ModernityBlog

The Blog Is Dead, Long Live The Blog

2007-06-01T22:40:00.000+01:00

I used to like blogger, but those incompatibility problems with Opera are annoying me, and I lost all of those careful links that I had lovingly added to a (yet unpublished) long post, so in a fit of pique (it was my own fault, I should have been more careful) I have migrated to Word Press.

The new address for Modernity Blog, is http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/

How Hard Is It to Be A Humanist?

2007-05-28T21:14:00.000+01:00

Nowadays, we often forget how hard it is to put forward a secular or humanist approach to life, particularly in countries where there is strong religious or fundamentalist sentiment, therefore I was pleasantly surprised to find mukto-mona.

Mukto-mona is a secular site for Bengali humanists and freethinkers, it provides an interesting window into many of the issues facing secularists and humanists in developing countries.

Slip Of The Tongue from Hamas?

2007-05-25T20:22:00.000+01:00

I wonder how the apologists for Hamas, will explain away these comments:

"Abbas hates rockets just like we hate the Jews," Nizar Rayyan told reporters during a Hamas rally in the Gaza Strip.

Let’s try and guess what a few of the excuses might be?

1. “Reuters is controlled by international Zionism?”
2. “for sake of anti-imperialism, we will ignore Hamas’s virulent antisemitism”
3. “Nizar Rayyan was misquoted”
4. “Nizar Rayyan is not an offical Hamas spokesperson”
5. “it was a slip of the tongue”
6. “the cause of anti-Zionism is bigger than Hamas’s racist hatred of Jews, so we won’t dwell on it”
etc

Hmm, still Nizar Rayyan has some history, as the Guardian points out:

“Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas leader in Gaza, brushed aside any room for ambiguity. He told Reuters: "We will never recognise Israel. There is nothing called Israel, neither in reality nor in the imagination."

Peace is clearly foremost on his mind, as detailed here:

“According to Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas leader from Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp, the terrorist group has been manufacturing hand grenades and RPG's for several years. In July 2006, a Hamas video entitled "Hosted by the Rifle," showed assembly lines for anti-tank rockets, bombs and grenades.”

And we know where guns before butter leads:

to death, how pointless and stupid.

Fatah Al Islam? Who Are They?

2007-05-22T03:04:00.000+01:00

Michael Totten has some insights into the recent conflict in Lebanon and Fatah Al Islam.

Sir Humpty and Hacker triumph

2007-05-18T19:16:00.000+01:00

Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud of the MPs’ move to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act, as The Times reports:

"A move to exempt Parliament from freedom of information law has been approved by MPs after attempts to block it in the Commons failed.

MPs brushed aside accusations that they were creating one law for themselves and another for those they govern as they voted through the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill.

It is now passed to the House of Lords, where peers opposed to the plan will begin another attempt to stop it from becoming law.

The MP behind the Bill, the former Conservative chief whip David Maclean, maintained that the provision was needed to guarantee that information given to MPs by people seeking their help would stay confidential.

Otherwise public bodies such as councils, police authorities or health trusts might release letters from MPs about such cases in response to freedom of information requests, he argued.

“I am aware of the growing problem of correspondence being released,” he told MPs. “Theoretically it could be protected under data protection but it has not been. That is damaging. That is why my Bill is necessary to give an absolute guarantee that the correspondence of MPs on behalf of our constituents or others to a public authority remains confidential.”

But opponents fear a hidden agenda to block further embarrassing details about MPs’ expenses and other information about how the Commons is run from becoming public.

Mr Maclean, a member of the House of Commons Commission, the governing body of the Commons, cited an assurance from the Speaker, Michael Martin, that MPs’ expenses would continue to be published, but critics said such a voluntary offer did not have the force of law.

Unusually for a Private Members Bill, the measure was given a second chance by the Government which brought it back for debate after it was “talked out” by MPs who opposed the move in April.

Bridget Prentice, the Ministry of Justice minister, who spoke in the Bill, claimed that the Government was taking a neutral position on the Bill and would leave it for Parliament to decide.

But a large number of Labour MPs, who would normally be in their constituencies on the Friday, turned up at the Commons to force the legislation through in a series of votes designed to stop objectors from blocking its progress. The Conservative front bench also gave it tacit support.

Around 30 MPs, most from the Liberal Democrats but including both Labour and Conservative backbenchers, mounted a show of resistance but were defeated by the superior numbers of its supporters and their ruthless use of parliamentary procedures.

Mark Fisher, a Labour MP, protested, saying: “This Bill shuffles everything to do with freedom of information under the carpet. People will be aghast and horrified and totally contemptuous of Parliament that we could place ourselves above the law in this country. We are going to bring this House into derision, contempt and discredit with this Bill.”

And Simon Hughes, for the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think we should say no to this Bill because it is an absolutely over-reactive Bill to a set of issues that have not been either addressed or evidenced.”

To be honest, we all knew it was going to happen that way didn't we?

Despite protestations to the contrary and calls for "greater freedom and more open government", it was always on the cards that when they could, members of Parliament and the Government,would block public access via the Freedom of Information Act

It is entirely predictable, and MPs wonder why they have such a bad reputation?

Arise Baron Humphrey of Subterfuge

Site(s) of the Week/Month 22

2007-05-17T01:00:00.000+01:00

You could be forgiven for assuming that I take a slight interest in Middle East.

Well, it is partly true, but all of those other snippets that I mean to comment on are still in draft format, awaiting a few final touches before publishing, and stuff on the Middle East seems to be so relevant nowadays:

Thanks to Engage, I ran across the work of Khaled Diab

He has a refreshing perspective on the Middle East, so his blog: without a roadmap is my site of the week/month

Patiently Untrue?

2007-05-15T14:15:00.000+01:00

Microsoft seems rattled, and their latest pronouncements on patent infringements by the Open Source community is part of a longer term strategy to undermine Linux, Eweek’s Microsoft-Watch suggests:

“Microsoft doesn't have to sue anybody. The company just needs to generate FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about open-source software. The company can insinuate that liability could extend to the enterprise using open-source software. But, c`mon. There is no way Microsoft would ever really sue enterprises because they're its customers, too. Microsoft can't sue its own customers and ever realistically hope to keep them. But the uncertainty might be enough for some customers to back away from open-source software.”

1948 In Context

2007-05-14T01:00:00.000+01:00

The 14th of May 1948 marks the creation of the State of Israel, and that monumental event did not occur in a historical vacuum, therefore I present:

The Avalon Project : The Middle East 1916-2001 : A Documentary Record

Question of Palestine at the United Nations

Bibliographic Instruction Session On British Mandate In Palestine

Palestine & Transjordan Administration Reports 1918-1948

Non-UN documents on the question of Palestine and Middle East peace efforts complementing UNISPAL's UN collection

Two Better Than One

2007-05-13T13:36:00.000+01:00

The debate over One versus Two states rumbles on, and although many people may have long ago decided their views on this particular subject, I think that Uri Avnery's comments are very persuasive and rational:

"99.99% of the Jewish public do not want to dismantle the state. And that's quite natural.

There is an illusion that this can be changed through pressure from outside. Will outside pressure compel this people to give up the state?

I propose to you a simple test: think for a moment about your neighbors at home, at work or at the university. Would any one of them give up the state because somebody abroad wants them to? Because of pressure from Europe? Even pressure from the White House? No, nothing but a crushing military defeat on the battlefield will compel the Israelis to give up their state. And if that happens, our debate will become irrelevant anyhow.

The majority of the Palestinian people, too, want a state of their own. It is needed to satisfy their most basic aspirations, to restore their national pride, to heal their trauma. Even the chiefs of Hamas, with whom we have talked, want it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is laboring under an illusion. There are Palestinians who talk about One State, but for most of those, it is just a code-word for the dismantling of the State of Israel. They, too, know that it is utopian."

Blair's Drama

2007-05-10T14:30:00.000+01:00

Tony Blair’s descent from Power has all the elements of pantomime.

Will he do it? “oh, yes he will”, “oh, no he won’t” and so on.

Finally, we are told that in some seven weeks he’ll step down.

The whole process has been dragging on for months and Tony Blair’s desire to cling to power is phenomenal.

If I remember correctly Harold Wilson resigned one day and they were sorting out his successor the next, but Tony Blair’s flair for drama continues.

The next seven weeks will probably be a time of negotiation and dealmaking with Gordon Brown.

Blair will probably ascend to the House of Lords and receive some immunity from prosecution over the Peerages scandal.

Another Form of Imperialism?

2007-05-10T01:00:00.000+01:00

Russia and China's roles in Darfur becomes clearer with the latest report from Amnesty International:

“Arms, ammunition and related equipment are still being transferred to Darfur in the west of Sudan for military operations. Extremely serious violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law are being committed by the Sudanese government, the government-backed Janjawid militias and armed opposition groups in these operations.

In a report published today, Amnesty International (AI) describes the arming process and its effects on the people of Darfur and neighbouring eastern Chad, many of whom have been forcibly displaced. It describes violations of the United Nations arms embargo on Darfur by parties to the conflict that occurred during January to March 2007.

Amongst other things, it shows how the Government of Sudan violates the UN arms embargo and disguises some of its military logistics operations in Darfur. It details what types of arms supplied to Sudan from China and Russia -- two Permanent Members of the Security Council -- have been used by the government of Sudan for violations of the Security Council’s own mandatory arms embargo.

States supplying weapons, munitions and other military equipment to Sudan and to other parties to the conflict know, or at least should know, that these arms are often used to commit serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur and now in eastern Chad. The fact that the UN Security Council has left the UN arms embargo on Darfur somewhat vaguely formulated and especially lacking a strong UN monitoring, verification and public reporting mechanism is allowing some states and persons to violate it with impunity.

AI is urgently calling upon the international community to assert its authority and immediately adopt steps to strengthen the implementation of the UN arms embargo and stem the flow of arms to Darfur as part of a package of immediate measures to help protect civilians and uphold their human rights as is required by international law.

A Global Arms Trade Treaty is needed to prevent arms fuelling such catastrophic conflicts. AI has been campaigning for such a treaty since its beginning in October 2003, as part of the Control Arms Campaign.”

France Has Chosen?

2007-05-07T00:04:00.000+01:00

Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French presidential elections, it was close but he won, Bloomberg reports:

"Sarkozy, candidate of the governing Union for a Popular Movement, took 53.2 percent against 46.8 percent for Royal, the Interior Ministry said, with 96 percent of the vote counted.

Provided his party wins June parliamentary elections, lawmakers will be asked to vote on a budget that scraps payroll charges and income taxes on overtime hours. It would also eliminate inheritance taxes for all but the richest 5 or 10 percent and introduce a tax deduction for mortgage-interest payments."

His presidency heralds a heightened level of expectation, the "radicalism" that he employed, as a minister in French government posts was his unique selling point and now it may be his weakness.

For all the talk of Sarko as a French Margaret Thatcher, it is far from clear if he will carry out the Thatcherisation of France.

Sarko might, as Jacques Chirac did, talk a good game but when it comes down to it, Sarko might just prefer the trappings of power and ditch any radical programme.

If he does turn out to be a Thatcherite, then I pity the French people, as libraries are closed, the welfare state shrinks, medical services close and unemployment rises.

I can't put my finger on it, there is something malevolent about Sarko and I hope for the people of Europe that I'm wrong.

Oh and it is probably a good idea to visit France before the Thatcherism sets in.

Another Reason to Give Up?

2007-05-05T00:56:00.000+01:00

Need an incentive to give up smoking?

According to reports, smoking may lead to an increased risk of dementia:

"Living with a smoker can make people 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia than residing with non-smokers, say U.S. doctors."

That follows a report from 2004:

"March 22, 2004 -- Smokers have faster mental decline in elderly years -- up to fivefold faster, a new study shows.

Only a few studies have looked at this link between smoking and mental function in elderly people who don't have dementia or Alzheimer's disease. In recent studies, researchers have found a significantly increased risk of both dementia and Alzheimer's disease among smokers.

Smoking likely puts into effect a vicious cycle of artery damage, clotting, and increased risk of stroke causing mental decline, writes researcher A. Ott, MD, a medical microbiologist with Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

...."

Cheerful stuff eh?

About Time?

2007-05-03T01:23:00.000+01:00

The international criminal court has finally issued some arrest warrants over Darfur.

The International Herald Tribune, reports:

"Issuing its first arrest warrants on Darfur, the International Criminal Court said Wednesday there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that a Sudanese government minister and a janjaweed militia leader were responsible for the murderous 2003 attack on the town of Bindisi.

Sudan swiftly rejected the court's demand to arrest its humanitarian affairs minister, Ahmed Harun, and Ali Kushayb, known as a "colonel of colonels" among the janjaweed Arab militias who have terrorized Darfur villages.

"Our position is very, very clear — the ICC cannot assume any jurisdiction to judge any Sudanese outside the country," Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi told The Associated Press in Khartoum.

The warrants on a total of 51 war crimes and crimes against humanity could be a crucial step toward bringing atrocities in the Sudanese province to international justice.

They also are likely to increase international pressure on the Sudanese government, which has resisted outside political intervention or enough military force to end the four-year slaughter in its western desert.

Richard Dicker of New York-based Human Rights Watch said it signaled that "the days of absolute impunity ... for horrible crimes in Darfur are winding down."

Driving home the ferocity of the conflict, the ICC judges cited the horrific onslaught on Bindisi on Aug. 15, 2003, one of four attacks cited in the prosecution's case between August 2003 and March 2004.

The incident started with Sudanese army troops telling villagers that the Arab janjaweed militia would be visiting a nearby village to collect an Islamic tax, said the 58-page judicial ruling.

The town, which had no rebel activity, was then "attacked by members of the Sudanese Armed Forces traveling in a number of camouflaged colored Land Cruisers mounted with heavy machine guns together with ... janjaweed on horse- and camel-back and some on foot," they wrote.

Four of the machine gun-toting four-wheel drive vehicles packed with troops drove into the village, backed up by more than 500 janjaweed.

"Three Sudanese Air Force planes also dropped bombs," the judges wrote. Sudanese troops and janjaweed then went "from house to house in search of the remaining residents and killing those they found."

Prosecutors said villagers were murdered, women and girls raped and homes pillaged by the government forces and militiamen.

Human rights groups and international observers have long reported such attacks in Darfur, but the decision to issue arrest warrants based on evidence gathered in a painstaking 20-month investigation marks the first time such allegations have been examined by such a high-ranking judicial body.

Sudan bristled at the allegations and warrants.

"Whatever the ICC does, is totally unrealistic, illegal, and repugnant to any form of international law," al-Mardi said.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and human rights groups said the Khartoum government was legally bound to arrest the men.

Harun is currently in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Al-Mardi has said a Sudanese investigation into Harun's activities found "not a speck of evidence" against him. The Sudanese government says it has arrested Kushayb pending an internal investigation, but several witnesses told the AP in Darfur that he was moving freely in Darfur under police protection.

Dicker, of Human Rights Watch, said the international community, especially China, must press Sudan to arrest the men and send them to The Hague.

Amnesty International suggested U.N. forces already in the country could enforce the arrests. The U.N. has a mission in southern Sudan following a peace treaty in an unrelated north-south war. But Sudan has refused to agree to a large U.N. deployment in Darfur, where an undermanned, under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force is struggling.

The prosecution accuses Harun and Kushayb of being part of a conspiracy to stamp out support for anti-government rebels by "indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population," including murder and rape.

Fighting in Darfur, which erupted in February 2003, has left more than 200,000 dead and displaced 2.5 million in a campaign the U.S. has called genocide.

The judges said evidence pointed to a "unified strategy" by Khartoum of using troops, police, intelligence services and the janjaweed to fight the rebels. Janjaweed fighters were trained at government camps, paid and armed by Sudanese authorities, and their leaders wore Sudanese Armed Forces or police uniforms, they said.

At the time of the crimes, Harun, considered part of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's inner circle, was an interior minister responsible for security in Darfur who helped recruit, arm and fund the janjaweed, prosecutors say. Kushayb was one of his main contacts in western Darfur."

Great news, I only hope that they carry it through.

I somehow feel that we will be told by some previous supporters of the ICC, that now it has been taken over by "the Imperialists" or "Great Satan"?

UN Planes Bomb Darfur?

2007-04-27T16:41:00.000+01:00

Not exactly, but that what the Sudanese government did.

On the fourth anniversary, as if it were needed there is further evidence of the Sudanese government's involvement in the support and funding of the conflict in Darfur, as reported by The Times:

"Britain and America threatened yesterday to impose new sanctions on Khartoum after a United Nations report accused Sudan of disguising its military planes and helicopters as UN aircraft and using them to attack villages in Darfur.

The confidential report says that military aircraft were painted white — a colour usually reserved for the UN — and used to ferry arms to the janjawid militia, for reconnaissance flights and bombing missions.

...

The Government is also accused of shipping arms and fighters into the province, which is subject to an international arms ban. It has further failed to enforce a travel ban or freeze the assets of suspected war criminals.

The report’s most astonishing revelation was the use by the Sudanese armed forces of white-painted military aircraft in Darfur. On March 7 a photograph was taken of an Antonov AN26 aircraft on the military apron of al-Fasher airport, the Darfuri regional capital. Guarded by soldiers and with bombs piled alongside, the plane was painted white and has the initials “UN” stencilled on its upper left wing. Another Sudanese military aircraft was disguised in the same manner. The report said that white Antonovs were used to bombard Darfur villages on at least three occasions in January.

A similar ploy was employed to conceal the identity of three Mi171 military helicopters which were painted white. The report said that from a distance the aircraft could be mistaken for similar helicopters operated by the UN and peacekeepers."

And still nothing happens to the Sudanese government, it make sure wonder:

what exactly would the Sudanese government have to do before the "international community" did something meaningful about Darfur??

Almost Sixty.

2007-04-24T01:13:00.000+01:00

Well nearly.

The celebrations of the 59^th Independence Day in Israel are a reminder of diligence, tenacity, guile and humanity which brought about the creation of the State of Israel, in the face of concerted opposition.

If we turn back the clock some 60 odd years ago what would we find?

At the end of WW2, many European Jews had been languishing in British concentration camps for up to 5 years, as Britain enforced the MacDonald White Paper severely restricting immigration to Palestine, even in light of widespread Nazi persecution. Soon after the end of WW2, Britain had decided to give up the mandate for Palestine (or in reality the remaining one fifth, as the other 4/5ths had passed to Transjordan). There were many proposals for the shape of a new state in Palestine: bi-national, federated cantons and finally partition.

Although the UN voted to partition Palestine, allowing the creation of a Jewish homeland, this was bitterly opposed by feudal Arab rulers and local dictators. Whilst many in the region welcomed the return of Jews to Palestine the invading armies from five neighbouring nations sought to “solve” the quaintly named “Jewish question” by force.

They failed and in the wake of their defeat the conflict in the Middle East has been allowed to fester on, deliberately stoked by local rulers, but the existence of Israel is a constant reminder that the use of military force to solve political problems will not succeed, and how the perseverance of the Israelis in the face of constant and unnecessary conflict should be applauded.

Roll on 60!

[PS: Israel is that really small country, middle to top left on that map]

Countdown in France

2007-04-21T21:56:00.000+01:00

Today's election in France and the choice of President may well have profound knock-on effects in Europe and other countries, so to keep up with the various stages see this handy schedule, printed in The Times:

"April 22 First-round vote. There are twelve candidates, seven on the Left, five on the Right. To win, a candidate must score more than 50 per cent of the vote. Otherwise the first two go to a run-off

May 6 Run-off between the two leaders from the first round. The presidency goes to the one who receives the most votes

After May 6 The new president appoints a prime minister and Cabinet to run the country pending parliamentary elections in June

May 17 President Chirac leaves office. The new president takes office in the Elysée Palace and the new prime minister is installed with a new, temporary, government

June 10 First round of general parliamentary elections. It is a straight majority system, not proportional, but candidates must achieve more than 50 per cent to win a seat

June 17 Second round of parliamentary elections to decide seats that were not won outright in the first round

June 25 (approximately) The president is likely to reshuffle the government in light of the outcome of the elections. If the new parliamentary majority is from the president’s opposition, it will chose a new prime minister, who will appoint a government in opposition to the president. No parliamentary election has yet produced such a “cohabitation” in the aftermath of a presidential election, although nothing rules it out."

Glass and Goodheart

2007-04-18T23:57:00.000+01:00

I had hoped to avoid a post on the Middle East, but the Spring edition of Dissent carried an article on Hezbollah and I have been shocked by the number of (otherwise intelligent) people who wish to deny Hezbollah's antisemitism.

Eugene Goodheart exposes the underbelly of Charles Glass and the London Review of Books on this topic:

"The London Review of Books is an egregious instance of this one-sidedness. Almost every issue contains several articles devoted to attacks on Israel, and the target is not simply the governing party, but the whole spectrum of Israeli political life. Absent from the columns of the Review are the injustices and cruelties of political Islam. In an article by Charles Glass, Lebanon’s Hezbollah is eulogized for its capacity to learn from mistakes, its decency in treating prisoners, “its refusal to murder collaborators,” its intelligent use of “car bombs, ambushes, small rockets and suicide bombers.” Glass speaks of Hezbollah’s uncompromising political program, of which he apparently approves, without mentioning that at its core is the destruction of Israel. Any two-state solution requires a capacity and willingness to compromise, but compromise is anathema to Hezbollah. He claims that the movement had “jettisoned its early rhetoric about making Lebanon an Islamic republic, and [now] spoke of Christians, Muslims and Druze living in harmony.” Missing from this article (in the August 17, 2006, issue) is any reference to its anti-Semitism. In a letter to LRB printed in the September 7, 2006, issue, I pointed out that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, is not simply a resistance fighter, he is also an anti-Semite with genocidal fantasies. I cited the following statements attributed to him: “If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.” “They [the Jews] are a cancer which is liable to spread at any moment.” I also noted that the name “Party of God,” should worry anyone of enlightened, democratic persuasion, but does not seem to bother Glass. (Would he be equally indulgent of the religious fanatics in Israel who assert their divine right to Greater Israel?) Parties of God, wherever they are to be found, mean tyranny should they ever acquire power. In the article, Glass mentions the fact that he had been kidnapped by Hezbollah at a Syrian checkpoint. Wanting to prove that the movement was independent of Syrian control, he writes that when “Syria insisted that I be released to show that Syrian control of Lebanon could not be flouted [,] Hezbollah, unfortunately, ignored the request.” What virtue! In my letter, I wondered whether he had not succumbed to Stockholm syndrome.

His response, printed in the October 5, 2006, issue, focused on the anti-Semitic statements attributed to Nasrallah, which he dismissed as fabrications, “circulated widely on neo-conservative web sites.” Whatever the agenda of the Web sites, the original source of the statements, as Glass’s letter makes clear, is “an article by Badih Chayban in Beirut’s English-language Daily Star in 23 October 2002.” The newspaper sympathizes with Palestinian aspirations and is critical of American neoconservatism. Glass reports that the managing editor of the Star has “faith in neither the accuracy of the translation (from Arabic to English) nor of the agenda of the translator [Chayban].” The editor in chief of the paper refers to Chayban as “a reporter and briefly local desk sub,” who did not interview Nasrallah. Glass does not explain why, given its misgivings about the reporter, the Star would choose to publish Chayban’s article, nor does he say what Chayban’s agenda was, leaving it to the reader to assume that the agenda was somehow linked to neoconservatism, therefore discrediting the attribution of the statements to Nasrallah. The source of one of the quotations was a Web site of the Israeli government and therefore not to be trusted. To clinch the argument, Glass cites a spokeswoman for Hezbollah who denies that such statements were ever made.

I wrote back to the LRB, first noting that in invoking the nefarious neocons as the vehicles of fabrication, Glass reminded me of the apologists for the Soviet Union who denied the existence of anti-Semitism in their beloved country, because the reports of its existence came from the bourgeois press. I challenged the LRB to make a disinterested effort to determine whether these statements were fabrications. Its animus against Israel was clear and bad enough; a willingness to indulge anti-Semitism, a much more serious matter. If they are not fabrications, the journal has a moral obligation to say so and to repudiate the kind of article that Glass has written.

While waiting for a reply, I decided to look into the literature on Hezbollah, and what I found left no doubt about its view of the Jews. Here is Nasrallah in one of his diatribes against Israel: “If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice I do not say the Israeli.”[1]
Quoted in Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, Hizbu’llah: Politics and Religion, University of Michigan Press, 2001, p. 170. Original source, televised interview, Muhammad Fnayash. Wuhhat Nazar Future Television (FTV, July 2, 1997). Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, author of Inside Hezbollah, which Charles Glass cites for its humane view of how collaborators with Israel should be treated, has this to say: “The history of the Jews has proven that, regardless of the Zionist proposal, they are a people who are evil in their ideas” (Quoted in Saad-Ghorayeb, p. 174; original source, Abbas al-Mussawi, Amiru’l-Zakira, Dhu al-Hujja 1406). Hezbollah’s denial of the existence of the Holocaust takes many forms. “The Jews have never been able to prove the existence of the infamous gas chambers.” Only “160,000 civilians died [and this was] as a result of US bombing of Germany.” Jews collaborated with the Nazis in killing their brethren: “From what we know about the Jews, their tricks and their deception, we do not think it unlikely that they partook in the planning of the Holocaust.” Saad-Ghorayeb, the source of these quotes, is a Briton of Muslim Lebanese extraction, who is sympathetic to Hezbollah. “As a Lebanese, I was appalled by the apparent ease with which this movement was accused of sundry terrorist activities by Western journalists and policy-makers, and on their insistence on referring to its guerrilla fighters, who were practicing their legitimate right to resist a foreign occupation, as terrorists.” She writes favorably of Hezbollah’s political evolution in Lebanese society, so there is no reason to doubt the scholarly accuracy of her representation of the movement’s unreconstructed view of Israel and the Jews. (As I write this, I am pleased to see a letter to the LRB from the distinguished lawyer and literary scholar Anthony Julius, citing Saad-Ghorayeb as evidence for Hezbollah’s anti-Judaism. Julius invited Glass to confirm the implication of his response to my letter that I am wrong in attributing anti-Semitism to Hezbollah and to comment on the “material assembled by Saad-Ghorayeb.” So far there has been no reply from Glass, nor any statement from the editors on the matter.)
...."

Blogs and France?

2007-04-17T13:49:00.000+01:00

I don't normally comment on elections via this blog, rather I keep the blog for my occasional rambling thoughts at 03:00 in the morning, but the French presidential elections are different.

Irrespective of what this week's Economist thinks, Nicolas Sarkozy’s right wing popularism might go down well with ex-FN supporters, but I would argue that the election of Sarkozy would be a disaster for France and Europe.

Still, to keep an eye on events in French I might as well post some useful web sites:

French presidential elections 2007

The FT’s coverage

Some Reuter’s coverage of the election

Ralph's Point of View

2007-04-17T01:21:00.000+01:00

Ralph Seliger comments are always worth reading and in particular his recent article, Politicization of the Holocaust

"These facts do not make Jews better than anyone else, but they do entitle us to recall the bitter memories of our past, and to consider the ongoing threats to our future, without apology. We are entitled to compassion and understanding from the rest of the world, not least being those who profess humanitarian and universalist values as activists on the left."

[Hat tip: Zionation]

How Will This Be Excused Away?

2007-04-16T00:23:00.000+01:00

As the battalions of “anti-imperialists” rolled back the frontiers with every car bomb attack, kidnapping, gas attack and beheading there is news from Algeria.

According to reports, a statement has been released by the Al-Qaeda Movement in Islamic Countries of the Maghreb:

"We will not be in peace until we have liberated all the land of Islam from crusaders, apostates and agents, and we have retaken our Andalusia (in southern Spain) and our violated Al-Quds (Jerusalem)."

So far it is reported that they have “... killed 33… with 222 people injured in the bomb attacks, 21 were still in hospital on Sunday.”

I shouldn't wonder that they will get a standing ovation from Respect/SWP delegates to the Cairo conference, or their killing spree will at least be excused away, has so often occurs in “anti-imperialist” circles.

[Enough sarcasm, I think I am going to be sick]

Update: John Rees welcomes a good chinwag with some very dubious company, according to reports in Al-Ahram Weekly:

"Where else can you sit down in a single evening and listen to senior people from Hamas, Hizbullah, the Muslim Brotherhood..."

I wonder what the topics were?

Hamas and Hezbollah's expertise in bomb-making, organising suicide bombings or perhaps how best to place rockets among civilians?

The Muslim brotherhood probably lectured on the implementation of Sharia law and the caliphate? Or possibly how best to dispense with civil rights for women, gays, Jews or anyone disagreeing with them?

I'll bet that Comrade Rees was clapping his hands throughout their talks.

Another 300

2007-04-12T18:49:00.000+01:00

No, not the film, but another 300.

I must thank adloyada for this link to OnTheFace, it shows us how a sense of memory and shared humanity has helped some Darfurians, far away from their home:

“Israel and Sudan are officially “enemies,” which makes the status of the 300 or so Darfur refugees in Israel very complex, because Israeli law does not permit the granting of asylum to citizens of enemy states. So when those refugees surrendered themselves to the Israeli authorities after crossing the border from Egypt, they were detained and jailed under the Law to Prevent Infiltration [from enemy states]. The stories of those jailed refugees, who had seen their families murdered and / or experienced horrible torture at the hands of the Janjaweed, were widely and sympathetically covered by the Israeli media, and many Israelis responded with horror: Given the all-too-fresh memory of what happened to the Jewish people during the Second World War, how could Israel fail to grant asylum to refugees fleeing genocide?

…

“Jeanine looked at me sternly. “Do you know what happened at the Evian Conference in 1938?” she asked. “When all the countries gathered to try to find a solution for the Jews of Germany and Austria but no-one was willing to give them refuge?”

Yes, I answered, of course.

“So that’s why,” answered Jeanine. “We knew that we had a moral obligation, after what happened to us.”

Did people mention that at the meeting? I asked.

“No,” said Jeanine. “They didn’t have to. It was understood.”

Map Darfur

2007-04-11T02:49:00.000+01:00

Google has launched a very worthwhile project, along with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to publicise the terrible situation in Darfur.

Summer War in Lebanon

2007-04-07T01:30:00.000+01:00

The BBC radio programme, The Summer War in Lebanon, is well worth a listen.

Taken For Granted?

2007-04-06T14:49:00.000+01:00

It is a truism to say that, far too often we take for granted those things around us and that point was brought home to me last week with the passing of John Backus.

John Backus was the inventor of FORTRAN.

Now that may not mean a lot too many people, but FORTRAN was probably the first universal high-level computer programming language.

Without the advent of high-level programming languages there would be no browsers, there would be few wordprocessors and still less many of today's modern computer operating system.

As the Guardian observes:

“In 1954, IBM introduced the Model 704 Electronic Data-Processing Machine, the world's first mass-produced computer. Backus had worked on the design of the machine, but he was frustrated at the difficulties inherent in programming it. The machine only understood sequences of numerical codes, so programming was slow.

Backus decided that there had to be an easier way. It should be possible, he reasoned, to write the instructions for the computer in something resembling plain English, and have the computer translate that into the proper sequence of codes. He put this idea to his manager, who had the foresight to allow him to put together a small team to try it out. The result, announced in late 1956, was a "formula translation" language named FORTRAN, which enabled complex calculations to be expressed as a combination of English commands and mathematical formulae. Backus and his team confounded sceptics by demonstrating that programs written in FORTRAN were as efficient as those written in numerical codes. This was an important factor in ensuring the adoption of FORTRAN by the scientists and engineers who used the IBM 704.

Its success led to the creation of many other programming languages in the following years. …”

End Of The Drama ?

2007-04-04T15:39:00.000+01:00

The theocracy in Tehran seems to think that it has milked the capture of the British Marines/sailors sufficiently.

No doubt the spectacle of that British officer admitting culpability for being in Iranian territorial waters played very well with the Iranian domestic audience, and further enhanced the Iranian leaderships’ “anti-imperialist” credentials.

Had this drama continued on, I was about to suggest a radical solution: a prisoner swap.

But a swap with the difference, in the vogue of contemporary “anti-imperialism” I was about to suggest that George Galloway be exchanged for the captured service personnel.

Sadly that is not on the cards now. Shame, though.

The UN and Darfur

2007-04-02T15:35:00.000+01:00

Adam LeBor's article in The Times on the failure of the UN over Darfur raises important questions:

"The slaughter in Darfur could be curtailed or even brought to a close without military intervention. Measures might include: deploying UN troops in Chad to prevent cross-border raids; targeted sanctions on Sudan’s oil industry; using trade to pressure China to stop its support for Khartoum; and even threats to boycott the Beijing Olympics.

If there were sufficient political will. It seems there is not. If we cannot act to help to stop the killing, at least we could provide a safe home for Darfuris here. On January 27, on Holocaust Memorial Day, government ministers once more pledged “never again”. How empty those words sound now. The Home Office organised the first Holocaust Memorial Day ceremonies. Now civil servants in the same ministry are overseeing the deportation to likely imprisonment, torture, even death, of refugees fleeing the 21st-century’s first genocide. Have we no shame?"

Darfur Denial on Tape

2007-03-29T02:57:00.000+01:00

The denial over Darfur is shocking and the complacency of the UN is highlighted in this video clip, where Sudan’s allies tried to block any meaningful UN report on the catastrophe going on in Darfur.
(Hat tip: Gene)

Arab Peace Plan on CiF

2007-03-28T14:16:00.000+01:00

Jonathan Freedland beat me too it. I had intended to write a small piece on Arab League peace plan but Jonathan Freedland got there before me. Whilst I don't agree with many of his sentiments he has started some debate on the issue which is good.

What I found more interesting and somewhat predictable was the discussion on Comment is Free. You might imagine that as CiF is connected to The Guardian, Britain's leading liberal newspaper, that the debate would be informed, pluralistic, considered and even a bit “liberal”?

Well no, that's not how it turned out.

When CiF articles discuss Israel it seems that some of the commenters stop off at BNP HQ for inspiration first, as the discussions are invariably heated, bigoted and often express a barely concealed loathing for the existence of Jews. Of course nowadays CiF commenters habitually use the word “Zionist” when they mean “Jew”, but that just tells us how low the debate has sunk.

The problem is illuminated by EnglishroG’s comment (March 28, 2007 1:13 PM):

“Israel "always says it wants peace."

The reality is that Israel wants land at a reasonable price in blood and treasure.

Palestinians supply the blood, the United States provides the treasure.

Until Israel has ethnically cleansed the entire West Bank it won't agree to peace, just whine about anti-semitism and the holocaust blah blah blah.”

It is fairly typical of the filth now found on CiF, which seems required reading amongst aged Mosleyites and BNPers.

I am glad the HOPE not hate, the Anti-Fascist Fortnight, has started.

However, next time I wish that they would extend it to an anti-fascist month of activities at The Guardian.

Chance would be a fine thing?

Sudan Blocks the UN again.

2007-03-25T00:54:00.000Z

The UN and the Sudanese government have a strange relationship: almost supplicant and master.

You might think that the constant contempt expressed by Sudan’s political elite for the UN might just sink in? But no.

A few months back, the UN had to grovel to the Sudanese government to accept a UN force in Darfur and even that was rejected out of hand. Instead a rather feeble and over stretched African Union contingent provides what limited support they can to the Darfurians.

A further expression of the Sudanese government's disregard for the UN and humanitarian work is reported by the BBC:

“The UN's new emergency relief coordinator John Holmes has been turned away from a camp in Darfur for those fleeing the Sudanese conflict.

The UN envoy was refused entry by Sudanese soldiers to Kassab camp in northern Darfur, says the BBC's Karen Allen, who is travelling with him.

In the past six months the BBC has reported on mass rapes of women and young girls at the camp.

Mr Holmes is on a tour of Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic.

It was the former British diplomat's first visit to Darfur since taking over from Jan Egeland as UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs on 1 March.

The Kassab camp is in northern Darfur, the region of western Sudan in the grip of a conflict which has seen 200,000 people killed and more than 2.5 million people displaced.

Difficulties

Within hours of arriving in Darfur, Mr Holmes was stopped at a checkpoint. His convoy was sent back and television groups covering the visit had their video tapes confiscated, our correspondent says.

The UN envoy told journalists travelling with him that the soldiers' actions illustrated the difficulties the UN is facing working in the area.

The Kassab camp, a few miles outside Kutum, is sanctuary to more than 20,000 people.

Our correspondent says that the camp has increasingly found itself cut off from the humanitarian community, which, she says, has effectively been forced out of the area.

Last week, Mr Holmes held talks with senior Sudanese officials in Khartoum and stressed the need for the government not to interfere with the humanitarian work, according to reports.

Aid agencies are trying to help some two-and-a-half million people who have fled from their homes after attacks from pro-government militia - the Janjaweed.

Our correspondent says that the fact that humanitarian access is being to denied to one of the UN's most senior envoys will do little to ease the diplomatic pressure to impose tough sanctions on Sudan.

After leaving Sudan, the UN envoy will travel to Chad and the Central African Republic, countries where tens of thousands of refugees from Darfur have fled, to escape the violence.”

Fresh Coat of Ubuntu?

2007-03-24T01:55:00.000Z

The first betas of Ubuntu 7.04 have just been released.

I have been testing most of the alpha releases (the first rough codings) of Ubuntu and Xubuntu for weeks now.

I can say without a doubt that, if Microsoft's, operating systems were half as good as Ubuntu Linux then the world would be a different place.

As it is M$'s, crappy and fully paid for, software is full of bugs and liable to crash at a moment's notice, unlike Ubuntu.

During the complete testing period for Ubuntu I never encountered one, not one crash.

There were a few very minor setup issues, but once they were fixed nothing else needed sorting out. Ubuntu ran and ran and ran, without crashing, which is testament to how solid the alpha code was.

Recommended, but as always, do a complete backup before playing with any operating system!

No Dissent?

2007-03-21T02:35:00.000Z

In an age when there seems a premium on political cretinism and vulgar “anti-imperialist” thinking, it is nice to have a fresh humanist, secular and dissenting point of view, so I look forward to reading the rest of the latest Dissent, a magazine.

There are many online articles at Dissent, but in particular Fred Halliday's The Jihadism of Fools is worth a second read.

I have highlighted some of the points that he raised:

“Over the last few years, and especially since the American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, there have been indications across the world of a growing convergence between the forces of Islamist militancy, on the one hand, and the “anti-imperialist” left on the other. Leaving aside widespread, if usually unarticulated, sympathy for the attacks of September 11, 2001, justified on the grounds that “the Americans deserved it,” we have seen since 2003 an overt coincidence of policies, with considerable support for the Iraqi “resistance,” which includes strong Islamist elements, and, more recently and even more explicitly, support for Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the Middle East itself, and on parts of the European far left, an overt alliance with Islamists has been established, going back at least to the mass demonstrations in early 2003 that preceded the Iraq War, but also including a convergence of slogans on Palestine—supporting suicide bombings and denying the legitimacy of the Israeli state.

….

More important, of course, and separate from support for Islamist guerrilla groups, has been alignment at the state level: Iran, for example, has received increasing support from Venezuela. Hugo Chávez has been to Tehran no less than five times. This partnership has been made all the easier by the shift noticeable over the past two decades whereby solidarity based, at least formally, on class or socialist grounds has been replaced by identity politics as the basis for political activism. Inchoately perhaps, a new international united front is being created.

…

Even more relevant to the situation today is the early record of Hezbollah, which, in its bid to establish itself as the dominant force within the Lebanese Shiite community, not only engaged in a fierce attack on a rival, more moderate group, Amal, but also assassinated a number of left-wing Lebanese politicians and writers who stood in its way.

…

To this history of jihad against the left, over many decades, must be added one further fact, namely the deep differences that should separate any conceivable program of the radical left from that of Islamist parties. Whether on the rights of women, on secularism, or on free speech, the two political currents are radically opposed; they espouse what should be incompatible positions. So too are they opposed on another issue: the complete absence from the Islamist program of any inclusive internationalism. Instead, while appealing to the community or umma of Muslims, the Islamists, be they al-Qaeda or Hezbollah, appeal only to particular communities and pour out the venom of an unrelenting chauvinism toward nonbelievers, Jews, and even toward Muslims of a different sect than their own. Their rhetoric against Jews far exceeds anything of which the earlier generation of secular Palestinian nationalists was capable. Few today seem to recall the remark of the German socialist leader August Bebel, that anti-Semitism “is the socialism of fools.” Presumably those on the left today who ally with Islamists do so by reference to some concept of false consciousness. It is open to question, however, whose consciousness is the most mistaken.”

Well said Fred!

Have You Got the University Gene?

2007-03-20T00:57:00.001Z

Paul Anderson pointed me towards Rod Liddle’s article on the proposed “change” to University admission policy.

Now leaving aside the fact I noticed that nearly all of the aggrieved comments on the issues went across the traditional Right-Left divide, pointing to the fact that the agitated Middle Classes seem united irrespective of some supposed political differences.

I don't want to get into an argument as to whether the Middle Classes, or large chunks of them, make a conscious effort to pull up the ladder behind them or just apply more grease to the already greasy pole, no, instead what took my eye was a comment by Rod Liddle, which seemed to sum up a subconscious middle-class belief:

“It’s a sad fact that raw intelligence is largely inherited. Penalise those whose parents got themselves into university and you are probably penalising Britain’s brightest young people.”

Which seems to suggest, not too subtly, that Britain's brightest people only ever go to University and always have?

But does going to University mean that people are intelligent or the brightest ? Have they intelligence in raw amounts? And do they even inherit it genetically from their, presumably, intelligent parents? Is it part social, cultural, a lot of training and pushy parents? Or is the financial capacity to go to University crucial?

I think the answer to that is obvious.

It seems like a dangerous way of thinking and it reminded me of the Bell Curve, the notion that IQ is primarily genetic, and following Rod Liddle’s argument, is it the case that people that haven't attended University are somehow lacking in raw intelligence or somthing else?

I wonder if Rod Liddle has considered that intelligence is randomly distributed across a population and that the opportunity to go to University is generally proportional to the ability to pay for it. In the age of loans, successful undergraduates tend to come* from wealthier backgrounds**, but not necessarily one’s possessing more raw intelligence.

So Rod Liddle’s comment sounds like one of those subconscious middle-class prejudice that seeps out when you least expect it, although I could imagine that most of the chattering classes would be nodding their heads in agreement with his point, irrespective of some supposed egalitarianism or sense of equality on their part.

It is that ugly spectre of class and wealth raising its head again, surprise, surprise: "quick grease the pole before the proles get here!"

*[The study also found that the rapid expansion of higher education during the late 80s and 90s had not benefited the worst off. During that time the proportion of people from the poorest 20% of society getting a degree rose from 6% to 9%, but for the wealthiest 20% it rose from 20% to 47%.]

**[Young people from middle-class homes are now six times more likely to go to university than students from working-class backgrounds, the gathering of MPs, headteachers, university leaders and education experts heard. Poor students would not have a fair chance to attend university until there was a radical reform of the school system to ensure that poor children got better access to good schools."]

Site(s) of the Week/Month 21

2007-03-18T23:52:00.000Z

A bit of a cheat, not just web sites but free software:

I recommend the following freebies:

Orbit - the download manager - in a word - bril

SystemRescue - need to fix a disk or an XP crash - this will do it

Belarc's Advisor - need to audit a PC or just get the serial numbers?

What Is Really Happening in Iran

2007-03-15T13:45:00.000Z

No, I don't mean their nuclear projects or Russia's recent decision, I mean what is happening inside Iran?

There is a revealing article in Le Monde, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the big brother of the people. In the original French and an online translation.

It points to the dire state of the Iranian economy, which seem strange to outsiders given Iran's vast oil wealth, educated population and resources.

Apparently, Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the Middle East and natural gas reserves second only to that of Russia, and yet Iran imports refined petroleum, which is strange.

Although according to some sources the state of poverty in Iran is improving, but it is surprisingly still prevalent in many areas, as the Le Monde article outlines:

"In the quietude of its small apartment, Maziar Mehr Poor, which collects signatures to obtain the right of free association for the workmen, also speaks about a promise, that which made to the workers forever: a regular employment. Workers who, behind the official snap, accomodated the president with saying Racht with panels: “Nobody deals with us!” Among them, there had been those of the coal mine of Sangrood, which have not been paid for seventeen months, or those of the electric Company Iran, without wages for two years. Here, 70% of the workmen are with unemployment or fight for temporary contracts with 150 dollars per month."

..

"The petrodollars...created a class of new rich person. There are much selfishness and corruption. One resembles the Soviet system with his absurd choices and his bad planning.”

"Also the demonstrations multiply and criticisms rain at the Parliament. The daily newspaper Teheran Times fustigated, last week, in a leading article, this “economic policy made by amateurs”, explaining why, “this year, much from money was withdrawn from the funds of stabilization of oil and was injected into the economy, creating a very high inflation, with the detriment of poorest and those which have fixed incomes”. “The world is directed on our so-called nuclear bomb, concluded Said Leylaz, but the only bomb about to explode, here, it is that of our economy.”

So a cynic might suggest that the Iranian ruling classes and elites are using the conflict over nuclear technology to distract attention away from their mismanagement of Iran’s economy and to whip up nationalist feelings.

A very old tactic.

Jewish Book Week’s Audio Archive

2007-03-11T18:19:00.000Z

One of Harry's Place’s most sensible commentators, ami, pointed me towards the Jewish Book Week’s audio archive.

There are some fascinating discussions and topics, here’s a selection of some that I intend to listen to:

2006:

Karl Marx for the 21st Century

The People on the Street

The Art of Authorised Biography

Composing a Nation

Passions: Vasily Grossman

2005:

Freud, Psychoanalysis and Anti-Semitism

The Jewish Question

Apprehending Eichmann

Genes and Genesis

The Lie that Wouldn't Die

Enjoy the Archive

Update: it seems that the MP3 archive is active from 2006 onwards, not 100% sure but that's what I found :(

The ADSL is Dead, Long Live the ADSL Router

2007-03-10T23:14:00.000Z

My ancient but previously reliable USR Sureconnect 9003 died on me after 5-7 years of service (I forget) and was replaced by a Netgear DG834G v3.

I was pleasantly surprised how trivial the configuring of ADSL was, although the combined Firewall and Wireless function was a teeny weenie bit fiddly until I engaged my mind (which doesn't happen much nowadays).

I just wonder how long will it last?

Note to self: always add minicom after a Linux install, just in case.

Lackey Of Imperialism Killed Off By Allies

2007-03-09T01:30:00.000Z

Throughout the world anti-imperialists are about to rejoice and it looks like the first crack in the edifice of imperialism has started, and not any imperialism but the American kind, which we are told is the worst, ever, ever to exist, which could eventually lead to its demise.

Anti-imperialists are ecstatic because one of the most significant tools of American hegemony is about to be killed off.

Captain America will soon die, as reported by USA Today:

“Marvel Comics is insisting the original Captain America -- Steve Rogers who debuted in 1941 and fought Nazis and Communists into the 1950s before being revived in the 1960s -- is indeed dead.”

Bastards!

Not a Happy Carnival?

2007-03-07T16:29:00.001Z

I probably take too much of an interest in politics and political discussions, but there are two web sites that I find entertaining and informative on the subject, Dave Osler and Shiraz Socialist, that is the wine, not the “Islamic” legal system.

Shiraz Socialist’s blogger Voltaire’s priest is hosting the 13th Carnival of Socialism, under the topic of “Why is the left obsessed with the Middle East?"

An interesting question and I shall try to have my two pence worth on this topic later on.

Libby, Cheney or Rove

2007-03-07T01:18:00.000Z

The Scooter Libby case seems to be the political talk of North America, it is probable that Libby is taking the fall for the release of the CIA agent’s name instead of someone much higher, either Dick Cheney or Karl Rove.

I suspect that they are worried that if Libby has to serve any significant time in prison that he will break with his former political masters and spill the beans. Thus bringing federal proceedings against them and effectively killing their political/corporate careers.

Irrespective of the sentencing I would imagine that Scooter Libby will serve very little time in jail, allowing for the appeals process which should drag out the case, even if he goes to jail for a period of time, then George Bush will probably issue him with a Presidential pardon as one of his last tasks in office.

So the issue for Cheney, Rove and Libby is to drag out the proceedings until near the end of George Bush's term in office, then Libby can go free and probably to some nice well paid job connected with a Cheney associate or corporation.

But we shall see how it pans out, politics in DC is dark and murky.

Back to Technology

2007-03-06T20:31:00.001Z

It has been pointed out by a commenter that Ubuntu had some issues with wireless networking, and I did have some minor problem with my ancient Sitecom WL 113 dongle.

However, I think it's much easier to deal with these issues in Ubuntu, provided it’s done methodically.

In the first instance, we need to determine if the issue is related to a configuration problem or unsupported hardware.

By scanning and googling the hardware concerned (network card, etc) it should be easy to determine if the device is supported and has been made to work under Linux.

If it isn't, and some more esoteric pieces of hardware won't be supported then it is best to change it out for another piece of kit.

If it is supported, then the issue may simply be one of configuration, or that Linux has not fully recognised the hardware concerned, which is more probable in most cases.

Before getting your hands dirty and trying to resolve the wireless issues, firstly I would suggest that you do a clean installation, link the PC up to a wired network and fully update the software, making sure that you have the latest patches, etc:

1) connect to a wired network
2) run the Update Manager (System ->Administration->Update Manager)
3) Reboot and re-run Update Manager until it indicates that there are no more patches to download.

This approach has the additional benefit of verifying that the overall network setup is working, but that the wireless connection may just need some work on it.

Secondly, find out precisely the name and chipset of your wireless adapter (the easy way is to use another OS [XP, Win98, etc] and look at the driver direct from the Device Manager or similar, and in my case it is ZD1211 - that's the chipset)

Thirdly, scan the Linux kernel postings and Forums to see if it is supported directly or via the Ndiswrapper.

Fourthly, open a terminal window and look at the boot process, has the wireless adapter been recognised in any way? Use dmesg, lspci, lsusb and the contents of /var/logs/messages.

If in doubt, check out Ubuntu’s wireless resources below.

Assuming number three and four are affirmative, then invoke ifconfig and iwconfig to see if the card is partly recognised, but yet not fully configured.

In my case, it was the ESSID that wasn’t set, and after that I just had to set the speed of the link.

So my simple solution was to edit /etc/rc.local then add iwconfig eth0 essid xxx and iwconfig rate 54M, not pretty but it did the job.

So to summarise:

1) Update the system
2) determine the precise hardware
3) see if it is supported directly by kernel
4) verify the boot process
5) check the Ubuntu resources, think about the issue, don’t jump to premature conclusions
6) try to determine which particular portion of the setup procedure is not working, and look for existing solutions.
7) If no joy, at all, borrow an alternative wireless card and see how that is setup, and then return to fixing the original.

As for resources in this process, try the trouble shooting guide and the Ubuntu wireless setup guide.

Above all remember that Ubuntu is changing and growing, so progressively most hardware recognition issues are being solved directly during the installation of newer versions, and because something didn't work in the past doesn't mean it won't work now.

Keeping Track of Antisemitism in Venezuela

2007-03-02T04:13:00.000Z

The issue of statistical information and the rise of antisemitism in Venezuela came up recently at Harry's Place, so I have summarised some of the available information, if anyone knows of any other good reputable sources, then I will include them in an update.

The annual Antisemitism World Reports covering Venezuela can be found at the Stephen Roth Institute, these are the most recent on-line copies:

1997-1998 report
1998-1999 report - seems missing
1999-2000 report
2001-2002 report
2002-2003 report
2003-2004 report
2004-2005 report

Additionally it is possible to view various statistical breakdowns

For graphical presentations

View the reports on a country by country basis

Iraq 2007

2007-02-24T12:47:00.000Z

Iraq is a mess, neighbouring states are using it to play out their power games and the sectarian divide between the Sunni and Shi'ites is being stoked up by gangs, militia, criminals and the “resistance”. Much of the political establishment seems to have been taken over by Shi'ites and many of them seem hell-bent on revenge. If it is bad now, then I dread to think what it will be like once the US and coalition forces withdraw to their bases.

One particular group which faces daily murderous attacks in Iraq are Lesbians and Gays, their plight is detailed at their blog: http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/

It doesn't bear thinking about what will happen when the Islamists gain unchallenged power in Iraq.

Wither Venezuela?

2007-02-22T12:18:00.000Z

What is happening in Venezuela?

No, I'm not talking about Chavez’s oil deal with Ken Livingstone, nor am I talking about Chavez’s new dictatorial power.

What is happening in Venezuela concerning antisemitism?

Engage has an article pointing to the rise of antisemitism, which seems to have coincided with Chavez’s linkup with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This presentation shows compelling evidence of antisemitism in Venezuela.

Is this the shape of 21st century socialism?? Or another Doctor’s plot in the making?

Are You a Closet Conspiracy Freak?

2007-02-18T15:05:00.000Z

Well, are you a closet conspiracy freak?

Go on admit it!

or at least take the BBC conspiracy test

I got 26-50:

"Your responses indicate that you have a medium level of belief in conspiracy theories. You may well be quite trusting of your close friends, partners, those you work with and others but sometimes cannot be sure of all of them all of the time. You may also feel that your voice in terms of wider political decisions is rarely heard or acted upon, perhaps because government and big business is more concerned with their own interests than with those of the average person."

and I thought that I was just a bit cynical, but fortunately I don't need a tinfoil hat, well not just yet?

Anti-imperialism as an Emotional Spasm?

2007-02-11T00:10:00.000Z

I was taken by a Brendan O'Neill piece on Comment is Free:

"Reading recent reports and media coverage, and trawling through the arguments of the anti-war movement, you could be forgiven for thinking so. Everyone seems obsessed with "Muslim anger" and with British and American foreign policy. Government officials send each other handwringing memos asking what should be done about the Muslim community's distress over Iraq. Self-serving Muslim community groups use "community anger" to politically blackmail officials, warning that if they don't change their foreign policy there could be another 7/7. The leaders of the anti-war movement try to harness "Muslim fury"; they seem to believe that putting some Muslim youth at the head of their marches adds a dash of authentic and raw emotion that is sorely lacking in the ranks of the exhausted old left.

This privileging of "Muslim anger" over other arguments against western military interventionism is a disaster for progressive politics. Making Muslim spokespeople the authoritative critical voice on British foreign policy degrades anti-imperialism. That political tradition was about universalism and solidarity. It took as its starting point the idea that people around the world had common interests, and much to gain by standing shoulder-to-shoulder against western warmongering. Today's "Muslim anger" takes the opposite starting point: that only Muslims understand the pain and suffering of people in Iraq or Palestine, because they have a special religious/emotional connection with them. It represents the triumph of the personal over the political; the particularistic over the universal; the politics of victimhood over the politics of solidarity. It is anti-imperialism reduced to an emotional spasm.

. . ."

China: New Superpower or Age Old Imperialist?

2007-02-02T15:02:00.000Z

China has always held a certain fascination for people in the West, from Marco Polo's expedition, the Opium Wars, Japanese occupation to Chairman Mao’s Revolution, but never quite so much as the scrutiny that China is under today.

Scrutiny may not be the right word, possibly morbid fascination is better.

We are frequently told by the media that China is the next Superpower and almost daily there are stories of China's Great industrial leap forward.
Now such a frenetic pace of industrialisation requires raw materials and Chinese leaders have long recognised that fact, so President Hu Jintao’s constant tours should come as no surprise to anyone as The Times reports:

“President Hu Jintao began an eight-nation tour of Africa yesterday, seeking to reaffirm China’s commitment to the continent at a time of international and domestic concern over Beijing’s growing influence.

Mr Hu’s 12-day visit, his third since coming to power in 2003, takes him to Cameroon, Liberia, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles and Sudan. He is expected to announce new investment worth billions of dollars and to follow through on promises of aid, including debt relief, made during last year’s Africa summit in Beijing.

Trade between Africa and China has risen fourfold this decade to $40 billion (£20 billion) in 2005, driven by China’s voracious appetite for natural resources, particularly oil.

The burgeoning relationship between China and Africa has passed largely unchallenged, with African leaders keen to take advantage of investment and aid that is delivered with few strings attached at a time when Western trade partners are imposing onerous conditions of accountability and the environment.

Now the relationship is being questioned, in Africa and beyond. Domestically, there is alarm at the adverse impact on local companies of a flood of cheap Chinese manufactured goods. In elections in Zambia in December the opposition attacked China’s “exploitation of workers” and low safety standards in copper mines that it took over, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Internationally, there is unease about Beijing’s support for dictatorial regimes such as Zimbabwe and the DRC, and of China’s willingness to overlook human rights abuses. The most pressing example is Sudan, which will play host to Mr Hu on Friday.

The country has become a vital source of oil, pumped from oilfields developed by the China National Petroleum Corporation. China receives about 350,000 barrels a day through a Chinese-built pipe-line to ships off Port Sudan, financed by Beijing at a cost of £4.2 billion.

Sudan has used some of the revenues to reequip its armed forces, which have been waging a brutal campaign in the Sudanese region of Darfur. More than 200,000 people have been killed and three million have fled their homes over the past three years, in what President Bush has repeatedly labelled a genocide.

During this period China, one of Khartoum’s few allies, has threatened to wield its Security Council veto to prevent tough UN measures against Sudan over Darfur. Its stand has led to mounting criticism over its support of the hardline Muslim Government of President Omar al-Bashir.

Aid agencies hope that Mr Hu will use China’s leverage to persuade Sudan to accept a greater role for the UN in Darfur. Urged on by Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary-General, the Chinese Government is under pressure to force Khar-toum to reach agreement over the deployment of international peacekeepers.

Chinese officials say that Mr Hu would be looking to help to broker lasting peace in Darfur. “I believe this visit will not only boost bilateral ties, but also peace and stability in the region,” said Zhai Jun, the Assistant Foreign Minister, on the eve of the Africa mission. Mr Zhai said that criticism of China’s relationship with Africa was unfounded. He said that Beijing was trying to help Africa to build infrastructure and alleviate poverty.

Shi Yinhong, of the International Relations department of the People’s University in Beijing, said: “Hu Jintao wants to persuade Sudan not to reject the UN resolution. This will bring moral and diplomatic pressure on Sudan and also help China’s ties with the US, the EU and greater Africa.”

Such a situation is all the more curious given China's appalling human rights record, occupation and annexation of Tibet, and long history of environmental pollution.

But what is odd is how the outcome of China's actions are often swept under the carpet, we hear comparatively little of their consequences

China is happy to use military force when needed (Tibet) or threaten it (Taiwan) and will do business with the most unsavoury dictators and repressive regimes in the world, for the sake of raw materials.

China is in dire need of oil and I suspect that if their sources in the Middle East are threatened then there will be an entirely different type of reaction from China, which will make contemporary “imperialists” look positively benevolent.

Best to remember that the situation in Tibet shows us how China will react when she has the upper hand.

Never Defined Before?

2007-01-31T02:45:00.000Z

Engage pointed to an article by Professor Dina Porat in Haaretz that looks at the definition antisemitism and brings up many interesting points:

"What makes an anti-Semite? By Dina Porat

In January 2005, an international working definition of anti-Semitism was accepted for the first time since the term was coined in the late 19th century. This definition, approved in June 2005 at a conference in Cordoba, Spain, is the result of a joint effort on the part of two institutions - a center established in Vienna by the European Union to monitor racism and xenophobia, and a center set up in Warsaw by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to strengthen the institutions of democracy and human rights among its 55 member countries.

And this is the essence of the international working definition of anti-Semitism: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." However, why was a new, international, practical definition needed, and why did non-Jewish organizations invest ongoing efforts in discussions on its formulation? After all, there has been no shortage of different definitions of anti-Semitism ever since the term was first coined 125 years ago in Germany and they can be found in encyclopedia and lexica, reflecting both temporal and geographic circumstances.

A long list of personalities and institutions sought to define the anti-Semite and the Jew he so hates: Jean-Paul Sartre, who sarcastically defined an anti-Semite, blaming the Jews for every tragedy, as a man who fears not Jews, but himself and the need to accept his responsibility; Encyclopedia Britannica, which as early as 1966 defined opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism, but whose dictionary still features to "Jew Down" as a verb meaning to insist on haggling and deception; the Jewish Encyclopedia, published in the United States about one hundred years ago, includes a description of Jews as being perceived by others as greedy people, who are tribal in nature, devoid of tact and patriotism, and evade hard work; or the definition of Prof. Jacob Toury, of Tel Aviv University, who in the 1970s described anti-Semitism as a manipulation of sentiments directed against an unrealistic figure for political purposes.

However, our focus here is not on the definitions of learned people, but on international bodies and their perception of anti-Semitism as a problem that needs fixing. It is hard to believe, but even the United Nations, for example, did not define anti-Semitism or racism after World War II; no international organization mentioned these two basic terms in the basic conventions that were formulated and signed after that war, even though racism and anti-Semitism were among the primary causes of its outbreak.

Various international conventions mention tolerance and minority rights in very general terms, indicating a desire to forget the past and not to blame a specific person or regime. When the Cold War began, U.S. efforts were directed at the Soviet Union and in this undertaking, even the contribution of former Nazis was welcomed. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who headed the group that in the late 1940s formulated the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man, several years later wrote the preface to the first edition of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in English. In her introduction, she makes no mention at all of the fact that Anne was Jewish or that she was forced to hide from German persecutions.

For almost 50 years, from the end of the Second World War until the early 1990s, anti-Semitism is not mentioned and is certainly not defined in the documents, conventions or summaries of European and international conferences. Since 1990, with the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the reunification of Germany and the waves of immigrants who started flooding the industrialized countries, new questions regarding definition and legislation in all matters relating to foreign labor, political asylum seekers, immigrants, their offspring and their rights made it onto the agenda.

At the same time, expressions of anti-Semitism were clearly voiced by the extreme right, which blamed the Jews for bringing in foreigners and profiting from their labor; and by the left, which accused the Jews of being behind the spread of globalization because of their being owners of giant corporations and international banks; and by the immigrants, primarily Muslims, who were not absorbed by their host countries and occasionally vented their frustration on the veteran Jewish communities.

Therefore, the 1990s were filled with conferences and initiatives whose goal was to strengthen human rights and to promote the fight against racism. At a huge conference (numbering 5,000 participants) organized by the UN in Vienna in 1993, a decision in principle was adopted and approved several months later, stating that anti-Semitism should be considered as a form of racism. This resolution was described as "historic" and considered a great accomplishment by UN institutions, as if this fact had not been obvious. In the same manner, xenophobia, fear of foreigners, Negrophobia (fear of Blacks) and Islamophobia (fear of Muslims) were also defined as racism. Yet racism and anti-Semitism itself were not defined at that conference.

Even the August 2001 Durban conference in South Africa, which the UN's bodies had prepared for more than two years and which was supposed to have been the world conference with a capital "W" against racism, strayed from its set agenda and turned into a forum for anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism. The conference did not resolve a single one of the many problems and tensions experienced by immigrants. Violent anti-Semitism continued to increase, at first parallel to the second intifada but later, especially in Western Europe, also without any connection to the Middle East. The definition approved some two years ago indeed reflects the need to ease tensions and reach a form of coexistence for the European host society, the immigrants and the Jewish communities. It tries to be a clear and practical tool that is not academic or theoretical, does not discuss the motives of anti-Semites, and does not try to portray the traits and images of a Jew or the gap between these and reality.

The definition presents a list of acts and statements that are anti-Semitic because they are directed against Jews, harm them, or incite against them, and therefore their perpetrators can be tried and punished. Laws prohibiting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial already exist in a dozen countries and if anti-Semitism is a form of racism, it is also possible to punish perpetrators under laws prohibiting racism.

One may argue with the approach behind the definition, which disconnects the motive from the action and focuses solely on the action and the statement. Even the boundary between freedom of speech and incitement needs to be refined and it will be difficult to find or enact a single, uniform law that will address all components. However, this does mark a courageous step and an effort to find ways to deal with acts of anti-Semitism. Whether the definition will truly be able to serve as a solid foundation that remains relevant in the face of an intensification of anti-Semitism, and as the elements included in it become the bon ton, only time will tell.

Prof. Dina Porat is the head of Tel Aviv University's School of Jewish Studies.

The working definition of anti-Semitism

The purpose of this document is to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with anti-Semitism. The practical definition of the phenomenon: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."

In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collective.

Anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for "why things go wrong." It is expressed in speech, writing, in visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.

Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

* Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion

* Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or about the power of Jews as a collective - including, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a global Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions

* Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoings committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews

* Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters during World War II (Holocaust denial)

* Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust

* Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel include:

* Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor

* Applying double standards by requiring Israel to behave in a manner not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation

* Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis

* Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis

* Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel

However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.

Anti-Semitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of anti-Semitic materials in some countries). Criminal acts are anti-Semitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property - such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries - are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews. Anti-Semitic discrimination means denying Jews the opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries."

The Shoah and Attitudes.

2007-01-28T00:54:00.000Z

Attitudes towards the Shoah and its remembrance have a habit of revealing some people's truer attitude towards Jews, particularly nowadays with the increase of antisemitism and the nasty streak of animosity which has entered the public discourse.

Invariably the Shoah, Israel and the current conflict in the Middle East are linked, but it is perfectly possible to have distinct and different views on these three separate topics.

It is perfectly possible to acknowledge the indescribable horror of the Shoah without disparaging Jews or Israel.

It is perfectly possible to think that events in the Middle East are brutal, terrible and unnecessary without disparaging the memory of the victims of the Shoah.

Yet does that always happen? No, certainly not.

It is common amongst people that have a strong animosity against Jews (call them what you will: antisemite, Jew hater, Jew baiter, Holocaust denier, Holocaust revisionist, white supremacist, inveterate conspiracy theorist or neo-Nazi, it is all the same), it is common that they will not acknowledge the magnitude of the Shoah, its horror, its brutality or extent.

It is common among these people that they would rather bite off their tongue than make a comment which shows a degree of empathy towards the suffering of the victims of the Shoah: Jews.

But that is an extreme fringe in society, or at least we like to think it is?

Consider how certain people will metaphorically cough, look the other way or change the subject when the issue of remembrance and the Shoah comes into view.

Now they may not share any of the views held above by those nasty extremists, and yet you have to wonder why certain people are almost embarrassed to show the slightest degree of empathy towards the suffering of the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s.

That above all reveals their innermost attitudes, and how little some parts of humanity have learnt from the past 60 plus years.

So if you are one of these certain people that are uncomfortable showing any compassion toward Jews on Holocaust Memorial Day, then it's probably time to reflect on your innermost thoughts, neuroses, bitterness and what your subconscious attitude tells you about your truer character.

That is, if you have the courage.

Ceasefire In Darfur?

2007-01-24T23:55:00.000Z

If ever there is a UN prize for political cynicism, murder and warfare then the Sudanese government is probably in with a fair chance of winning it.

The BBC headline says it all “Sudan leader admits Darfur raids”, despite having its arm twisted to agree the recent UN ceasefire, the Sudanese government continues to cause bloodshed in Darfur and they have the cheek to comment: “Mr Bashir said the action did not breach a UN-brokered ceasefire signed earlier this month”.

Oh yeah? So it's not really a ceasefire, is it? If the Sudanese government can use massive military force whenever it chooses?

The UN should have moved in NATO and AU troops with a strong monitoring element to publicise the Sudanese government's support of genocide and failure to comply with the basic agreements to resolve the conflict in Darfur.

Ubantued?

2007-01-22T02:07:00.000Z

While trying to resurrect an old piece of kit (Dell Latitude 400 MHz) I was very taken by the range of speedy and small Linux distributions that are available, two caught my eye:

Damn Small Linux, which fits a usable range of applications and tools into a 50 Mb footprint.

Puppy Linux, an Australian distribution, and only slightly bigger 84 Mb and with a pleasant interface.

I think that the smaller Linux kits are very appealing, they are a testament to human ingenuity and very usable.

I finally chose the latest OpenSUSE 10.2 distribution, I always liked SUSE, there were plenty of packages, updating applications was easy and it was robust.

Even after Novell took them over I still thought that the SUSE distribution was good. The advent of a community project such as OpenSUSE seem to bode well for Linux.

I was wrong.

Ages back I had some minor configuration problems with Linux 9.0 and wireless networking. I had hoped by now all such problems would be resolved, as much of the wireless networking has been put straight into the 2.6 Kernel. It was an unnecessarily amount of tedious fiddling with the wireless set up again, and again.

Eventually I got bored with OpenSUSE 10.2 and experimented with Ubuntu.

To be honest I never liked Debian Linux (which Ubuntu is based on) after installing it many many years ago, but according to Distowatch Ubuntu is one of the most popular distributions and it seems with good reason.

I was shocked, Ubuntu booted up as a LiveCD after a few minutes and looked perfectly usable, if a bit strange with that sandy coloured background.

Clicking on the Install icon brought up a simple wizard and after six (yes, six) steps it copied itself over to the hard drive in about 50 minutes, which for such a slow machine was good.

Ubuntu made me a believer! I am still tinkering around, but I have found it is fast, usable, has wide support and very popular.

So the product award of the month goes to Ubantu. Oh and did I say it was free, completely free?

Cat Out of the Bag

2007-01-19T01:57:00.000Z

For all of those gullible souls that shouted “we are all Hizbollah” during the summer of 2006 here is an interview with former Hizbullah secretary-general Sheikh Subhi Al-Tufeili, who let’s the cat out of the bag.

“Hizbullah is an Integral Part of the Iranian Intelligence Apparatus

Question: "You were formerly Hizbullah secretary-general. Is the [situation in Lebanon] within the strategic framework of Hizbullah? Does Hizbullah have an outlined and prepared plan that is being implemented today? Why do you think Hizbullah has become a source of anxiety for the Lebanese? "

Al-Tufeili: "It wasn't like this in the beginning. Hizbullah's activity was limited to resistance [operations]... But, unfortunately, the problem has developed today to the point where they have succeeded in changing Hizbullah from a resistance force into a tool to be used in [whatever] direction they want."

Question: "Does this mean that Hizbullah does not make its own decisions, and that its orders come from outside [Lebanon]?"

Al-Tufeili: "Yes, Hizbullah is a tool, and it is an integral part of the Iranian intelligence apparatus. Unfortunately, all the elements in the [Lebanese] arena have become tools, and take orders from outside [Lebanon]..."

Abducting the Soldiers Was "An Unsuccessful Adventure"

Question: "Can you see any justification for the July [2006] war after southern Lebanon was liberated in 2000?"

Al-Tufeili: "Following the abduction of the Israeli soldier [Gilad Shalit] in Gaza, and the enemy's response to that operation, [i.e.] the shelling, and the abduction of Palestinian ministers and MPs... I was amazed when Hizbullah announced that it had abducted two Israeli soldiers...

"[Israel is] an enemy we know. It has plundered our land, murdered our people, and slaughtered our children. [Was it reasonable] for us to carry out an operation like this after we have seen the response to it in Gaza and in occupied Palestine? [Was it reasonable for us to carry out such an operation] when we know that Israel attacks us, murders our children, and destroys our country [even] without us giving it excuses to do so...? I think that any sensible person could have assessed the enemy's possible response to the abduction operation... On the one hand, they [Hizbullah] are saying, 'Had we known what the reaction would be, we would not have abducted the soldiers.' On the other hand, they are giving the Israeli enemy a pretext to launch aggression against us...

"When we look at the causes of the war, there is no choice but to [admit] this. If [the war] had gotten worse, it could have led to the loss of the [entire] country... Are we allowed to destroy our country [just] so we can say that we abducted two soldiers - when we all knew what the magnitude of the Israeli response [would be]? What happened was an unsuccessful adventure, and there is no escaping the fact that those who carried it out will bear the responsibility for it..."

Iran Must Stop Using Hizbullah for Its Own Aims in Its Struggle with the West

Al-Tufeili: "[Furthermore], why was... the South [Lebanese] front the only one left burning, and why was Lebanon the only arena of bloodshed? Why weren't all fronts opened?... Why has Hizbullah become a tool [serving] individual interests that have nothing to do with the resistance? In my opinion, the issue is broader than the local [context], and is connected to the regional struggle - but it is being carried out by a local tool [i.e. Hizbullah]...

"After all that has happened, I hope that Iran will change from an element seeking its political interests in the region [into an element acting for the] liberation of Jerusalem - if Iran indeed wants to liberate Jerusalem as it claims. [It must stop] using the resistance [i.e. Hizbullah] for its own aims in its struggle with the West..."

Hizbullah is Leading the Country to Civil War

Al-Tufeili continued: "Until not long ago, the March 8 Group [a term for the Lebanese opposition] was a partner in the government, and participated in parliamentary elections.

"The March 14 [Forces] did not mislead [the Lebanese opposition]... They are openly allied with of the U.S. and France; they say openly 'We do not agree to weapons in Lebanon, except for those of the military.' They are demanding that Hizbullah hand over its arms, but in the framework of [internal Lebanese] dialogue, not by force. [They are also saying] that they want an [international] court [for the Al-Hariri assassination]. All this they said prior to the elections as well as after the elections, before they became ministers and after they became ministers.

"So where is their treason? Whom have they betrayed? Their position is clear; this is their plan, and [Hizbullah] entered into [an alliance] with them [just] for the election campaign... Yesterday, [Hizbullah] had an alliance with them, and gave the March 14 Forces a majority in parliament and in the government, and had no dispute or problems with them. [Hizbullah considered this alliance] to be for the good of the homeland.

"Today, [Hizbullah] is leading the country to civil war, in order to obtain a third [of the government]... If this third is so important, then [Hizbullah] must be punished, because it itself was the one who gave it to the [March 14 Forces in the first place]. If it is not important, then Hizbullah is leading us to civil war, to destruction and to the ruin of the country, for no good reason..."

I Do Not Believe Those Who Say They Are Against Civil War Yet Behave in a Way that Will Lead to Civil War

"I find no [justification] for us having reached such a situation... This is how wars begin. What we are seeing today in Lebanon is the preparation of an emotional, popular, military, media, and security climate [leading] towards a war that might break out at any moment. I don't believe anyone who says he is not interested in [civil] war, [yet] behaves in this manner. This is the behavior of someone who wants war."

"Iran is the Main Nerve in the Activity Today in Lebanon"

Referring to Syria's role in the events in Lebanon, Al-Tufeili said: "Syria is undoubtedly Iran's ally. It has undoubtedly been harmed by the March 14 Forces, and by the establishment of the [international] court. Thus, it is part of this battle; but it is not the most influential factor...

"Iran is the main nerve in the activity today in Lebanon. All Hizbullah activity [is financed] by Iranian funds. Syria has an important role, but Iran is the main and primary support of [the Lebanese opposition]. On the other side, the U.S. is supporting the March 14 Forces."

Radio Head

2007-01-14T02:00:00.000Z

I am a fan of Internet radio, which allows us to sample the music, talk and news from other regions, countries and continents.

However, the problem can be finding the stations, so to help out I present some good Internet radio directories, my favourite is the streaming radio guide but the others are good as well and offer a diversity of choice.

Radio Feeds

Radio Locator

Mike’s Radio World

Radio Tower

The Streaming Radio Guide

Site(s) of the Week/Month 20

2007-01-12T01:29:00.000Z

I like sites that are either informative or make me laugh, so when thinking about the site of week/month/unspecified time period, one particular site came to mind: Indy Media Watch

Its header explains it all:

“Indymedia was set up to fill a void in the corporate media. An idea I thought long overdue. Unfortunately, as a largely unmoderated, unrestricted medium it was promptly over-run by bigots, trolls and Nazis confusing free-speech with hate-speech. I believe the Indy Media experiment has failed. As Indymedia claims it keeps the corporate media honest, I decided it was time someone watched Indymedia instead. Be careful... You may not like what you see.”

It certainly keeps on a useful eye on the cranks!

EU funds the Far Right ?

2007-01-08T21:24:00.000Z

The BBC reports the idiocy of EU political funding and how extreme right wing MEPs will receive extra funding if they manage to come together in a political bloc, you couldn’t invent such a news story:

“Far-right members of the European Parliament have joined forces and formed their own political group.

The move will give them more influence and access to funds. The group's name is "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty".

Led by French National Front member Bruno Gollnisch, who is accused of Holocaust denial, they also include one independent MEP from the UK.

They had lacked the necessary 19 MEPs from five countries - but that changed when Bulgaria and Romania joined.

Romania has five far-right MEPs and Bulgaria has one.

The two countries joined the EU on 1 January - ironically, a move which the far right opposed.

Anti-immigration stance

The new group includes the Austrian Freedom Party and the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang from Belgium.

It has seven French MEPs (National Front), five Romanians (Greater Romania party), three Flemish MEPs (Vlaams Belang) and two Italians, including Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the former dictator Benito Mussolini.

It also has one MEP each from Bulgaria and Austria, along with independent British MEP Ashley Mote.

The Greater Romania party gave the grouping its critical mass. The party is known for its anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and anti-Hungarian views.

As a recognised political group in the parliament, the far right will get greater funding and will have a say in setting the agenda for plenary sessions.

The far right is likely to push for a freeze on further EU enlargement - especially the prospect of membership for Turkey - and to resist any attempts to revive the shipwrecked EU constitution.

"We do not call for violence against immigrants but we oppose immigration policy because it's linked to the decline of the birthrate in Europe," said Mr Gollnisch. "It is a menace for our identity and the survival of our nations."

Mr Gollnisch is currently awaiting a verdict on charges of Holocaust denial."

What next? David Irving MEP?

A Few Comments on the Middle East

2007-01-06T17:40:00.000Z

The hanging of Saddam

The kerfuffle over the execution of Saddam Hussein is strange, after all Saddam Hussein was a mass murdering dictator responsible for the deaths of millions and millions of people (Iraq-Iran war, war on the Kurds, decimating the marsh Arabs, etc) and some people are strangely concerned that his death should have some dignity? Why? At least he was spared Mussolini's fate and certainly wasn't shot as Ceausescu was.

In fact, Saddam Hussein has been treated fairly well, all things considered, and I am not too surprised that some Iraqi guards might not have been able to contain themselves in those final few moments. Possibly they lost relatives to Saddam's murderous regime, or remember his decimation of whole villages. Conceivably they remember how Saddam's regime tortured and killed people in vats of acid. And as to the videos, I am sure that they are tasteless, but it is conceivable they wanted them as final proof that he had died, and we know from the multitude of conspiracy theories which are in current vogue that even photographic evidence is sometimes not enough (e.g. WTC).

Bush’s way out

Turning to Bush's plan for more troops in Iraq, I suspect that it is a final ploy before George Bush acknowledges the points in the Iraq Survey Group report, and starts a final withdrawal from Iraq. It is conceivable that a major civil war will then ensue between the Sunnis and Shi'ites, and the country would then effectively be partitioned, with America keeping large bases in the Kurdish areas, and trying to avoid direct involement in the civil war. Putting the extra troops into Iraq gives George Bush an excuse to say “I tried, but it wouldn't work, we’ll have to follow the recommendations… etc”

Ami Ayalon

The BBC had an interesting interview on World Service with Ami Ayalon and he makes a lot of sense.

Keeping An Eye on Santa Claus

2006-12-23T19:15:00.000Z

The Patriot Act? bah!

According to some cranks those cunning "imperialistic yankees" are keeping an eye on everyone, including Santa.

NORAD have been tasked with tracking Santa Claus:

"NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft.

Detecting Santa all starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system has 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. NORAD makes a point of checking the radar closely for indications of Santa Claus leaving the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

The moment our radar tells us that Santa has lifted off, we use our second mode of detection, the same satellites that we use in providing warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America. These satellites are located in a geo-synchronous orbit (that's a cool phrase meaning that the satellite is always fixed over the same spot on the Earth) at 22,300 miles above the Earth. The satellites have infrared sensors, meaning they can detect heat. When a rocket or missile is launched, a tremendous amount of heat is produced - enough for the satellites to detect. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. The satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem. With so many years of experience, NORAD has become good at tracking aircraft entering North America, detecting worldwide missile launches and tracking the progress of Santa, thanks to Rudolph. "

Keep an eye on him here

Enjoy, but don't believe everything that those cranks say!

Irving off to Iran

2006-12-21T00:21:00.000Z

David Irving's release from Austria can only give hope to President Ahmadinejad, a week after the Holocaust denial conference in Tehran.

The clemency shown to Irving will only embolden Holocaust deniers and it wouldn't surprise me if that conference in Tehran becomes an annual event, a regular neo-Nazi shindig.

Hopefully the conditions of Irving's probation will limit his activities somewhat, but I imagine that Ahmadinejad's invite is already in the post.

I think that opponents of Holocaust denial and neo-Nazis need to step up a gear.

Abbas’s Gamble?

2006-12-17T01:20:00.000Z

Mahmoud Abbas’s tactic of calling early elections is a shrewd political move, for months Fatah and Abbas have been trying to outwit Hamas and now is their chance.

Abbas is presumably calculating that Hamas’ record of poor rule; inability to recognise Israel and receive international funding will dramatically affect Palestinian’s voting, so swinging people around to voting for Fatah/PLO.

Abbas probably thinks that the previous perception of Fatah/PLO as corrupt and ineffective will not worry Palestinians terribly, as long as they get sufficient international aid.

Fatah, etc would most likely argue that in government they alone can bring massive aid to Gaza and the West Bank, and the Palestinians in their current dire situation may consider that more important than any temporary bond that they might have had with Hamas.

Of course, Fatah and the PLO have a terrible record of corruption but there may be a small window for peace if Fatah/PLO beat Hamas, who knows?

Newsnight On The Iranian Holocaust Deniers

2006-12-14T00:25:00.000Z

I am indebted to Linda Grant. BBC Newsnight coverage of the disgusting Holocaust deniers conference in Iran is very good with Jeremy Paxman on top form.

What Ceasefire?

2006-12-12T19:40:00.000Z

The Jerusalem Post reports:

"Two Kassam rockets landed in open fields in the Sderot region Tuesday evening. A third rocket was also fired, but the place of its landing was undetermined.

No one was reported wounded and no damage to property was reported in the latest attack. Since the Israeli-Palestinian cease fire last month, 21 Kassam rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel."

Pinochet Escapes Justice

2006-12-10T18:26:00.000Z

According to the radio news, Augusto Pinochet's plan to avoid justice, over his murderous regime in 1970s Chile, looks as if it may pay off, after receiving the last rites last week, he has finally died, thus escaping justice.

Early Sunday for Darfur

2006-12-09T00:35:00.000Z

BBC's Newsnight programme carried the appalling experiences of a Sudanese doctor, who for inexplicable reasons has been refused asylum in Britain.

"DARFUR

Since 2003, some 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur.

Another 2m have been driven out of their homes. Yet the world's attention is elsewhere.

Sunday is a Global Day for Darfur, focusing on the appalling incidence of rape and other sexual violence which is the hallmark of the rebel Janjaweed militias.

Kofi Annan today promised to make the crisis his top priority for the remainder of his time at the helm of the United Nations.

But in the meantime, a whole generation has been brutalised.

Tonight, we have moving testimony from a Darfuri woman who has horrific experiences of the very worst of the conflict.

Not only did she witness the violent gang rape of a group of girls - some as young as eight years old - by the Janjaweed, she also was repeatedly raped herself by Sudanese government security men.

She believes there is not one woman in Darfur who has not suffered a similar fate.

Eventually finding her way to the UK, she has now been told her application for asylum has been refused, and she must return to Khartoum.

She tells us she'd rather return to her village, and die with her people, than go there."

Shirer's View of Events

2006-12-07T23:55:00.000Z

7^th of December holds special resonance for many Americans, for on that day in 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, which eventually led to the United States of America joining Britain and the Soviet Union in the battle against Nazi Germany.

Roosevelt was able to convince the Congress to declare war on Japan, fortunately for FDR Hitler's reckless nature got the better of him and Nazi Germany declared war on the United States, thus sealing their fate.

As William Shirer sums it up:

“Adolf Hitler's reckless promise to Japan had been made during a series of talks with Yosuke Matsuoka, the pro-axis Japanese Foreign Minister, in the spring of 1941 just before the German attack on Russia. The captured German minutes of the meeting enable us to trace the development of another one of Hitler's monumental miscalculations. They and other Nazi documents of the period show the Fuehrer too ignorant, Goering too arrogant and Ribbentrop too stupid to comprehend the potential military strength of the United States - a blunder which had been made in Germany during the First World War by Wilhelm II, Hindenburg and Ludendorff”

[William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Mandarin Paperbacks, 1995, p. 870]

Vatican and Holocaust, What Did They Know?

2006-12-06T01:10:00.000Z

There has always been controversy concerning the Catholic Church’s attitude toward the Nazis, from the signing of the Concordat in the 1930s to the assistance given to fleeing Nazis in the post-war period.

Pope Pius 12th often comes in for considerable criticism and his inability to speak out against the persecution of Jews and the Holocaust, only reinforces the view of a weak complicit Papacy.

More recently the subject was raised at Harry's Place and an intense discussion followed.

Concrete evidence on the Catholic Church’s role is limited as the Vatican archives are closed, which has led to considerable suspicion and new evidence looks set to raise more questions, according to the BBC:

“The man who later became Pope John XXIII tried in vain to challenge the Vatican's perceived indifference to the Nazi Holocaust, a new study has found.

Papers and diaries show then Archbishop Giuseppe Roncalli posted an urgent telegram in 1944 to Pope Pius XII on the atrocities at Auschwitz.

The telegram's date contradicts the Vatican's official version of when it received a report.

The new insight comes from the papers of a Jewish emissary, Haim Barlas.
He had befriended Archbishop Roncalli, then the papal nuncio to Istanbul, in the 1940s.

Scribbled synopsis

The exchange of letters between Barlas and Roncalli, mostly in French, was recently uncovered in a private collection in Israel.

The letters show that Roncalli was frustrated by the Vatican's silence in the face of what was emerging in Europe.

They show that in 1943, the archbishop took it upon himself to write to the president of Slovakia asking him to stop the Nazi deportation of Jews.

On 23 June 1944, Barlas passed Roncalli a chilling 30-page report.

The document, now known as the Auschwitz protocols, had been compiled by two Jews who had escaped the camp that April.

The archbishop quickly scribbled a synopsis of the report and sent it by telegram.

His message made clear that the camp's purpose was the mass killing of Jews.

The date the telegram was sent contradicts the Vatican's official version that it only received details of the report in October 1944.

Vatican officials, when asked about the alleged discrepancy, suggested the question be directed to historians of the period.

But while all of the archbishop's correspondence with his Church superiors has been preserved in the Vatican archives, the part that could clarify when he sent the details has not been made available to scholars.”

Xmas. What To Do?

2006-12-05T19:07:00.000Z

I like Xmas, or more correctly the modern day Saturnalia.

I know I shouldn’t, I should as an atheist rant on about fake jollity, commercialisation and the non-existent birthday for Jesus, but I can’t.

I can’t because at heart I am an old sentimentalist, and the winters I remember a long ago were always a cold and miserable time.

Except that is, when Xmas came and for a few days before, we’d hunt around for presents, the anticipation was great.

Finally, the big day came, and we were up early, opened our presents and had a very nice meal later.

On Boxing Day and for a few days after, we had scraps from Christmas, a very nice bacon joint with bread.

Now I could rage about pagan festivals dressed up to suit prevailing sentiments, but I won’t, instead enjoy the event, chill out, don’t drink too much and send those cards early.

This video clip is my contribution to the holiday spirit strangely entitled "Xians against Xmas", anyway I have a soft spot for pagan holidays.

Honest Scholars!

2006-12-04T00:52:00.000Z

Bad book reviews are not unusual, but Shalom Lappin's forensic dissection of Jacqueline Rose's The Question of Zion is a pleasure to read, not only for the sharpness of wit and understated humour but for Shalom Lappin's encyclopaedical grasp of the subject.

He points out numerous elementary errors that a scholar, such as Professor Rose, should have avoided. Professor Rose's entry at Queen Mary suggests that she specialises in the area of "Zionism and the history and writing of Israel-Palestine", but as the review and rejoiner indicate her knowledge, method and basic scholarly integrity in this book are to be questioned.

Professor Lappin's original review is here, Professor Rose's reply here and finally, a rejoinder from Professor Lappin, which contains many informative passages. Some that caught my eye are :

"Rose is careful to avoid mentioning the role that Palestinian violence has played in defeating moderate governments and keeping right wing parties in power. The reason is not hard to find. As indicated by the elision in her description of the grenade assault on Yehud in 1953, she does not take this violence seriously. She quotes Max Rodenbeck’s description of the Palestinian cross border attacks of the 1950s as ‘pinprick raids’. Would she also apply this description to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s attack on a group of school children in Maalot on May 15, 1974? 26 civilians, 21 of them high-school students, died in the raid. Does it also cover the PLO’s hijacking of a bus on the coastal road on March 11, 1978 in which 35 civilians were killed? Israel responded to this assault, which originated from a base in Lebanon, with the invasion of Lebanon up to the Litani River. This operation set in motion the sequence of events that produced Sharon’s disastrous

Lebanon

adventure in 1981 and the subsequent occupation in the south. Would Rose use Rodenbeck’s ‘pin prick raids’ terminology to characterize the Hamas suicide bombings in February and March of 1996? They killed 59 Israelis and helped to elect Benjamin Netanyahu in the June elections of that year. His victory over Shimon Peres derailed the Oslo peace process. Was the Hamas suicide bombing of a Passover Seder in the Park Hotel in Netanya on March 27, 2002 (which followed a string of deadly terrorist attacks throughout 2001 and 2002) also a pinprick raid? It killed 29 people and provoked Sharon into re-occupying the major cities of the West Bank, with widespread popular support. There is no question that

Israel

frequently responds to attacks with brutally excessive force, causing heavy civilian casualties. We have seen gruesome examples of this pattern in Gaza recently. But to simply ignore the violence to which these reprisals are a response is dishonest. Moreover, to refuse to acknowledge its corrosive influence on the political process in

Israel

is to indulge a thoroughly inaccurate view of this process.

One of the most serious failings of much Israeli strategic thinking is its chronically unimaginative resort to crude military reactions to complex problems that require nuanced political responses. Rose, and many of the commentators whom she admires, are invariably quick to point this out. By contrast, they resist any recognition of the extent to which this self-destructive pattern is, in no small part, itself conditioned by the longstanding enthusiasm for uncompromising violence and terrorism that Palestinians have frequently adopted as their preferred method for dealing with Israel."

The whole of Democratiya is well worth a read just for Professor Lappin's scholarly review of Rose's shoddy politicised propaganda.

Just Swords??

2006-12-03T00:10:00.000Z

As if the poor people of Gaza didn't have enough to content with, apart from the incompetence of Hamas, the corruption of Fatah, factional gun battles, booby traps in the street and the unnecessary incursions by the IDF, they now face another threat: acid in the face.

According to the Jerusalem Post:

"A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted by the group's members.

In pamphlets distributed in various parts of the Gaza Strip, the group also claimed responsibility for attacks on 12 Internet cafes over the past few days.

The warning was directed primarily against female students in a number of universities and colleges who do not cover their heads in line with Islamic tradition.

The group said its followers last week threw acid at the face of a young woman who was dressed "immodestly" in the center of Gaza City. They also destroyed a car belonging to a young man who was playing his radio tape too loudly.

Addressing female students, the group said: "We will have no mercy on any woman who violates the traditions of Islam and who also hang out in Internet cafes."

According to the group, its members used rocket-propelled grenades to attack 12 Internet cafes and a number of music shops in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

It said the places were targeted because they were "distracting an entire generation of Palestinians from their duty to worship [Alla] and jihad so that they could serve their Zionist masters and the Crusaders."

Hamas officials denied any connection to the group, noting that their movement does not resort to methods of "intimidation and terror" against the people.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reacted with mixed feelings to the group's threats. While many seemed to support the demand that all women wear the hijab, others expressed fear that the group was trying to create a Taliban-style regime."

The Perils of "Technological Dependency"

2006-12-02T13:39:00.000Z

Technology is a wonderful thing, it has freed humanity from so many tedious and repetitive tasks, however, it is not without its own perils.

Technological dependency is one of those perils, and we all know the symptoms: from phoning up the utility company to be told that "the computer says that you're dead" to relying too heavily on M$ Word's spell checker, which makes a hash of so many basic English words.

The Times reported another example of technological dependency (or stupidity, if you like):

"An ambulance crew’s blind faith in a satellite navigation system turned the routine 20-minute transfer of a patient between hospitals into a 400-mile odyssey.
...
They drove for eight hours before finally delivering the patient. After the equipment sent them north, they covered 215 miles in about four hours. The way back was only slightly shorter and took more than 3½ hours.
...

The paramedics are far from unusual in being deceived by their sat-nav systems.

Last month a woman dodged oncoming traffic for 14 miles after misreading her sat-nav system and driving the wrong way up a dual carriageway.Police said it was a miracle that no one was injured after the young woman joined the A3M, which links Portsmouth to London, on the southbound side — only to head north.

In September a taxi driver took two teenage girls 85 miles in the opposite direction after keying the wrong place name into his sat-nav. The girls asked to go to Lymington in the New Forest, Hampshire, but the driver tapped in Limington, Somerset."

Shaky Iran?

2006-11-27T00:21:00.000Z

Leaving aside Iran's quest for nuclear technology, the lies and subterfuge which has gone on for 20 years according to the IAEA, the situation in Iran looks volatile.

Iran's young population are chaffing at the restrictions and repression forced upon them from the Ayatollahs, one example is Tehran's brutal reaction to antigovernment sentiment shown in parts of Iran, according to the Observer:

"The film shows the public hanging of Alireza Gorji, 23, and his friend Hossein Makesh, 22, in July in Broudjerd, Iran. According to official versions of the charges, they were put to death because they had behaved 'immorally'. The truth, according to anti-government campaigners, is that the two men were among increasing numbers of political activists being executed by Iran on trumped-up charges.

'Both these men had been involved in anti-government protests in their home town and everyone who watch the hanging knew this,' said a human rights observer in Tehran.

On Tuesday the UN General Assembly condemned Iran for human rights abuses and the video - filmed by a Revolutionary Guard, smuggled out by opposition activists and seen by The Observer - is rare evidence of Iran's efforts to quell dissent. Amnesty International last year documented at least 94 public executions although many more are suspected to take place in secret - in September the authorities told a lawyer for Valliollah Feyz-Mahdavi, 28, that he had died after a suicide attempt in prison. Feyz-Mahdavi had been arrested for membership of Iran's main opposition - the People's Mojahedin Organistation of Iran.
Tehran has now been condemned on more than 50 occasions by the UN for severe human rights violations.

The Broudjerd video has been obtained by an exiled opposition group - the National Council of Resistance of Iran. At the House of Commons on Tuesday, it will be shown to cross-party MPs to encourage the British government to reconsider what the National Council regards as a policy of appeasing the Iranian regime. The group will unveil documents on the execution of more than 20,000 political victims, including evidence for the involvement of President Mohammad Ahmadinejad."

I wonder how the lickspittles in the nauseating President Ahmadinejad's fan club will respond to evidence of his repressive nature?

They will probably say it is all Western propaganda and Teheran is model democracy in the Middle East!

Sadly, Ahmadinejad is like another Uncle Joe to some in the West and hero worship is rife.

Rockets or the West Bank

2006-11-26T12:14:00.000Z

An update on the "ceasefire" in Gaza, it seems that Islamic Jihad won't agree to it unless Israelis leave (the whole of) the West Bank as reported by Reuters:

'GAZA (Reuters) - A ceasefire between Israel and militants in Gaza went into effect on Sunday and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, promising restraint after early Palestinian violations, said the truce could help revive peacemaking.

The agreement is designed to end rocket attacks and halt a crushing Israeli army offensive that was launched after gunmen seized a soldier in a cross-border raid last June. Olmert said he hoped the soldier would now be freed.

"All of these things ultimately could lead to one thing -- the opening of serious, real, open and direct negotiations between us," Olmert said. "So that we can move forward towards a comprehensive agreement between us and the Palestinians."

Palestinian militants fired several rockets at Israel just hours after the start of the ceasefire.

"We will show the necessary restraint and patience, certainly in the coming days," Olmert said during a visit to southern Israel.

The Israeli army pulled forces out of Gaza overnight, before the ceasefire took effect. Palestinian witnesses confirmed that soldiers had left northern Gaza, where operations against rocket-launching squads had been focused.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the violations of the truce and the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said he had instructed the heads of security forces to ensure the truce held. It gave no details of how they would do so.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching at least five rockets into southern Israel and said it would not agree to a ceasefire unless Israeli military activity also ended in the occupied West Bank. No one was hurt in the attacks.

The armed wing of the governing Hamas Islamic group said it fired two rockets, but Hamas political leaders pledged to obey the ceasefire. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Abbas's Fatah movement, also said they launched two rockets.

Palestinian cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad said the government would speak to the factions which violated the truce. "We are committed to the agreement on calm," Hamad said. '

Update 1: Israel's CH2 TV News reports that 10 Qassam rockets have been fired into Israel since the start of the 'ceasefire'.

Good News From Gaza?

2006-11-26T01:14:00.000Z

The BBC News reports that a ceasefire has been agreed in Gaza, which is most welcome as the majority of Gazans have suffered unnecessarily from the actions of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Israelis should welcome the well-deserved peace and relative freedom from indiscriminate rockets dropping out of the sky at them. Several have been killed in recent weeks, even with their extensive early warning systems.

I can't help thinking that there is something more behind this, as the BBC points out "BBC correspondents say the announcement is unexpected and a major development."

Until now despite efforts by the Egyptian government to mediate the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers had been blocked by the Syrian and Iran governments.

We can only hope that some deal has been struck and that the kidnapped soldiers are released, no more rockets are fired into Israel, that the IDF withdraw from Gaza and humanitarian aid pours in.

The situation in Gaza is dire and it serves no purpose for it to worsen, so hopefully a joint government in the PA were recognised Israel and funding for humanitarian purposes resumes, with strict controls on the money to ensure that it doesn't go towards arms or bombs.

Or maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic?

Iran, Trade Unions and the Middle East

2006-11-25T11:39:00.000Z

Trade unionists in the Middle East often face the most repressive regimes, theocracies, dictatorships, etc and yet they still struggle to protect the rights of their members. The possibility of arbitrary arrest or assassination is a constant worry to them.

How we react and how we help the trade unionists of the Middle East says a lot about our commitment to human rights and workers rights, the recent attack on the bus workers' leader is but one example:

"Mansour Osanloo, the President of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was arrested by plain clothes agents, who refused to show any identification or arrest warrants, on Sunday, November 19, 2006 while he, along with two other union board members, were on their way to the office of the Labour Ministry in Tehran East. The agents physically and verbally assaulted Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, the union's vice-president, and one of them pointed a gun at Mr. Madadi and fired a bullet in the air. The agents finally forced Mr. Osanloo into a waiting car and drove away. "

(Hat tip: HP)

Sudanese Government Cynicism Baffles the UN, Why?

2006-11-19T00:42:00.000Z

Over the last few days, the BBC Radio Four midnight news has made much of the talks between the Sudanese government, the UN and the African Union over the issue of Darfur.

A few days ago the unsuspecting listener may have assumed that Kofi Anand had pulled off a diplomatic masterstroke after months, if not years of prevarication on Darfur, by the Sudanese government.

The UN pressed for a solid NATO mission in Darfur to protect refugees, after the failure of the African Union’s under resourced effort. The Sudanese government would have none of this, and so a compromise was eventually negotiated, that a beefed up African Union force would protect refugees in Darfur. Additionally, the Sudanese government promised to help protect refugees, and disarm the Janjaweed militia.

Whilst the negotiations were going on, the Janjaweed militia and Sudanese government forces launched a vicious military operation in Darfur.

Even Kofi Anand must feel embarrassed at this level of cynicism.

The Sudanese government has proven time after time that they will lie, cheat and say almost anything to obstruct humanitarian efforts in Darfur, even expelling the UN official concerned.

The UN and interested countries should respond swiftly to these obstructive tactics by the Sudanese government with clear determination.

They should move a sizeable NATO force into the Darfur region to protect refugees, come what may, and any obstacle should be pushed aside, or the UN will go the way of the League of Nations over Abyssinia.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2006-11-16T18:44:00.000Z

I doubt he would make a good James Bond, but Mr kiss kiss bang bang has certainly made an impression, the wrong one.

"Anti-War" and Dubious Connections

2006-11-14T16:33:00.000Z

Some people have argued that the current British antiwar movement (StWC) supports quasi-fascists (the insurgency) in Iraq, is home to a soft form of anti-Jewish racism ("we are all Hezbollah") and even allows racist chants on their demonstrations ("Khaiber, Khaiber, Ya Yahud, Jaish Muhammad Safayahood", which translates into, "Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews, the army of Mohammed is coming for you").

Now you might think that the StWC would be a bit more careful with what they use on their web site?

No, they will happily post items from people (Stephen Lendmen) that are lionised on web sites of notorious antisemites (Andrew Winkler) and Holocaust revisionists (Ziopedia). [Right hand side half way down their main page, which leds to http://sf.indymedia.org/print.php?id=1732540 and his blog http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/ bottom right are links to therebel.org and ziopedia]

Of course, it may just be a mistake.

It may just be that the Webmaster at StWC doesn't know how to google a name or two.

Or it may be that she/he doesn't know what Holocaust revisionism is or who Andrew Winkler is [hint: he likes Zundel], but 3-5 minutes of research would have saved them considerable embarrassment.

That is, if they are embarrassed? What next?

Will StWC link to David Duke’s “antiwar” rantings or Pat Buchanan?

Poppies, the Chattering Classes and Memory

2006-11-10T20:33:00.000Z

I'm not so sure that the posturing of the chattering classes over the Poppy or one of their high priests: Jon Snow, really counts as news

But the Poppy does serve many useful purposes (apart from fund raising of some £24 million, a proportion which goes to aid ex-service people and providing work, social interaction for many disabled or chronically ill in the Poppy factory), it reminds us that if people had not opposed the Kaiser or Hitler, then Britain and the rest of Europe would be vassal states of a militaristic Germany.

It should remind us that millions and millions died to oppose military aggression and the fight against fascism, it should remind us that we enjoy a comparatively comfortable existence thanks to their willingness to give their lives. It should remind us that history didn't start two weeks ago, two years ago or 20 years ago. The Poppy should remind us that there is history to everything and how we benefit from the struggles of others in the past.

So what does it cost, today's whining-posturing-post-modernist generation, to buy a poppy and wear it??

No, it costs very little,

It costs us just the time and ability to remember how things that we take for granted are often built on the lives or backs of others.

It costs us a few moments to recall those graveyards, which litter Europe, full of young idealistic men and women prepared to fight against military aggression.

It costs us a degree of humility and a moment without self-indulgence, that's all it costs.

But it costs us our bits of humanity, if we should forget.

68 Years Ago

2006-11-09T10:00:00.000Z

68 years ago a modern day pogrom took place: Reichkristallnacht

Instigated by the Nazi leadership, attacks took place throughout Germany and Austria against Jews, their property, places of worship, schools, community centres and shops.

These attacks took place some three months after the Evian Conference, which did nothing to help German Jews or refuees, and emboldened Hitler at the complacent and the obvious ambivalence of the world's nations towards the crisis faced by European Jewry.

Now, contemporary antisemitism is nowhere near as volatile (or as crude) as it was in the 1930s, and overt antisemitism diminished after WW2, but with the progressive and negative attitudes which exist towards Jews it is extremely worrying, and could become much worse in the next 10-20 years.

Which makes me reflect on these troubling issues and think that it is certainly worthwhile asking the question:

what have we learnt in 68 years?

Iraq and Unions

2006-11-08T22:35:00.000Z

After Donald Rumsfeld's late resignation (he should have gone the day he was informed of events at Abu Ghurayb), I wonder if things will look up in Iraq?

I hope so, but am not so sure. Justifiably Rumsfeld has been panned by Generals and many military sources for his stupid, counter-productive and short-sighted attitudes in Iraq.

What happens in Iraq is anyone's guess now, neighbouring countries are fuelling the "insurgency" and the divide between Sunni and Shi'ites political leaders may be too wide to bridge.

I suspect that Iraq will be split into three regions or statelets, there are many potential problems with this arrangement but it might happen almost by default, and the approaching 2008 US presidential elections will hasten the pace. I doubt that America will truly leave Iraq, they will probably keep some large bases in Kurdistan and the Kurds will welcome US support.

Whatever happens in Iraq and its regions, people in the West should assist the development of civil and public society there.

Trade unions play a key role in defending civil and human rights, and with the volatile situation in Iraq they are even more important, so I am pleased to support the TUC Iraq appeal.

(Hat tip: Tooting Station)

David Grossman's Vision

2006-11-06T01:41:00.000Z

David Grossman's speech at the annual memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin contains many points that anyone truly interested in peace should reflect upon:

"The annual memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin is the moment when we pause for a while to remember Rabin the man, the leader. And we also take a look at ourselves, at Israeli society, its leadership, the national mood, the state of the peace process, at ourselves as individuals in the face of national events.

It is not easy to take a look at ourselves this year. There was a war, and Israel flexed its massive military muscle, but also exposed Israel's fragility. We discovered that our military might ultimately cannot be the only guarantee of our existence. Primarily, we have found that the crisis Israel is experiencing is far deeper than we had feared, in almost every way.

I am speaking here tonight as a person whose love for the land is overwhelming and complex, and yet it is unequivocal, and as one whose continuous covenant with the land has turned his personal calamity into a covenant of blood.

I am totally secular, and yet in my eyes the establishment and the very existence of the State of Israel is a miracle of sorts that happened to us as a nation - a political, national, human miracle.

I do not forget this for a single moment. Even when many things in the reality of our lives enrage and depress me, even when the miracle is broken down to routine and wretchedness, to corruption and cynicism, even when reality seems like nothing but a poor parody of this miracle, I always remember. And with these feelings, I address you tonight.

"Behold land, for we hath squandered," wrote the poet Saul Tchernikovsky in Tel Aviv in 1938. He lamented the burial of our young again and again in the soil of the Land of Israel. The death of young people is a horrible, ghastly waste.

But no less dreadful is the sense that for many years, the State of Israel has been squandering, not only the lives of its sons, but also its miracle; that grand and rare opportunity that history bestowed upon it, the opportunity to establish here a state that is efficient, democratic, which abides by Jewish and universal values; a state that would be a national home and haven, but not only a haven, also a place that would offer a new meaning to Jewish existence; a state that holds as an integral and essential part of its Jewish identity and its Jewish ethos, the observance of full equality and respect for its non-Jewish citizens.

Look at what befell us. Look what befell the young, bold, passionate country we had here, and how, as if it had undergone a quickened ageing process, Israel lurched from infancy and youth to a perpetual state of gripe, weakness and sourness.

How did this happen? When did we lose even the hope that we would eventually be able to live a different, better life? Moreover, how do we continue to watch from the side as though hypnotized by the insanity, rudeness, violence and racism that has overtaken our home?

And I ask you: How could it be that a people with such powers of creativity, renewal and vivacity as ours, a people that knew how to rise from the ashes time and again, finds itself today, despite its great military might, at such a state of laxity and inanity, a state where it is the victim once more, but this time its own victim, of its anxieties, its short-sightedness.

One of the most difficult outcomes of the recent war is the heightened realization that at this time there is no king in Israel, that our leadership is hollow. Our military and political leadership is hollow. I am not even talking about the obvious blunders in running the war, of the collapse of the home front, nor of the large-scale and small-time corruption.

I am talking about the fact that the people leading Israel today are unable to contact Israelis to their identity. Certainly not with the healthy, vitalizing and productive areas of this identity, with those areas of identity and memory and fundamental values that would give us hope and strength, that would be the antidote to the waning of mutual trust, of the bonds to the land, that would give some meaning to the exhausting and despairing struggle for existence.

The fundamental characteristics of the current Israeli leadership are primarily anxiety and intimidation, of the charade of power, the wink of the dirty deal, of selling out our most prized possessions. In this sense they are not true leaders, certainly they are not the leaders of a people in such a complicated position that has lost the way it so desperately needs. Sometimes it seems that the sound box of their self-importance, of their memories of history, of their vision, of what they really care for, exist only in the miniscule space between two headlines of a newspaper or between two investigations by the attorney general.

Look at those who lead us. Not all of them, of course, but many among them. Behold their petrified, suspicious, sweaty conduct. The conduct of advocates and scoundrels. It is preposterous to expect to hear wisdom emerge from them, that some vision or even just an original, truly creative, bold and ingenuous idea would emanate from them.

When was the last time a prime minister formulated or took a step that could open up a new horizon for Israelis, for a better future? When did he initiate a social or cultural or ideological move, instead of merely reacting feverishly to moves forced upon him by others?

Mister Prime Minister, I am not saying these words out of feelings of rage or revenge. I have waited long enough to avoid responding on impulse. You will not be able to dismiss my words tonight by saying a grieving man cannot be judged. Certainly I am grieving, but I am more pained than angry. This country and what you and your friends are doing to it pains me.

Trust me, your success is important to me, because the future of all of us depends on our ability to act. Yitzhak Rabin took the road of peace with the Palestinians, not because he possessed great affection for them or their leaders. Even then, as you recall, common belief was that we had no partner and we had nothing to discuss with them.

Rabin decided to act, because he discerned very wisely that Israeli society would not be able to sustain itself endlessly in a state of an unresolved conflict. He realized long before many others that life in a climate of violence, occupation, terror, anxiety and hopelessness, extracts a price Israel cannot afford. This is all relevant today, even more so. We will soon talk about the partner that we do or do not have, but before that, let us take a look at ourselves.

We have been living in this struggle for more than 100 years. We, the citizens of this conflict, have been born into war and raised in it, and in a certain sense indoctrinated by it. Maybe this is why we sometimes think that this madness in which we live for over 100 years is the only real thing, the only life for us, and that we do not have the option or even the right to aspire for a different life.

By our sword we shall live and by our sword we shall die and the sword shall devour forever. Maybe this would explain the indifference with which we accept the utter failure of the peace process, a failure that has lasted for years and claims more and more victims.

This could explain also the lack of reaction by most of us to the harsh blow to democracy caused by the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as a senior minister with the support of the Labor Party - the appointment of a habitual pyromaniac as director of the nation's firefighters.

And these are partly the cause of Israel's quick descent into the heartless, essentially brutal treatment of its poor and suffering. This indifference to the fate of the hungry, the elderly, the sick and the disabled, all those who are weak, this equanimity of the State of Israel in the face of human trafficking or the appalling employment conditions of our foreign workers, which border on slavery, to the deeply ingrained institutionalized racism against the Arab minority.

When this takes place here so naturally, without shock, without protest, as though it were obvious, that we would never be able to get the wheel back on track, when all of this takes place, I begin to fear that even if peace were to arrive tomorrow, and even if we ever regained some normalcy, we may have lost our chance for full recovery.

The calamity that struck my family and myself with the falling of our son, Uri, does not grant me any additional rights in the public discourse, but I believe that the experience of facing death and the loss brings with it a sobriety and lucidity, at least regarding the distinction between the important and the unimportant, between the attainable and the unattainable.

Any reasonable person in Israel, and I will say in Palestine too, knows exactly the outline of a possible solution to the conflict between the two peoples. Any reasonable person here and over there knows deep in their heart the difference between dreams and the heart's desire, between what is possible and what is not possible by the conclusion of negotiations. Anyone who does not know, who refuses to acknowledge this, is already not a partner, be he Jew or Arab, is entrapped in his hermetic fanaticism, and is therefore not a partner.

Let us take a look at those who are meant to be our partners. The Palestinians have elected Hamas to lead them, Hamas who refuses to negotiate with us, refuses even to recognize us. What can be done in such a position? Keep strangling them more and more, keep mowing down hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are innocent civilians like us? Kill them and get killed for all eternity?

Turn to the Palestinians, Mr. Olmert, address them over the heads of Hamas, appeal to their moderates, those who like you and I oppose Hamas and its ways, turn to the Palestinian people, speak to their deep grief and wounds, acknowledge their ongoing suffering.

Nothing would be taken away from you or Israel's standing in future negotiations. Our hearts will only open up to one another slightly, and this has a tremendous power, the power of a force majeur. The power of simple human compassion, particularly in this a state of deadlock and dread. Just once, look at them not through the sights of a gun, and not behind a closed roadblock. You will see there a people that is tortured no less than us. An oppressed, occupied people bereft of hope.

Certainly, the Palestinians are also to blame for the impasse, certainly they played their role in the failure of the peace process. But take a look at them from a different perspective, not only at the radicals in their midst, not only at those who share interests with our own radicals. Take a look at the overwhelming majority of this miserable people, whose fate is entangled with our own, whether we like it or not.

Go to the Palestinians, Mr. Olmert, do not search all the time for reasons for not to talk to them. You backed down on the unilateral convergence, and that's a good thing, but do not leave a vacuum. It will be occupied instantly with violence, destruction. Talk to them, make them an offer their moderates can accept. They argue far more than we are shown in the media. Make them an offer so that they are forced to choose whether they accept it, or whether they prefer to remain hostage to fanatical Islam.

Approach them with the bravest and most serious plan Israel can offer. With the offer than any reasonable Palestinian and Israeli knows is the boundary of their refusal and our concession. There is no time. Should you delay, in a short while we will look back with longing at the amateur Palestinian terror. We will hit our heads and yell at our failure to exercise all of our mental flexibility, all of the Israeli ingenuity to uproot our enemies from their self-entrapment. We have no choice and they have no choice. And a peace of no choice should be approached with the same determination and creativity as one approaches a war of no choice. And those who believe we do have a choice, or that time is on our side do not comprehend the deeply dangerous processes already in motion.

Maybe, Mr. Prime Minister, you need to be reminded, that if an Arab leader is sending a peace signal, be it the slightest and most hesitant, you must accept it, you must test immediately its sincerity and seriousness. You do not have the moral right not to respond.

You owe it to those whom you would ask to sacrifice their lives should another war break out. Therefore, if President Assad says that Syria wants peace, even if you don't believe him, and we are all suspicious of him, you must offer to meet him that same day.

Don't wait a single day. When you launched the last war you did not even wait one hour. You charged with full force, with the complete arsenal, with the full power of destruction. Why, when a glimmer of peace surfaces, must you reject it immediately, dissolve it? What have you got to lose? Are you suspicious of it? Go and offer him such terms that would expose his schemes. Offer him a peace process that would last over several years, and only at its conclusion, and provided he meets all the conditions and restrictions, will he get back the Golan. Commit him to a prolonged process, act so that his people also become aware of this possibility. Help the moderates, who must exist there as well. Try to shape reality. Not only serve as its collaborator. This is what you were elected to do.

Certainly, not all depends on our actions. There are major powers active in our region and in the world. Some, like Iran, like radical Islam, seek our doom and despite that, so much depends on what we do, on what we become.

Disagreements today between right and left are not that significant. The vast majority of Israel's citizens understand this already, and know what the outline for the resolution of the conflict would look like. Most of us understand, therefore, that the land would be divided, that a Palestinian state would be established.

Why, then, do we keep exhausting ourselves with the internal bickering that has gone on for 40 years? Why does our political leadership continue to reflect the position of the radicals and not that held by the majority of the public? It is better to reach national consensus before circumstances or God forbid another war force us to reach it. If we do it, we would save ourselves years of decline and error, years when we will cry time and again: "Behold land, for we hath squandered."

From where I stand right now, I beseech, I call on all those who listen, the young who came back from the war, who know they are the ones to be called upon to pay the price of the next war, on citizens, Jew and Arab, people on the right and the left, the secular, the religious, stop for a moment, take a look into the abyss. Think of how close we are to losing all that we have created here. Ask yourselves if this is not the time to get a grip, to break free of this paralysis, to finally claim the lives we deserve to live. "

The Hitler Paradox and Saddam Hussein

2006-11-06T01:02:00.000Z

I wasn't going to comment on the Iraqi court's verdict on Saddam Hussein and I would prefer to avoid Godwin's law, but I have been surprised at the response of some people at HP and the comments indicate my views on the subject.

I was intending to reduce the rhetoric and argue a logical case how qualms over capital punishment could not apply to dictators, their henchmen and others guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide but instead I will argue that the Hitler "paradox" is obvious enough:

suppose, for the sake of argument, that Adolf Hitler had been captured alive and put on trial at Nuremberg, would anyone here seriously have opposed the death penalty towards him??

Gotcha, Finally?

2006-11-02T00:35:00.000Z

The Times reports:

"'AUGUSTO PINOCHET, the 90-year-old former dictator of Chile, was branded a “grave danger to society” as he was placed under house arrest in Santiago yesterday by the judge investigating his role in cases of torture and kidnapping during his time in power.

Judge Alejandro Solís charged the general with 35 kidnappings, one homicide and 24 cases of torture in the Villa Grimaldi case. Villa Grimaldi was a secret police prison that became one of Chile’s most infamous torture centres during the military’s “dirty war” against left-wing opponents.

This is the first prosecution for torture to proceed against the former general.

“General Pinochet has been notified of his prosecution for kidnapping, one homicide and torture, and has been detained as a grave danger to society considering the gravity of the crimes. But, owing to his age, he has been granted house arrest,” Señor Solís said. On Friday the judge dismissed efforts by General Pinochet’s legal team to have the case dropped on the ground of health.

Señor Solís said that he found the former ruler lucid for his age.

General Pinochet will turn 91 next month and his legal team claims that diabetes and a series of strokes have left him suffering from mild dementia. He seized power in a violent coup in 1973, when he overthrew the democratically elected communist leader, Salvador Allende.

The Government of General Pinochet oversaw the secret kidnapping and killing of left-wing opponents. Tens of thousands were tortured and 3,000 were killed or disappeared. Among the former inmates of the Villa Grimaldi are Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean President, and her mother. The general denies any knowledge of abuses at the centre.

The effort to bring the former military leader to trial has long been a cause célèbre for human rights campaigners. He was first arrested in 1998 while in London for medical treatment, after an extradition request from Spain. But Jack Straw, then the Home Secretary, ordered his release in 2000, saying that he was medically unfit to stand trial.

Efforts to bring him to justice have since switched to Chile, where he has lost a number of rulings, including being stripped of his parliamentary immunity in 2002. In September the Supreme Court threw out his legal team’s argument that he was medically unfit to stand trial in the Villa Grimaldi case.

As well as the gathering case against him for human rights abuses, General Pinochet faces prosecution for fraud and tax evasion. His wife and children have also been charged as part of the investigation into his finances, undermining support for him among Chileans, who believed that the abuses of his regime were a price worth paying to prevent the country turning into “another Cuba”.

GENERAL'S TRAVELS

1973 Salvador Allende is killed in army coup. Pinochet dictatorship begins

1989 Democracy is restored after Pinochet steps down

1998 Pinochet arrested in London

2000 Pinochet unfit to face trial and returns to Chile

2004 Pinochet charged with murder and kidnapping"

MSF

2006-11-01T13:55:00.000Z

Médecins Sans Frontières are a brave and tireless charity that provide medical support in the most desolate areas of the world and they deserve our support.

The MSF slideshow from Darfur helps us to appreciate the seriousness of the problems in Sudan and MSF's very necessary work.

AVG Step Up

2006-10-29T18:21:00.000Z

Grisoft antivirus software: AVG has been upgraded to V7.5 and along with it Grisoft have released an anti-spyware tool.

AVG is a good antivirus scanner, fast and as far as we can tell, complete.

The anti-spyware tool seems comprehensive and takes the form of scanner, although it is considerably slower than spybot, it seems very useful.

Pinochet's Gold?

2006-10-28T14:53:00.000+01:00

The Torygraph indicated that the dictator Pinochet may have stashed away some £98 million in gold:

" HSBC has launched an investigation into allegations that the former Chilean strongman Augusto Pinochet held a secret stash of gold worth £98m at a branch in Hong Kong.

The inquiry follows explosive claims in the Chilean press that investigators had uncovered an HSBC account holding 315,000 ounces of gold that could be tracked to the general."

However, the BBC reports that:

"Papers linking Chile's former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet, to alleged gold deposits worth $160m (£85.5m) in Hong Kong are fake, the HSBC bank says.

The London-based bank said in a statement it would continue to co-operate with Chilean investigators.

Chilean officials said it was now up to the justice system to decide if the allegations were based on false papers.

Lawyers for the general - who ruled between 1973 and 1990 - have denied the accusations as insulting and baseless.

The Chilean courts have stripped Gen Pinochet, 90, of the legal immunity he enjoyed as a former president in several cases, but he has yet to face trial.

He is facing charges for tax evasion in connection with his family's undisclosed foreign bank accounts, and also faces possible charges in connection with human rights abuses committed during his time in power."

Whilst the BBC article is a fine example of "neutrality", my bet is that Pinochet has a lot of stolen or drug money stashed away, even if it can not be proven at the moment.

Hezbollah and the Bombing in Buenos Aires

2006-10-25T20:08:00.000+01:00

Prosecutors in Buenos Aires have formally charged that Hezbollah committed the 1994 bombing in Argentina which killed some 85 people and injured another 300, according to reports:

"BUENOS AIRES: Prosecutors formally charged Iran and the Shiite militia Hezbollah Wednesday in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish charities office in Argentina, which killed 85 people and injured 300.

"We deem it proven that the decision to carry out an attack July 18, 1994 on the AMIA (Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, a Jewish charities association headquarters in Buenos Aires) was made by the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran which directed Hezbollah to carry out the attack," Argentine chief prosecutor Alberto Nisman said.

Prosecutors called for the arrest of top Iranian authorities at the time, including then-president Ali Rafsanjani.

No one has been tried for the crime in more than a decade since Argentina's worst-ever terror attack."

I wonder how the "we are all Hezbollah now" crowd in the Pro-War coalition will react??

Firefox 2.0

2006-10-25T13:55:00.000+01:00

Firefox 2.0 has been released.

I have been using the beta and RC version for some time and it is very good, just check that your favourite extensions and plugins work with 2.0.

Modern German Nazis March

2006-10-22T00:24:00.000+01:00

As if it were needed, Berlin witnessed yet another sign of the revival of National Socialism in Germany today has some 750 neo-Nazis openly marched, Reuters describes it as:

"BERLIN (Reuters) - A group of 750 neo-Nazi sympathisers demonstrated outside a Berlin jail on Saturday against the detention of the singer of an outlawed rock group.

German police said several hundred anti-fascists chanting "Nazis raus" (Nazis go away) were separated from the rally by police. There were no incidents of violence.

The far-rightists were protesting the detention of an obscure singer, Michael Regener. He also goes by the name "Lunikoff".

He was sentenced in December 2003 to three years and four months in jail after a court ruled his band "Landser" was a criminal organisation that spread racial hatred. He began his sentence in April 2005 after losing legal appeals.

Some protesters carried posters reading "Freedom for Lunikoff" as they marched near the Tegel prison in northwestern Berlin.

Israel's ambassador to Germany, Shimon Stein, said in an interview published on Saturday in the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper he was concerned that Jews were not feeling safe in Germany. "They are no longer able to pursue their Jewish way of life here freely," Stein said."

Let's not forget the recent election wins and the growth of NPD:

"This now makes the economically depressed state the fourth regional legislature where an extreme right party is represented:; The NPD also sits in Saxony's parliament while the German People's Union (DVU) is represented in the state legislatures of Brandenburg and Bremen. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which is on the Baltic coast bordering Poland, is one of Germany's poorest regions with an unemployment rate of 18.2 percent, nearly double the national average.

The former communist states have never caught up to the West economically since German reunification in 1990, strengthening the appeal of the NPD party, which has been able to capitalize on the disaffection among jobless youth with its crude anti-immigrant, racist platform."

In the post WW2, much was made of modern Germany's abhorrence with National Socialism, the death and destruction that it brought and how these lessons were learnt by young Germans.

Clearly, the German political establishment, civil society and police are not doing enough, I suggest they make an example of the next 750+ neo-Nazis that demonstrate and incarcerated the lot of them.

It should be made clear to neo-Nazis that if they march they will be incarcerated, no ifs no buts.

Cluster Bombs and Ball Bearings

2006-10-21T15:44:00.000+01:00

Hezbollah's use of cluster bombs and ballbearings in the recent conflict with Israel Lebanon has been well documented.

Amnesty International wrote:

"(Washington, DC) -- Amnesty International (AI) today charged in a new report that Hizbullah committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes, in its deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians during the recent conflict.

During the month-long conflict, Hizbullah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians, seriously injuring 33 others and forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to take refuge in shelters or flee. Around a quarter of all rockets were fired directly into urban areas, including rockets packed with thousands of metal ball bearings. An estimated ten percent of the rockets carried war heads, packed with thousands of ball bearings. Once these indiscriminate rockets struck, the ball bearings sprayed out, inflicting death and injury for 300 meters or more.

"Actions speak louder than words," said Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's Executive Director. "Though Hizbullah denies any policy of endangering and targeting Israeli civilians, it used Katyusha rockets packed with thousands of metal ball bearings to maximize harm to innocent civilians. Targeting civilians is a war crime -- there's no gray area."

In meetings with Amnesty International, Hizbullah argued that its rocket attacks on northern Israel were a reprisal for Israeli attacks on civilians in Lebanon and were aimed at stopping such attacks.

Amnesty International's briefing includes evidence of:

Hizbullah's firing of some 900 inherently inaccurate Katyusha rockets into urban areas in northern Israel in clear violation of the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets under international law;
Hizbullah's use of modified Katyusha rockets packed with metal ball bearings, designed to inflict maximum death and injury, with one such rocket killing eight railway workers;
Statements from Hasan Nasrallah and other senior Hizbullah leaders that the group intended to target civilians as a form of reprisal, violating the prohibition on direct attacks on civilians as well as the prohibition on reprisals against the civilian population;
The flight of civilians from northern Israel and the existence of shelters preventing a higher death toll than the 43 civilian fatalities recorded.

These findings show that Hizbullah clearly committed war crimes and the perpetuators must be brought to justice," said Marty Rosenbluth, Amnesty International USA's Country Specialist for Israel and the Occupied Territories."

Human Rights Watch wrote:

"On Monday, Human Rights Watch researchers inspected a three-story apartment building in Haifa's Bat Galim neighborhood after it was struck by a rocket around 3:00 p.m., causing extensive damage to the top two floors and wounding six residents, one of them seriously. They collected metal ball bearings that had pierced the walls of the apartment building across the street and car windshields up to one block away."

So it seemed strange that some people are still denying that Hezbollah was guilty of war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians, as it did by indiscriminately firing rockets into Israeli civilian towns.

Site of the Week/Month 19

2006-10-20T00:52:00.001+01:00

Damn those 0870 numbers, as reported by the Times:

"AT AN outlandish 9p per minute for telephone calls that are usually answered by a computer, 0870 might be best described as the international dialling code for rip-off Britain.

But a computer expert has found a way to circumvent that national-rate number and is sharing his secrets with 10,000 people every day. The website www.saynoto0870.com lists 5,000 firms that publicise expensive numbers that often cost three times the cost of a call to a landline number. Callers enter a company name and the website reveals a local geographical number and sometimes even details of a free phone line for a business.

A search by The Times immediately found that TicketMaster’s information and booking line 0870 4000700 can be reached on 0161-385 3500. Similarly Barclaycard’s card protection service on 0870 0100578 can be reached on 023-92652222 and even by freephone on 0800 603060.

British Airways advertises its general helpdesk on 0870 8509850. But it can be reached more cheaply on 0191-490 7901. Its executive club has a freephone number: 0800 123111.

The site was founded by a publicity-shy government computer expert who wants to be known only as Daniel from Lancashire. He set it up five years ago after being incensed at how big companies ripped off their customers."

So site of the week is: www.saynoto0870.com

Clustering for Hezbollah

2006-10-19T16:55:00.000+01:00

Cluster bombs are a nasty piece of munitions and they may well have been used by Israel in the recent conflict in Lebanon. They were rightly condemned and discussed at length in Harry’s Place.

For using cluster bombs Israel was demonised by a wide range of obsessive “anti-Zionists” and the matter received considerable publicity in the press.

Now, it has come to light that Hezbollah were using their own form of cluster munitions in the conflict, as reported by HRW:

“(Jerusalem, October 18, 2006) Hezbollah fired cluster munitions into civilian areas in northern Israel during the recent conflict, Human Rights Watch reported today. This is the first time that Hezbollah's use of these controversial weapons has been confirmed.

Hezbollah's deployment of the Chinese-made Type-81 122mm rocket is also the first confirmed use of this particular model of cluster munition anywhere in the world. Human Rights Watch documented two Type-81 cluster strikes that took place on July 25 in the Galilee village of Mghar.

‘We are disturbed to discover that not only Israel but also Hezbollah used cluster munitions in their recent conflict, at a time when many countries are turning away from this kind of weapon precisely because of its impact on civilians,’said Steve Goose, director of Human Rights Watch's Arms Division. ‘Use of cluster munitions is never justified in civilian-populated areas because they are inaccurate and unreliable.’

While it is not known when and how Hezbollah obtained these foreign-made cluster munitions, and while Hezbollah used far fewer cluster munitions than Israel did in the recent war, the new findings raise serious concerns about the proliferation of these weapons to non-state armed groups, as well as states.”

Leaving aside the obvious issue of Hezbollah deliberately choosing to target civilians, which is a war crime, with their unguided rockets, I wonder if the usual suspects will be quick to condemn Hezbollah, this time?

I somehow doubt it.

I Won the Lottery?

2006-10-18T19:09:00.000+01:00

Nope not really, but I might have if you believe this con email I received recently.

I hope that the BNP type nutjob that has plagued this feeble blog goes and collects the winnings then retires, finally leaving me in peace.

The con email:

"FROM:PRIZE AWARD DEPT.

REFERENCE: 5543IPD
BATCH: x6651k

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Euro millions Lottery Winners International E-mail programs held on the 12th of October, 2006. Your E-mail address attached to ticket number:31210 with serial main number:Pl88812, drew lucky star numbers:112390 ,which consequently won in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of €760.000.00 (Seven Hundred and Sixty Thousand Euros)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Bill Gates, President of Microsoft, the world's largest software company inorder to enhance and promote the use of Internet Explorer Users and microsoft-wares around the globe. This promotional program takes place every three years. We hope with part of your winning you will take part in our end of year 50 million Euro International lottery.

To file for your claims, you are to contact our Payment and Release Order department company's customer service using details below:

EUROPE LOTTERY PAYMENT AND RELEASE ORDER DEPARTMENT,
Mr.Martin John,
ONWARD SECUROS S.L,
C/HONDURAS,
102 25105 MADRID SPAIN,
Email: info_martinjohn011@ozu.es

Remember,all winning must be claimed not later than two weeks, After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Sincerely yours,
Jenny Mondy
Lottery Co-ordinator "

A YouTube Moment

2006-10-17T00:39:00.000+01:00

I seem to have "acquired" a number of nutjob BNP supporters in my comment boxes, after the exposé on BNP "terrorists" and I wondered how best to deal with them, then I had an idea.

At YouTube I ran across a great video that nearly everyone appreciates (excluding nutjob BNP types): Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream"

(Hat tip: Habibi)

Enjoy!

The transcript (best viewed with a small font):

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as
the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow
we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous
decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves
who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a
joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years
later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of
segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished
in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own
land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a
promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a
promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be
guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note
insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this
sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a
check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We
refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check
that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce
urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to
take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the
promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and
desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the
time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid
rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of
God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.
This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass
until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen
sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hoped that the Negro
needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude
awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither
rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship
rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of
our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the
warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of
gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us
not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high
plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to
degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous
new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to
a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced
by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied
up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is
inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always
march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the
devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be
satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of
police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy
with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways
and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's
basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be
satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed
of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as
long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York
believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and
we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and
righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great
trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.
Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you
battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police
brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to
work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South
Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums
and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can
and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my
friends - so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I
still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression,
will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content
of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists,
with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition
and nullification - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and
black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as
sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every
hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a
stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this
faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle
together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing
that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will
be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of
liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's
pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so
let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let
freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring
from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let
freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi - from
every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow
freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when
all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!" "

Under a Sea of Blogs

2006-10-15T14:56:00.000+01:00

Too many blogs, too many blogs, like the ancient Mariner might say: blogs, blogs everywhere but not a drop to drink.

Managing the sea of blogs which engulf us is hard.

How do we separate out the good from the bad and keep track of interesting articles without spending hours in front of a browser?

I have tried several solutions, using Firefox, none of which are perfect:

selectively grouped together blogs that I like and read regularly, against those that I try to read almost daily, compared with those I rarely read but are amusing, although updated too infrequently.

Still that was time consuming and slow.

I think I might have found a better solution: Google Reader

Google reader aggregates the feeds from blogs and treats them very much like e-mails, so it shows you a selection of updated articles without the necessity of flicking through endless Firefox bookmarks (or IE’s favourites).

Google reader is another Google service which is accessed via a Google e-mail account.

The hardest part (and is not that hard) is to add the blogs that you like, here’s one way to do it

1. bring up Google reader, in a browser window
2. in a separate window bring up your bookmarks
3. select the bookmark that you want and do a right click and copy
4. returned to the Google reader page and click on “Add subscription”
5. paste into the “Add subscription” sub-window the link to the blog (e.g. http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/index.php)
6. Google will work out the rest and add it to the lower left side sub-window
7. if that doesn't work, look for a RSS or XML widget on the web page, click on “Add subscription” and paste into the “Add subscription” sub-window
8. essentially Google scans the web page for any possible feed and will try to retrieve it (most web pages have RSS feeds, just look for the funny widgets or email the webmaster and ask)
9. once you've added a selection of blogs to Google reader they will appear in the right-hand main sub-window.
10. Each time you login, it will show you the latest updates to the blogs, so less much hassle.
11. That’s it

Any problems just read the help pages

I thoroughly recommend it.

BNP Links to Terrorists

2006-10-13T20:14:00.000+01:00

As much as rather dimwitted BNP supporters and sympathisers tried to suggest otherwise, the BNP and the extreme right are explicitly linked to violence and terrorism.

The examples given below of Copeland and Lecomber are just a sampling.

More recently Lecomber was allowed back into the BNP as Searchlight reports:

"The British National Party’s return of election expenditure in a recent Redbridge council by-election shows that Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, has lied over the status of a convicted terrorist.

Although the documents state that John Evans paid all the bills for printing the large number of leaflets the BNP distributed in Bridge ward, copies of invoices show it was Tony Lecomber who ran the campaign, in which the BNP came within 157 votes of taking what had been a safe Conservative seat.

Lecomber was sacked as the BNP’s group development officer and head of internal discipline in January after it emerged that he had sought out a meeting with the Liverpool gangster Joey Owens in which he suggested Owens “take out” a Cabinet minister. Owens, who had been Griffin’s personal bodyguard until revelations about his gangland activities surfaced, was suspicious, thinking it was an attempt at entrapment of himself, the BNP or both. He reported Lecomber’s suggestion to Griffin and threatened to go to the press if Lecomber was not dismissed.

Griffin hesitated but eventually forced him out. A BNP organisers’ bulletin announced that Lecomber had resigned after “making a serious error of judgement” which could have “caused embarrassment to the party”.

This was not Lecomber’s first brush with terrorism and violence. Although his long criminal career is well known to BNP members and senior officers, it had not until this year prevented his rise to the party’s highest echelons.

In the mid 1980s Lecomber received a derisory three-year prison sentence after a nail bomb he was trying to deliver to the headquarters of a leftwing organisation went off prematurely in his car. When the Bomb Squad searched his home in Ilford, east London, they found home-made hand-grenades and electronic detonators.

On his release from prison, John Tyndall, then the BNP leader, warmly greeted the mad bomber, as Lecomber has become known, and promoted him in the party.

Lecomber changed his appearance. Gone was the street fighting nazi in a T-shirt that proclaimed the SS as his heroes, and in came a dark suit, glasses, white shirt and tie. That is how he was dressed when he and a gang of BNP thugs beat a young Jewish teacher senseless, a crime that got him another three years in jail.

Again after his return promotion was rapid. Tyndall might have expected some gratitude for standing by him, and even viewing Lecomber as his successor to the party leadership, but when Griffin moved to take over the BNP it was Lecomber who undermined Tyndall and became known as the Witchfinder General, using his position to deal ruthlessly with anyone who spoke up for Tyndall.

Lecomber’s resignation was not the whole story. He remained on the party payroll and while some party officers’ questions about Lecomber’s status were answered with lies, others were quietly told that his departure was only temporary and he would return when the dust had settled.

Griffin has even claimed that Lecomber may have been acting strangely when he met Owen because his diabetes gives him mood swings. Those who have known him since his early teens believe he is simply pathologically violent.

That Lecomber is still pulling many strings in the BNP is clear from the Bridge ward election return. Only two invoices are from suppliers outside the party itself. Both are addressed to Lecomber, one at his home address.

Searchlight had wondered how the BNP managed to produce nine leaflets within the election limit of barely over £1,000. The return shows that over half the expenditure went on 5,500 A3 colour leaflets printed by Pioneer Print of South Woodford for £424.00. Five thousand postcards from 1clickprint cost £80 and the other seven leaflets were supplied by the party print shop for a mere £306.30. Election agents are supposed to declare goods and services supplied at less than market value but the documents are silent on this point.

The return also lists three donations of over £50: from Sylvia Howard, Alan Thrower and John Evans, all in Redbridge.

Griffin and Eddy Butler, the BNP’s elections officer, were presumably happy with Lecomber’s role in the campaign but others in the party may be less enamoured with Griffin’s lies. "

Where To In Darfur?

2006-10-12T02:20:00.000+01:00

As the "international community" twiddles its thumbs the situation in Darfur gets worse, and a new report suggests a much tougher approach is required:

"The International Crisis Group says diplomacy has "failed" and targeted sanctions are now needed to prevent the humanitarian situation from worsening.

It calls for economic measures to be applied to key business interests, in particular Sudan's petroleum sector. "

The ICG has a good background article on Sudan.

The report's conclusions are:

"Diplomatic efforts to persuade Khartoum to accept the UN deployment should continue to be pursued – not least by African Union and Arab League countries – but unfortunately there can be few grounds left for optimism that they will succeed. Given the difficulties involved in contemplating full-scale non-consensual military intervention if Khartoum does continues to refuse the expanded UN mission in Darfur, the international community has little choice but to pursue an action plan based primarily on economic, legal and more limited military measures in order to change the NCP’s calculus of costs and benefits with regard to cooperation.

Tough personal and business sanctions targeted at the NCP, in combination with relatively limited but cautionary military actions, including the establishment and enforcement of a no-fly-zone as a logical extension of the ban on offensive military overflights that the Security Council established in 2005 but failed to follow up on, are called for, as well as steps to make the ICC investigation more effective. The international community must also correct its grave error in not continuing to pursue efforts to secure an all-inclusive peace agreement. The DPA has been a failure, and the AU, with U.S., EU and UN support, must now actively resume consultations with all sides, including stakeholders that were not part of the Abuja negotiations, to correct its shortcomings.

However, if the situation continues to deteriorate -- if there is further major displacement, humanitarian access is cut off, the government offensive continues and the NCP still refuses to accept a UN peacekeeping mission, the balance of argument in favour of non-consensual deployment, in terms of the relevant criteria of legitimacy, may change. Planning for that contingency should begin."

BNP "Terrorists"

2006-10-12T00:00:00.001+01:00

Sunny at Pickled Politics asks some very pertinent questions concerning the BNP "terrorists", who were recently arrested:

"Why did the story not make national headlines as it should have? Various reasons seem to be attributed to this. Earlier today I spoke to one BBC exec who found it “utterly bizarre” they missed the story. He first saw it on Pickled Politics and flagged it up to others, who were caught unaware.

The BBC national news team relies on various channels to feed them information. Among them are their own reporters, feeds from news wire services such as PA and stories flagged up by local radio teams. In this case, for whatever reason, it seems neither of these channels fed the story back to “the system”, I was told.

This came from a source who would have loved to do the story. But PA did not pick it up, BBC Radio Lancashire did not flag it up and the police did not inform the national press. You may ask why they didn’t? Wasn’t it a big story?"

Update: obviously we don't wish to prejudge the issue and certainly it might be common amongst BNP members to have a wide range of armaments or explosives in their houses but for the rest of humanity that behaviour is a bit abnormal.

We could, of course, conclude that they had these weapons and explosives for a reason, and being fascists, it shouldn't be too hard to work out what their "reasoning" was: attack people that disagreed with them.

Let us hope that the criminal justice system deals very harshly with them, once they are found guilty.

The Next Plot?

2006-10-11T23:42:00.000+01:00

After 9/11, after Darfur .... just wait for it... the "Zionist's plot over North Korea's nukes"? Ami Isseroff explains:

"Very likely, the next evil to be blamed on the Zionists is the North Korean A-bomb or the fight against it. We can envision several versions of this theory. One version will hold that Kim Jong Il is really a Mossad spy who had plastic surgery. He got the nuclear technology from Mossad agents. A second theory will explain contrarily that it is only Jews who are interested in stopping North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons, just as it is widely accepted that only "Zionists" are worried about the Iranian nuclear development program. The latter theory will probably be propagated by the North Korean government. Pretty soon Counterpunch, Antiwar and similar sources of enlightenment will be insisting that "Zionist neocons" and Mossad agents have infiltrated the governments of China, Russia, France and the US. "

Now any other time we might even joke about it, but given the political climate and the prevalence of conspiracy theories I think that Ami is probably right on this one.

Writing on Lebanon

2006-10-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

I like Mike Totten’s work and his writings on the recent conflict in Lebanon were informative and accomplished.

Totten has just released a set of pamphlets, and one in particular caught my eye: Hassan Nasrallah: In his own words.

I am sure that the apologists and lickspittles for Nasrallah will denounce it as a tissue of lies.

No doubt they will argue that all of Nasrallah’s anti-Jewish statements are frauds, no matter the source, no matter how much corroboration there is, etc.

You’d expect it from such loons, much like 1930s Stalinists repeating the Party “line”, no matter how twisted or perverse it might be and at variance with reality. Nasrallah in their eyes can do no wrong, however, the rest of us know better.

I hope Amazon start to stock Mike Totten’s stuff shortly!

2.0 is Closer

2006-10-08T14:19:00.000+01:00

Firefox 2.0 RC2 has just been released, looks good, but not all extension work with it yet.