commentopia

 

 

 

APRIL 26, 2010 -- MAY 2, 2010

THE GAFFE HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

I get a sense that she actually may have been bigoted. I also sense that Mr. Brown was sincere and honest with his comments (both public and private).

But my biggest sense is that is what annoys people the most about this situation- her being honestly bigoted, and his being honest about her bigotry. Honesty seems to be unfashionable, eh? Especially in politics.

Read the article CNN/"Bigot" gaffe threatens to overshadow U.K. debate

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bigot : "a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance" - Merriam Webster

What was it he said that was so bad? You people act like he committed murder. He used an English word properly in a sentence, supposedly in the privacy of the backseat of his car. He meant nothing by it, it would not cause him to take any action against anyone. Did he say something else so bad it can't be printed? If there is more why are we only getting a piece of the whole story. Even politicians are human.

He obviously had a tough day, and by the way, what did she say during the interview? Why don't we see that? Maybe he's right. In any case, you can see the definition of the word leaves quite a bit of latitude as to the true meaning meant by a user of the word. But of course we just assume he meant it in the most damning way possible.

It's amazing how thin people's skin has become. What ever happened to "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me."? Grow up people and stop letting the media tell you how to think! Spend your energy building something rather than tearing down something someone else has built. Otherwise you are worse than useless to the rest of society. Oh, is it okay to use the word "useless" to describe a person or is that a crime now too?

Read the article CNN/"Bigot" gaffe threatens to overshadow U.K. debate

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It is not a blunder - by calling it a blunder then you are saying that the truth should ordinarily be concealed so that people can hide behind the facade and the 'public face'. The Queen for example will have a private face and if we ever heard that there could be anarchy.

Thank God this happened though, it was an Act of God. It means that Brown will not get in and that another liar will whose public face has not been revealed. People, the human dilemma is right here - lie lie lie and give the people what they think they want but do the opposite. This merry go round is getting tiring and depressing. We need to demand truth and demand good government, as Mrs Duffy has show us. 

Read the article INDEPENDENT/Why did Gordon Brown make this blunder?

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This "bigoted woman" incident was a set-up from the beginning. That Gordon Brown fell for it and none of his aide team saw it coming is foolish, but the fact that it was a set-up is beyond dispute.

I am a sound-man by profession and I have enough material spoken 'off mike' to embarrass many people - but I would not think of doing such a thing because I am a professional and need to be trusted in order to get work. The same is just as true for photographers who come away from shoots with hundreds of discarded photos which would embarrass and annoy.

Read the article INDEPENDENT/Why did Gordon Brown make this blunder?

 

EARTH DAY 2010: HOW GREEN IS MY PLANET?

I think Rachel Carson had it right, 60 years ago, when she said: "I myself am convinced that there has never been a greater need than there is today for the reporter and interpreter of the natural world. Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, in his cities of steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water and the growing seed.

" Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, he seems to be going farther and farther into more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world. For this unhappy trend there is no single remedy - no panacea. But I believe that the more clearly we can focus on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for its destruction"

The concept of consumerism and buying into corporate marketing to "raise awareness" or to raise funds for large environmental nonprofits does nothing to accomplish this goal...it is fundraising pure and simple. To go one step further, we have turned marketing into a substitute for learning and wonder. Yes, this is unsettling and worrisome when the future of our planet is at stake.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/An Earth Day pitch raises eyebrows

EARTH DAY NETWORK

The original Earth Day, fraught with energetic, dedicated, and long-time committed participants, can never be matched due to the crass commercialism that defines the developed world. For one thing, we did not need rock stars, celebrities hanging on to a cause, food vendors, etc. We just had the basics and we were devoted to the core.

The problems today are compounded and yet, Earth Day today will be filled with discarded plastic water bottles, styrofoam food containers, human garbage, truly a sacrilege and oxymoronic way to celebrate a dying Earth. Sadly, Earth Day has been prostituted into a commercial event, against its will but to the glee of participants looking for another event to party down and rock to live music.

Our Earth Day back in 1970 meant cleaning streams, educating the public, setting up displays, not hanging out for a good time. There is no similarity between today and that day. Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Born in 1970, movement has cause for celebration -- and a midlife crisis

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Okay, yes we still have pollution issues, but things have improved. Some of the comments here suggest that the posters are (a) too young to recall or (b) in the early stages of dementia.

I was a teenager in 1970. I vividly remember the photos in Life magazine showing the Great Lakes covered in soap suds. People littered without thinking on our highways. The air in large cities was so polluted from leaded gasoline fumes that sometimes you could barely see across the street, and it stunk to high heavens. Our environment was dirty, and smelly.

I'm going to celebrate the success of those who worked so hard to decrease air pollution by taking a long walk beside a clean creek, that has no litter strewn on its banks. If these people had not started the clean environment movement, just think what a pig sty we would be living in.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Born in 1970, movement has cause for celebration -- and a midlife crisis

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I can understand there's a lot to be said for giving up meat for a range of reasons, health and the environment being two, and broadly speaking I think its a trend to be encouraged, although I think that there's a lot of sanctimonious snobbery masquerading as environmentalism on the part of the vegans (countered, naturally, by a liberal helping of neanderthal behaviour on the part of the steak sandwich brigade.)

The thing is, ultimately, I don't think having a bunch more people in the affluent west going vegan is really going to touch the sides in this broader problem - the issue (as noted before ad nauseam) is industrial-strength agriculture and this applies as much to crops like soya as it does to beef.

The key to this is big changes in farming methods (and GM could play a part in this), addressing corruption in parts of the world like the Amazon which are on the frontline of deforestation and subject to the interests of big business, and educating politicians. A bunch of pampered and self-congratulatory people ramming their dietary beliefs in the face of people with more moderate eating habits will do nothing except bring the trolls out of the woodwork.

It is possible to eat moderate amounts of meat, to care about the environment and your carbon footprint and be politically active. The people who bash meat-eaters for being a primitive, unenlightened sub-species of mankind don't have any idea how much they are alienating ordinary people who could be their allies.

Read the article GUARDIAN/This Earth day, go vegan

 

APRIL 19, 2010 -- APRIL 25, 2010

TWO TERROR LEADERS SLAIN IN IRAQ

To those saying killing a high-ranking foe doesn't matter... Sure enough, killing will not win us the "war on terror". But it is an important part of an overall strategy.

Number of people with good management skills is limited, and not all of them are willing to leave their lives behind. Indoctrinating, recruiting and training takes time and effort. Killing or capturing a head of a cell disrupts their operations for a significant time.

You can do a lot of things when they can't operate at full capacity - preferably, win trust and support of locals who just want to live a normal life, and not be blown up by one party or the other.

Read the article CNN/ Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders killed

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I disagree with the argument that the deaths of the officials will deliver a potentially devastating blow for the insurgent movement. Al-Qaeda is not a centrally-run terrorist organization. They've got cells all around the world, some of them are active, some passive and some are dormant. The operation while successful and major without doubt, in my opinion, contributes little to the overall cause.

What the US and most western countries have failed to realize that this war is not against a particular terrorist group, a country or an organization, it is against a way of living, an ideology that has been embedded for generations in the minds of the perpetrators of acts like 9/11, London, Madrid, Moscow. Like Osama Bin Laden himself said, the difference is that the US loves life, Al Qaeda loves death.

I truly hope that soon we will realize the danger that lurks in political correctness and diplomacy when so much is at stake.

Read the article CNN/ Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders killed

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The press may be saying that we have broken AQIs back but we in the military understand that this is just one small victory that must precede many others. For some reason liberals think that we, those of us actually in the fight, are simple minded enough to believe that we can put down our weapons and go home.

We understand that this is a long fight and we are ready for the long haul. What was the purpose for the reference to the Gulf of Tonkin? It probably was fabricated but that doesn't mean that 9/11 was. For those who would have us put down our arms and pretend that the terrorist threat against the US and our way of life is not real please wake up.

Read the article CNN/ Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders killed

THE ASH CLOUD -- GETTING BACK ON THE FLIGHT PATH

 

Better to be safe than sorry, for sure! I finally got back home to Europe.. and so help me if any of those airlines or any industries ask for financial help based on my tax dollars!!! First, in Europe, at least in France... there is insurance companies can take out "perte d'exploitation" (for example, for the losses incurred by a campground who can't operate after storm damage) - of course, if you don't want to pay the price, you don't get such insurance.

Second, catastrophies happen all the time... they should be built into business places, just as families should build them in thiers. Last, the airlines and many other services did very little to help! It's great to see the human spirit and individual creativity that came through... frankly, the airlines, gov'ts and the rest dropped the ball on this one!

Read the article CNN/Battle to clear backlog as Europe reopens for flights

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Old aviation saying:

Its better to be on the ground wishing you are up there rather than being up there wishing you are on the ground.

Definitely true when all the ash hits the fan.

Read the articleDAILY MAIL/Navy armada ready tp pick up stranded Britons

 

Cost of a return flight: £500
Cost of a rail ticket: £100

Cost of having the armada deployed to rescue you and your Spanish beer: priceless.

It is laughable if not so crack pot stupid.

Read the article TIMES/Royal navy called in to repatriate Britons stranded by volcanic ash

For anyone thinking this is an over reaction, its worth reading up on British Airways Flight 9

This plane flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung in 1982, and lost all 4 engines, then regained them, then lost them again, but eventually landed safety. There is a great 'Air Accident investigates' Episode reliving the events. One hell of a roller-coaster ride.

The plane's paint was sandblasted off, along with the windshield, so the pilots had trouble seeing their landing approach after everything else that had happened.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Icelandic volcano: U.K. flight disruption

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By sheer luck, I flew back from Venice via Frankfurt a day before everything closed down. Judging from the congestion and traffic at that airport - only the third busiest hub in Europe - anybody who thinks the European airspace can be reopened and sorted out quickly is dreaming.

There are simply too many passengers and cargoes, too many flights, and too much interreliance between airports for that to be possible. Governments, transport systems, and business might as well start setting up longterm groundlevel alternatives to get people, food, etc. where they need to be.

Waiting day-to-day for a volcano to turn itself off and everything to just go back to normal seems somewhat unrealistic.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Authorities criticized over handling of air crisis

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What has surprised people is that it was *this* volcano which erupted. When I was there last year the suspicion was that it would be Hekla (last eruption 2000), Grímsvötn or Krafla in the north which would be the next to blow. Hekla in particular was showing all the signs of waking up and the mountain had been closed to traffic (not that that stopped us going up it).

An eruption in this area has been expected for some time as Eyjafjallajökull and Fimmvörðuháls which erupted last month are part of the same volcanic system as the much larger volcano Katla which lies under the Mýrdalsjökull ice field.

Katla has a long history of regular eruptions, some of which have been devastating (about 100 times as powerful as today's). It has currently been inactive since 1918 which, IIRC, would be the longest period of dormancy in the last few centuries. Katla is closely monitored by seismographs and strain meters as well as having the temperature of its outflow rivers measured. There have been a number of scares, but so far, no obvious trend towards an eruption.

As for the bigger question about global warming and volcanoes. There have been some studies that suggest that the release of pressure from melting ice on top of volcanoes *might cause some of them to erupt. But it is just a theory and those volcanoes would erupt anyway one day.

On a long timescale, the 20th Century experienced fewer large volcanic eruptions than the previous two hundred years, but that is nothing more than the fact these things happen on a random basis.

If you want to worry about a volcano. One word. Vesuvius.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Icelandic volcano: U.K. flight disruption

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What makes me laugh is how we think we've conquered this earth. Earthquakes, volcanoes have been occurring since the beginning of time. They are part of the cycle of life.

It is also important to remember that everything is closely connected. The plates are starting to shift more so and as population centres increase we will begin to understand our vulnerabilities to this cycle of life.

I find it astonishing that all we can do is worry about disruption to flights. Next will be some economic predictions of how much money has been lost.

Get ready for Katla....there is an increased probability that she will be next. If she awakens you will understand the meaning of true power.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Icelandic volcano: U.K. flight disruption

EROTIC WOMEN CAUSE ERUPTIONS, AYATOLLAH WARNS

"Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes,"

Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi

 

Ah, yes. Blame it on the women. Their god's angry and caused an earthquake  because of some mascara or not wearing a burqa? Not because of something like suicide bombers or throwing acid at women? And sexual immorality is "forced" upon their helpless men?

Read the article NATIONAL POST/Extramarital sex causes more earthquakes

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The Iranian regime is incapable of doing anything correctly. Whatever happens they would blame it on others whether inside or outside Iran.

They are against equal rights for men and women, they are against equal rights between men of this religion and man of that religion, they are discriminating against whomever is a bit critical of them and put them in prison and now the regime bans their children to attend schools.

It is a country full of inequality and is getting worse. Just this week the regime banned the last two remaining opposition political parties and more to come.

But the regime is failing in all fronts. Iran still imports petrol and can not refine crude oil for a domestic use. But they are always big on propaganda and even Ahmadinejad is questioning the 9/11 event. He thinks that was nothing to do wilt Al-Qaida.

Meanwhile in streets of Tehran and other major cities we have a great number of prostitutes, drug peddlers and according to the state figures 14 million adult are illiterates.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Sex and Earthquakes

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Please award a Nobel prize to this cleric for giving such a clear scientific answer for earthquakes. He compares the contours of women to that of the fault lines of the earth.If what he says is true we should always be suffering from earthquakes.

Read the article TIMES OF INDIA/Extramarital sex causes earthquakes

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I agree. Sex does indeed cause  earthquakes. I know cuz' last time I and that snooty Ms Jones at the end of the cul de sac had sex Mount St Helens blew it's top.

When we tried again last week a 6.8 quake in Papua resulted. What price abstinence?

Read the article NATIONAL POST/Extramarital sex causes more earthquakes

 

APRIL 12, 2010 -- APRIL 18, 2010

POLAND'S FLIGHT OF SORROW

 

I was on my way to Warsaw, when my friend sent an sms . I was angry at her and I thought to myself "How can she joke about such a matter?". Even though, I checked the news on my mobile and it turned out to be true (however, the pieces of info were incoherent). I understood what happened but I didn't believe it. I still don't. We need time to sink in with such a big info, to internalize it.

I didn't like Lech Kaczynski as a politic, but I liked him as man. And his wife... She was an adorable woman. All people loved her. It's not enough to say that she was a good person. She was (and still is) a role model for many women. Yesterday, Poland lost its most prominent politicians, but Polish people lost their fellow countrymen. Their elite. How must the Kaczynski' mother ,who's actually on the deathbed, feel? It's hard to think about politics in the face of such a tragedy.

The heart of Warsaw broke yesterday. The people on the streets were crying. With every minute there were more and more candles and flowers outside the president palace. The drivers attached black ribbons to their cars. The universities canceled the lectures. All stores ale closed.

It's unbelievable hard time for every Pole.

Read the article BBC NEWS/What is your reaction to Polish plane crash?

This is a great tragedy for the Republic of Poland. We Poles are very proud of our country. Even though President Kaczynski was a very controversial figure in polish politics and on international stage, and I often did not share his views about Polish future, I admired him for being a great patriot and remembering about our past.

He always made sure that Russians and Germans would remember what they did to our country during the WW2, and I share his view on this topic. I will remember him as a good person that wanted what's best for for Poland, and not for those few things that we disagreed about. God bless his soul and God bless Poland in this time of sorrow.

Read the article BBC NEWS/What is your reaction to Polish plane crash?

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Undoubtedly, the tragic crash of the Polish presidential plane near Smolensk, Russia is both inconceivable and shocking. A very unpopular president and many other top figures in the Polish government and military lost their lives today en route to the commemoration of one of the most controversial events in modern European history, the Katyn massacre of Polish army officers and intelligentsia during World War II.

It is hard to describe the tremendous sadness and irony of this catastrophic event. It also begs the question, why were eighty six of the top officials in the country on one flight? Unfortunately, no matter what answer the Polish officials come up with, it will not bring back the ones on board…

Read the article BBC NEWS/What is your reaction to Polish plane crash?

 

LOOKING AT THE WIKILEAK VIDEO

 

A bad situation. In ‘07 things were still pretty hot. It’s actually pretty common for undirected air support to make errors in engagement. This is one reason that in Afghanistan they’ve tightened up the rules.

Of course the pilots want to shoot those who they think are the “hostiles,” that’s what they train for, to protect their comrades, and eliminate the “bad” guys. It’s not childish, it’s not a game, it’s combat, and it’s natural.

I remember an incident where, by watching video feed from CAS aircraft, we nearly called in air support on our own guys, averted at the last minute. It happens, everything’s really easy to see when you have all the information, but part of the nature of the war zone is tragedy. Plus, those video feeds are ridiculously fuzzy.

Fog of war is real.

Read the article REUTERS/Leaked U.S. video feed shows death of Reuters' Iraqi staffers

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Thank God this video will be seen. Words can’t describe what I feel after watching that. I’m sick to my stomach and angry as hell.

War may be necessary but gunning down a crowd of people from an attack helicopter based on grainy long-range surveillance is most definitely not necessary or appropriate anywhere in the world.

May all of the people who lost their lives rest in peace and may the outrage over their deaths never be forgotten.

Read the article REUTERS/Leaked U.S. video feed shows death of Reuters' Iraqi staffers

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Anyone who says “I can tell that wasn’t an RPG”, has clearly never seen an RPG through the type of sights through which the pilots were viewing. I have, and it did indeed look like an RPG. Not to mention the position of the cameraman – he peeked out from behind a corner and pointed something, which appeared to be an RPG, at an American helicopter. And as stated before me, there were indeed men with AK-47s present.

Don’t get me wrong, this was a tragic loss of life and a terrible day for everyone involved. My sympathies go out to those killed.

People who have not experienced war firsthand do not understand that in combat, you have mere seconds to make a decision – kill or be killed. With 20/20 hindsight that is obviously not the case here, but from the eyes of the helicopter, their lives were in immediate danger and they responded with appropriate force.

RPG gunners nearly always shoot from behind corners, and once spotted my coalition troops, all enemy combatants simply toss their weapons and attempt to blend in with the population. Without being there and putting your own life on the line, no one has the right to condemn these pilots. They were, in their minds at the time, were on the verge of being blown out of the sky. That’s happened before and it’ll happen again, unfortunately. War is hell, and that will never change.

Read the article REUTERS/Leaked U.S. video feed shows death of Reuters' Iraqi staffers

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There simply is no way to defend the actions of the

U. S. soldiers in this instance. There was no ‘fog of war’, no heat of the moment, no imminent danger to U. S. troops. How many times had the men in the Apache helicopter ever actually been in ‘combat’?

While there is no question that soldiers everywhere encounter circumstances that are immediately life-threatening, it is inconceivable that anyone viewing this video with an open mind, watching a group of men sauntering down the middle of a street, during daylight, completely open, would conclude that those individuals were at that point in time engaging U. S. troops in combat.

And the language that the helicopter crew used was disgusting. They certainly sounded less like experienced combat soldiers and more like teenagers playing with video games and high-tech gadgetry.

If the gunner on that helicopter ever comes to grips with the human reality of what he did, I sincerely hope he gets all the psychological support he will need in order to cope.

Read the article REUTERS/Leaked U.S. video feed shows death of Reuters' Iraqi staffers

 

APRIL 5, 2010 -- APRIL 11, 2010

DEATH OF A BOER --  A DIRE MOMENT FOR SOUTH AFRICA

 

Although the crime is disgusting, regardless of how much one disagrees with TerreBlanche, remember that this was an ordinary murder not a political assassination. I appeal to all to stand together, black and white, and to fight again for a united nation.

I also appeal to those who have been stroking the fires of racial division for their own selfish interests, like Malema, to have the guts to stop playing party politics and to stand up and condemn this murder clearly.

Unlike Chris Hani, TerreBlanche was not a popular figure and only had support amongst a tiny fringe. However the government has shown very little leadership in reassuring Afrikaners and other minorities that they are part of SA and not just convenient scapegoats for all the failings of our current toxic elite.

I appeal for leadership, and for all to ignore those who keep trying to divide us. Let us stand TOGETHER, or SA as a whole is going to be the loser.

Read the article MAIL&GUARDIAN/TerreBlanche killed after row with workers

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Although Eugene TerreBlanche was politically irrelevant, he becomes relevant in the present confluence of forces. That it was a wage dispute that triggered the incident speaks volumes. The real problem in SA is nearly 40% unemployment with so many very poor even in employment which must produce tensions and explosions.

SA needs a new growth path based on a new social contract between South Africans, the only foundation for which is a rational approach to redistribution and economic development. An RDP fund as proposed back in the early 90s based on a percentage of the assets of large companies, a basic income grant, an end to deployment and a modification of current AA rules would all form part of this.

Unfortunately, the national leader is a lame duck because of his political, criminal and economic indebtedness to many corrupt forces who are manipulating SA's politics at all levels. TerreBlanche's murder is relevant because it points to the trap we are in. It has the character of a greek tragedy, the death of an evil man as a result of the system he was perpetuating...but who is able to change the system now?

Read the article MAIL&GUARDIAN/TerreBlanche killed after row with workers

 

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While there is bitterness and hatred remaining from the apartheid era, this is not helping. SA is one of the most violent places on Earth. It is clear that the people of SA have not finished dealing with the aftermath of apartheid. When the ruling party (ANC) supports it's members singing a song called "Kill the Boers" it does not bode well for the future.

People forget that it is only a small minority of the whites in SA that are white supremacists. SA is sinking deeper and deeper into violence. The Boers will not go away - just ask the British. I was always taught that 2 wrongs do not make a right. Until SA figures out a way for the whites and blacks to live peacefully together, it can only get worse.

I wonder what will happen when thousands of people descend on SA for the World Cup. Scary thought.

Read the article CBS NEWS/White supremacist sees race war in South Africa

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Yes, black-on-white violence is increasing in South Africa. However (not to excuse it), it is disproportionately smaller than black-on-black violence which has reached astronomical proportions. In fact South Africa is the murder 'capital' of the world. So as we discuss this case, it is important to have keep this in perspective.

As a Zimbabwean citizen, I was appalled by that government's sponsorship of commercial farm invasions that saw tens of white farmers killed. Rightly so, this was widely covered and condemned in the media. As a Zimbabwean, I was extremely appalled when the government killed 20,000 black peasants. I was also extremely appalled as over the last 10 years when Mugabe's thugs killed over 2,000 political opponents (including members of my own family). This was also widely covered and condemned in the media.

Having said all this, what is clear is that throughout most of this, concerns (level of reporting, outrage etc) about the brutality inflicted upon black victims in both South Africa ('murder capital' of the world) and Zimbabwe (state sponsored political violence) have been disproportionately less than the level of concern expressed when other groups are targeted. This despite the well documented fact that the number of poor and working class black people, in either country, that are victims of all forms of violence is disproportionately higher than that of other groups.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/White supremacist killed in South Africa

ABUSE AND ACCOUNTABILITY : NEW QUESTIONS FOR VATICAN ON CHILD MOLESTATION CASES

Either the Catholic Church changes its practices and how it handles issues of pedophilia and sexual abuses within the ranks of the church or it will die as an institution. At the first sign of suspicion a priest needs to be suspended and thoroughly investigated and if found guilty defrocked. No more transfers of priests from one parish to another to hide their sexual misconduct.

The other alternative will be for true Catholics to shun the current Catholic leadership and demand changes at the top or the creation of a new Catholic Church. There is also always the other Catholic Church of the east the Greek Orthodox Church with all of the same rituals and beliefs without the sexual predators, homosexuals and sexual abuse scandals.

Read the article CNN/Vatican says it was unaware of alleged American priest abuse

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There are many people who are not either Catholic or religious who have abused children - that is of no question.

The big issue here is not Catholic priest bashing it is because the church set themselves up as moral arbiters and then fail spectacularly to achieve even the most basic of standards. We hear the church constantly telling us how to live whilst at the same time allowing a minority - but a significant one - of men in positions of trust to abuse small children.

Where it becomes a wider horror story is where the church at large is complicit in hiding these pedophiles. It is becoming ever more evident that the Pope himself has at some level allowed abuse to occur and that stains all the clergy.

U.K. TIMES/Pope 'failed to act' on U.S. abuse claims.

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This is the ultimate hypocrisy. A simple apology has no balance with lifetimes of painful sting and crises of faith. Cleric abuse is so much more common than the reported cases. My husband never reported how a respected teacher abused him, until he was over 50 and told his brother. It turns out that another teacher in the same school abused his brother, as well. Both abusers were priests, and both had many reported victims. This is the litmus test of Christianity that an institution should use; don’t hurt children and hide it. What a shame for a religion to come to this. Read the article REUTERS/Abuse victims demand Pope open files on pedophiles

Does anybody really read what the Pope is supposed to have done? The abusing priest had abused until 1974 and was dying in 1996. The Congregation of the Faith at the time did not defrock him because a. he repented, b. the last abuse had happened 22 years before; and c. (most importantly) the priest was on this deathbed.

It is not the case of the present Pope leaving the priest in a position that he could continue to abuse children, it is simply a case of the Congregation of the Faith apparently not wanting to defrock a priest on his deathbed.

Read the article U.K. TIMES/Pope 'failed to act' on U.S. abuse claims.

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Those who experience indignation and are able to express outrage are the fortunate. As a Catholic who found this Church a source of strength through all of my life, who worshipped within its walls and could feel the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, I am more heart-broken and in pain to my at what is being uncovered in this church I loved.

I fear the church must die before it can live again. I do not presume to imagine that the leaders of the church will ever be trusted.

Their function of doing God's work has been made impossible. I hope whatever legal means necessary to bring them to justice will prevail. Pedophilia has damaged countless of our children. To have priests
guilty of this is disgusting. Perhaps allowing a married priesthood might stop perverted men from professing a vocation in order to have access to children.

However the terrible pride of church hierarchy is
the reason for the continuation of abuse over decades. To maintain the 'holiness' of the church (an illusion), the hierarchy has betrayed not only their God but the Faithful who believed.

The Catholic church is a HUMAN establishment and as such is fallible and subject to error, both in word and deed The 'infallibility' of the pope is another ploy used to control its members. I have known for a
long, long time that I do not need, and no longer want, a priest as a mediary as I worship.

The despair I suffer at the current state of the church disallows any hope for its future. Perhaps if the church were to divest itself of its wealth and power, it could regain its sanctity. Perhaps not.

There is a saying, "The Church is the Cross of Christ". Today's church is a heavy cross to carry.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/The Pope and the Pedophile scandal

 

MARCH 29, 2010 -- APRIL 4, 2010

SUICIDE BOMBERS BLAST TWO MOSCOW METRO STATIONS

 

I used to work as an interpreter accompanying American tourists in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. The program always included Moscow subway tour which seemed a natural thing to do because Moscow metro system is the one to marvel at; unlike NYC subway it's clean, and it's internationally known for its ornate design featuring bas-reliefs, statues and mosaic.

Though I know terrorism is a global issue I am just horrified now with the idea that our foreign guests were put in danger too and yet that we all are still so fragile before the menace of terrorism.

It is a shame that we, America, Russia and all other nations of the world condemning terrorism cannot advance collective efforts to meet the challenge.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Subway blasts kill dozens in Moscow

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For those people who say that this would not have happened if we had let Chechnya go free...

Firstly, get to know that 99% of Chechen population does not want to go free. If they go free, the republic will be in hands of terrorists and this will trigger more violence inside Chechnya and destabilize the whole region, near by republics of Russia and the whole Caucasus. Chechen people and the Russian Government can't allow this to happen.

Chechnya has received and is still receiving lots of funds for its reconstruction from the Central Government and the standards of living are increasing. The people of Chechnya continue to elect Kadirov who have strong ties with the Kremlin their President, which means their desire to be part of Russia and live in peace.

The so called separatists as the Western media call them are sheer bandits and terrorists. They do not represent Chechen people and the interests of Chechen people. These terrorists don't know another way of living as killing people, gaining illegal weapons and then hiding in mountains calling themselves separatists. Their number is little and surprisingly or may be not surprisingly there are many among them who are not Chechens at all but came from Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Read the article CNN NEWS/Female suicide bombers blamed in Moscow subway attacks

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If, as it appears likely, this is yet another terrorist act committed by Islamic suicide bombers against innocent civilians going about their normal daily lives, one has to ask how, in the 21st century, atrocities of this kind can be condoned in the name of any religion?

At the risk of being accused of the totally contrived and increasingly ridiculous sin of "Islamophobia" why is it that alone among the great religions of the world it is only militant Muslims who continue to resort to such medieval barbarity, even again their own co-religionists?

Can't they understand the irreparable damage they do to their faith by committing these bestial acts and the devastating effect it has on other peoples' attitudes towards the millions of Muslims in the West who just want to live normal, peaceful lives like the rest of us?

Read the article U.K. DAILY MAIL/ Female suicide bombers in Moscow kill more than 30 in attacks on tube trains

You cannot justify the unjustifiable with reference to other injustices. Russia's behaviour in Chechnya may be worsened by troop behaviour against civilians and that is wrong. But the politics of this dispute are the same anywhere - one set of leaders wanting independence from another set of leaders. It's much the same as we had with Ireland and the IRA. You do not justify the actions of the IRA by reference to the British 'oppression' of the Irish. We'd say we were not oppressing the Irish, just as Russia would say she is not oppressing the Chechnyans - that's not the point.

Checnhya may get its independence one day and history and opinions on what went on there will change. But history and opinion has never changed on what the IRA did when they blew up innocent civilians. That was wrong as is any terrorist act, whatever the motivation. In today's internet / mass media society, Chechnya would achieve far more by publicity of wrongs done to it, than by terrorist acts on civilians.
Read the article U.K. DAILY MAIL/ Female suicide bombers in Moscow kill more than 30 in attacks on tube trains

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This attack on the subway system is a barbaric act, no doubt about it. But finding its source in a religion is beyond stupid. Russia's war against separtist groups by a diverse number of ethnic groups on its boarders regions was equally barbaric. This doesn't justify the attacks on innocents in a subway, but you'd be more than blind by ignoring this fact.

Let's go back 30 years and look at a similar attack on the Moscow subway by Armenian terrorists. The attack on the Moscow subway by separatists from (Christian) Armenians in 1977 proves what? That Christians are inherently barbarians who kill innocents? Or that there are enough Armenians willing to kill innocent Russians due to greviences that existed.

Or how about (Christian) Bosnian Serbs carrying out ethnic clensing against Bosnian Muslims and Croatians?

To reduce everything to what God someone prays to doesn't help us understand the conflict.

What it does show is that people are quite capable of using a horrific act to promote their own demented world view.

Read the article GLOBE AND MAIL/Dozens killed in suicide blasts on Moscow subway

LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY BUTCHERS 321 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CONGO

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT

 

This is hard to fathom. You read the words, you try to understand what happened, but it's so gruesome and savage that you can't quite get your head around it. Who are these people that are capable of inflicting such horrible pain onto other human beings?

Read the article CNN NEWS/300 dead in December Congo massacre

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"The LRA is led by self-declared mystic and prophet Joseph Kony, who claims his insurgency -- which began in 1986 -- is aimed at replacing Uganda's government, led by President Yoweri Museveni, with a democracy based on the Bible's Ten Commandments."

That quote right there would be funny if this wasn't

 

such a terrible situation. So, in the name of Christianity and the ten commandments, one of which is "Thou Shalt NOT Kill" if I am not mistaken, they're going to try to justify these unjustifiable actions/practices. 

Read the article

CNN NEWS/300 dead in December Congo massacre

 

SHOOTING PAINS: AFGHAN POLICE CAN'T GET IT STRAIGHT

I have worked in Afghanistan as a police advisor/contractor.. DynCorp does a good job at training what they are presented. So often when there is a challenge or problem, higher offices try to find someone to blame. I saw on numerous occasions, European police trainers asking DynCorp personnel, how to either conduct training on a certain topic or how to interact with the Afghans.

Also, I would informally estimate 80-90% of the European training do not want to be in Afghanistan, and it shows with their dealings with the Afghan students. The European trainers are there for 6 months only; the DynCorp , on average, have been there 18+ months. Bottom line, keep the contractors, just give them the tools to do the job. And then you won't have to find a scapegoat.

Read the article NEWSWEEK/Afghan cops: A $6 billion fiasco

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The training of the Afghan police force was a for profit exercise. Ask the corporations chief financial officers whether it was successful or not, they will say it was extremely successful, so successful in fact that after six billion dollars they are still basically a square one ready to charge another six billion dollars.

Contracting out to for profit corporations has proven to be a failure over and over again, with the corporation focused purely on profits with a total disregard for results, in fact failure is rewarded with more contracts, where as success means the end of profits. It is time to throw out the Reaganism greed driven handbook of contracting everything out to corrupt campaign donors and to start focusing on providing quality inter-government services where they are required to fulfil real goals.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Afghan police are a "$6 billion fiasco"

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We are trying to train mostly illiterate farmers and herders to think as individual units operating within a larger unit with rules and procedures and disciplinary requirements.These guys are first members of a tribe, and second, members of a family and third a farmer, herdsman or something.

Joining the police or the Afghan army is a way to survive in the chaos that Afghanistan is today. In addition to a nice new weapon and ammo they get a uniform and a place to eat and sleep plus the opportunity to make a few extra bucks selling equipment to the some Taliban guy who happens to be his wife's cousin.

Let's just pass out some marksman badges and get the hell out of there. Think what 6 billion would do for our schools and what the other billions would have done for health care. Time's up.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Afghan police are a "$6 billion fiasco"

 

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