegal under article 15 of the country’s Personal Status Law, Human Rights Watch has documented cases where pre-pubescent girls have been subjected to marital rape.

In Yemen, there are currently no laws on the books against marital rape. For those women trapped in abusive marriages, divorce laws reflect the extent of gender inequality in the country. While a husband can divorce his wife by simply repudiating her three times, a woman can only ask for a divorce under certain conditions- for example, if her husband fails to provide for the family financially even if he is capable of doing so. If a woman hopes to divorce for other reasons, she must file for a no-fault divorce which requires that she pay back her dowry.

Custody of children is highly biased towards husbands, as men are considered the natural guardians of children, while women are viewed as physical custodians but have no legal rights.

Rebecca Murray says domestic violence, health complications, a lack of education and career opportunities are often directly connected to early or forced marriages.

She also cites Yemen’s penal code as being heavily biased in favor of men who commit “honor killings,” with husbands who murder allegedly adulterous wives receiving a one-year maximum prison sentence, or even a fine.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index in 2012, ranked Yemen’s gender disparities last in economic, political, education and health criteria.

Pakistanis have taken to the streets to protest at US-led assassination drone attacks in their country, Press TV reports.

The protesters in the central city of Multan condemned Washington’s unsanctioned drone strikes that claim the lives of hundreds of Pakistanis every year.

The protest on Tuesday follows US drone attacks in North Waziristan’s tribal areas which left eight people dead and four injured.

On Sunday, at least 16 people were killed in a US drone strike on the tribal area of South Waziristan.

Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants crossing the border with Afghanistan, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.

The killing of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington.

Last month, Pakistan’s Jama’at ud-Da’wah political group took legal action against the ongoing drone attacks. The group said despite a resolution passed by the Pakistani parliament in condemnation of the US attacks, the drone strikes continue to claim the lives of civilians.

Over the past months, massive demonstrations have been held across Pakistan to condemn the United States for violating Pakistan’s sovereignty.

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Hungarian students have threatened to stage mass protests unless the government meets their demands of higher education reforms.

The government has until February 11 to settle a month-long standoff or student networks will launch protests across the country, Richard Barabas of the HH (Student’s Network) organization said on Tuesday.

“Our anger is totally justified,” Barabas said on Hungary’s independent broadcasting station, Klub Radio.

“We are trying to carry on a public, constructive and sensible dialogue with the government, but it seems we are banging our heads against the wall,” Barabas added.

The students have had enough of the government’s “empty promises,” he said, over reforms of giving additional free university places, benefits in state scholarships at universities and freedom for students with grants to work outside Hungary after graduation.

Barabas pointed out that the government talks “one-on-one with professors and the different student groups,” an act which allows the government to resolve the issues without considering both sides of the argument.

“This is unacceptable and has caused us to issue our ultimatum” of education reforms or protests he said.

Thousands of students in December 2012 held weeks of protest over the government’s cuts and reforms to higher education.

The European Union (EU) has pressured Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban to keep Hungary’s budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, and thus Orban has introduced measures to avoid cuts in EU aid.

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So far, the Canadian pipeline corporation has faced and overcome opposition all along the way — from protestors, blockaders, and court challenges — and as of January 4, TransCanada reported that the 485 mile construction project was roughly a third complete and pretty much on schedule for completion before the end of 2013.

Despite setbacks as recently as January 3, when a police-supervised cherry picker collected a tree-sitter from the pipeline right-of-way, the Tar Sands Blockade and other opposition groups kept their actions going with a non-violence training camp over the weekend.

This led to the Tar Sands Blockade’s largest demonstration so far, on January 7, when about 100 protestors occupied the lobby in the TransCanada office building. After about an hour, police cleared the building almost peacefully, with little more than some pushing and shoving. There were few arrests. Most of the evicted demonstrators gathered in a green space across the street, where they performed street theater featuring a “pipeline dragon,” as some 40 police looked on, some on horseback quietly drinking their Starbucks.

A potentially much more important struggle goes on mostly out of sight in Washington, DC, where the Secretary of State is officially responsible for accurately assessing the environmental impact of the whole Keystone XL, all 1,100-plus miles of it. This assessment was ordered almost a year ago, when President Obama resisted Congressional pressure, and denied the pipeline a permit to cross from Canada into the U.S. until the evaluation was done — making the final decision a clear indicator of the president’s seriousness about climate change.

Redford Speaks Politely to Power

This was the subtext of environmentalist and movie makes Robert Redford in a recent piece that doesn’t mention President Obama by name, but calls in quietly measured tones for his government to deny the pipeline a permit:

“This is a time for climate leadership. So, instead of a shoddy Keystone XL environmental review, the first major climate action for this Administration’s second term should be to set limits on climate change pollution from power plants. That is the kind of action that makes sense.

“And then it will make sense to reject this dirty energy project. With extreme weather taking its toll on communities all over America, we can’t afford another major dirty energy project such as the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.”

The Alberta tar sands in Canada, like tar sands everywhere, do not contain oil. The near-solid bitumen in tar sands can be turned into a high-sulfur content oil by treatment with toxic chemicals, heat, and pressure. The Keystone XL pipeline is designed to transport over 700,000 barrels of hot tar sands oil under pressure every day, from Canada across the heartland of the United States to Gulf Coast refineries, from whence it will mostly go to overseas markets, especially China.

In contrast to Redford’s polite demurrer, NASA scientist James Hansen has looked at the very same set of facts and concluded that Canadian tar sands “contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history” — and that exploitation of this “resource” would mean, effectively, “game over for the climate.”

Hansen was critical of President Obama for taking the attitude that the Canadians would exploit their tar sands no matter what the U.S. does. Redford suggests this may not be true, that:

 “Canadians know better — they haven’t let new tar sands pipeline be built yet to either of their own coasts. In fact, the proposed Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline to the west coast is considered dead by many.”

 Resistance Continues to Grow and Spread

With completion of Keystone XL, this would become irrelevant. With Keystone blocked, it could be wishful thinking. There is already serious resistance in British Columbia and Nebraska and Vermont as well as Texas and other points along likely pipeline routes. And resistance appears to continue to grow, as noted in CounterPunch in discussing the rise of Idle No More, a coalition of indigenous people in Canada in recent months, who are now joining the tar sands protest in Texas:

“In the coming days a new blockade will be set up in Texas as the resistance to Tar Sands grows. Plans are a foot across the country and the world for solidarity actions with Idle No More movement and direct actions targeting these industries and governments that continue to push our health, the environment and the existence of future generations aside for the profits of the transnational corporations defining the global political regime.

 “Let’s hope that 2013 brings a needed awakening in the United States and that the Obama liberals and progressives shake off their shackles to a system that is plodding along in the wrong direction and decide to be Idle No More!!!”

 The Lufkin Daily News posted a video of a non-violent but nevertheless odd arrest on January 3 of a man asking for an explanation of why he had to move out of a public right of way. Tar Sands Blockade described the sheriff’s behavior this way:

 “Escalated police harassment of supporters along public highway continues:

“Angelina County sheriffs continue to push the limits of their legal authority with their harassment of supporters trying to observe the blockade from the side of a public highway. Supporters have been detained under the pretense that they were ‘witnesses to a felony investigation’ and ordered to produce ID.”

Later the group reported that 6 blockaders were being held in jail, with bail set at $10,000 each. To deal with one person of color who was arrested without ID, the sheriff’s department called immigration authorities.

A new police commissioner has won a legal fight with a “highly effective” chief constable despite a High Court judge concluding that she had been responsible for a breakdown in their relationship.

Colin Port – chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police since 2005 – had complained that Sue Mountstevens unfairly “called upon him … to retire” after taking office in November.

Mrs Mountstevens – a former director of her family’s bakery company in Bristol – disputed the allegation.

Mr Justice-Edwards Stuart ruled in Mrs Mountstevens’ favour, following a High Court hearing in London, and said she had broken no rules in her dealings with Mr Port.

But the judge said Mrs Mountstevens was responsible for the pair’s relationship breakdown and said he was sorry to see Mr Port’s “outstanding career” end in such unhappy circumstances.

Mr Port said after the hearing that he had lost the fight on a “technicality” and was considering an appeal. Mrs Mountstevens left court without answering questions from waiting reporters.

Mr Port, 58, who began his police career in Manchester in 1974 and has also worked in Norfolk and Northern Ireland, took legal action following a meeting held a day before Mrs Mountstevens, 57, officially began work in November.

He said she had “banged her hand on the table” at the meeting and said “things would be different”. He said she had a “vision for a new way of working”.

Mr Port’s term as force head was due to end later this month, the court heard. But he said he had not had any intention of retiring and wanted his appointment extended for another year.

At the meeting, Mrs Mountstevens had explained how she wanted to invite applications for the chief constable’s job and hold an “open competition”, said Mr Port. He had refused to take part, said he would not “apply for his own job” and told staff that he would be leaving.

Actress Kate Winslet says she aims to maintain privacy and refuses to accept that her family cannot lead a “relatively normal life”.

Miss Winslet, 37, was speaking after a High Court judge said a tabloid newspaper could not print “innocent but embarrassing” photographs of her husband Ned RocknRoll, 34.

The Sun argued that publication of the “semi-naked photos” was justified because Mr RocknRoll – who changed his name from Abel Smith and is a nephew of tycoon Sir Richard Branson – is a “public figure”.

But Mr Justice Briggs ruled against newspaper bosses following a two-day hearing at the High Court in London. He said he would give reasons for his decision at a later date.

After the hearing Miss Winslet and Mr RocknRoll issued a joint written statement.

“We have stopped The Sun from publishing semi-naked photos of Ned taken by a friend at a private 21st birthday party a few years ago,” said the statement.

“The photos are innocent but embarrassing and there is no reason to splash them across a newspaper.

“We recognise that in the internet age privacy is harder and harder to maintain. But we will continue to do what we can, particularly to protect Kate’s children from the results of media intrusion.

“We refuse to accept that her career means our family can’t live a relatively normal life.”

Mr RocknRoll argued that there was no public interest in The Sun publishing the photographs, taken more than two years ago at a private fancy dress party with an “outrageous” theme. He said he was not a role model and was a “relative nobody” before his marriage to Miss Winslet.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the publication of insulting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in a French magazine as part of Zionists’ Islamophobia campaign.

On January 2, the weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, already infamous for insulting Islamic sanctities, published a special edition with sacrilegious cartoons on the life of the holiest Islamic figure.

“Countering the wave of Islamic Awakening and overshadowing the crimes committed by the Zionist regime [of Israel] against the oppressed people of Palestine are among the main goals behind such insulting moves by Zionist lobbies,” Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, stated on Tuesday.

Mehmanparast said West’s “systematic and persistent silence” in the face of the British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie’s sacrilegious book, The Satanic Verses, and the blasphemous US-made movie, The Innocence of Muslims, is the main reason behind the recurrence of similar blasphemous acts against Islam’s holy figures and values.

“It is obvious that the principle of freedom of speech and belief should never be used as a pretext for insulting religious beliefs of other nations of the world, which is in contradiction with the liberties stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations,” he added.

Mehmanparast also called on French officials to “understand Muslims’ religious sentiments” and take the necessary measures to condemn Charlie Hebdo’s publication of blasphemous cartoons and prevent such insulting moves against religions.

In September 2012, the weekly published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) which provoked widespread outrage worldwide and prompted the temporary closure of several French institutes and cultural centers in some Muslim countries.

MRS/SS

A former US congresswoman and survivor of gun violence has launched a major initiative to challenge the country’s powerful gun lobby and call for tougher gun laws.

Gabrielle Giffords unveiled “Americans for Responsible Solutions” after a visit to Newtown, Connecticut where twenty children and six adults were killed in a shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

“We can’t just hope that the last shooting tragedy will prevent the next,” Giffords said in an op-ed article in the USA Today newspaper.

“Achieving reforms to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings will mean matching gun lobbyists in their reach and resources,” she added, referring to the US National Rifle Association (NRA).

Giffords, who was shot in the head while meeting constituents in her native Arizona in January 2011, said the ‘Americans for Responsible Solutions’ will “raise the funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby” and support those who support tougher limits on private gun ownership laws.

“Until now, the gun lobby’s political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed spending from anti-gun violence groups,” Giffords said. “No longer; with ‘Americans for Responsible Solutions’ engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby.”

The US has experienced several mass killings over the past six months including the August killing spree at a Sikh temple, which left seven dead.

After the Sandy Hook massacre, a Gallup poll reported that the majority of the Americans would like stricter gun laws and a ban on high-capacity firearms.

More than 100,000 Americans have signed an online petition to the White House, dubbed “We the People,” asking the administration of President Barack Obama for a renewed national debate on gun control.

The NRA, however, proposed to send armed guards in American schools as a means to deter future shootings.

Guns are involved in more than 30,000 deaths in the United States, the majority of them suicides, and handguns — rather than rifles or shotguns — figure in most homicides.

TE/PKH

Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP

Is it really all that easy to just get weapons off the streets? It’s hardly a challenge in Kansas City, Missouri, where six law enforcement vehicles were robbed of weapons in a single morning this week.

Authorities in Kansas City are searching for answers after four police cruisers and two Jackson County Sheriff’s Office cars were broken into early Monday.

Law enforcement officials have refused to identify what possessions in particular were removed from the automobiles, aside from categorizing them vaguely as weapons.

Local network KCTV reports that they were unable to get a clear answer as to whether or not county policy even allows deputies to keep weapons in parked cars, but Kansas City Major Anthony Ell suspects radios, uniforms, bullet-proof vests, weapons and “anything that they somehow think they can use” were removed by the thieves.

“If you’re willing to take the risk and break into a police car, that’s a pretty brazen thief,” Jackson County Sheriff Mike Sharp tells KMBC News.

The incident occurred early Monday morning when an unknown person or person smashed the windows of vehicles parked in an area of the city’s south side where a number of officers and deputies – and Mayor Ell himself – all reside. A seventh car, owned by a civilian, was also burglarized.

They mayor imagines it could be quite hard for someone without the right know-how to use a police computer or radio, but that of course wouldn’t preclude them from pawning any items of value, selling them on the street or, in the case of a firearm, pull a trigger. Such wouldn’t exactly be out of the ordinary in Kansas City, either, a town considered the “ninth most dangerous city in America” by US News & World Report in 2011. At the time, Kansas City had three times the national average in terms of crime, and things haven’t gotten particularly better in the span since. The Kansas City Star notes that 156 people were victims of homicide in the greater KC-area during 2012, and two have been killed already in the new year.

Of the 108 homicides within the city limits in 2012, 90 involved the use of either a handgun or rifle. Using official crime statistics, the website NeighborhoodScout.com considers Kansas City, Missouri to be safer than only 4 percent of all US towns.

According to KMBC News, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has around 100 vehicles that can be taken home nightly by deputies, with the Kansas City Police Department having around another 700 cruisers that can be brought home by officers and detectives who are on-call around the clock. Sheriff Mike Sharp suggests to KMBC that he isn’t a big fan of the program, though, since the cars can at times contain very valuable items.

“There is a lot of equipment in any police vehicle. We’d like, ideally, to park them in garages,” he says.

Sheriff Sharp adds that his agency is now tasked with conducting inventory in order to take account what exactly could have been compromised. He says that he hopes to review the department’s policies after the latest rash of break-ins, since Monday morning’s activities marked the second time cop cruisers were targeted this week.

Local network KSHB News reports that police sources say the department will file felony charges against the suspect.

A senior Iranian lawmaker has downplayed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent anti-Iran remarks as insignificant and aimed at concealing Tel Aviv’s failures.

Netanyahu told Israeli diplomats on Thursday that “Iran remains the number one threat” and that Israel was determined to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“These slogans which lack practical support are propaganda methods used by Netanyahu and his associated [Likud] party to cover up the weaknesses and political failures of the occupying Zionist regime in domestic, regional and Mideast affairs,” Hossein Sobhaninia, member of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Committee, said on Tuesday.

The Israeli regime is faced with a legitimacy crisis at home and Tel Aviv is making an attempt to influence the Israeli public opinion in order to ensure or reinforce its future political standing, the Iranian lawmaker explained.

“[The current] leaders of the Zionist regime [of Israel] seek to introduce the Islamic Republic of Iran as a source of threat to people and claim that if they are…[reelected], these threats would be defused,” Sobhaninia pointed out.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegation, saying that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology.

MRS/SS

A Senegalese man has died after setting himself ablaze in front of the presidential palace in the capital city of Dakar.

According to reports by local media, the incident occurred on Monday when the 32-year-old man, identified as Cheikh Mbaye, doused himself in flammable liquid and then set himself on fire.

He was transferred to Dakar’s main hospital and died early Tuesday from third-degree burns.

Local sources further said that his burial was set to take place later Tuesday in the capital.

Local media also quoted Mbaye as saying that life was better during the ex-President Abdoulaye Wade’s office. Wade did not succeed in securing a third consecutive term in the West African nation’s 2012 presidential election.

Meanwhile, in February 2011 two Senegalese lost their lives after setting themselves on fire in a country that suffers from soaring unemployment and an increasing cost of living.

The deadly events in Senegal are reminiscent of the death of the Tunisian man, Mohammed Bouazizi on December 17, 2010. Bouazizi was an unemployed young man frustrated with poverty and financial problems who set himself ablaze.

Bouazizi’s death sparked mass protests, which finally caused a popular revolution in Tunisia, leading to the ouster of President Zine El Abidin Ben Ali in January 2011.

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A 1973 Warhol portrait of Mao Zedong.

Works by Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol rose to the top of auction sales in 2012. Warhol’s art fetched a total of $380.3 million, beating such artists as Picasso, Richter and Zhang.

According to Bloomberg, the second place in the list complied by Artnet belongs to Spaniard Pablo Picasso. His art earned $334.7 million last year as opposed to $366 million in 2011. In 2012 Picasso also lost his title of the world’s most expensive artist at auction, when The Scream by Edvard Munch set the new record of $119.9 million last May.

Eighty year old German painter, Gerhard Richter, took third place, becoming the top selling living artist. Richter’s art fetched $298.9 million in 2012 climbing up from sixth in 2011. A 1994 abstract painting owned by Eric Clapton sold at Sotheby’s last October for $42 million, helping Richter secure his place among the top three.

Works from the Chinese ink painter Zhang Daqian, who died in 1983, faced a major decline in sales compared to 2011, when his artwork earned $782.4 million. In 2012 his work sold for a total of $241.6 million due to “economic and political uncertainty,” art dealers are quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

“Contemporary art is where the dynamic energy is at auctions,” Jonathan P Binstock, senior adviser in postwar and contemporary art at Citi Private Bank Art Advisory & Finance, said in an interview. “The market is selective and concentrated on works by certain artists. The instant recognisability of masterpieces by Warhol and Richter makes them well suited to performing well.”

Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (AFP Photo)

David Miliband made a not-so-subtle attack on Gordon Brown in the Commons on Tuesday, as he railed against the coalition’s plan to cut benefit payments.

The former Labour foreign secretary, who lost out on the leadership of his party to his younger brother in 2010, attacked the government’s “rancid” legislation that would see benefits rise below inflation at 1% – a real terms cut.

“This rancid Bill is not about fairness or affordability. It reeks of politics, the politics of dividing lines that the current government spent so much time denouncing when they were in Opposition in the dog days of the Brown Administration. It says a lot that within two years it has fallen into the same trap,” he told MPs.

He added: “We all know the style. Invent your own enemy. Spin your campaign to a newspaper editor short on facts — or high on prejudice. ‘Frame’ the debate.”

Miliband’s attack on the Bill was on the surface an assault on David Cameron and George Osborne, however the target was really, or at least equally, the former Labour prime minister.

Brown was often criticised for creating “dividing lines” as part of his electoral strategy while in office.

Miliband had strained relations with Brown while serving in his government, and is widely seen to have bottled his chance to seize Downing Street when the then prime minister was weak.

The now backbench MP made the intervention in the debate as rumours fly around Westminster that he is prepared to make a return to the Labour front bench under his brother’s leadership.

SEE ALSO: Sarah Teather To Rebel, Attacks Rhetoric Of Benefit Debate

Under fire from America’s gun lobby, Piers Morgan found himself on the receiving end of a bizarre rant from conspiracy theorist and radio DJ Alex Jones.

Appearing with Morgan on CNN, the shock-jock descended into a farcical diatribe over gun ownership, managing to wind himself up to the point of eruption with his “antagonist” barely having to say a word.

But Morgan has no need to despair.

The beleaguered TV host, who faces calls for his deportation due to his anti-gun stance, has received an offer of help he’d be stupid to turn down.

John “is that an egg, mate?” Prescott took to Twitter offering to train up Morgan so he can take on Jones in a boxing match.

Maybe he’s on to something.

Politicians training TV hosts to take on right-wing American nuts sounds far better than Tom Daley teaching z-list celebs how to dive…

Watch Jones explain the days events in his own unique style below…

Former Lib Dem minister Sarah Teather has warned the rhetoric surrounding the debate over welfare payments will set “neighbour against neighbour”, as she prepared to vote against her party.

On Tuesday evening MPs will vote on government’s Benefits Up-rating Bill that would see benefit payments rise below inflation at 1% for three years.

The government argue the real terms cut is needed to save money as well as ensure benefits do not rise more than public sector pay, which has also been capped at 1%.

Speaking in the Commons, Teather, who lost her job as a children’s minister in the September reshuffle, confirmed she would vote against the Bill and attacked the “strivers verses scroungers” framing of the argument.

“It will make society less generous, less sympathetic, less able to cooperate,” she told MPs.

“The marginalisation of the underserving poor will place one group out of society entirely over time, and leave them less able to make choices about their own lives and less able to participate.

She added: “That fragmentation of society is, for me, the spectre of broken Britain, it is one we should worry about hastening at our peril.”

Teather announced she would vote against the Bill during an interview with the BBC on Monday. “We have a huge problem with in-work child poverty and we’re only going to make this significantly worse,” she said on Monday.

She added: “I feel deeply anxious about the policy and I will be voting against the Bill tomorrow very reluctantly and with a very heavy heart.”

Nick Clegg has defended his decision to support the Bill, arguing that without the Lib Dems the Tories would have taken an even greater axe to benefit payments – however many Lib Dem MPs and activists are uneasy with the move.

As MPs gather to vote on plans to cap benefits and slash a further £5 billion from the welfare bill, a single mother affected by the cuts told the Huffington Post UK: “I don’t know how I will survive.”

The Welfare Uprating Bill proposes a 1% cap on most working age benefit payments and tax credits, ending inflation-linked rises and introducing what will be a real-terms benefits cut.

Ministers say the cap is needed because it is unfair that welfare payments have been rising twice as fast as wages during recent years of austerity.

However charities and campaign groups have slammed the ‘indefensible’ legislation, saying it will punish the most disadvantaged, deepen inequality and increase child poverty.

Sarah Easterbrook, 39, has a 16 hour contract at a large supermarket chain. She’d like more hours but they don’t have them at times which would fit around her childcare. She brings home around £1000 a month with her tax credit.

She told the Huffington Post UK it is a daily struggle to make ends meet and that if her benefits were to be capped it would be devastating.

“By the time I’ve paid for fuel, gas bills, council tax and rent I’m left with £50 a month and I’m meant to clothe and feed my child with that.

“My mum was paying for my daughter’s packed lunches for a while because I just couldn’t afford to pay it. I don’t qualify for school meals because I work part time and they cost around £40 a month,” she said.

“There’s never enough at the end of the week. You think to yourself ‘I’m working so why am I in this situation?’

“Family and friends tell me to give up work but I don’t think that would solve anything. I’ve worked all my life and I just couldn’t sit at home all day.

Sarah and her daughter

Sarah’s daughter is five years old. Her daughter’s father has stopped making child support payments and the Child Support Agency are unable to trace him. She said she’s noticed food prices increasing over the past year, and is worried as she is already having to cut back on food.

“I don’t know how I will survive if any benefits are capped. At the moment the grocery shop seems to be the one taking the cut because I’ve already cut back as much as I can.

“I struggle most days just making ends meet. I buy bits and pieces of food every day and if I’m lucky I can do a big shop every two months. That’s to buy things like detergent, maybe put some tins of food in the cupboard and putting some stuff in the freezer.

“There’s just not any more hours available for me to do at work: I’m restricted over times because I need to take my daughter to school and back.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the decision to cap some benefits was not taken lightly but was necessary to tackle the deficit.

“Reducing the deficit is the number one priority for the government because, if we don’t, what happens is borrowing rises and you have to pay for that, so low-paid taxpayers will pick up a massive bill if you don’t resolve that,” he said

Clegg has also defended the bill, saying the three-year-squeeze was necessary to stop schools and the NHS from suffering.

However Ms Eastbrook said that the government didnt understand how the cuts were really affecting people.

Her story of a working woman still struggling on benefits is at odds with the ‘strivers and shirkers’ rhetoric by the Conservative party which has also come under fire.

“It really annoys me because they don’t understand what it is like to struggle. There’s not a lot you can do; it’s just the way this government seems to be.

“People who are working part time will soon have to do cash in hand jobs just to get by. The government will push them to it and that’s not right.”

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, criticised Iain Duncan Smith in a statement, quoting comments he made in November that “this government will always stand by its commitment to tackle child poverty”.

“But the impact assessment does nothing to explain how he can square that statement with this poverty-producing bill,” she said.

“The truth, of course, is that the main impact of this bill will be to make life much more difficult for millions of ordinary families, whether they are surviving on meagre benefits or relying on tax credits to make work pay.”

Analysis of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found half of working-age households with someone in work would be affected in some way.

The average loss would be £165 a year for seven million families – compared with around £215 for the 2.5 million workless households hit by the cap, it said.

Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said the bill will hit families across the board, adding “From a nurse with two children losing £424 a year by 2015, to the army second lieutenant with three children losing £552 a year, this will hit children and families from all walks of life.

At least two Liberal Democrat MPs have said they will rebel tonight by opposing the cap, with another warning that a “large number” were opposed to the measure.

Labour is voting against the legislation too, pointing to analysis showing seven million working households will lose out by an average £165 per year.

In Commons clashes ahead of the debate – deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman said the government had “failed on compassion”.

Iran has officially begun pumping crude from an oil field it shares with it western neighbor Iraq, the managing director of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) says.

Speaking in a press conference on Tuesday, Mehdi Fakour said development and crude oil production from the Aban oil field has started.

Iran shares oil and gas fields with most of its neighbors, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar as well as Oman and Turkmenistan.

The official noted that Iran has not lagged behind its neighboring countries in developing the fields it shares, adding, “Currently, ten drilling rigs are operating simultaneously in the country’s joint oil fields.”

Fakour also stated that since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year [March 20, 2012], USD1.2 billion of funds have been supplied by companies other than the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for investment in Iran’s oil and gas projects.

Iran holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves.

The country’s total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more than 560 billion barrels, with about 140 billion barrels of extractable oil. Moreover, heavy and extra heavy varieties of crude oil account for roughly 70-100 billion barrels of the total reserves.

Iranian energy officials said in July 2011 that as much as 35 percent of the country’s energy development budget would go towards the development of the shared oil fields.

PG/SS

Iran says it is ready to help allay the West’s concerns over Tehran’s nuclear energy program provided that the country’s nuclear rights are fully recognized.

The recognition of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities in legal terms and provision of technical assistance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Tehran have been already discussed in various sessions, Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday.

“They have never been able to provide real evidence at sessions and meetings for their claims. However, we have announced that if a comprehensive agreement is reached between the Islamic Republic and the IAEA, under which all [Iranian] nuclear activities are fully recognized, and we are fully provided with nuclear and fuel cycle technology, we will be ready to take the necessary measures to allay their concerns,” Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran.

Mehmanparast described the recent meetings between Tehran and the nuclear body as constructive, adding that the talks revolved around “technical aspects” of Iran’s nuclear activities.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman further highlighted Iran’s sustained cooperation with the IAEA and said the Islamic Republic is determined to pursue all its nuclear rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.

MRS/SS/IS

Two of the five men accused of the gang-rape and subsequent murdering of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi are to plead not guilty, a lawyer says.

On Tuesday, M.L. Sharma representing Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur said his clients “will plead not guilty to all charges,” adding that “nothing has been proven yet.”

The five men showed up in court in the Saket district of Delhi on Monday, and were handed the full list of charges against them. The charges include abduction, rape, and murder, which could bring them the death penalty.

The suspects, who are all residents of New Delhi, have been identified as Ram Singh, Mukesh Singh, Vijay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, and Pawan Gupta.

A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, will be tried separately at a juvenile court if it is confirmed he is a minor.

The victim, a medical student, was gang-raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16, 2012.

She later died of brain damage and massive internal injuries at a hospital in Singapore on December 29, 2012.

The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians, who thronged the streets, demanding protection for women and capital punishment for rape, which currently carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

SZH/PKH

Japan is set to increase its military budget in 2013 for the first time in more than a decade amid ongoing territorial dispute with China.

Japan’s newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party has decided to raise the defense budget by more than 100 billion yen (USD 1.15 billion), an unnamed official from the party said on Tuesday.

“We have decided that the additional budget will be used for research into a new radar system as well as fuel and other maintenance costs for early-warning aircraft,” the official added.

This comes as the Japanese government has summoned China’s envoy to Tokyo to protest at the presence of Chinese ships in waters around a group of islands in the East China Sea claimed by both nations.

According to a Tuesday statement by Japan’s Foreign Ministry, the deputy minister for foreign affairs, Akitaka Saiki told Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua to ask his respective government to stop sending ships to waters around the disputed islands.

Japan and China remain locked in a bitter territorial dispute over the island chain controlled by Japan under the name Senkakus, but claimed by China as the Diaoyus.

Tensions heightened between the two countries after Japan signed a deal on September 11, 2012 to buy three of the islands from their private Japanese owner in line with plans to nationalize the archipelago.

The owner of the islands would have exclusive oil, mineral, and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.

The Tuesday protest move came a day after four state-owned Chinese surveillance ships entered the waters surrounding the islands.

On Monday, Japan’s coastguard issued a statement saying that the vessels were spotted moving within 12 nautical miles of the disputed territory.

MR/PKH

When the economic history of the recent period is written, it may well be that the year 2012 is regarded as having been almost as important as 2008.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers four-and-a-half years ago was the trigger that set in motion the breakdown of the global capitalist system. But the past year has made its own mark. It has seen the destruction of a series of fictions assiduously promoted by the spokesmen of the ruling elites in the wake of the onset of the global financial crisis.

First of all, it has exposed the claim that the world economy would somehow right itself through the operations of the business cycle, and that the “magic of the market” would come to the rescue. But well into the fifth year of the global breakdown, the financial system is being sustained only by the activities of the world’s major central banks, which are providing hundreds of billions of dollars to the major banks and finance houses through various forms of “quantitative easing”–a euphemism for printing money.

Far from creating the conditions for “recovery,” however, these operations are simply financing the accumulation of profits through speculation–the very thing that led to the collapse of 2008–and setting the stage for another crash.

Writing in Monday’s edition of the Financial Times, Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive and co-chief investment officer of the giant bond trader Pimco, noted that “several asset classes now have highly manipulated prices due to experimental bank activities, both actual and signaled,” and that “this situation is reminiscent of 2006-07.”

The past 12 months have also put paid to the illusion that after a period of financial turbulence, “recovery” was just around the corner. All the data on the world economy point to continuing low growth or recession in all the major countries.

In its report on the world economy issued last month, the United Nations pointed to “weaknesses in the major developed economies” as being at the root of continued “global economic woes,” with most of these economies, particularly in Europe, being “dragged into a downward spiral” as high unemployment, reduced consumption spending, continued bank risk, fiscal tightening and slower growth “viciously feed into one another.” Reports from all other major international financial institutions highlight the same processes.

According to the UN, the euro area is expected to grow by only 0.3 percent in 2013 and just 1.4 percent in 2014, after a contraction of 0.5 percent in 2012. The growth rate for the US is predicted to fall to 1.7 percent in 2013 after reaching just 2.1 percent–well below the level experienced during every other “recovery” in the post-World War II period. Japan, which experienced a contraction last quarter, is expected to grow by just 0.6 percent in 2013, after growth of 1.5 percent in 2012.

The UN report also pointed to trade figures that highlight the underlying contractionary processes in the world economy. World trade fell by 10 percent in 2009, but then rebounded significantly in 2010. However in 2011, the growth of exports started to slow and then decelerated sharply in 2012, “mainly due to declining import demand in Europe… and anemic aggregate demand in the United States and Japan.”

The British economy is set to move into a “triple dip” recession this year, after activity in the services sector, which compromises around 75 percent of the British economy, experienced a sharp decline in December.

The manufacturing-based German economy is headed down the same road. According to the latest report published by the Kiel Institute for World Economy, Germany is now facing “pronounced economic slowdown” after experiencing “decelerating growth” throughout 2012. Aggregate output is expected to fall by 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter as a result of “sluggish exports” and a “significant decrease in enterprise investment spending.”

Economic events in 2012 also exposed the fiction that, notwithstanding the stagnation of the advanced capitalist countries, the so-called BRIC economies could provide a new base for the expansion of global capitalism. The claim that “emerging” markets would be able to “decouple” from the major economies has been shattered, as their dependence on the major markets is revealed in falling growth rates.

Last year, the growth rate in China dropped from 10.4 percent to 7.7 percent. Brazil, where growth reached 7.5 percent in 2010, recorded a rate of just 1.3 percent last year, while India’s growth has fallen from 8.9 to 5.5 percent.

A recent report published by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) makes clear that the world capitalist economy is not passing through a conjunctural downturn, but a breakdown comparable to that which began in 1914 and continued for the next three decades. This analysis, which was advanced by the World Socialist Web Site more than four years ago, is being confirmed by hard facts and figures.

The McKinsey report found that underlying the deepening recession in Europe was a collapse in private investment. Between 2007 and 2011, private investment in the 27-member European Union fell by more than €350 billion, “larger than any previous decline in absolute terms.” This represented more than 20 times the fall in private consumption and four times the decline in real gross domestic product.

Private investment is now 15 percent lower than in 2007, meaning companies will not generate some €543 billion in revenues between 2009 and 2020 that they otherwise would have. The MGI report noted that European companies had excess cash holdings of €750 billion for which they could not find profitable outlets. The piling up of cash points to a breakdown in the basic dynamic of capitalist production, in which investment leads to the accumulation of profit, which then results in further investment and economic expansion.

The same process is at work in the US economy, where companies are piling up cash while profits are increasingly being accumulated through speculation in financial markets.

The objective logic of the profit system is the driving force behind the austerity programs being implemented by the ruling classes in the US, Europe and the world over. They are seeking to resolve the crisis through the impoverishment of the working class, reducing its conditions to those of the 1930s and worse.

The international working class must respond with its own independent strategy based on the overthrow of the bankrupt profit system and the establishment of socialism. The worst mistake it could make is to believe that half-measures will suffice or that the capitalist economy will eventually right itself. The events of 2012 have shattered that illusion as well as laying the basis for major social struggles in the coming year.

Nick Beams

Militants fighting against the Syrian government have shot dead at least 11 civilians in the western city of Homs as the fighting rages on between army troops and foreign-backed militants.

The slaughter took place in a village near the western city of Homs on Tuesday. A woman is reported to be among the victims.

Heavy clashes also broken out between militants and Palestinian refugees in the capital, Damascus, as the terrorists tried to enter the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.

There are also reports of clashes between government troops and militants in several parts of Syria, including Aleppo and near Damascus.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces managed to defuse at least 8 explosive devices in Hama.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

HM/PKH

US Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has rejected extending Medicaid health coverage to more poor residents under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law.

“There’s a lot more work to do, and we face no immediate federal deadline,” Otter told legislators during his State address on Monday.

“We have time to do this right, and there is broad agreement that the existing Medicaid program is broken. So I’m seeking no expansion of those benefits,” he added.

The Republican governor instead asked the Idaho Health and Welfare director to develop a new proposal for changing the state’s system based on the potential costs, savings, and economic impact. Otter hopes to introduce the new plan at the 2014 legislative session.

Otter’s decision contradicts the unanimous recommendation from a task force appointed by him to help the state make use of the available federal funding to broaden the Medicaid.

Otter is the 10th republican governor to reject adding more people to Medicaid, leaving Brian Sandoval of Nevada as the only GOP governor who has agreed on the plan so far.

According to the Washington-based consulting company Advisory Board, sixteen US states and the District of Columbia either intend to participate in Obama’s Medicaid expansion or have already begun.

The health care reform law is supposed to use an expansion of Medicaid as the means to offer health benefits to as many as 17 million people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, which was USD 14,856 in 2012.

TE/PKH

Context: As yet there are no context links for this item.

Transcript

PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay in Baltimore.

French actor Gérard Depardieu, in order to avoid a proposed new tax on the very wealthy–apparently about 75 percent–has decided to give up his French citizenship and, on offer from President Putin, has now become a Russian citizen. He’s already been given his Russian passport in a meeting with President Putin.Now joining us to talk about all of this is Professor Aleksandr Buzgalin. He’s a professor of political economics at Moscow State University. He’s also editor of the independent democratic magazine Alternatives. Thanks for joining us again, Aleksandr.ALEKSANDR BUZGALIN, PROF. POLITICAL ECONOMICS, MOSCOW STATE UNIV.: Thank you, and I’m glad to be on your program.JAY: So what do you make of all of this? Why did President Putin step in? And most of the attention so far has been on Depardieu and his–apparently they’re proposing a 75 percent tax. And this is, to put it in some context, the tax on the very wealthy in the United States after World War II was 90 percent, so it’s not like this is so crazy outrageous. But Depardieu’s gone. But what’s in this for Putin?BUZGALIN: This is really very symbolic, because in my country, in Russia, we had a lot of debates about Putin’s policy. And even among left, it was such opinion that Putin is supporter of ordinary people. But this step, when Putin decided to support Depardieu, who left his country, who left France because he didn’t want to and he doesn’t want to pay normal taxes–I think–normal taxes for the rich, this is very symbolic, because Putin saw that really he’s a right-wing politician, that flat income tax in Russia is not an accident. This is the strategy of our authorities, of our officials. And this is really dangerous from one side and important from another side, because all this show around Depardieu is only attempt to show that Russia is good place for foreigners. But it’s not true.JAY: Well, it shows that it’s a good place for rich foreigners. What is the tax rate in Russia for the very wealthy?BUZGALIN: So everybody now in Russia pays–everybody pays 13 percent, one-three for everybody. If you are an extremely rich oligarch and you have billions of dollars, you will pay 13. If you are a poor doctor or teacher or worker, you pay the same, 13 percent. And by the way, if you speculate on the stock market, if you speculate on the foreign currency market, you will not pay, even, 13 taxes, because this is a reinvestment of their income. So really rich in my country can pay 6, 5, maybe 7 percent. And this is opposite to all European countries, and opposite even to the United States. And really in the crisis we must find solution and we must find who will pay for the crisis. Our opinion was and is that those who created crisis must pay for this crisis. I think story with Depardieu is also very symbolic, because we can again examine so-called arguments of the right-wing economists and politicians, and they are very primitive. But I want to repeat my debates. First argument, that left, everybody among the left wants to take money from the people who are working hard and give money to those who do nothing and who are just parasites. But what is reality? In reality, Depardieu now is mainly not an actor. He’s a rentier. And he is nobody for the real economic development. He is simply taking money from his past star status. And that’s it. Nothing else. Normal actor, if he is talented, he’s real creator, main motivation for him will be creativity himself, opportunity to give his talent to the people, the reception by the people, the applause of the people, but not money themself. So who will pay this big income tax in France, in the Scandinavian countries? Who must pay, I think, this tax in Russia (but they are not paying this tax, unfortunately, in my country) first of all, all financial speculators, second, all people who are quasi stars for creating simulacrums of so-called mass collage. Depardieu is good actor, maybe not very good actor–it’s not my problem. The problem is that mainly these quasi stars in professional sport and mass culture, they’re just simulacra of real creativity. And what is important, even talent manager, top manager, if he is, first of all, creator of new organization, of new production, of new innovations, of innovations themselves, he is working as creator, and for creator, it’s enough to have maybe ten times more wage or income than ordinary worker. Only one example, Finnish transnational corporation Nokia. It’s not the paradise of the socialism at all. This is transnational capitalist corporation. But in Finland, the top manager of Nokia has only ten times more than ordinary worker in Finland. And this is normal. And Depardieu can have ten times more than ordinary actor or ordinary citizen, ordinary teacher, or social worker in France. This is normal for good life. Nobody take everything from Depardieu. This is only problem of income for another million of Europe per year. So this is money which he will spend for nothing, for symbolic, prestige consumption.JAY: Right. Aleksandr, what’s in this for Putin? Why draw such attention to the fact that the rich in Russia pays such low tax rates? Why does he want this in terms of Russian public opinion?BUZGALIN: So, first of all, in Russia we have another image. In Russia, everybody in mass media is trying to show that Depardieu came because Russia is paradise of democracy, Russia is paradise of economic development, Russia is paradise for investments, and so on and so far. This is propagandistic show which is very far from the truth. Really, Russia is becoming like a huge offshore zone, like a small island where you can not pay taxes. Now it will be in Russia. It’s really terrible. And I am not proud at all that my country–not my country, but the president of my country is trying to realize such policy.JAY: So this is a big PR campaign is Russia as a tax haven.BUZGALIN: Yes, for foreigners as tax haven, for Russians, that such fantastic people like Depardieu–it’s not my opinion, again; this is mass media opinion–is coming to Russia. And that means that West loves Russia. And really it’s not true. I’m not speaking about normal relations between ordinary people in the United States, in Europe, in China. We can have friendship, we can have common campaign for defense, our civil rights, our social rights, for protection of a college education and so on, and we can love each other. But the problem is that Russia, for real business, is bad country with corruption, without long-term investments, without state programs which can guarantee investments, because country’s in the chaos in many aspects, with a lot of problems in infrastructure, with fixed capital, and so on and so far. That’s why it’s just PR. This is just their lie, if I can say so.JAY: Aleksandr, now, when Depardieu made this announcement, he talked about how democratic Russia was and how it allowed free debate and all of this. How did Russians respond to those comments?BUZGALIN: So, first of all, of course we have some elements of democracy. And it’s not fascist regime and it’s not a totalitarian regime. But from another side, this is so-called manipulative democracy, and we have concentration of power in the hands of presidential administration and ruling party in the parliament, in Duma. Real opposition is under the control, under the pressure. To organize normal meeting is nearly impossible. To organize normal strike is nearly impossible. You will be, in next day, arrested, or you will lose your job, simply. This is country where all central TV channels are under the control of president or its administration or another officials. And in this situation it’s really very difficult to say truth. It’s possible to do it in internet, in small opposition newspapers, it’s possible to fight in the streets, but this is real fight, and a lot of my friends were arrested, beaten. And it’s permanently nervous atmosphere, and nobody knows when KGB or police will come and say that you are hooligan or something like that because you wanted to meet your friends or to tell together that it’s not really social-oriented development in Russia, in my country. We are trying to do this. And I love my country. I never will go to France, even in France if I will have, I don’t know, ten times more wage here. And I think I can have, as professor, more wage in the West. But I love my country and I will work here.JAY: I guess for Depardieu, saving 60 percent on his taxes, it’s not a big price to pay to do some democratic rhetoric about Russia.BUZGALIN: But really he made very bad joke, if it is joke, or maybe very negative decision, because he lost his name in the eyes of, I think, all normal socially oriented, democratic, simply intelligent people. And I am very sorry for Depardieu, because he’s really good actor, and to do this, it’s like a bad game to save another million or two million of euro for lie and to tell open lie because you will have for this some million of euro. This is not a beautiful decision at all. And, by the way, one more very important detail which I want to stress: very often we say that all poor people has envy, and that’s why we want to redistribute everything. It’s not true. The real envy [incompr.] the rich people who wants to have not one palace, but two palaces, not, I don’t know, boat 100 meters, but boat 130 meters, or something like that. They have this feeling of envy which moves them not to pay taxes, which moves them to consume more and more and more. And for the left, idea of using–of taxes, money from taxes, is opposite. We are thinking about development, development of education, development of ecological programs, development of science, development of social support for ordinary people to become more skilled, more educated, more developed, to support culture. So we are fighting for development, and they’re fighting for the consumption of rentier. This is the case.JAY: Thanks very much for joining us, Aleksandr.BUZGALIN: Thank you very much, Paul.JAY: Thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.

End

DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.

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Two of the men accused of gang-raping and killing a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in Delhi will plead not guilty to all charges, their lawyer has said.

Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur are among five suspects charged with abduction, rape and murder over the December 16 attack on the medical student.

A sixth accused, who is 17, will be tried in a separate court for juveniles.

M L Sharma, who says he represents Thakur and Singh, the brother of the bus driver involved in the attack, said: “They will plead not guilty to all charges.

“Nothing has been proven yet.”

Officials at Tihar jail, the maximum security prison where the accused are being held, said Mr Sharma had met the two defendants earlier on Tuesday.

Police earlier told reporters they have identified bloodstains linking the men to the attack, but Mr Sharma said he would challenge police over their handling of evidence.

Mr Sharma refused to give further details.

On Monday, the five accused men faced court for the first time since the attack.

But the hearing had to be closed after noisy protests from lawyers objecting to the suspects being given defence counsels, and a crush of journalists straining to hear proceedings in the tiny room.

The next hearing, which will be held behind closed doors, has been scheduled for January 10 when a magistrate is expected to transfer the case for trial in a special fast-track court.

The case has sparked massive protests across India, where statistics show a woman is raped every 20 minutes, and protesters are calling for all rape suspects to be hanged.

Further protests erupted after a popular Indian spiritual guru said the 23-year-old victim should share blame with her attackers for the December 16 attack.

Asharam, known to his followers as “Bapu”, or father, told his devotees the victim was also at fault because she should have begged for mercy.

“This tragedy would not have happened if she had chanted God’s name and fallen at the feet of the attackers. The error was not committed by just one side,” he said in video footage which has been widely circulated on the internet.

The 71-year-old’s remarks drew a chorus of condemnation, including from Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr Prasad said: “For him to make the statement in relation to a crime which has shocked the conscience of the country is not only unfortunate but deeply regrettable.”

The CIA Is Taking Over the Dirty Work in Fighting America’s Wars

Obama has nominated a veteran — not a chickenhawk — to serve as Secretary of Defense. The Washington Post reports that Chuck Hagel:

… was deputy director of the Veterans Administration during the Reagan administration and later served as president of the United Service Organizations.

U.S. News and World Report notes:

The Vietnam War veteran and the recipient of the purple heart, Hagel would be the first enlisted soldier in the military to rise to the ranks of defense secretary.

Indeed, while all of the neocon warmongers are chickenhawks who dodged service to their country, many veterans and active-duty service men are opposed to the endless wars, which only weaken our national security and increase terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this and this.

No wonder Hagel is more moderate than those who want to start conflagrations all over the world.

U.S. News and World Report continues:

While Hagel is a Republican, his views on foreign policy alarm some of his GOP colleagues. During his time in the Senate, Hagel was verbose in his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he voted against sanctioning Iran on multiple occasions and has suggested Israel should negotiate with Hamas directly. Republicans and Democrats alike worry he’s not a strong enough friend to Israel …

The Washington Post reports:

Last year, Hagel endorsed a report by the advocacy group Global Zero that called for an 80 percent reduction in the U.S. nuclear-weapons arsenal. Such a cut could save $100 billion over 10 years, the group estimated.

On the other hand, Obama’s nominee for CIA director — John Brennan — endorsed torture, assassination of unidentified strangers without due process, and spying on all Americans. As Glenn Greenwald writes:

Brennan, as a Bush-era CIA official, had expressly endorsed Bush’s programs of torture (other than waterboarding) and rendition and also was a vocal advocate of immunizing lawbreaking telecoms for their role in the illegal Bush NSA eavesdropping program.

***

Obama then appointed him as his top counter-terrorism adviser…. In that position, Brennan last year got caught outright lying when he claimed Obama’s drone program caused no civilian deaths in Pakistan over the prior year. He also spouted complete though highly influential falsehoods to the world in the immediate aftermath of the Osama bin Laden killing, including claiming that bin Laden “engaged in a firefight” with Navy SEALS and had “used his wife as a human shield”. Brennan has also been in charge of many of Obama’s most controversial and radical policies, including “signature strikes” in Yemen — targeting people without even knowing who they are — and generally seizing the power to determine who will be marked for execution without any due process, oversight or transparency.

What do these two nominations tell us?

That the Obama administration doesn’t plan on fighting as many conventional wars with men in uniform — soldiers, sailors, pilots and marines — but does plan to crank up assassinations, drone strikes and other covert operations worldwide.

MPs have come under fire for their handling of an inquiry into the UK’s approach to its Gulf allies after it emerged that evidence from the opposition in the troubled state of Bahrain had been excluded.

Lord Avebury, vice-chairman of the parliamentary human rights committee, said he was “very disturbed” about the omission of dissident voices from a Commons probe into the UK’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

In a letter to the foreign affairs committee, which is conducting the inquiry, he said the list of approved submissions published last week excluded “all the pro-democracy and human rights submissions on Bahrain”, while including pro-government contributions.

Read the whole story at Financial Times